The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1917-02-12
THE MEN OF FoRTY-MlLE

When Big Jim Belden ventured me
apparently innocuous proposlllos uat
m,lsh-ice was rather pecoollar, nc
little dreamed of what it LEAD 10
Neither did Lon McFane, when ne al
firmed that anchor-lce was even more
so; nor did BEETLES, as he Instantly
DISAGREED, declaring the very existence
of such form to be a bugaooo.
AN we'd be tellin' me this, crleo
Lon, after the years we've sspint IN
the land! An we eatin' out the same
Dot this many's the day."
But the things agtn reason. IN.
sisted BEETLES. Look you. water S
warmer than ice
IAN little the difference. once we
break through"
Still it's warmer, because it amt
froze. An you say it freezes on tne
bottom?" -, ,,,
the anchor-ice. An have We niVer
drifted along, the water clear as glass,
whin sudden, belize cloud over the
sun, the mushy ice comes bubbln,
up an up, till from bank to bank an
bind to bind it's drapin the river like
a first snowfall?'
"Unh hunh. more'n once when
took a doze at the steerlng-oar. But
It allus come out the highest SIDE
channel, an not bubblin' up an up,
"P"t with niver a wink at the
heinz" -,
No; nor you. Its agin reason. I'll
leeave it to any mani"
BEETLES appealed to the circle about
the stove, but the fight was on be-
tween himself and Lon McFaue. -.
Reason or no reason, it's the truth
I'm tellin' ye Last fall. a year gose
t was Sitka Charley and meself saw
the sight, droppin' down the rifle
Yell remember below Fort Reliance
An regular fall weather it was, the
CLINT O. the sun On the golden larch
an the quakin' aspens; an the CHS
ter of light on livery ripple; an be.
yand, the winter an the blue haze OF
the North comm down hand in hand,
It's will We know the. same, with a
fringe to the river an the Ice formin,
thick in the eddies, an a snap an
sparkle to the air, an We a-feelin' IT
through all yer blood. a-takin' new
lease Of life with livery suck OF It.
II 1t then. me boy. the world grows
small an the wandther-lust lays we by
the heels.
But it's meself as wandthers. AS
I was sayin', we a-paddlin', with niver
sign Of ice; harrin' that by the ed
dies, when the .lnjin lifts his paddle
below! So have | heard, but niver
thought to see!' AS We know, Sitka
Charley. like meself, niver drew first
breath in the land; SO the sight was
new. Then We drifted. with head
over ayther side, peerin down through
the sparkly water. For the world
like the days spint with the pearl
ers, watchin the coral banks a-growin'
the same as so many gardens under
the sea. There it was, the anchor-ice,
clingin' an clusterin' to livery rock,
after the manner of the white coral.
But the best Of the sight was to
come. Just after clearin' the tail OF
the rifle. the water turns quick the
color of milk, an the top of it in wee
circles. as when the graylin' rise is the
spring or there's a splatter of wet
from the sky. IT was the anchor-ice
comm up. TO the right, to the lift,
as far rs iver man cud see. the
water was covered with the same.
An like so much porridge it was,
slickin' along the bark Of the canoe.
sticl1in' like glue to the paddles. It's
many's the time I shot the selfsamc
rifle before. and it's many's the time
after, but niver a wink Of the same
have I seen. T was The sight of a
lifetime"
do tell" dryly commented Bet
ties. ID We think I'd b'lieve such a
yarn? I'd ruther say the glister Of
light'd gone to your eyes. and the
snap Of the air to your tongue"
"T was me own eyes that beheld
II, if Sitka Charley was here, he'd be
the lad TO back me"
"But facts is facts, an they amt