Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-04-17

GnYnal. She Teclfed her lesson to her,
self like a child. She must stick on
she must she must.
Whether she lost consciousness or
not Sheba never knew. The next she
realized was that saltwater Pete was
pulling her from the horse. He dragged
her into cabin where Mrs. Olson lay
crouched on the floor.
SCOT to stable the horses" he ex-
planned, and left them.
After time he came back and lit a
Ore in the sheet-iron stove. AS the cir
culation that meant life flooded back
into her chilled veins Sheba endured a
half-hour Of excruciating pain. She
had to clench her teeth to keep back
the grOans.
The cabin was empty Of furniture
except for homemade table, rough
stools, and the frame of bed. The
last occupant had left little firewo0d
beside the stove, enough to last per-
haps for twenty-four hours. Sheba
did not need to be told that II the bliz-
zard lasted long enough, they would
starve to death. In the handbag left
In the stage were box Of candy and
an Irish plum pudding. She had
brought the latter from the old coun-
try with her and was taking 1t and the
chocolates to the Hustled children. But
just now the stage was as far from
them as Drogheda.
Like many rough frontiersmen,
saltwater Pete was a diamond In the
raw. SO far. as could be he made a
hopeless and impossible situation COM
Portable. His judgment told him that
they were caught in trap from which
there was no escape, but for the sake
Of the women he put cheerful face on
things.
Lucky we found this cabin" he
growled amiably. 'By this time we'd
"a been up Salt creek If we hadn't.
Seeing as our luck has stood up so far,
reckon We'll be all right. Mighty
kind Of Mr.. Last Tenant to leave us
this frewood. We amt so worse off,
IF we only had some food" Mrs;
Olson suggested.
food" Pete looked at her In as.
sumed surprise. "Huh! What about
all that live stock got In the stablel
I've heard tell, ma'am, that broncho
fenderlofn is a favorfte dish with them
there French chiefs that do the cook
ing. They kinder trim it up SOS it's
most as good as frawgs' legs"
sheba bad never before slept On
bare boards with sealskin coat for d
sleeping bag. But she was very tired
and dropped off almost instantly.
Twice she woke during the night, dis
turbed by the stiffness and the pain
of her body. When she awakened for
the third time 1t was morning.
It seemed to her that the hard, whip
sawed planks were pushing through
the soft flesh to the bones. She was
cold, too, and crept closer to the stout
Swedish woman lying beside her. Pres
entity she fell asleep again to the
sound Of the blizzard bowling outside.
When she wakened for the third time
It was morning.
In the afternoon the blizzard died
away. AS far as the eye could see,
Sheba looked out upon waste Of
snow. Her eyes turned from the DESC
lation without to the bare and cheer
less room in which they had found
shelter. In spite of herself little
SILVER ran down the spine Of the girl.
Had she come into this Arctic soli-
tude to find her tomb?
AS soon as the storm had moderated
enough to let him 60 out with safety,
saltwater Pete had taken one Of the
horses for an attempt at trail break
Ing.
"Me I'm after that plum pudding.
gotta get a feed Of oats from the
stage for my bronchs too. The scenery
here Is sure fine, but 1t amt what
you would call nourishing. Huh /!
Watch our smoke when me and old
Bgfdface git to bucking them drifts
He had been gone two hours and the
dusk was already descending over the
white waste when Sheba ventured out
to see what had become Of the stage
driver. But the cold was so bitter
that she soon gave up the attempt to
fight her way through the drifts and
turned back to the cabin.
Some time later saltwater Pete
came stumbling into their temporary
home. He was tagged to exhaustion
but triumphant. Upon the table ne
dropped from the crook Of his numbed
arm two packages.
"The markings for Christmas din
ner," he said with grin.
Mrs. Olson thawed out the pudding
and the chocolates in the oven and
made kind Of mush out Of some
oats Pete had saved from the horse
feed. They ate their one-sided meal
in high spirits. The freeze had saved
their lives. If it held clear till to-
morrow they could reach Smiths
crossing on the crust Of the snow.
4 saltwater broke up the chairs FOL
fuel and demolished the legs Of the
table, after which he lay down before
the stove and fell at oAce into sod
den sleep.
/ Presently Mrs. Olson lay down OF
the bed and began to snore regularly
Sheba could not sleep. The boards
tired her bones and she was cold