The Adair County news., 1918-03-13

stumbled ana Tell. Her strength eDDed,
and the hinges of her knees gave I'M
| expectedly beneath her. How long
was it, she asked herself, that Macdon-
aid had said men could live In a big
card?
Staggering blindly forward, Sheba
bumped into the driver. He had drawn
up to give the horses a moments rest
| before sending them plunging at the
snow again.
"No chance" he called into the
young woman's ear. "Never make
Smiths in the world. Coin try for
miners cabin up gulch little way"
The team stuck In the drifts, fought
through, and was blocked again ten
yards beyond. A dozen times the
horses gave up, answered the sting Of
the whip by diving head first at the
white banks, and were stopped by
fresh snow-combs.
Pete gave up the fight. He began
unhitching the horses, while Sheba and
Mrs. Olson, clinging to each others
| hands, stumbled forward to join him.
The words he shouted across the back
of a horse were almost lost in the
roar of the shrieking wind.
%. heluvatime ride
:. gulch," Sheba made out.
He flung Mrs. Olson astride one Of
the wheelers and helped Sheba to the
back of the right leader. saltwater
clambered upon its mate himself.
The girl paid no attention to where
they were going. The urge Of life
was so faint within her that she did
not greatly care whether she lived or
died. Her face was blue from the cold
her vitality was Slapped. She seemed
to herself to have turned to ice be-
low the hips. Numb though her fin
| gers were, she must keep them fas-
tened tightly in the frozen name of the
animal. She recited 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 a cabin where Mrs. Olson lay
| crOuched on the floor.
SCOT to stable the horses" he ex-
planned, and left them.
After q time he came back and lit q
fire 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 a homemade table, rough
stools, and the frame Of a bed. The
last occupant had left little firewood
beside the stove, enough to last per-
haps for twenty-four hours. Sheba
did not need to be told that If the bliz-
card 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 it 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. .e...-s. 49, ~ ~. z:.ssa'.<,--
| ,o1- -, -
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 firewood. We amt so worse off. !"
eff 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 stable?
I've heard tell, ma'am, that broncho
tenderloin is q favorite dish with them
there French chiefs that do the cook
ing. They kinder trim 1t up SOS it's
most as good as frawgs' legs"
Sheba had never before slept on
bare boards with sealskin coat for q
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 it was morning.
1t 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
emily she fell asleep again to the
sound Of the blizzard bowling outside.
When she wakened for the third time
1t was morning.
In the afternoon the blizzard died
away. AS far as the eye could see..
Sheba looked out upon a 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 a little
shiver ran down the spine Of the girl.