The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-04-05

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
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 a little
shiver ran down the spine Of the girl.
Had she come into this. Arctic soil
tude to find her tomb?
AS soon as the storm had moderated
enough to let him go 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 feed of oats from the
stage for my bronchs too. The scenery
here is sure fine, but it amt what
you would call nourishing. Huh
Watch our smoke when me and old
Baldface 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 numbet
arm two packages.
"The makings for Christmas din
ner," he said with a grin.
Mrs. Olson thawed out the pudding
and the chocolates in the oven an(
made a kind of mush out of some
oats Pete had saved from the horse
feed. They ate their one-sided mea
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.
saltwater broke up the chairs fo
fuel and demolished the legs of thu
table, after which he lay down befor'
the stove and fell at once into a sod
den sleep.
Presently Mrs. Olson lay down OF
the bed and began to snore regularly
Sheba could not sleep. The board
tired her bones and she was cold
Sometimes she slipped into cat nap
that were full of bad dreams. Whel
she wakened with START it was to fin'
that the fire had died down. She wa
shivering from lack Of cover. Qui
city the girl replensshed the fire ant
lay down again.
When she wakeped with a start
was morning. A faint light sifte'
through the single window Of tn
shack. Sheba whispered to the olde
woman that she was going out for
little walk.
AS she worked her way down tn
gulch Sheba wondered whether tn
news of their loss had reached Ku
siak. Were search parties out alread
to rescue them? Colby Macdonald
had gone into the blizzard years ago t
save her father. Perhaps he Nigh
have been out all night trying to say
her fathers daughter. Peter would &C
of course-and Gordon Elliot. TIL
work in the mines would stop an
men would volunteer. by scores. Tha
was one fine thing about the Nortf
: 1t responded to the unwritten la,
, that man must risk his own life t
save others.
From a little knoll Sheba locke
down upon the top Of the stage thre
hundred yards below her, and Will
she stood there the promise Of tn
new day was blazoned on the sky.
| came with amazing beauty of gree
and primrose and amethyst, while tn
, stars flickered out and the heaven
| took on the blue of sunrise. She drev
, deep, slow breath of alteration an
, turned away. AS she did so her eye
dilated and her body grew rigid.
, Across the snow waste man wa
/ coming. He was moving toward th
! cabin and must cross the trench clos
to her. The heart Of the girl stopped
: then beat wildly to make up the los
| stroke. He had come through the bli;
: card to save her.
At that very instant, as If the stag
t had been set for it, the wonderfl
! Alaska sun pushed up into the crotc
of the peaks and poured its radianc
: over the Arctic waste. The pink glO'
2 swept in a tide Of delicate color owe
{ the snow and transmitted it to mi
, lions of sparkling diamonds. Th
Great Magician's wand had recreate
!, the world instantaneously.
4 CHAPTER XXI.
TWO on the Trail.
b Elliot and Holt left Kusiak in