Gunnison news-champion., 1919-01-17
.IYhat dld he sar7n l nsken.

york here. He thinks / ought to took
rou out o. school long ago"
81 can stay out O. school and keep
m with my lessons" l said.
Not an please him. He was mad
when he see ye with book in yer
land out there in the cOrn-field."
What were we to do now? l spent
he first sad night of my life undoing
he plans which had been so dear 10
ne but not so dear as my aunt and
Incle. l decided to give all my life
md strength to The saving of the
arm. l would still. try to be great,
,ut not as great as the Senator.
One day in December of that year,
had my first trial in the full respnn-
Ibility of mans work. l was allowed
% load and harness and hitch up and
70 TO the mill without assistance. My
Incle and Purvis, our hired man, were
)usy with the chOpping and we were
)ut of flour and meal. 1t took 4 lot
IF them to keep the axes going. So
filled two sacks with corn and two
NTH wheat and put them into the
and hitched up my horses and SET out.
| reached the mill safely and be-
ore the grain was ground the earth
aud the sky above were white with
snow driving down in a cold, stiff
Wind out of the northwest. | loadrd
ny gristS and covered them with a
blanket and hurried away. The snow
came so fast that it almost blinded
ne. There were times when | could
scarcely see the road or the horses.
The wind came colder and soon it
was hard work to hold the reins and
ieep my hands from freezing.
Suddenly the wheels began jumping
over rocks. The horses were in the
hitch. | knew what was the matter,
or my eyes had been filling with snow
md had had to brush them often. OF
curse the team had suffered in like
manner Before l could stop l heard
he crack of a felly and front wheel
lroppcd to its hub. l checked the
horses and jumped out and went to
heir heads and cleared their eyes. The
Elow was up TO my knees then.
How the thought of that broken
wheel smote me! 1t was our only
acavy wagon. and we having to pay
he mortgage, What would my uncle
say? The query brought tears to my
eyes.
unhitched and led my horses up
nto the cover of the pines. How CRATE
ful 1t seemed, for the wind was slack
below but bowling in the treetOps! 1
knew that l was four miles from home
and knew not how was to get there.
Chilled to the bone, l gathered some
pitch pine and soon had fire going
with my flint and finder. | knew that
could mount one of the horses and
lead the other and reach home prob
ably. But there was the GGi*t. We
leeded that: | knew that we should
nave to go hungry without the Crist.
1t would get wet from above and be-
low if tried to carry il on The back
Of a horse. l warmed myself by the
ire and hitChCd my team near il 50 as
TO thaw the frost out Of their foreiocis
and eyebrows. felt in my coat p0ck-
ats and found handful of nails
everybody carried nails in one nnc!iet
In those dayS-und ] remember that
ny uncle's pockets We're q museum Of
oolts and nuts and screws and wash
ars.
The idea occurred 10 me thnt l would
make a kind Of sled which was called
jumper.
So l got my AK out Of the wagon
and soon found couple If small trees
with the right crook for the forward
end of a runner, and cut them and
hewed their bottoms as smoothly as
could. Then | made notchcS in them
near the top of their crooks and fitted
stout stick into the nOtcheS and Sc
cured it with nails driven by the AK
head. Thus | got mold for my evener.
That done, l chopped and hewed an
arch to cross the middle of the run
ners and hold them apart and used
all my nails to secure and brace it.
got the two boards which were fas-
tened together and constituted my
wagon seat and laid them over the
arch and front brace. How to make
them fast was my worst problem. 1
succeeded in splitting a green stick
to hold the bolt of the evener just I'M
der its head while l heated its lower
end In the fire and kept its head cool
with snow. With this l burnt hole
IN the end of each board and fastened
them to the front brace with withes of
mOOSewOod.
1t was late in the day and there was
no time for the slow process of burn
ng more holes, so l notched the other
ends of the boards and lashed them to
the rear brace with length of my
reinS. Then | retempered my bolt and
brought up the grist and chain and
fastened the latter between the boards
in the middle of the front brace,
hitched my team to the chain and set
out again, sitting on the bags.
1t was pitch dark and the horses