Year: 1874

| In the 0lllS DaCK OF Ln0 GOlue1 farK ld5J Week,
jack rabbit came along, aud stopped to look
| at US.


"If 1 had thought to bring my revolver along
we would have jack on toast for breakfast tc-
morrow" l remarked.


"Not with my consent" he replied.


"What reason can you give for not consent
ing"


GA rabbit saved my life, and have not kill
ed one since, and will never kill one again"
"How did he manage to save your life?"


"Three years ago | was living in Montana
A smelter had just been built, and it created
demand for silver rock. owned an interestin
| a lead that had been sunk on 30 feet. Think
ing the time had come to make it available,
concluded to go there and get some one AMI
have it tested. did SO; and reached the place
just in time to take shelter in the mine from
terrible hailstorm. lighted 10y candle, went
to the bottom and went to work. had not
been there more than i've minutes when heard
a noise that sounded like cannon. The rock
over my head shook, and in a moment the shaft
| behind me caved. You can imagine my feel
| ings better than | can describe them, when l.
found myself buried alive. fStrainhie even a u
this distant day when think OF that moment.
The roof of the shaft was rocks, and when they
came down they did not pack so tight bat what
| the air came through. There was nothing that
l could do to release myself. l knew that if
relief did not come from the outside must per-
| ish. No one knew l was there. A road
| past the mouth of the shaft; but it was not
travelled much, and was not likely to attract
attention by calling; new rtheless, | shouted
at intervals ali day. The following morning
commenced calling again; and all day, when
ever thought heard sound, shouted.


"When night came again all hopes of being
released had abandoned me. One thing added
| great bitterness to my sulierings. owed quite
a large amount of money. and, should my fate
remain unknown, my creditors would think !
had fed to defraud them, and my name would
be stgmatized.


81 will not dwell on the agonies | endured
l am sorry l cannot forget them.


"The morning OF the fourth day of my i'm
pfisonment heard something crawl into my
grave. lighted my candle and saw rabbit.
There was only one aperture large enough to
admit him !; l closed it to prevent his escape
saw in him food to appease my hunger, and
my hand was raised to him, when thought oc
CURED to me that prevented the blow from de-
| scendIng. l had two fish lines; their united
| length would reach to the road. took off my
shirt, tore it into strings, tied them together,
| and on to the fish line. | wore a long, gold
watch chain 1 tied it on to the part of the line
that would cross the road. then cut several
leaves from my diary, wrote on them my con-
dition, and tied them on to that part Of the line
| that would be outside. | then tied the end
made out of my shirt around Jacks neck and
| let him out. He soon reached the end of the
| line, and knew by the way he was pulling
that he was making desperate attempts to es-
cape. Soon the tugging stopped, and knowing
| gnawing to be Jacks chief accom- plishment,
thought he had cut himself loose. About three
hours afterward l felt the line pulled, and
some ono called; l tried to answer, but the
| hoarse noise made died in the cavern. l then
pulled the line to show that was not dead
Gall grew still again, and knew the man
had gone for assistance. Then came the sound
of voices pulled in the line, and it brought
IL
the shaft nine hours to reach me.
ga very large pine tree that stood near the
shaft had been the cause of my misfortune. 1t
had been dead a number of years, and the
storm had blown it over. The terrible blow it
struck the ground had caused the cave
"Jack had wound the line around the bush,
and tied himself so short that he was imprison-
ed outside as securely as I had been inside
He was taken to town, put in large cage, and
supplied with all the rabbit delicacies the
market afforded. He, however, did not thrive,
and the boys, believing that he 'pned in
thought voted to set him free. He taken
back to his old grdling grounds and liberated.


"He not only saved my life, but became the
benefactor of all the rabbits in the neighbor-
hood--the miners refraining from shooting any,
fearing it nigh be him."--San Francisco Golden
Era.