[Illustration]
When the little party, consisting of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, Mr.
Enderton, my newly made wife, and myself, with the red-bearded coxswain
and the two sailormen, bade farewell to that island in the Pacific where
so many happy hours had been passed, where such pleasant friendships had
been formed, and where I had met my Ruth and made her my wife, we rowed
away with a bright sky over our heads, a pleasant wind behind us, and a
smooth sea beneath us. The long-boat was comfortable and well appointed,
and there was even room enough in it for Mr. Enderton to stretch himself
out and take a noonday nap. We gave him every advantage of this kind,
for we had found by experience that our party was happiest when my
father-in-law was best contented.
Early in the forenoon the coxswain rigged a small sail in the bow of the
boat, and with this aid to our steady and systematic work at the oars
we reached, just before nightfall, the large island whither we were
bound, and to which, by means of the coxswain's pocket-compass, we had
steered a direct course. Our arrival on this island, which was inhabited
by some white traders and a moderate population of natives, occasioned
great surprise; for when the boats containing the crew and passengers of
our unfortunate steamer had reached the island, it was found that Mrs.
Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and myself were missing. There were many
suppositions as to our fate. Some persons thought we had been afraid to
leave the steamer, and, having secreted ourselves on board, had gone
down with her. Others conjectured that in the darkness we had fallen
overboard, either from the steamer or from one of the boats; and there
was even a surmise that we might have embarked in the leaky small
boat—in which we really did leave the steamer—and so had been lost. At
any rate, we had disappeared, and our loss was a good deal talked about
and, in a manner, mourned. In less than a week after their arrival the
people from the steamer had been taken on board a sailing-vessel and
carried westward to their destination.
We, however, were not so fortunate, for we remained on this island for
more than a month. During this time but one ship touched there, and she
was western bound and of no use to us, for we had determined to return
to America. Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine had given up their journey to
Japan, and were anxious to reach once more their country homes, while my
dear Ruth and I were filled with a desire to found a home on some
pleasant portion of the Atlantic seaboard. What Mr. Enderton intended to
do we did not know. He was on his way to the United States when he left
the leaking ship on which he and his daughter were passengers, and his
intentions regarding his journey did not appear to have been altered by
his mishaps.
By the western-bound vessel, however, Mrs. Aleshine sent a letter to her
son.
Our life on this island was monotonous and to the majority of the party
uninteresting; but as it was the scene of our honeymoon, Mrs. Craig and
I will always look back to it with the most pleasurable recollections.
We were comfortably lodged in a house belonging to one of the traders,
and although Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine had no household duties to
occupy their time, they managed to supply themselves with
knitting-materials from the stores on the island, and filled up their
hours of waiting with chatty industry. The pipes of our sailor friends
were always well filled, while the sands of the island were warm and
pleasant for their backs, and it was only Mr. Enderton who showed any
signs of impatient repining at our enforced stay. He growled, he
grumbled, and he inveighed against the criminal neglect of steamship
companies and the owners of sailing-craft in not making it compulsory in
every one of their vessels to stop on every voyage at this island,
where, at any time, intelligent and important personages might be
stranded.
At last, however, we were taken off by a three-masted schooner bound for
San Francisco, at which city we arrived in due time and in good health
and condition.
We did not remain long in this city, but soon started on our way across
the continent, leaving behind us our three sailor companions, who
intended to ship from this port as soon as an advantageous opportunity
offered itself. These men heard no news of their vessel, although they
felt quite sure that she had reached Honolulu, where she had probably
been condemned and the crew scattered. As some baggage belonging to my
wife and my father-in-law had been left on board this vessel, I had
hopes that Mr. Enderton would remain in San Francisco and order it
forwarded to him there; or that he would even take a trip to Honolulu to
attend to the matter personally. But in this I was disappointed. He
seemed to take very little interest in his missing trunks, and wished
only to press on to the East. I wrote to Honolulu, desiring the
necessary steps to be taken to forward the baggage in case it had
arrived there; and soon afterward our party of five started eastward.
It was now autumn, but, although we desired to reach the end of our
journey before winter set in, we felt that we had time enough to visit
some of the natural wonders of the California country before taking up
our direct course to the East. Therefore, in spite of some petulant
remonstrances on the part of Mr. Enderton, we made several trips to
points of interest.
From the last of these excursions we set out in a stage-coach, of which
we were the only occupants, toward a point on the railroad where we
expected to take a train. On the way we stopped to change horses at a
small stage-station at the foot of a range of mountains; and when I
descended from the coach I found the driver and some of the men at the
station discussing the subject of our route. It appeared that there were
two roads, one of which gradually ascended the mountain for several
miles, and then descended to the level of the railroad, by the side of
which it ran until it reached the station where we wished to take the
train. The other road pursued its way along a valley or notch in the
mountain for a considerable distance, and then, by a short but somewhat
steep ascending grade, joined the upper road.
It was growing quite cold, and the sky and the wind indicated that bad
weather might be expected; and as the upper road was considered the
better one at such a time, our driver concluded to take it. Six horses,
instead of four, were now attached to our stage; and as two of these
animals were young and unruly, and promised to be unusually difficult to
drive in the ordinary way, our driver concluded to ride one of the
wheel-horses, postilion fashion, and to put a boy on one of the leaders.
Mr. Enderton was very much afraid of horses, and objected strongly to
the young animals in our new team. But there were no others to take
their places, and his protests were disregarded.
My wife and I occupied a back seat, having been ordered to take this
comfortable position by Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, who had
constituted themselves a board of instruction and admonition to Mrs.
Craig, and incidentally to myself. They fancied that my wife's health
was not vigorous, and that she needed coddling, and if she had had two
mothers she could not have been more tenderly cared for than by these
good women. They sat upon the middle seat with their faces toward the
horses, while Mr. Enderton had the front seat all to himself. He was,
however, so nervous and fidgety, continually twisting himself about
endeavoring to get a view of the horses or of the bad places on the
road, that Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine found that a position facing him
and in close juxtaposition was entirely too uncomfortable; and
consequently, the back of their seat being adjustable, they turned
themselves about and faced us.
The ascent of the mountain was slow and tedious, and it was late in the
afternoon when we reached the highest point in our route, from which the
road descended for some eight miles to the level of the railroad. Now
our pace became rapid, and Mr. Enderton grew wildly excited. He threw
open the window, and shouted to the driver to go more slowly; but Mrs.
Lecks seized him by the coat and jerked him back on his seat before he
could get any answer to his appeals.
"If you want your daughter to ketch her death o' cold you'll keep that
window open!" As she said this, she leaned back and pulled the window
down with her own strong right arm. "I guess the driver knows what he is
about," she continued, "this not bein' the first time he's gone over the
road."
"Am I to understand, madam," said Mr. Enderton, "that I am not to speak
to my driver when I wish him to know my will?"
To this question Mrs. Lecks made no answer, but sat up very straight and
stiff, with her back square upon the speaker. For some time she and Mr.
Enderton had been "out," and she made no effort to conceal the fact.
Mr. Enderton's condition now became pitiable, for our rapid speed and
the bumping over rough places in the road seemed almost to deprive him
of his wits, notwithstanding my assurance that stage-coaches were
generally driven at a rapid rate down long inclines. In a short time,
however, we reached a level spot in the road, and the team was drawn up
and stopped. Mr. Enderton popped out in a moment, and I also got down to
have a talk with the driver.
[Illustration: "THE ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS SLOW AND TEDIOUS."]
"These hosses won't do much at holdin' back," he said, "and it worries
'em less to let 'em go ahead with the wheels locked. You needn't be
afraid. If nothin' breaks, we're all right."
Mr. Enderton seemed endeavoring to satisfy himself that everything about
the running-gear of the coach was in a safe condition. He examined the
wheels, the axles, and the whiffletrees, much to the amusement of the
driver, who remarked to me that the old chap probably knew as much now
as he did before. I was rather surprised that my father-in-law subjected
the driver to no further condemnation. On the contrary, he said nothing
except that for the rest of this downhill drive he should take his place
on the driver's unoccupied seat. Nobody offered any objection to this,
and up he climbed.
When we started again, Ruth seemed disturbed that her father should be
in such an exposed position, but I assured her that he would be
perfectly safe, and would be much better satisfied at being able to see
for himself what was going on.
We now began to go downhill again at a rate as rapid as before. Our
speed, however, was not equal. Sometimes it would slacken a little where
the road was heavy or more upon a level, and then we would go jolting
and rattling over some long downward stretch. After a particularly
unpleasant descent of this kind the coach seemed suddenly to change its
direction, and with a twist and an uplifting of one side it bumped
heavily against something, and stopped. I heard a great shout outside,
and from a window which now commanded a view of the road I saw our team
of six horses, with the drivers pulling and tugging at the two they
rode, madly running away at the top of their speed.
Ruth, who had been thrown by the shock into the arms of Mrs. Aleshine,
was dreadfully frightened, and screamed for her father. I had been
pitched forward upon Mrs. Lecks, but I quickly recovered myself, and as
soon as I found that none of the occupants of the coach had been hurt, I
opened the door and sprang out.
In the middle of the road stood Mr. Enderton, entirely uninjured, with a
jubilant expression on his face, and in one hand a large closed
umbrella.
"What has happened?" I exclaimed, hurrying around to the front of the
coach, where I saw that the pole had been broken off about the middle of
its length.
"Nothing has happened, sir," replied Mr. Enderton. "You cannot speak of
a wise and discreet act, determinately performed, as a thing which has
happened. We have been saved, sir, from being dashed to pieces behind
that wild and unmanageable team of horses; and I will add that we have
been saved by my forethought and prompt action."
[Illustration: "'WHAT HAS HAPPENED?' I EXCLAIMED."]
I turned and looked at him in astonishment. "What do you mean?" I said.
"What could you have had to do with this accident?"
"Allow me to repeat," said Mr. Enderton, "that it was not an accident.
The moment that we began to go downhill I perceived that we were in a
position of the greatest danger. The driver was reckless, the boy
incompetent, and the horses unmanageable. As my remonstrances and
counsels had no effect upon the man, and as you seemed to have no desire
to join me in efforts to restrain him to a more prudent rate of speed, I
determined to take the affair into my own hands. I knew that the first
thing to be done was to rid ourselves of those horses. So long as we
were connected with them disaster was imminent. I knew exactly what
ought to be done. The horses must be detached from the coach. I had
read, sir, of inventions especially intended to detach runaway horses
from a vehicle. To all intents and purposes our horses were runaways, or
would have become so in a very short time. I now made it my object to
free ourselves from those horses."
"What!" I exclaimed. "You freed us?"
"Yes, sir," he answered; "I did. I got out at our first stop, and
thoroughly examined the carriage attachments. I found that the movable
bar to which the whiffletrees were attached was connected to the vehicle
by two straps and a bolt, the latter having a ring at the top and an
iron nut at the bottom. While you and that reckless driver were talking
together, and paying no attention to me, the only person in the party
who thoroughly comprehended our danger, I unbuckled those straps, and
with my strong, nervous fingers, without the aid of implements, I
unscrewed the nut from the bolt. Then, sir, I took my seat on the
outside of the coach, and felt that I held our safety in my own hands.
For a time I allowed our vehicle to proceed; but when we approached
this long slope which stretches before us, and our horses showed signs
of increasing impetuosity, I leaned forward, hooked the handle of my
umbrella in the ring of the bolt, and with a mighty effort jerked it
out. I admit to you, sir, that I had overlooked the fact that the horses
were also attached to the end of the pole, but I have often noticed that
when we are discreet in judgment and prompt in action we are also
fortunate. Thus was I fortunate. The hindermost horses, suddenly
released, rushed upon those in front of them, and, in a manner, jumbled
up the whole team, which seemed to throw the animals into such terror
that they dashed to one side and snapped off the pole, after which they
went madly tearing down the road, entirely beyond the control of the two
riders. Our coach turned and ran into the side of the road with but a
moderate concussion, and as I looked at those flying steeds, with their
riders vainly endeavoring to restrain them, I could not, sir, keep down
an emotion of pride that I had been instrumental in freeing myself, my
daughter, and my traveling companions from their dangerous proximity."
The speaker ceased, a smile of conscious merit upon his face. For the
moment I could not say a word to him, I was so angry. But had I been
able to say or do anything to indicate the wild indignation that filled
my brain, I should have had no opportunity, for Mrs. Lecks stepped up to
me and took me by the arm. Her face was very stern, and her expression
gave one the idea of the rigidity of Bessemer steel.
"I've heard what has been said," she remarked, "and I wish to talk to
this man. Your wife is over there with Mrs. Aleshine. Will you please
take a walk with her along the road? You may stay away for a quarter of
an hour."
"Madam," said Mr. Enderton, "I do not wish to talk to you."
"I didn't ask you whether you did or not," said Mrs. Lecks. "Mr. Craig,
will you please get your wife away as quick and as far as you can?"
I took the hint, and, with Ruth on my arm, walked rapidly down the road.
She was very glad to go, for she had been much frightened, and wanted to
be alone with me to have me explain to her what had occurred. Mrs.
Lecks, imagining from the expression of his countenance that Mr.
Enderton had, in some way, been at the bottom of the trouble, and
fearing that she should not be able to restrain her indignation when she
found how he had done it, had ordered Mrs. Aleshine to keep Ruth away
from her father. This action had increased the poor girl's anxiety, and
she was glad enough to have me take her away and tell her all about our
accident.
I did tell her all that had happened, speaking as mildly as I could of
Mr. Enderton's conduct. Poor Ruth burst into tears.
"I do wish," she exclaimed, "that father would travel by himself! He is
so nervous, and so easily frightened, that I am sure he would be happier
when he could attend to his safety in his own way; and I know, too, that
we should be happier without him."
I agreed most heartily with these sentiments, although I did not deem it
necessary to say so, and Ruth now asked me what I supposed would become
of us.
"If nothing happens to the driver and the boy," I replied, "I suppose
they will go on until they get to the station to which we were bound,
and there they will procure a pole, if such a thing can be found, or,
perhaps, get another coach, and come back for us. It would be useless
for them to return to our coach in its present condition."
"And how soon do you think they will come back?" she said.
"Not for some hours," I replied. "The driver told me there were no
houses between the place where we last stopped and the railroad-station,
and I am sure he will not turn back until he reaches a place where he
can get either a new pole or another vehicle."
Ruth and I walked to a turn at the bottom of the long hill down which
our runaway steeds had sped. At this point we had an extended view of
the road as it wound along the mountain-side, but we could see no signs
of our horses, nor of any living thing. I did not, in fact, expect to
see our team, for it would be foolish in the driver to come back until
he was prepared to do something for us, and even if he had succeeded in
controlling the runaway beasts, the quicker he got down the mountain the
better.
By the time we had returned we had taken quite a long walk, but we were
glad of it, for the exercise tranquilized us both. On our way back we
noticed that a road which seemed to come up from below us joined the one
we were on a short distance from the place where our accident occurred.
This, probably, was the lower road which had been spoken of when we
changed horses.
We found Mr. Enderton standing by himself. His face was of the hue of
wood-ashes, his expression haggard. He reminded me of a man who had
fallen from a considerable height, and who had been frightened and
stupefied by the shock. I comprehended the situation without difficulty,
and felt quite sure that had he had the choice he would have much
preferred a thrashing to the plain talk he had heard from Mrs. Lecks.
"What is the matter, father?" exclaimed Ruth. "Were you hurt?"
Mr. Enderton looked in a dazed way at his daughter, and it was some
moments before he appeared to have heard what she said. Then he answered
abruptly: "Hurt? Oh, no! I am not hurt in the least. I was just thinking
of something. I shall walk on to the village or town, whichever it is,
to which that man was taking us. It cannot be more than seven or eight
miles away, if that. The road is downhill, and I can easily reach the
place before nightfall. I will then personally attend to your rescue,
and will see that a vehicle is immediately sent to you. There is no
trusting these ignorant drivers. No," he continued, deprecatingly
raising his hand; "do not attempt to dissuade me. Your safety and that
of others is always my first care. Exertion is nothing."
Without further words, and paying no attention to the remonstrances of
his daughter, he strode off down the road.
I was very glad to see him go. At any time his presence was undesirable
to me, and under the present circumstances it would be more
objectionable than ever. He was a good walker, and there was no doubt he
would easily reach the station, where he might possibly be of some use
to us.
Mrs. Lecks was sitting on a stone by the roadside. Her face was still
stern and rigid, but there was an expression of satisfaction upon it
which had not been there when I left her. Ruth went to the coach to get
a shawl, and I said to Mrs. Lecks:
"I suppose you had your talk with Mr. Enderton?"
[Illustration: "MRS. LECKS WAS SITTING ON A STONE."]
"Talk!" she replied. "I should say so! If ever a man understands what
people think of him, and knows what he is, from his crown to his feet,
inside and outside, soul, body, bones, and skin, and what he may expect
in this world and the next, he knows it. I didn't keep to what he has
done for us this day. I went back to the first moment when he began to
growl at payin' his honest board on the island, and I didn't let him
off for a single sin that he has committed since. And now I feel that
I've done my duty as far as he is concerned; and havin' got through with
that, it's time we were lookin' about to see what we can do for
ourselves."
It was indeed time, for the day was drawing toward its close. For a
moment I had thought we would give Mr. Enderton a good start, and then
follow him down the mountain to the station. But a little reflection
showed me that this plan would not answer. Ruth was not strong enough to
walk so far, and although Mrs. Aleshine had plenty of vigor, she was too
plump to attempt such a tramp. Besides, the sky was so heavily overcast
that it was not safe to leave the shelter of the coach.
As might have been expected, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine took immediate
charge of the personal comfort of the party, and the first thing they
did was to make preparations for a meal. Fortunately, we had plenty of
provisions. Mrs. Aleshine had had charge of what she called our
lunch-baskets,—which were, indeed, much more like market-baskets than
anything else,—and having small faith in the resources of roadside
taverns, and great faith in the unlimited capabilities of Mr. Enderton
in the matter of consuming food on a journey, she had provided
bounteously and even extravagantly.
One side of the road was bordered by a forest, and on the ground was an
abundance of dead wood. I gathered a quantity of this, and made a fire,
which was very grateful to us, for the air was growing colder and
colder. When we had eaten a substantial supper and had thoroughly
warmed ourselves at the fire, we got into the coach to sit there and
wait until relief should come. We sat for a long time—all night, in
fact. We were not uncomfortable, for we each had a corner of the coach,
and we were plentifully provided with wraps and rugs.
Contrary to their usual habit, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine did not talk
much. When subjected to the annoyances of an ordinary accident, even if
it should have been the result of carelessness, their disposition would
have prompted them to take events as they came, and to make the best of
whatever might happen to them. But this case was entirely different. We
were stranded and abandoned on the road, on the side of a lonely,
desolate mountain, on a cold, bleak night; and all this was the result
of what they considered the deliberate and fiendish act of a man who was
afraid of horses, and who cared for no one in the world but himself.
Their minds were in such a condition that if they said anything they
must vituperate, and they were so kindly disposed toward my wife, and
had such a tender regard for her feelings, that they would not, in her
presence, vituperate her father. So they said very little, and, nestling
into their corners, were soon asleep.
After a time Ruth followed their example, and, though I was very
anxiously watching out of the window for an approaching light, and
listening for the sound of wheels, I, too, fell into a doze. It must
have been ten or eleven o'clock when I was awakened by some delicate but
cold touches on my face, the nature of which, when I first opened my
eyes, I could not comprehend. But I soon understood what these cold
touches meant. The window in the door of the coach on my side had been
slightly lowered from the top to give us air, and through the narrow
aperture the cold particles had come floating in. I looked through the
window. The night was not very dark, for, although the sky was overcast,
the moon was in its second quarter, and I could plainly see that it was
snowing, and that the ground was already white.
This discovery sent a chill into my soul, for I was not unfamiliar with
snows in mountain regions, and knew well what this might mean to us. But
there was nothing that we could now do, and it would be useless and
foolish to awaken my companions and distress them with this new
disaster. Besides, I thought our situation might not be so very bad,
after all. It was not yet winter, and the snowfall might prove to be but
a light one. I gently closed the window, and made my body comfortable in
its corner; but my mind continued very uncomfortable for I do not know
how long.
When I awoke I found that there had been a heavy fall of snow in the
night, and that the flakes were still coming down thick and fast. When
Ruth first looked out upon the scene she was startled and dismayed. She
was not accustomed to storms of this kind, and the snow frightened her.
Upon Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine the sight of the storm produced an
entirely different effect. Here was a difficulty, a discomfort, a
hardship; but it came in a natural way, and not by the hand of a
dastardly coward of a man. With natural-happening difficulties they were
accustomed to combat without fear or repining. They knew all about
snow, and were not frightened by this storm. The difficulties which it
presented to their minds actually raised their spirits, and from the
grim and quiet beings of the last evening they became the same cheerful,
dauntless, ready women that I had known before.
"Upon my word," exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, as she clapped her face to a
window of the coach, "if this isn't a reg'lar old-fashioned snow-storm!
I've shoveled my own way through many a one like it to git to the barn
to do my milkin' afore the men-folks had begun makin' paths, and I feel
jus' like as though I could do it ag'in."
"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "if you're thinkin' of
shovelin' your way from this place to where your cows is, you'd better
step right out and get at it, and I really do think that if you felt
they were sufferin' for want of milkin' you'd make a start."
"I don't say," answered Mrs. Aleshine, with an illuminating grin, "that
if the case was that way I mightn't have the hankerin', though not the
capableness; but I don't know that there's any place to shovel our way
to, jus' now."
Mrs. Lecks and I thought differently. Across the road, under the great
trees, the ground was comparatively free from snow, and in some places,
owing to the heavy evergreen foliage, it was entirely bare. It was very
desirable that we should get to one of these spots and build a fire,
for, though we had been well wrapped up, we all felt numbed and cold. In
the boot at the back of the coach I knew that there was an ax, and I
thought I might possibly find there a shovel. I opened the coach door,
and saw that the snow was already above the lower step. By standing on
the spokes of the back wheel I could easily get at the boot, and I soon
pulled out the ax, but found no shovel. But this did not deter me. I
made my way to the front wheel, and climbed up to the driver's box,
where I knocked off one of the thin planks of the foot-board, and this,
with the ax, I shaped into a rude shovel, with a handle rather too wide,
but serviceable. With this I went vigorously to work, and soon had made
a pathway across the road. Here I chopped off some low dead branches,
picked up others, and soon had a crackling fire, around which my three
companions gathered with delight.
A strong wind was now blowing, and the snow began to form into heavy
drifts. The fire was very cheery and pleasant, but the wind was cutting,
and we soon returned to the shelter of the coach, where we had our
breakfast. This was not altogether a cold meal, for Mrs. Aleshine had
provided a little tea-kettle, and, with some snow-water which I brought
in boiling from the fire in the woods, we had all the hot and comforting
tea we wanted.
We passed the morning waiting and looking out, and wondering what sort
of conveyance would be sent for us. It was generally agreed that nothing
on wheels could now be got over the road, and that we must be taken away
in a sleigh.
"I like sleigh-ridin'," said Mrs. Aleshine, "if you're well wrapped up,
with good hosses, and a hot brick for your feet; but I must say I don't
know but what I'm goin' to be a little skeery goin' down these long
hills. If we git fairly slidin', hosses, sleigh, and all together,
there's no knowin' where we'll fetch up."
[Illustration: "I SOON HAD A CRACKLING FIRE."]
"There's one comfort, Barb'ry," remarked Mrs. Lecks, "and that is that
when we do fetch up it'll be at the bottom of the hills, and not at the
top; and as the bottom is what we want to get to, we oughtn't to
complain."
"That depends a good deal whether we come down hind part foremost, or
fore part front. But nobody's complainin' so fur, 'specially as the
sleigh isn't here."
I joined in the outlooking and the conjectures, but I could not keep up
the cheerful courage which animated my companions; for not only were the
two elder women bright and cheery, but Ruth seemed to be animated and
encouraged by their example, and showed herself as brave and contented
as either of them. She was convinced that her father must have reached
the railroad-station before it began to snow, and therefore she was
troubled by no fears for his safety. But my mind was filled with many
fears.
The snow was still coming down thick and fast, and the wind was piling
it into great drifts, one of which was forming between the coach and a
low embankment on that side of the road near which it stood.
About every half-hour I took my shovel and cleared out the path across
the road from the other side of the coach to the woods. Several times
after doing this I made my way among the trees, where the snow did not
impede my progress, to points from which I had a view some distance down
the mountain; and I could plainly see that there were several places
where the road was blocked up by huge snow-drifts. It would be a slow,
laborious, and difficult undertaking for any relief-party to come to us
from the station; and who was there at that place to come? This was the
question which most troubled me. The settlement at the station was
probably a very small one, and that there should be found at that place
a sleigh or a sled with enough men to form a party sufficiently strong
to open a road up the mountain-side was scarcely to be expected. Men and
vehicles might be obtained at some point farther along the railroad, but
action of this kind would require time, and it was not unlikely that the
railroad itself was blocked up with snow. I could form no idea
satisfactory to myself of any plan by which relief could come to us that
day. Even the advent of a messenger on horseback was not to be expected.
Such an adventurer would be lost in the storm and among the drifts. On
the morrow relief might come, but I did not like to think too much about
the morrow; and of any of my thoughts and fears I said nothing to my
companions.
At intervals, after I had freshly cleared out the pathway, the three
women, well bundled up, ran across the road to the fire under the trees.
This was the only way in which they could keep themselves warm, for the
coach, although it protected us from the storm, was a very cold place to
sit in. But the wind and the snow which frequently drove in under the
trees made it impossible to stay very long by the fire, and the frequent
passages to and from the coach were attended with much exposure and
wetting of feet. I therefore determined that some better way must be
devised for keeping ourselves warm; and, shortly after our noonday meal,
I thought of a plan, and immediately set to work to carry it out.
The drift between the coach and the embankment had now risen higher than
the top of the vehicle, against one side of which it was tightly packed.
I dug a path around the back of the coach, and then began to tunnel into
the huge bank of snow. In about an hour I had made an excavation nearly
high enough for me to stand in, and close to the stage door on that
side; and I cleared away the snow so that this door could open into the
cavern I had formed. At the end opposite the entrance of my cave, I
worked a hole upward until I reached the outer air. This hole was, about
a foot in diameter, and for some time the light, unpacked snow from
above kept falling and filling it up; but I managed, by packing and
beating the sides with my shovel, to get the whole into a condition in
which it would retain the form of a rude chimney.
Now I hurried to bring wood and twigs, and having made a hearth of green
sticks, which I cut with my ax, I built a fire in this snowy fireplace.
Mrs. Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and Ruth had been watching my proceedings
with great interest; and when the fire began to burn, and the smoke to
go out of my chimney, the coach door was opened, and the genial heat
gradually pervaded the vehicle.
"Upon my word," exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, "if that isn't one of the
brightest ideas I ever heard of! A fire in the middle of a snowbank,
with a man there attendin' to it, an' a chimney! 'T isn't every day that
you can see a thing like that!"
"I should hope not," remarked Mrs. Lecks, "for if the snow drifted this
way every day, I'd be ready to give up the seein' business out and out!
But I think, Mr. Craig, you ought to pass that shovel in to us so that
we can dig you out when the fire begins to melt your little house and it
all caves in on you."
"You can have the shovel," said I, "but I don't believe this snowbank
will cave in on me. Of course the heat will melt the snow, but I think
it will dissolve gradually, so that the caving in, if there is any,
won't be of much account, and then we shall have a big open space here
in which we can keep up our fire."
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Ruth, "you talk as if you expected to stay here
ever so long, and we certainly can't do that. We should starve to death,
for one thing."
"Don't be afraid of that," said Mrs. Aleshine. "There's plenty of
victuals to last till the people come for us. When I pack baskets for
travelin' or picnickin', I don't do no scrimpin'. An' we've got to keep
up a fire, you know, for it wouldn't be pleasant for those men, when
they've cut a way up the mountain to git at us, to find us all froze
stiff."
Mrs. Lecks smiled. "You're awful tender of the feelin's of other people,
Barb'ry," she said, "and a heart as warm as yourn ought to keep from
freezin'."
"Which it has done, so far," said Mrs. Aleshine, complacently.
As I had expected, the water soon began to drip from the top and the
sides of my cavern, and the chimney rapidly enlarged its dimensions. I
made a passage for the melted snow to run off into a hollow, back of the
coach; and as I kept up a good strong fire, the drops of water and
occasional pieces of snow which fell into it were not able to extinguish
it. The cavern enlarged rapidly, and in a little more than an hour the
roof became so thin that while I was outside collecting wood it fell in
and extinguished the fire. This accident, however, interrupted my
operations but for a short time. I cleared away the snow at the bottom
of the excavation, and rebuilt my fire on the bare ground. The high snow
walls on three sides of it protected it from the wind, so that there was
no danger of the flames being blown against the stage-coach, while the
large open space above allowed a free vent for the smoke.
About the middle of the afternoon, to the great delight of us all, it
stopped snowing, and when I had freshly shoveled out the path across
the road, my companions gladly embraced the opportunity of walking over
to the comparatively protected ground under the trees and giving
themselves a little exercise. During their absence I was busily engaged
in arranging the fire, when I heard a low crunching sound on one side of
me, and, turning my head, I saw in the wall of my excavation opposite to
the stage-coach, and at a distance of four or five feet from the ground,
an irregular hole in the snow, about a foot in diameter, from which
protruded the head of a man. This head was wrapped, with the exception
of the face, in a brown woolen comforter. The features were those of a
man of about fifty, a little sallow and thin, without beard, whiskers,
or mustache, although the cheeks and chin were darkened with a recent
growth.
The astounding apparition of this head projecting itself from the snow
wall of my cabin utterly paralyzed me, so that I neither moved nor
spoke, but remained crouching by the fire, my eyes fixed upon the head.
It smiled a little, and then spoke.
"Could you lend me a small iron pot?" it said.
I rose to my feet, almost ready to run away. Was this a dream? Or was it
possible that there was a race of beings who inhabited snowbanks?
The face smiled again very pleasantly. "Do not be frightened," it said.
"I saw you were startled, and spoke first of a familiar pot in order to
reassure you."
"Who, in the name of Heaven, are you?" I gasped.
"I am only a traveler, sir," said the head, "who has met with an
accident similar, I imagine, to that which has befallen you. But I
cannot further converse with you in this position. Lying thus on my
breast in a tunnel of snow will injuriously chill me. Could you
conveniently lend me an iron pot?"
[Illustration: "'COULD YOU LEND ME A SMALL IRON POT?'"]
I was now convinced that this was an ordinary human being, and my
courage and senses returned to me; but my astonishment remained
boundless. "Before we talk of pots," I said, "I must know who you are,
and how you got into that snowbank."
"I do not believe," said my visitor, "that I can get down, head
foremost, to your level. I will therefore retire to my place of refuge,
and perhaps we can communicate with each other through this aperture."
"Can I get through to your place of refuge?" I asked.
"Certainly," was the answer. "You are young and active, and the descent
will not be so deep on my side. But I will first retire, and will then
project toward you this sheepskin rug, which, if kept under you as you
move forward, will protect your breast and arms from direct contact with
the snow."
It was difficult to scramble up into the hole, but I succeeded in doing
it, and found awaiting me the sheepskin rug, which, by the aid of an
umbrella, the man had pushed toward me for my use. I was in a horizontal
tunnel barely large enough for the passage of my body, and about six
feet in length. When I had worked my way through this, and had put my
head out of the other end, I looked into a small wooden shed, into which
light entered only through a pane of glass set in a rude door opposite
to me. I immediately perceived that the whole place was filled with the
odor of spirituous liquors. The man stood awaiting me, and by his
assistance I descended to the floor. As I did so I heard something
which sounded like a titter, and looking around I saw in a corner a
bundle of clothes and traveling-rugs, near the top of which appeared a
pair of eyes. Turning again, I could discern in another corner a second
bundle, similar to, but somewhat larger than, the other.
"These ladies are traveling with me," said the man, who was now wrapping
about him a large cloak, and who appeared to be of a tall though rather
slender figure. His manner and voice were those of a gentleman,
extremely courteous and considerate. "As I am sure you are curious—and
this I regard as quite natural, sir—to know why we are here, I will at
once proceed to inform you. We started yesterday in a carriage for the
railway-station, which is, I believe, some miles beyond this point.
There were two roads from the last place at which we stopped, and we
chose the one which ran along a valley, and which we supposed would be
the pleasanter of the two. We there engaged a pair of horses which did
not prove very serviceable animals, and, at a point about a hundred
yards from where we now are, one of them gave out entirely. The driver
declared that the only thing to be done was to turn loose the disabled
horse, which would be certain, in time, to find his way back to his
stable, and for him to proceed on the other animal to the station to
which we were going, where he would procure some fresh horses and return
as speedily as possible. To this plan we were obliged to consent, as
there was no alternative. He told us that if we did not care to remain
in the carriage, there was a shed by the side of the road, a little
farther on, which was erected for the accommodation of men who are
sometimes here in charge of relays of horses. After assuring us that he
would not be absent more than three hours, he rode away, and we have not
seen him since.
"Soon after he left us I came to this shed, and finding it tight and
comparatively comfortable, I concluded it would give us relief from our
somewhat cramped position in the carriage, and so conducted the ladies
here. As night drew on it became very cold, and I determined to make a
fire, a proceeding which, of course, would have been impossible in a
vehicle. Fortunately I had with me, at the back of the carriage, a case
of California brandy. By the aid of a stone I knocked the top off this
case, and brought hither several of the bottles. I found in the shed an
old tin pan, which I filled with the straw coverings of the bottles, and
on this I poured brandy, which, being ignited, produced a fire without
smoke, but which, as we gathered around it, gave out considerable heat."
As the speaker thus referred to his fuel, I understood the reason of the
strong odor of spirits which filled the shed, and I experienced a
certain relief in my mind.
The gentleman continued: "At first I attributed the delay of the
driver's return to those ordinary hindrances which so frequently occur
in rural and out-of-the-way places; but after a time I could not imagine
any reasonable cause for his delay. As it began to grow dark I brought
here our provision-baskets, and we partook of a slight repast. I then
made the ladies as comfortable as possible, and awaited with much
anxiety the return of the driver.
"After a time it began to snow, and feeling that the storm might
interrupt communication with the carriage, I brought hither, making many
trips for the purpose, the rest of the brandy, our wraps and rugs, and
the cushions of the carriage. I did not believe that we should be left
here all night, but thought it prudent to take all precautions, and to
prepare for remaining in a place where we could have a fire. The morning
showed me that I had acted wisely. As you know, sir, I found the road in
each direction completely blocked up by snow, and I have since been
unable to visit the carriage."
"Have you not all suffered from cold?" I inquired. "Have you food
enough?"
"I will not say," replied the gentleman, "that in addition to our
anxiety we have not suffered somewhat from cold, but for the greater
part of this day I have adopted a plan which has resulted in
considerable comfort to my companions. I have wrapped them up very
closely and warmly, and they hold in each hand a hard-boiled egg. I
thought it better to keep these for purposes of warmth than to eat them.
About every half-hour I reboil the eggs in a little traveling tea-pot
which we have. They retain their warmth for a considerable period, and
this warmth in a moderate degree is communicated through the hands to
the entire person."
As he said this a low laugh again burst forth from the bundle in one
corner of the room, and I could not help smiling at this odd way of
keeping warm. I looked toward the jocose bundle, and remarked that the
eggs must be pretty hard by this time.
"These ladies," said the gentleman, "are not accustomed to the cold
atmosphere of this region, and I have therefore forbidden them to talk,
hoping thus to prevent injury from the inhalation of frosty air. So far
we have not suffered, and we still have some food left. About noon I
noticed smoke floating over this shed, and I forced open the door and
made my way for some little distance outside, hoping to discover whence
it came. I then heard voices on the other side of the enormous
snow-drift behind us; but I could see no possible way of getting over
the drift. Feeling that I must, without fail, open communication with
any human beings who might be near us, I attempted to shout; but the
cold had so affected my voice that I could not do so. I thereupon set my
wits to work. At the back of this shed is a small window closed by a
wooden shutter. I opened this shutter, and found outside a wall of snow
packed closely against it. The snow was not very hard, and I believed
that it would not be difficult to tunnel a way through it to the place
where the voices seemed to be. I immediately set to work, for I feared
that if we were obliged to remain here another night without assistance
we should be compelled to-morrow morning to eat those four hard-boiled
eggs which the ladies are holding, and which, very shortly, I must boil
again."
"How did you manage to cut through the snow?" I asked. "Had you a
shovel?"
"Oh, no," replied the other. "I used the tin pan. I found it answered
very well as a scoop. Each time that I filled it I threw the contents
out of our door."
"It must have been slow and difficult work," I said.
"Indeed it was," he replied. "The labor was arduous, and occupied me
several hours. But when I saw a respectable man at a fire, and a
stage-coach near by, I felt rewarded for all my trouble. May I ask you,
sir, how you came to be thus snow-bound?"
I then briefly related the circumstances of our mishap, and had scarcely
finished when a shrill sound came through the tunnel into the shed. It
was the voice of Mrs. Aleshine.
"Hello!" she screamed, "are you in there? An' you don't mean to tell me
there are other people in that hole?"
Feeling quite certain that my wife and her companions were in a state of
mental agitation on the other side of the drift, I called back that I
would be with them in a moment, and then explained to the gentleman why
I could not remain with him longer. "But before I go," I said, "is there
anything I can do for you? Do you really want an iron pot?"
"The food that remains to us," he answered, "is fragmentary and rather
distasteful to the ladies, and I thought if I could make a little stew
of it, it might prove more acceptable to them. But do not let me detain
you another instant from your friends, and I advise you to go through
that tunnel feet foremost, for you might, otherwise, experience
difficulties in getting out at the other end."
I accepted his suggestion, and by his assistance and the help of the
rough window-frame, I got into the hole feet first, and soon ejected
myself into the midst of my alarmed companions. When they heard where I
had been, and what I had seen, they were naturally astounded.
"Another party deserted at this very point!" exclaimed Ruth, who was
both excitable and imaginative. "This looks like a conspiracy! Are we to
be robbed and murdered?"
At these words Mrs. Aleshine sprang toward me. "Mr. Craig," she
exclaimed, "if it's robbers, don't lose a minute! Never let 'em get
ahead of you! Pull out your pistol and fire through the hole!"
"Gracious me! Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "you don't suppose the
robbers is them poor unfortunates on the other side of the drift! And I
must say, Mrs. Craig, that if there was any such thing as a conspiracy,
your father must have been in it, for it was him who landed us just
here. But of course none of us supposes nothin' of that kind, and the
first thing we've got to think of is what we can do for them poor
people."
"They seem to have some food left, but not much," I said, "and I fear
they must be suffering from cold."
"Couldn't we poke some wood to them through this hole?" said Mrs.
Aleshine, whose combative feelings had changed to the deepest
compassion. "I should think they must be nearly froze, with nothin' to
warm 'em but hard-b'iled eggs."
I explained that there was no place in their shed where they could build
a fire, and proposed that we should give them some hot tea and some of
our provisions.
"That's so!" said Mrs. Aleshine. "Just shout in to them that if they'll
shove them eggs through the hole, I'll bile 'em fur 'em as often as they
want 'em."
"I've just got to say this," ejaculated Mrs. Lecks, as she and Mrs.
Aleshine were busily placing a portion of our now very much reduced
stock of provisions in the smallest of our baskets: "this is the first
time in my life that I ever heard of people warmin' themselves up with
hens' eggs and spirits, excep' when mixed up into egg-nog; and that they
resisted that temptation and contented themselves with plain honest
heat, though very little of it, shows what kind of people they must be.
And now, do you suppose we could slide this basket in without upsettin'
the little kittle?"
[Illustration: "WE WERE ABOUT TO SEND HIM A BASKET."]
I called to the gentleman that we were about to send him a basket, and
then, by the aid of an umbrella, I gently pushed it through the snow
tunnel to a point where he could reach it. Hearty thanks came back to us
through the hole, and when the basket and kettle were returned, we
prepared our own evening meal.
"For the life of me," said Mrs. Lecks, as she sipped a cup of tea, "I
can't imagine, if there was a shed so near us, why we didn't know it."
"That has been puzzling me," I replied; "but the other road, on which
the shed is built, is probably lower than this one, so that the upper
part of the shed could not have projected far above the embankment
between the two roads, and if there were weeds and dead grasses on the
bank, as there probably were, they would have prevented us from noticing
the top of a weather-worn shed."
"Especially," said Mrs. Lecks, "as we wasn't lookin' for sheds, and, as
far as I know, we wasn't lookin' for anything on that side of the coach,
for all my eyes was busy starin' about on the side we got in and out of,
and down the road."
"Which mine was too," added Mrs. Aleshine. "An' after it begun to snow
we couldn't see nothin' anyhow, partic'larly when everything was all
covered up."
"Well," added Mrs. Lecks, in conclusion, "as we didn't see the shed,
it's a comfort to think there was reasons for it, and that we are not
born fools."
It was now growing dark, and but few further communications took place
through the little tunnel.
"Before we get ready to go to sleep," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for, havin'
no candles, I guess we won't sit up late, hadn't we better rig up some
kind of a little sled to put in that hole, with strings at both ends, so
that we kin send in mustard-plasters and peppermint to them poor people
if they happen to be sick in the night?"
This little project was not considered necessary, and after receiving
assurances from the gentleman on the other side that he would be able to
keep his party warm until morning, we bade each other good night; and,
after having replenished the fire, I got into the stage, where my
companions had already established themselves in their corners. I slept
very little, while I frequently went out to attend to the fire, and my
mind was racked by the most serious apprehensions. Our food was nearly
gone, and if relief did not come to us very soon I could see nothing but
a slow death before us, and, so far as I could imagine, there was no
more reason to expect succor on the following day than there had been on
the one just passed. Where were the men to be found who could cut a road
to us through those miles of snow-drifts?
Very little was said during the night by my companions, but I am sure
that they felt the seriousness of our situation, and that their slumbers
were broken and unrefreshing. If there had been anything to do, Mrs.
Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine would have been cheered up by the prospect of
doing it; but we all felt that there was nothing we could do.
[Illustration]