278 FUR FACTS 



from my mind without a further thought. But I could not bring 

 myself to think of her in that manner. 



At last morning brought an end to my tortures and with it came 

 an opportunity to ride into St. Louis on a load of corn. I accepted 

 the offer and after a long, tedious journey of several days' duration, we 

 arrived. In St. Louis I bought some food and made my way toward 

 St. Charles. Night overtook me and with it came a drizzle of sleet 

 and rain, chilling me to the bone. Arriving at the river I found that 

 the ferry had gone for the last time; the railroad bridge offered the 

 only means of crossing, and this, I learned,' was in no healthy con- 

 dition, a train having fallen through it but two weeks before carrying 

 down one span. The carpenters suggested that I might be able to 

 cross on the new stringers. This seemed feasible, so I walked on to 

 the bridge until I reached the section under repair. I did not attempt 

 to cross the stringers on foot — they were only eight inches wide and 

 were wet and slippery. The only thing to do was to straddle one 

 of them, using my hands as a means of locomotion. Far below me 

 I could hear the roar of the river. Fortunately, it was very dark 

 and I could not see the water; if I could I believe I would have 

 toppled over. I progressed very slowly and was compelled to stop 

 and rest frequently, but I finally came to the boards again and the 

 rest of the distance was easily covered. I must have walked two 

 miles beyond the river before I stopped. Here I found a board 

 fence, and, removing one of the boards, I proceeded to cut it up into 

 small pieces with the aid of my jack-knife and soon had a fire started. 

 Warming as best I could, I made some brush into a bed and went to 

 sleep with the rain and sleet beating a merry tattoo on my overcoat, 

 which I used as a cover. Strange as it may seem, I slept — and 

 slept soundly — much more so than on the previous night. 



The next morning I had some difficulty in extricating myself 

 from that bed — I seemed to have virtually "grown to it," my clothes 

 having frozen to the brush and, in some places, to the ground. I 

 felt pretty good when I finally got straightened out, all things con- 

 sidered, except that I had a voracious appetite. About noon-time 

 I came to a farm house. By this time my appetite had increased to 

 an alarming degree, and when the lady of the house opened the door 

 and I sniffed the aroma of fried sausage, I smiled a big hungry smile 

 which must have been a bit too expressive. At any rate, she gave 

 me a furious look and when I asked for a bite to eat, she only turned 

 up her nose and politely shut the door in my face. I intended to 

 tell her I would pay for the food, but after such a demonstration I 



