Jan. 25. 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
129 
Lnd seemingly exulting over the unfortunate ani- 
•nals which he had so suddenly and effectually 
Werthrown. I, as the youngest of the party, 
aas allowed a special examination of the gor¬ 
geous weapon, after which it was returned to its 
pwner, and the line of march taken up as be- 
ore until the pond was at length reached, when 
vork was at once commenced in a systematic 
nanner, the stronger boys clearing the snow off 
md cutting holes in the ice at certain points well 
unown to be good fishing ground, while the 
mailer produced from their pockets fishing lines, 
iait and jackknives with which they quickly manu- 
actured rude tipups and proceeded to the busi¬ 
ness of the day. 
The fishing was good and soon the ice became 
prinkled with trout, half-pounders and upward, 
vhich were frozen almost immediately upon 
ieing drawn from the water. All were so busy 
hat none had noticed a change in the weather, 
intil suddenly a roar of wind in the treetops and 
blinding shower of powdery snow shaken down 
rom the branches apprised us that a storm was 
n. 
Our leader’s decision was quickly taken, and 
ds orders as quickly issued. The lines were 
■idled up, the fish collected and strung upon 
irch switches or gads, as they were called by 
s when used for that purpose. Some of the 
ounger lads were slow to leave as the trout 
/ere still biting freely, but anyone who so far 
orgot himself as to disobey his leader’s orders 
/as quickly brought to a proper sense of duty 
y a strong grip on his collar and a quick yank 
ackward which unfailingly landed him on his 
ack some yards from the hole at which he had 
een fishing. 
This cunning process, although rough, was ef- 
ective, and soon all were busily preparing for 
re homeward march. Although a fire had been 
indled at the butt of a dry stub on the bank 
me was not wasted in the way of thawing out 
le frozen lines which were cached at the foot 
f a well marked tree to be recovered at some 
uture period. The dry lines were carefully 
laced in safe pockets, the fish and fowl slung 
a the shoulders of the strongest lads, the axe 
ad gun brought safely along, and the line of 
iarch taken up for home. 
A howling gale was now blowing overhead, 
id small twigs rendered brittle by the frost 
ere falling thick and fast around us. Some- 
mes a larger branch would snap and fall with 
dull thud into the loose snow. We realized 
e danger from the falling branches and made 
1 haste to escape from the woods. The fall 
a tree was occasionally heard, but fortunately 
me fell dangerously near. Although sheltered 
om the force of the wind we felt that the air 
td become decidedly colder, and those of most 
cperience among us knew that we should have 
rious difficulty in making our way to the near- 
t house in the clearing after leaving the shelter 
the woods. 
The sight which greeted us on our arrival at 
e edge of the clearing was most appalling. The 
■rce wind drove the loose snow before it in 
inding, suffocating clouds until meeting some 
'Struction such as a tree, stump or fence a drift 
auld be quickly formed, growing larger each 
oment until the object ceased to afford further 
■ elter. when the accumulation ceased. But we 
ere cognizant of those growing drifts more by 
rmer experience than present observation, as 
the whole landscape was blotted out by the whirl¬ 
ing, driving clouds of snow. Earth and sky were 
all alike a flying, freezing sheet of white threaten¬ 
ing death to anything animate caught within its 
ghostly folds. A pathetic sight it must have 
been with any there to see seven wistful-eyed 
urchins crouching in the edge of the friendly 
sheltering woods, peering anxiously out at the 
white, freezing death into which they must ven¬ 
ture before reaching home and safety. The only 
alternative was to build a fire and endeavor to 
live until the storm ceased, hope of rescue by 
our friends being extremely uncertain, as they 
knew not in which direction we had gone in the 
morning. 
A consultation was held and the more experi¬ 
enced of the party decided to make an attempt 
to gain the nearest farmhouse about one-half 
mile distant. They explained to the younger 
members that if we made camp some of the 
weaker ones would certainly succumb to the terri¬ 
ble cold, even should we succeed in kindling a 
fire and keeping it burning, but by making an 
attempt to reach the house even, should any be 
abandoned by the way some one or more would 
almost certainly reach safety when we well knew 
strong arms and willing hands should quickly 
bring in those left behind who, being left in such 
positions as would insure their being covered by 
the drifting snow and thereby in some measure 
protected from freezing might possibly survive 
the terrible ordeal. 
Our heroic boy leader then prepared us for 
the struggle. The fishing lines of twisted home¬ 
made flax, strong as wire, were produced, and 
with portions of them our mittens were fastened 
on our wrists that they might not slip off when 
out in the storm. Our jacket sleeves were fas¬ 
tened in the same manner that the drift might 
not enter them; our woolen caps were tied on 
our heads covering the ears, and as much of the 
face as possible. A short thick branch of spruce 
was cut for each boy and fastened to his belt 
on the left side (as the wind blew across our 
course from that direction), the top or bush of 
the branch extending as high as the head, the 
upper part being fastened to the left arm. Our 
leader calculated that some small amount of shel¬ 
ter would be afforded to the face and eyes, and 
the event proved his judgment correct. He then 
knotted the remainder of the fishing lines to¬ 
gether, and having passed a turn of line around 
the body of the boy in rear, both ends were 
brought forward and fastened to the belt of each 
lad in succession on both sides, and lastly to 
the belt of the leader. This precaution was taken 
to enable us to follow in turn when out in the 
storm and without which we should have inevi¬ 
tably separated and no doubt some have per- 
jshed. A further precaution was taken in my 
case as the weakest of the party, my belt being 
strongly fastened to those of the lads immediately 
in my front and rear. 
The fish and fowl, axe and gun having been 
cached in the snow, our leader explained his plan 
of action. A rail fence he knew ran a few yards 
to leeward of our position directly to the farm 
buildings. By this fence he intended to guide 
our course. Several bunches of lone thick bush 
lay directly in our course, and close to the fence. 
His intention was to utilize those bushes as way 
stations to enable us to gain our breath and rest 
for a few moments at each, and should any suc¬ 
cumb to the cold in the open field his comrades 
shofild endeavor to drag him to one of those 
shelters and place him in such a position as would 
insure his being covered with snow until he 
could be brought in by a rescuing party from 
the farmhouse. 
After some preparatory advice our leader gave 
the word and we ventured out from the shelter 
of the friendly woods into the freezing grip of 
the terrible storm. For the first few moments 
my breath was completely taken away, and had 
I not been so securely fastened to my comrades 
I should have fallen then and gone no further; 
but thanks to the forethought of our gallant 
hardy leader, I was dragged along and my 
spruce branch having fortunately retained its 
position, after a short time I regained my breath 
and was able to struggle onward without being 
a burden on my comrades. But I felt the freezing 
wind penetrate my clothing as if it had been 
gauze, and in a short time my eyes became iced 
up and I stumbled blindly on guided by the lines 
so wisely improvised for that purpose. 
Soon we heard the voice of our leader raised 
in a shout as he for a moment sighted the first 
shelter, and into it we rushed. Here we were 
enabled to breathe freely for a few moments and 
to clear the ice from our eyes and faces, but our 
leader hurried us on, as he well knew the danger 
of any delay in such a situation. Before reach¬ 
ing the second shelter I was completely benum¬ 
bed and stupefied by the intense cold, but was 
dragged in and after being thumped and beaten, 
and my hands and face rubbed by my comrades 
I was restored to comparative consciousness. 
Two more of the party were in little better plight 
than I, and it was agreed to leave us in the next 
shelter if no better could be done, 'eaving the 
stronger lads free to make a last desperate rush 
for the house, trusting that help could be sent 
back to us before the sleep of cold and exhaus¬ 
tion had changed to that of death. 
This is the last I remember of the struggle 
for life. In a few moments I lost consciousness 
and knew no more until I awakened in a com¬ 
fortable bed with kindly faces bending over me, 
but with my hands, feet and face paining me 
dreadfully. After inquiring for my comrades, 
who I was told were all safe, I fell into a trou¬ 
bled sleep which lasted some hours, and in which 
I fought through the struggle for life again and 
again in my dreams. 
. All eventually recovered from our severe frost 
bites, but the greater number carried the marks 
of that day to their graves, to which they have 
all gone except myself and one other. 
I afterward learned that we missed the last 
shelter altogether, and our leader had almost 
given up hope when he suddenly ran into a snow¬ 
drift extending from the wood pile or store of 
winter fuel close to the farmhouse door. Being un¬ 
able to drag his disabled comrades through the 
drift he cut himself loose and gaining the house 
gave the alarm, when the remainder of the party 
were quickly brought in by willing hands and 
placed in safety. 
Shortly after the unexpected arrival of our 
party at the farmhouse four strong hardy men, 
belonging to the families of the lost boys, stag¬ 
gered in in almost as exhausted a condition as 
we ourselves. They had gone in search of us 
at the beginning of the storm, but not knowing 
where we had gone, they took the trail for a 
pond about a mile higher up the same stream, 
but finding no tmee of us there followed down 
