Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 383 — page 9: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

** Who in —— is that?” she profanely and impo- litely demanded. “It’s me, Josh Cattermole,” answered the traveler, with a reckless disregard of the rules of grammar, You don’t say! At last? If you'd waited much longer, you wouldn’t have been needed at all. But it’s better late than never, I reckon.” ‘“Pve brought enough now, Miss Bet, to last you a while; ‘but t don’t see how I am going to | get it down there.’ ‘Want some help, do you? Just like you ornary men-folks. Well, Dll have to lend you a band.” With the woman’s assistance Cattermole un- loaded his sled and passed the various articles down into the clear space, ** You did a good job of keeping away,” ob- served the woman, as she helped him carry the goods into the cabin. _ “Did you ever know sucha winter before?” re- plied Cattermole. ‘It was as much as my life was worth to start out when I did.” ‘* Theve’s lives here that’s worth more than yours, and we shouldn’t have been left here un- less we were to be cared for. I want you to tell Andrew Birkett from me that Bet Rawson won't go through the like of this again, for him orany otber man. Let him know tliat Tam alive and don’t mean to stand any nonsense.” ‘‘T reckon he knows that well enough, Miss Bet, He told me to tell you that he will come out here as soon as spring opens.” ‘* Tle had better.” Bet Rawson busied herself in stowing the goods | away in the cabin, while Josh Cattermole re- moved his wrappings and s ated himself near the fire. The interior of the cabin differed in one note- worthy particular from other habitations of its class It was divided into two rooms by a double partition of stout planking, in which there was a door that was both locked and bolted. The room which Josh Cattermole and Bet | Rawson had entered was much the larger of the two, and it contained a fireplace in which a big fire was blazing. It was pretty well filled with articles of necessity and comfort, to which the contents of | Josh Cattermole’s sled added an air of plent*. The woman, when she had finished taking : are of the p provender, posted herself near the fire, and began her preparations for supper. How is she ?” asked Catter mole, ina subdued | tone, pointing with his thumb toward the par- tition. ‘* About the same,” answered Bet. ‘“‘ A little thinner, mayhe, and a good deal more mopish- looking’ as if she never expected to get anything more out of this world or the next. I'am’ some- times afraid that she will gocrazy before the job is finished.” ‘That would be bad; but she won’t get so far, I hope. All the gov’ nor wants of her is tosign her name and a little of that sort of thine, 2 “$ Well, Josh, I don’t know. She seems to have settled down to whatever must be; but it don’t look well to see her so stupid and’ melancholy- like, and I think Andy had better hurry up, as she might take a notion to drop. off the hooks if this thing goes on much longer.” ‘* Fle is s hurryi ing up, Miss Bet, and is doing all he can; but this hard winter has knocked ’most ey erything in the head. You can’t think how bad we've been snowed up there in Butte. As soon as the spring fairly opens he means to come out here, as i told you, and then he expects to straighten the thing up, and will give you your share of the mon ey.” ‘He had better,” significantly remarked Bet Rawson. ‘* Do you want to see her, Josh?” ** Not I,” answered the emissary. ee Things are sorrowful enough these days without’ going through an shy thing of that sort.” To pass the time, and to entertain his compan- ion, he gave a detailed account of his journey from Butte, and the toils and perils of the trip pe in no respect lessened in his recital of them. He so worked upon the feelings of Bet Raw- son that she made him a drink which was hot and strong enough, as Josh said, to bore a hole | in a quartz rock, and she took special pains to | | body there, but make his supper palatable to him. When they had finished their supper the woman took a portion into the other room, unlocking the door and carefully closing it be- hind her. There was a murmur of voices on the other side of the partition, to which Josh Catter- mole listened eagerly; but he could make noth- of it. me What does she say?” he asked, when Bet Rawson had come out and locked the door. ‘‘ Nothin’ much. She knew that somebody had come here, and wanted to know who it was and what for. ** What did you tell her?” “T told her that you had come and brought a load of provisions.” * **'W hat else did she say?” ‘Only stuff and nonsense—wanting to kmow about ee folks, and to get out and go heme, and that sort of thing.” } Silver Sam, Dete m, Dewoure a ‘““What do you tell her when she goes on that way?” ‘*T tell her to keep quiet and wait till spring.” ‘It will be fixed then, Miss Bet, I reckon, and the gov’nor will let her go fast enough when the time comes,” ¥ tf death don’t turn her loose before that time.” Josh Cattermole was made comfortable on a spread-down before the fire, and awoke in the morning greatly refreshed by his sound sleep. He felt so well after bis dram and a good | breakfast, that he proposed to Bet Rawson that he should go out and cut wood to replen- ish her woodpile. “*T mean to take a day’s rest before I start back,” said he, ‘‘and may as well put in my time that w ay. ¥ ‘There ain't much rest in cutting wood,” she replied, “‘and I can keep the fires going as well as any man; but you may peck about a little if you have a notion to.” Cattermole declared that he was in the habit of resting himself, Yankee fashion, by chang- ing works, and he proceeded to put in a good morning’s work at cutting wood and carrying it to the cabin. When he had eaten a hearty dinner and en- joyed his smoke, he called Bet Rawson out- side to confer with her concerning a matter that troubled his mind. The morning had been sunny and unusually warm, and after noon the day was almost springlike. The surface of the snow was melting every- where, and little rivulets were trickling down the valley from about the cabin. ‘* Did you ever see a snowslide, Miss Bet?” in’ quired Andrew Birkett’s emissary. “More than one of them. The worst I ever saw was down in Red Cottonwood Canyon.” ‘* Big thing, was it? Some of them are mighty big. Look up there, now, and tell me what you think would happen if the snow on that moun- tain- “side should take a notion to slip down here. ‘Tf you think that I haven’t got sense enough to calculate against that sort of thing,” she an- swered, ‘‘ you don’t know Bet Rawson yet, The cabin was set here and built this way to fend off a slide. If the snow drops, it will pass on over this shebang, and slide down into the bottom of the valley.” ‘‘ Perhaps it will, if you have luck. The ava- lanche, as some people call °em, may do that thing, if it don’t sag in the middle, as they are mighty apt to. ’ve known’em to take a straight chute down a mountain-side, carry ing rocks and trees and everything before ? em, and leaving a deep track as smooth as a log-slide. If it should happen to come in that style, this ome would take the suddenest kind of a eavin e must take our chances, Josh Catter- mole. We are here and can’t get away, and [ don’t know but one place is about as safe as an- other.” ‘*Trust to luck, hey? Well, that’s a good thing to do when you can’t do: anything else. You may be all right, the way the shebang is pitched, unless the ¢ urned slide sags.” CHAPTER XIII. A MOUNTAIN AVALANCHE, JOSH CATTERMOLE put away the ax that he had taken from the cabin, and started down the path that led to the grove. ‘*Things look kinder skittish,” he remarked; ‘** but I reckon T may as well bring up the rest of the wood I cut.” He looked up at the mountain side again and again as he went, and walked as if he were treading on eggs Hardly had he reached the timber when he heard a rumbling noise, like the sound of not very distant thunder, that seemed to come from just over his head. He knew at once that a snow-slide had begun, but could not stop to inquire where it started or what its extent might be. He turned quickly, and ran at the top of his speed toward the cabin. PNot that he would be any safer there, or that he could e pect to be of any service to any- ut because there was no way of retreat open but the path that led to the cabin. Down the mountain-side, just opposite to the _ place where he had been cutting wood, slid the mass of snow, starting from the very ‘summit, increasing as it came, and swiftly gathering speed and momentum as well as size. The rumble had deepened to a roar, and the noise of the descending avalanche was almost deafening. Josh Cattarmole felt the ground tremble under his steel, and his heart trembled with it. But he speedily knew that he was safe, at least for the present. The rush and roar behind him, and clouds of snow flew about him and enveloped him; but he was not swept away, and silence succeeded the tumult of the avalanche, He stop then, fhe out of breath, and turned and looked at the pee of destruction. The grove had vanished : 9 ‘*Tt isa good thing that I didn’t leave the ax there,” he muttered, From the summit of the mountain down to and past the place where the grove had been, was the track of the avalanche—dark, straight and smooth, as if a gigantic steam plow, with an immense scraper attachment, had suddenly dug a broad trench straight down the declivity. Roc ks, trees, and everything in the path of the descending snow, had been mprcote d and carried away with it, leaving not a trace behind. Down in the valley, where the slide finally came to a stop, was a vast heap of snow, min- gled with the debris of the mountain-side, The avalanche had descended at a consider- able distance from the cabin, behind and above which the snow had as yet ‘shown no signs of starting. But the sun was still shining, and the day was at its warmest, and at any moment and from any quarter a similar snow-slide might be ex- pected, The snow might remain on the sides and sum- mits of the mountains until the sunshine and the rains melted it away by degrees, or it might suddenly slip and spread devastation in its path, There was no calculating on it, All it needed was a start, and there was no telling how soon the start might be given. When Josh Cattermole reached the cabin Bet Rawson was standing there, just as he had left her. She seemed to be quite cool and unconcerned, and was looking up at the snow-covered hi hts behind the cabin as calmly as if no special dan- ger was to be apprehended. “You had a narrow escape down there, Josh,” she mildly remarked. “T did that, Miss Bet, and I don’t hanker after any more such close calls. Your wood patch has kinder floated off.” “Yes, but there’s plenty of timber about, I am glad that you are safe, Josh,” ** Well, yaas; but I wish I could be sure that [ am safe. Things look skittish enough yet, and the next time the snow slides it may dsc rop on us. ‘** Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, Josh,” ‘*It don’t, hey? I wouldn’t advise you to bet heavy on that,’ I don’t a bit like the looks of the snow up there.” As he spoke he was gazing upward at the mountain-side. His sight was keen, and hesaw something, or fancied that he saw it, that made him stert, “T think I see a break up yonder,” he said, ‘* Look, Miss Bet! ain’t there ere like a black line in the snow yonder? Yes, by finde) der! There she starts!” Bet Rawson did not seem to be a bit fright- ened, but was instant in action. “T will get her out,” she said, and started into the cabin. The rumble had already begun, and the mo- tion of the mass of snow could plainly be seen as it started downward. Josh Cattermole did not start to run in any direction, and made no effort whatever to es- cape. e stood out in front of the cabin, and hare was more curiosity than fear in his look as he gazed upward at the approaching avalanche, ‘I wonder,” he quietly remarked, “if the durned thing will sag.” It was a queer remark to make, in the face of death, with ever so many tons of snow, to say. nothing of rocks and trees, rushing down upon him at frightful speed; but he really seemed to think that the avalanche might pass harmlessly over the cabin, unless it should happen to be heaviest in the middle, The rumble had increased to a roar, and it looked as if the whole mountain-side was coming down at once, when Bet Rawson reappeared at the door of the cabin. At her side was a woman of matronly ap- pearance, but not at all stout in build. She was, indeed, rather attenuated, and the most noteworthy thing about her features was their look of extreme melancholy and the start- led gaze of her large dark eyes, Cattermole could give her but one quick glance, as the avalanche was upon them. The roar was deafening, and the sight, ter- rific in its grandeur, was enough to shatter the strongest nerves. Instinctively he rushed forward, and crouched against the wall of the cabin, as if that could ssibly afford him any protectio from the resistible onslaught of the moving mass, The next instant the air was filled with flying snow, mingled with debris of the mountein- side and fragments of the board roofing and the stick chimney. The earth trembled, and the cabin shook asif — seized by an ague. But it was all over ina moment, and the help- less spectators were safe. There stood the cabin, and they could see the sun shining in the clear sky. The cleared ce in front of the cabin was nearly filled with snow; but the white waste directly beyond it was comparatively un- touched: At each side, however, the tracks cf the ava- / Nt ea Spe cs) AMIE (E() JOO (eo)