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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1884)
THE WEST SHOBE. i t ..,! cilonn knew nil lx.ut thorn, that 1 would ruin in . . , till morning It seemed to me as if a subdued chuckle 1 from Iiih t-il.iuw.-Ktjiin.ia him, i i ISSUed : : . , ,, . .. i i uixl sleepy to notice it I claiiilMrHl into wo com.oed myself for n na., whilo visions of sleep, more ,.r lLdistnrl.ed, 1 know, but Hlill sleep, flitted through For two or throe miles tlm road was level mul Hinootli, mid I Ml into a comfortable dozo, lyi " tllfi ,muk H,',lt' with my duster for n pillow mul a handkerchief for n night cap. (Suddenly there was n shock such as I had never be fore exsrionccd. My head wan jammed up ngainst one Hide of tlm stage mid my foot nought in vain for an exit through the other, while my whole lxidy bounced up and down liko a spring-lonrd. In my youthful days I once fell from an upper balcony to the ground, and later was oim night aroused from n nap on tho cars by the train jumping the track and endeavoring to tent its specific gravity in a river, but this exceeded all my previous ex istences. Koon recovering from my astonishment I thrust my head out tho door to learn tho nature and ex tent of tho disaster. I saw tho Btago was moving steadily on, and as thn driver spat unconcernedly over tho wheel, I Im'l'iiii to realize that wo had simply run over a stone. That it was n small stone was quickly mado evident, for we soon ran over several others, noim of which wero very large, and tho oflW.t so completely oclipsed tho first effort that it sunk into utter insignificance. For an hour I did some of tho liveliest ground and lofty tumbling it was ever my fortune to engage in, traveling nil aliout tho interior of the stage, and returning at every lull to tho back seat, which was made the baso of operations. When nt last tho stag" stopiHvl at n station to change horses, I crawled meekly out and remarked U tho driver that I wasn't very sleepy, and 1 guessed I would ride with him. As ho dox tonmsly oxMctoralvl over tho off wheeler's back and an- nwertvl "All right," I was certain I heard a chuckle, but fell Uh miltduod to resent it, and trontod it with contemp tuous silence. I felt " shuck up right bad," and then and there resigned all claim upon tho back seat of nn empty nui-u wrever. rnrni my jorch iion the box I now had an oppor tunity to view the landscape, or such of it ns was carved irom ll.o darkness by tho "bull's-eye" Wneath our feet. ii seemed u my unaccustomed eye ns though wo were constantly running into a solid wall of black, ami yet the horses followed the road as it twist! in and out among the tree of tho dense forest, nkirtod tho edgo of n canyon or wound up and down the stoop hillsides, tho driver cracking his long lash and admonishing hi. team in tho choice E ngl.sh ao eloquently handled by hiK craft, apimr willy m unconcerned H if ,, n ,mwt, the noonday sum All MUunpU U, engage my new friend in conversation "hii a most oximiuw m 1 Thi aged to catch the tnrena oi m iubwu. v, mvo, Ci. tended conversation was when, coming abruptly around the bido of a hill, n magnificent spectacle burst upon our ; The whole face of a mountain, several miles dis tant, was ablaze with fire. The flames leaped far up into the air, twining their Bcorching arms about the long branches of the pines, while the whole heavens were ablaze with light. I exclaimed, " Hello! there s a hre. Grunt affirmative. " Do we pass througli it ? " Grunt negative. "Does any one live there?" Grunt negative. " How long has it been burning? " Grunt My inexperience in the language prevented me from comprehending the last remark in the broad sense in which it was no doubt used, and so I ventured to ask: " How long did you say?" " Two weeks," he exclaimed with a snort " Do they not try to put it out?" Grunt negative. Tho fire did not seem to have the gigantic proportions of a blaze of two weeks' standing, and bo I remarked: " I thought these forest fires were very dangerous and burned immense tracts of timber, but this does not look to be very extensive?" " You don't know how much it has burned," he re marked with a great effort This observation was so literally true and so crushing to my ignorance that I relapsed into my former obscur ity, and watched the blazing forest until an intervening hill rolled its opaque curtain before the scene. All night long we rode, slapping our hands and stamping our feet to keep the blood circulating, gradually ascending into the mountains, and keeping the great dip per always before us. By a brilliant flight of conversation similar to the former, I ascertained that I would get nothing to eat until seven o'clock in the morning, and was compelled to satisfy my rebellious stomach by chewing the quid of disappointment A remark that I should think he would convey a trifle of nourishment to allay the gnawing pangs within during his nocturnal journey, was answered by a grunt indicative of a failure to comprehend. The remark was simplified by saying, " Don't you pack s little grub with you and take a snack during the night?" and the responsive grunt not only conveyed the idea that he understood, but that he did no such thing, and had " Bufforin' contempt " for any one who did. About four o'clock the stars began slowly to fade from the heavens, and the advancing army of day drove in the outposts of the legion of darkness, and in an hour had completely routed the enemy and driven them from the held It was a grand sight to see the conquering ad- vaute or tne Uod of Day; and as we emerged from a deep Till! fltlllw Iio.iii1.1a l. i . ' uwi, somewhat unfnmii;,,,. i. Unguis I ometimes to Krasp the dcliota a i Tn nnd 8 the snow-crowned brow of Mount Shasta of meaning, but, by putting direct quwtioii. to hi I. ? b the yellow of the sun, while belowrast him.man-.clouds f fg rolled over th tills on which the nigM
