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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1888)
THE WEST SHORE. it iib dry "1 od I'ta" knoU' NVwKt,iwth,tril.rl like swest music Mr;:lL.rJMHw"rkof!jhorid,imones. I my Kritiv. , ar Mt the nv of additional swee wmU, I U I tL iir.vrT.cn.Iiug, murmurous tinkle of h,j,W'wM nwinUin streamlet, running close I tin u t,t my cabin, with occasional orchestral vY,rajnirn"isl in th- H, llinS (liAI,ft80Q of Dam' crl, ray W.gtriM and faithful pack mule, I l.uilt, or rather, excAvatM, a comfortable, cave. lab for hmcH clow against the upper end of my cabin, and lb grateful animal, feeling that he m c1m wngb to command my car at all hours, lt lip no .j'irtunity for expressing his sense of obligation. In fact, m time wore on, and ho found LiriiM-lf wll M and low, ao demonstrative did he Uvim that I fell into the habit of addressing him ir.furtnally, many time a day, by the first syllable of li name, which med to mo to form a pretty and appropriate diminutive lly thr tirn I had complcUxl my building opera tion, hit hauled and clmpjed rny winter's wood which I piled in a formidable aemi-circular barricade fcUut ray dr -November wu well advanced, and I lgan to think of laying in my store of provisions for U wirr. I knew tho neaaon was close at hand hrn I might ei-ct lo U "mowed in," entombed alive in from ix to t-n fw-t of snow, and held a pris on r u:Ai! urh time in the spring as old Sol should uwl in mating away my snowy shackles. K one morning when tho iky was heavy and the at in- j. hero ktai with indications of coming Bnow, I bright out DamocU and his pack saddle, and to g Ihrr wo wrnd-d cur way townwariL Tho aidant wa net great - scarcely two miles but Ike trail M Wp m n anJitwas t tn Lm t reached homo with tho first install. is'M of my wintn'i We, Already snow was fall. : g, thoh 0 a !a,y, loUuroly way-tho big, slow. ng UU forming M ind-scribably beautiful ftik,t the dark mouLUin background. Treat- jtg almHftoahastylunch,I8tArt(Hl f-r ; d,WminM to accompli a sec I tnj, t, fore mght ihould rU in Hy thMimel itwUllown, the temperature had f-? -drably, chilling northed v Ur.g Ub the i", tain nest, but now we were more than, two hours in plunging and struggling over the snow-draped bowl ders and pitfalls that beset our way. When within about two hundred yards of our des tination, we came to a point where the trail was un comfortably narrow, and made a sharp curve around a high, overhanging crag. A false step just here was likely to plunge the traveler down a perpendicular declivity of thirty or forty feet not an appalling height, it is true, but still high enough to imperil limb and vertebra). Damocles had a special, and en tirely justifiable, dislike for the spot, for the reason that his pack invariably collided with the overhang ing rock, and necessitated a nervous plunge on his part to avoid losing his foothold. So, now, as we neared this pass amid the added perils of snow and fast-falling darkness, the sagacious animal, seeming to realize that he must gather and concentrate his forces for the ordeal, voluntarily paused for a breath ing spell. At the same instant, the profound, snowy stillness of the mountain side was broken by a clear, ringing voice, which seemed to rise from the depths at my feet " Hello 1 Who goes there?" Startled though I was, by the suddenness of the sound, I bent forward and shouted back "A friend, if such be needed." "Thanks," responded the voice, heartily. "A man has fallen down here from the trail, and seems to be pretty badly hurt I can't get him up alone. Canyon help me?" Answering in the affirmative, I gave Damocles a gentle hint to resume his homeward march. Then going back a few steps to a spot less precipitous, I clambered down to the place whence the voice had come. I found a man lying prostrate and insensible on the snow, and another standing beside him, who said, m explanation " This man and myself have tramped over the mountains, from the Conroy mining district, on our way to town; but the storm caught us, you see, and f 11 7 1 ? I00"? tbt Crag UP there he stumbled and Wl, and I fear he is seriously hurt" (JZl8 1 hU quiet collected way of speaking Z 2 m hat the iniured man was no more to amine Utft b?" 1 M "ttow i ViSy u w? not for tH he would M However n n the stgatforward reply, tho proa 1 1 f " that doe8 ter the face of 1 Cam0Dt wt get him out of this if we