We Got Fresh Horses At The Leavings, And When I Saw A Strange Driver
On The Seat My Heart Sank, Fearing That From There On I Might Not Have
The Same Protection.
We were at a large ranch - sort of an inn - and
just beyond was Frozen Hill.
The hill was given that name because a
number of years ago a terrible blizzard struck some companies of
infantry while on it, and before they could get to the valley below,
or to a place of shelter, one half of the men were more or less
frozen - some losing legs, some arms. They had been marching in thin
clothing that was more or less damp from perspiration, as the day had
been excessively hot. These blizzards are so fierce and wholly
blinding, it is unsafe to move a step if caught out in one on the
plains, and the troops probably lost their bearings as soon as the
storm struck them.
It was almost dark when we got in the stage to go on, and I thought it
rather queer that the driver should have asked us to go to the corral,
instead of his driving around to the ranch for us. Very soon we were
seated, but we did not start, and there seemed to be something wrong,
judging by the way the stage was being jerked, and one could feel,
too, that the brake was on. One by one those men got out, and just as
the last one stepped down on one side the heads of two cream-colored
horses appeared at the open door on the other side, their big troubled
eyes looking straight at me.
During my life on the frontier I have seen enough of native horses to
know that when a pair of excited mustang leaders try to get inside a
stage, it is time for one to get out, so I got out! One of those men
passengers instantly called to me, "You stay in there!" I asked,
"Why?" "Because it is perfectly safe," said a second man. I was very
indignant at being spoken to in this way and turned my back to them.
The driver got the leaders in position, and then looking around, said
to me that when the balky wheelers once started they would run up the
hill "like the devil," and I would surely be left unless I was inside
the stage.
I knew that he was telling the truth, and if he had been the first man
to tell me to get in the coach I would have done so at once, but it so
happened that he was the fourth, and by that time I was beginning to
feel abused. It was bad enough to have to obey just one man, when at
home, and then to have four strange men - three of them idiots,
too - suddenly take upon themselves to order me around was not to be
endured. I had started on the trip with the expectation of taking care
of myself, and still felt competent to do so.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 115 of 213
Words from 59167 to 59680
of 110651