Chapter I.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4579, 27 February 1893, Page 1

Chap ter I.

They were both old soldier*, as the Northern Pacifio Station, whioh they Berved, had been built for the use of Fort Fletcher, two miles away across the prairie, and . they had been appointed at the request of the commanding officer.

The snow had begun to fall before they went to bed, but tho thermometer stood at a degreo which was most unsatisfactory to men whopossessed a limited supply of fuel, and an uncertain prospect of getting more. There had been no wind, and the telegraph operator told tho Btation.master, while they swallowed their nightly grog, that so mild a snow could not. prevent the arrival of the morning train — an arrival of serious importance to them, as the Company provisioned its smaller posts from week to week (not over-liberally), and their next rations were due. To which assertion the -station-master, being a man' of much longer experience in Montana, and perhaps consequently inclined to pessimistic views, had answered that ho was not clever at guessing conundrums.

Vai (the telegraph operator's name was Valentine, but tho North- West hos no time for polysyllables) woke first, as ho slept lightly from the habit of rousing at any call of his machine.. A blast that seemed blown by old Boreas himself was shaking the frail framo building, the ill-fitting windows were rattling, and the brisk draught dro* c the ashes of a burntout fire through the open damper of the stove as he lit a match to discover how long it would be until dawn. His watch had just shown him that it was paat four o'clock, when a crash, which sounded exaotly over his head caused him instinctly to dodge among his pillows There was no plaster. to be scattered in thnt pineceiled room, and when the clatter was presently merged in the roar of the wind, he decided that the roof was still safe though the chimney must have fallen.

Ho knocked on the partition between his bed and that of the station-master. " Brown ! Are you asleep P" he cried. " Why don't you aak if I'm dead ?" ". This is a blizzard, I guess." " You are a clever guesaer ! " Yal laughed. In spite of having lost a leg in his first Indian campaign, and of the suffering and change of career the loss had entailed, he still possessed a light heart and a rather heedless humour, the gift of his youth and his Irish blood. "I bot I have a holiday !" he called presently, as the -house shivered in another fierce embrace of the storm. " The telegraph-poles will be down if this lasts all day ! " All day ! " echoed the other gloomily. " I'm not . Worrying about telegraph-poles, but abouthowlong the next train will be blocked. There ain't nothing to eat in this shebang except a can of corned beef, j half a loaf of bread, and part of a box of orack ers ! " Yal began to .whistle, until realising that to be an ineffectual method of expressing disagreeable surprise amid suoh superior efforts from the wind, he shouted cheerfully, " We shall have less time to be hungry the more we sleep 1 " and, drawing the blankets over his ears, he applied himself to seeking his remedy with an assiduity which promptly earned its reward. The tardy daylight waß creeping in through the many chinks of tte shutters, when he awoke. If he had ever beer, at sea, he would have compared the atmosphere of sound with which he was sunt. triided ' to'a'galo in' the figgihgj"But The pclssessedno measure of comparison in his experience, for though he had known something of blizzards during a previous winter ia Montana, he- had at that time been roofed and wallod within the stalwart defences of Fort Fletcher — a very different construction from tho flimsy shanty whioh was hiß present shelter. Brown entered as hd was lifting the window sash preparatory to unbarring the shutter. " Hold on I" he cried, fDo you want to let the damned thing inside ?" "Do you mean the blizzard ?" Vai gasped, breathless with even his half a moment's struggle.

"I mean the balmy breeze that has been toying with your curls ! " the other answered with a grim grin, as Vai dashed the snow out of hia eyes and hair. " Crackers and whiskey for breakfast, when you have put on your warmest clothes," he added as he returned to the living room. " I daren't make a fire, even enough for a oup of coffee, with the top df the chimney gone! "