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Show MEETING AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 163 rer, one of Colorado's cattle kings. I told him I was gathering romances of the mountains, and should levy a contribution upon him. He immediately proceeded to tell me of "MEETING AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE." " Many years ago I was engaged in freighting to and from the mountains. While following a grapevine road through a wild and awesome canon, using vigorously the usual ox-persuader in my intense anxiety to reach a human habitation before night-fall, suddenly clouds gathered and filled the eanon with gloom. They whirled and tossed and swept through the heavens, and presently the mist and wind enveloped my path in a mass of foam, often lulling for a moment to let a ray of sunshine through to delude me with false hope, then returning with a force that made my covered wagon writhe and "tremble. One false step would have sent me and my little cargo to certain destruction. I shall never forget that struggle with the elements on one hand and death on the other. " Coming at last to a small log-cabin, the outlines barely visible through the fast falling snow, I stopped to ' turn in' for the night, feeling grateful to find shelter from the storm. "Tall, dense, dark evergreens surrounded it, wrapping it about like a pall. I pushed back the blanket which served as a door to the establishment, for doors on hinges and window glass were luxuries not to be had in those days. I looked around, but there was no one in. As the pioneers, like the ancient apostles, had everything in common, I took possession, and proceeded to make myself at home. " Taking down a carcass of deer that hung on the wall, |
