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Show STARTING A WESTERN PARER. 235 their nerves to the highest tension and act promptly, or be frozen to death in that houseless solitude. "There were a few scattering trees on the hill, but there was no ax; no way of kindling a fire. They dared not separate for fear of being lost in the darkness. So they joined hands and formed two lines, the first man in each line holding to the bits of the leaders, and made their way as best they could down the hill; the snow continuing to pelt them with relentless fury. " They arrived in Fairplay at two o'clock in the morning. A crowd had assembled at the hotel and were vigorously discussing the feasibility of sending for the belated coach. They were received with a fever heat of excitement, which so strongly resembled the stir and finish of a play, that each particular man imagined himself the ' star actor on the stage.' " Their moustaches and eyebrows supported little rifts of snow, and their limbs were rigid with cold; but, partaking freely of liquid refreshments, rapidly dispelled the freezing sensations, and early that morning they left for Leadville over the Weston pass. "In process of time the Chronicle was established, with our hero in charge, in a little 6x8 room, with a washstand for his editorial desk. "All being in readiness for the first edition of the paper, Mr. A. seized a note-book and went in pursuit of items, when attracted by a number of persons gathered around a little shanty, he bent his steps in that direction; walked in without leave or license, and soon discovered the cause of the commotion in front. The air was stifling with chloroform. A woman lay stretched on a bed and a physician stood over her making active use |