A Busy Year at the Old Squires | Page 7

Charles Asbury Stephens
our pay was poor. Saturday, moreover,
was the coldest, windiest day of the whole week; the temperature was
down to fourteen degrees below.
Halse and Thomas said no; but he hung round, and teased us, while his
half-starved old horse shivered in the wind; and we finally decided to
oblige him, if he would take the tongs and haul out the cakes himself,
as we sawed them. It would not do to stop the saws that day, even for a
moment.
Rufus had on an old blue army overcoat, the cape of which was turned
up over his head and ears, and a red woolen "comforter" round his neck.
He wore long-legged, stiff cowhide boots, with his trousers tucked into
the tops.
Addison, Thomas and I were sawing, with our backs turned to Rufus
and to the wind, and Rufus was trying to haul out a cake of ice, when
we heard a clatter and a muffled shout. Rufus had slipped in! We
looked round just in time to see him go down into that black, icy water.
Addison let go the saw and sprang for one of the ice-hooks. I did the
same. The hook I grabbed was frozen down; but Addison got his free,
and stuck it into Rufus's blue overcoat. It tore out, and down Rufus
went again, head and ears under. His head, in fact, slid beneath the edge
of the ice, but his back popped up.

Addison struck again with the hook--struck harder. He hooked it
through all Rufus's clothes, and took a piece of his skin. It held that
time, and we hauled him out.
He lay quite inert on the ice, choking and coughing.
"Get up! Get up!" we shouted to him. "Get up and run, or you'll
freeze!"
He tried to rise, but failed to regain his feet, and collapsed. Thereupon
Addison and Thomas laid hold of him, and lifted him to his feet by
main strength.
"Now run!" they cried. "Run before your clothes freeze stiff!" The man
seemed lethargic--I suppose from the deadly chill. He made an effort to
move his feet, as they bade him, but fell flat again; and by that time his
clothes were stiffening.
"He will freeze to death!" Addison cried. "We must put him on his sled
and get him home!"
Thereupon we picked him up like a log of wood, and laid him on his
horse-sled.
"But he will freeze before we can get this old lame horse home with
him!" exclaimed Thomas. "Better take him to our camp over there."
Addison thought so, too, and seizing the reins and whip, started for the
shore. The old horse was so chilled that we could hardly get him to
hobble; but we did not spare the whip.
From the shore we had still fifteen or twenty rods to go, in order to
reach the camp back in the woods. Rufus's clothes were frozen as stiff
as boards; apparently he could not move. We feared that the man would
die on our hands.
We snatched off one of the side boards of his sled, laid him on it, and,
taking it up like a stretcher, started to carry him up through the woods

to the camp.
By that time his long overcoat and all the rest of his clothes were frozen
so stiff and hard that he rolled round more like a log than a human
body.
The path was rough and snowy. In our haste we stumbled, and dropped
him several times, but we rolled him on the board again, rushed on, and
at last got him inside the camp. Our morning fire had gone out. Halse
kindled it again, while Addison, Thomas and I tried to get off the
frozen overcoat and long cowhide boots.
The coat was simply a sheet of ice; we could do nothing with it. At last
we took our knives and cut it down the back, and after cutting open
both sleeves, managed to peel it off. We had to cut open his boots in
the same way. His under-coat and all his clothes were frozen. There
appeared to be little warmth left in him; he was speechless.
But just then we heard some one coming in through the outside camp.
It was the old Squire.
Our farmhouse, on the higher ground to the northwest, afforded a view
of the lake; and the old gentleman had been keeping an eye on what
went on down there, for he was quite far-sighted. He saw Sylvester
arrive with his team, and a few minutes later saw us start for the shore,
lashing the horse. He knew that something had gone wrong, and
hitching up old Sol, he had driven down in haste.
"Hot water, quick!" he said. "Make some hot coffee!" And seizing
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