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Here I am going to put in the letter which I wrote to my mother a week from the next day after my strange Christmas, to show that I did write her long letters every Sunday, as I have said; though of course it was many weeks before she got this or the others: TRACK'S END, Sunday, January 2d.

I lay in the snow with my five wits half scared out of me, expecting no less than that he would be so terrified that he would run to Track's End without once stopping. But I made out to do what I could, and called "Kaiser! Kaiser!" with all the voice I had. Luckily he heard me, got his senses again, and stopped.

It was as bad as it ought to have been in January, and the people at Track's End, being new to the country, judged that the winter had come to stay, and were discouraged; and so most of the rest of them went away. It began to snow on the morning of the twenty-fifth, with an east and northeast wind. The snow came down all day in big flakes, and by evening it was a foot deep.

The women folks, having nobody to ask questions of, had nothing for it but to be quiet and use their ears. "Can't get on!" said another man coming in, "there's nothing but snow out o' doors track's all foul." A number of people instantly rushed out to see. "Can't get on any further to-night?" asked a quiet old gentleman of the news-bringer.

At that the man stuck the letter in the box of a broken dump-cart, and then they all rode away to the west. When we came up to the cart I unfolded the letter and read: TO PROP. BANK OF TRACK'S END AND OTHER CITIZENS AND FOLKS: The Undersined being in need of a little Reddy Munny regrets that they have to ask you for $5,000.

The snow was so dazzling that the glass did less good than you might suppose, but with it I could soon tell that it was a party of men on horseback following either another party or a drove of cattle or horses. The band ahead swung gradually about and came toward Track's End. The ones behind seemed to be trying to cut them off, but they failed to do it.

It was about fifty miles from Track's End to Lone Tree, with three sidings between, and a water-tank at No. 14. After the fire the people all went to Lac-qui-Parle, sixty miles farther back; so that at the time of which I write there was nothing between Track's End and Lac-qui-Parle except sidings and the ashes of Lone Tree; but these soon blew away.

If he didn't have a horse and ride away out of the country ahead of all of us, then he's down a badger-hole and intends to stay there till we quit looking. I'll wager he'll know better'n to show himself around Track's End again, anyhow." Toward night the train came in pushing Pike's box-car ahead of it.

It wasn't necessary even for me to guess twice to hit on what would be the fate of Pike if Allenham should die. In two hours the graders left. They made a long line of covered wagons and filed away to the east beside the railroad track. They were pretty free with their threats, but that was all it amounted to. For a week Track's End was very quiet.

They were still thinking that there was a large population in Track's End, and I could see splinters flying all over town where they were plugging away at windows and doors.