22 THE ACORN Nuptials. During the last summer four of our number concluded that a single existence, with all its joys and miseries, was not the most desirable kind of life. In June, Miss Emily Brown and Joseph Folkman, both of class '99 were married in Salt Lake Temple. Rueben Saunders '05 found life out of the schoolroom altogether too lonesome. Therefore in the month of June he took unto himself a wife. In September Miss Annie McKay, class '02 was married to Mr. Thomas Farr. THANKSGIVING IN THE MOUNTAINS. Near Lake T-, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, there were camped about twelve families, who were on their way to California, in search of gold. Their supply of provisions being low, they decided to wait here in the vicinity of wood and game, for the arrival of an expected company. It was the Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving, 1851 just four months after their arrival that all the men except two, started for the mountains in search of wood and game. They expected to come home Wednesday night in order to celebrate the great feast day. When they left, there was not much snow but the clouds predicted more. The women, and the two men left at camp, were busy Tuesday and Wednesday getting ready for the celebration. As Thomas's was the largest of the crude huts, the camp had decided to meet there to receive the cold and hungry hunters. The Thomas hut was made of logs, had two long rooms, and like all the others, made for temporary use, only it was not very warm or convenient. This day the logs were burned freely as a new supply was expected that evening. Long tables and benches had been made for the occasion and the rude house had taken on a holiday appearance. Mrs. Thomas seemed busiest of all at the camp, and as she hurried around she said, "I love to prepare for Thanksgiving: it makes me think of the feasts we had in our old home in Illinois." "Yes," joined in Mrs. Brown, "I think this will be as happy a Thanksgiving as we have ever spent." "Little did we think, one year ago," said Mrs. Grant, "that tomorrow we should be spending our Thanksgiving in the Sierra Nevada Mountains." Late Wednesday afternoon, little Rex after whom the camp had THE ACORN 23 been named came running in and exclaimed, "Oh, mamma, I see them coming." "Where? where?" all asked excitedly; They rushed out to look and could see but a dark speck in the distance. As it was snowing, the object looked very hazy to them, but it was enough to keep all the camp in the best of spirits. As the teams came nearer it was noticed that one was missing: but they were too far away to tell which. The women became alarmed, each thinking it was her husband's. As it had snowed and drifted since they went away, there was great danger of being caught under snow slides. This increased the fear of the anxious people. In a short time they discovered that it was Mr. Thomas' white horses that could not be seen, and his wife and little son Rex became almost frantic with grief. It was a group of sorrowful women who went to meet just as sorrowful a group of men, (though the men had what they went for, wood, deer and grouse.) Mrs. Thomas asked, "Where is my husband? Is he dead?" and as they hesitated, "Tell me the truth, I am prepared for anything." Mr. Grant told her of her husband, while the women in the party, each thankful in her heart that her husband was safe, but pitying Mrs. Thomas, tried to comfort her. Mr. Grant said, "Yes it is as you feared." As the road was narrow, we had to come single file and Mr. Thomas' team was last; mine was just in front of his. The wind was blowing and the snow drifting so, that at times it prevented us from seeing far. Suddenly, just as I turned a curve in the road, a large shed of snow and ice slid down from the cliff above, missing my wagon by about three feet. Your husband was just a little behind me and he must have been caught right in the middle of it, and buried under, because we could see nothing of him or his wagon. We dug and worked, but could make no progress. As we were made helpless by the cold, we had to come on without him." A silence followed, broken only by sobs, until Rex said, "I don't think my papa's dead, he'll come home or we can't have any Thanksgiving." Though the little sentence was fiiled with hope, it could do little towards soothing the mother's aching heart. Thanksgiving day dawned, bright, yet cold. Mrs. Thomas sat by the window watching, yet hardly expecting to see anyone. About ten o'clock, she saw a team in the distance, but she dared not speak, fearing the sudden hope which had come to her might leave. She watched in breathless silence until she recognized the white horses; then she gave a cry and fainted. Mrs. Grant, who was there, rushed to her. After reviving her, she