The Ripley advertiser. [volume] (Ripley, Miss.) 1843-1897, 1846-02-28
A NIGHT AMONG THE WOLVES.
BY JOHN G. WHITTIER.
1.-THE gaunt wolf,

Ce0klON l.,
nd mos, offensive howl, did ask for food"
Twas night in January, 1--WE had been
0 fine quill ing froIc ABOUT TWO miles ro',, wv
e,temen, of four or five log houses. twas
a,her la,e-abou, twelve O'Clock, guess when
he oar,y broke up. There was no moon-ano
. dull grey shadow of haze hung aIouno ,ne
horizon. wh,le overhead few pale and scxiy
ook,ng stars gave Us their dull light as .ney
shone through dingy curtain. There were
six Of US in company-Harry Mason and four
AZ pretty girls as ever grew up this SIDE OF the
Great Mountains. There were my Two sisters
and Harry's sister and his sweetheart the
daughter Of our next door neighbor. She was
a downright handsome girl that Caroline Allen' |
Never saw her equal, though am no stranger
to pretty faces. She was so pleasant ana oe'
nevolent of heart, so gentle and sweet spoken,
and % intelligent besides hat every ooay 'oveu
her. She had an eye as blue as the n'il Vio'e''
and her lips were like red rose leai IN June.
No wonder, then, that Harry Mason loved hel
boy, though he was-for we had ne'ther Of
u, seen our seventeenth summer.
Our path lay through thick forest OF OAK
with here and there tall pine raising ITS DARK
full shadow against the sky with an outline rem
dered indstlnct by the darkness. The snow
was deep-deeper great deal than 1t ever iel'
Of la,e years; but the surface was frozen strongly
enough to bear our weight and we hurried on
overthe bright pathway with rapid steps. we
had not proceeded far beforea long low now
came 10 our ears We all knew il in moment
andI could feel shudder thrilling the arms
that were closed to my own, and sudden cry
burst from the lips of Us all-"f The wolves! the
woIves!'
DID you ever see wild wof-no. one of your
cagel, brokeu-d ,wn show animals which are
exhibited fol. six. pence sight, and children han
price-but a fierce, half starved ranger OF the
wintry 70, est bowling and hurrying over the
barren tn wv actually mad with hunger! There
is no ,ne of Gods creation which has such
frighf,lly fiendish look as this animal. II has
the form as we'll as The spirit OF demon.
Another, and another howl; and then we could
hear The quick patter of feet behind US. We
all tu,neo right round and looked IN the dI'cc
ton Of the sound. "The devils are after u.s.
said Mason, pointing 10 line OF dark gliding
bodies And so in fact they were-a whole
troup cf them; bowling like SO many Indians IN
DOW wow. We had no weapons OF any KIND;
and we knew enough Of the nature OF the vile
creatures who followed us to know that It would
be useless to contend with them. There was
not moment to loose, the savage beasts were
close won u.s.. To attempt fight would nave
been hopeless affair." There was but one
chance of escape, and we instantly selzed upoi
it. ,,,
ITO The tree: let US climb this tree!'
cried springing forward towards a low oougne'
and guarded oak which saw at glance m'gh
be easily climbed into. . -,
Harry Mason sprang lightly into the tree an
aided in pIacing the terrified girls IN place Q
comparative security among the thick boughs
| was the last on the ground and the who'll
troop we're yelling at my neels before reache
the rest Of the company. There was one mo
ment of hard breathing and wild exclamation
among us and then feeling Of calm thankful
ness at our escape. The night was cold an
we soon began to shiver and shake ike SO man
sailors on the tompmast Of an Iceland whale
!. But there were no murmors no comp'anln
, among us for we could distinctly zee the gau'
: attenuate bodies of the wolves beneath u.s. al
s averv now and then we could Zee great gown
y ewes staring I'D into the tree where we WEI
= seated. And their yells they were loud, o'
!. and devilish. -,
20 know not how long we had remained in u
N situation, for we had no means Of ascertain
m the time when | heard limb cracking al
breaking down beneath the weight OF some
MS: and a momeet afterwards shrek we
ct through my ear like the piercing OF KNIFE.
light form went through the naked branct
We and fell with dull and heavy sound upon t
90 s,ffsnow.
10 20 God! am gone" 80,
rs II was the voice of Caroline Allen. I
on Door girl never spoke again! There was he
he rid dizziness and confusion in my brain ant
ps spoke not and ! stirred not, for the whole
nd that time was like an ugly unreal dream
ed " remembered that there were smother
te. groans and dreadful huws underneath $
'e. was literally eaten alive. The wolves had
'ar frightful feast, and they became raving m
vii with the taste oil blood.
re. When came fully to myself-when the
cir " horrible dream went off and It lasted bu
moment-I struggled to shake off the arms
ION nv sister, which were clinglng around me ;
h;l could have cleared myself should have Jun
in ed down among the ravingjanimals But wi
YES a second thought came over mt, knew 4
he. any attempt to rescue would be useless.
lar for poor Mason he was wild with horror
e;, had tried to follow Caroline when she fell,
nj. he could not shake off The grasp of his terrif
-, sister. +-
uld His youth and weak constitution and fra
60; were unable to withstand the dreadful trial Q
,nd he stood close by my side with his hands elm
III ed. and his teeth set closely, gazing down on
dark wrangling creatures below with the fl
Bill. stare of a maniac. 1t was indeed terri
III scene. Around was the thick cold night
"'' below the ravenous wild beasts were lapp
I'm. their bloody jaws and bowling for another
,oe tim.
., The morning broke at last, and our cowar
ed. enemies fed at the first advances of daylie
, in like so many cowardly murderers. We wal
until the sun had risen before we ventures
crawl from our hiding place. We were chill
through-every limb was numb with cold