The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-03-20

ingly close at hand. He was now in utter
darkness, and mounting quickly again, headed
his horse directly for the fire. On he went.
not knowing where the reins were frightened,
and the lash and the spur applied with the en-
ergy of desperation. Hotter and hotter the
air became, but on he careered, blind and
headlong. The fire has struck him with a
roaring surge His hair flames erisply and
the flesh of his body seems to be burning
The frantic and painting horse attempts to
shy, but no, the fierceness Of the agony, has
turned that riders arm and will TO iron ! Ii
cannot shy-the poor horse On on scorch-
ing through the sitting blazel A few bounds
more and the terrific surges are past! The
fresh air has met him He tore the envelope
from his face and leaped from the staggering
horse upon the charred hot ground. The
blanket is torn away from its mouth and The
animal begins to revive quickly, though it shiv-
ers and can scarcely stand for the mortal ter
ror
He is safe He has accomplished an un-
paralleled feat He hears family above the
cracking and roar of the retiring flames howl
of triumph from his pursue.s, who imagine
they have driven him into the fire, and that
he is burnt, horse and all. He makes feeble
attempt to answer them defantly: but he can
scarcely hear his own voice. Stunned and
gasping to recover the use Of their almost sti-
fled lungs he and his horse stand, side by side,
upon that blackened plain without moving a
step for more than an hour. But the perils
of the day were BY no means passed. Before
him, as far as the eye could reach, there was
only one charred, levelled, smouldering waste,
which had to be crossed before he could reach
water, for which. both himself and horse were
now almost perishing. He started on at last,
taking his course at random, fer one seemed to
his bewildered sense about as good as another.
He did not ride at first, but mercifully led his
poor horse, until the heat Of the ground and
all the still smouldering stubs of grass became
insufierable to his feet, and then he turned to
mount. He now, for the first time, looked at
the animal carefully, and 20 his horror, saw
that every hair upon its body was gone, and
nothing but the bare skin left, and that so bad
" scorched in places, that it came off to the
slightest touch. This was dreadful enough.
but--water water water! he must have that,
or they would both die. He sprang into the
saddle and urged the wretched creature
along with the last energies of his sinking life.
In an hour he had begun to grow dizzy, and
the blackened earth swan round and round,
and sent him to and fro Now strange
noise was about him, and as the lifting waves
of the earth would almost seem to leap up in
to his face, he would catch glimpses of huge
wolves careering on them who would turn up
their fiery eyes TO his, and howl at him with
red hot open mouths and lolling tongues
Suddenly his horse rushed down steep
bank, and there was great splashing. Wa
ter Blessed God, water He tumbled from
his saddle into the cold delicious fluid. In an
instant his senses had returned, and he saw
himself surrounded by thirty or forty prairie
wolves, some of whom were swimming in the
water after him, while others sat upon the
bank of the small lake, as he now discovered
il to be, and howled fiercely at him. lie struck
those who were nearest with his gun barrel
and beat them off, while he had time to dlaw
his heavy knife. One of them had seized his
passive horse, who, while it was endeavoring
to pull him down, stood still and drank the
long eager draught. He split the VOLTS head
with his knife, and soon sent the rest back out
of the water, yelling with their wounds Bat
those upon the bank only howled the louder,
and they were answered near at hand and from
afar by hundreds of others, who were swiftly
gathering in at the we'll known call of the BAN
quet.
He now remembered that these wary and
internal brutes always collected in lars nu =:
bers, to follow in the wake of great prairie
fire to tear the carcasses of those animals that
are killed, or band together, to chase and drag
down his poor horse. They become very saw
age, with blood, impunity and mum bers, few
creatures which have escaped from the flames
can escape their yet more ravenous jaws
The creature at other times, is utterly con-
temptible for his cowardice, but he shuddered
wheI he called to mind the dreadful stories
he had heard of II cir deadly fierceness at such
times as this My God ? he moaned aloud
wasn't it bad enough for me to pass that hell
of flames back yonder ? and have only es-
capped that TO meet a fate a thousand tunes
more hideous He looked at his horse, the
animal was now, too, refreshed, ard began to
be conscious of the new danger as it gazed a
round with startling eyeballs upon the eager
and swiftly gathering crowd that howled along
the shore. He snorted in alright and lifted
his head with a wildly mournful neigh, that
seemed TO poor Dan the most piteous sound
that ever rung upon his ear before. There
was some comfort though-thc horse had life
enough in him to make one more run for safe
ty. lie mounted, and after having fired his
rifle, with deliberate aim, into the thickest OF
them, charged right through at full speed.
They leaped at his feet, and attempted to seize
MS horse 5 legs Out me animal was toO uiOI-
tally frightened for them to impede his way
for an instant.-T Through he trampled, and
away across the prairie he flies, snorting with
terror, and moving with as great speed as if
fresh, and away, too, in pursuit, swept the
yelling herd of wolves. They were more than
a hundred now, and seemed increasing in
numbers at every jump, for as Dan glanced
his frightened eyes around, he would see them
out with speed and their mouths
wide open, coming TO join the terrible route
from every direction over the prairie. He
looks behind-they were close upon his heels
the great part of them, particularly those in
front, and which seem most fierce and raven
Gus, were scorched nearly naked, and with
the white foam flying, their long red tongues,
their fiery glaring eyes, they presented the
most hideous picture Of unearthly terror that
ever mortal lived to be chased by before, I'M
ess by the horrid phantasmagoria ofmadness
He fred his pistols back at them, but it made
no difference, they only yelled the louder, and
came on the more fercely, while five Joined
H.. no hlS