The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1850-12-28

who knows Far beyond the reach Of hu-
man eye, II had seen or scented the saugh-
tered antelope, and with broad, silent wing
was now descending In spiral gyralions TO the
feast Of death Presently another, aud an
other, and another, and another, and many
others, notified the deep azure, eurviHg aHd
wheeling silently carthward; and then the
foremost swoopcd down upon the bank, and
ailor gazing around, Tapped or towards the
fprcy; IN few seconds The Surface 0T The
prairie was black with filthy birds, who elam-
bered over tie dead animals, and beat their
broad wings agaipst each other, and tore out
the tongues and eyes with their ietid beaks
And now came gaunt hungry wolvcs-thc
I white and c0y6fc stcaIi6gr rT6G cacTuS-r1icE=
cts aud Looping, cowarl-likc, over the green
swclls of the prairic these drove away the
yultures, and dragged forth the entrais with
the quickness Of Thought, and growlcd, and
snarIcd, and snapped vcngclully at each 9TH
or, aud licked their blood-cottcd laws with
looks Of guilty enjoyment
"lhank heaven! ! shall a. least be- saved
from this" was soon relieved from the sight
Of it my eyes had sunk below the level of
the hank. and had looked IN last upon tha
lair green earth could see only the white
gypsum walls that contained the river, aud
the water that ran Needless between them
Again fixed my gaze upon the ky, and with
praycrfu heart cndcaVorcd To resign myself
TO my fate, In spite Of my cndcavors, the
memory of earthly pleasures, and ricnds, md
home, would come stealing upon me, causing
me 10 break ont into wild paroN Nysns Of gricf,&
shouting for help made fresh and fruitlcss
10 struggles.
During one Of these moments my horse a.
gain ucghcd, answering my shouts \ tho't
struck mo shall see him before 1 die
,Iourncyings, shared hardships, had made rs
known Ia each other E. he would come at my
call the lariat was loosely tied, or the soft
cactus would break at single jerk IIa! an
other thought, quick ~ the former but far
more bright and thrilling, rushed into my
mind; "A thoughi-s hopc--a plan I l",t
not moment to aitcmptits execution. rnis-
cd my voice TO the highest pitch, aud cried
Moro Moro Moro :" \ loud neigh was my
answcr-a neigh of recognition that came
back as nm echo again shouted -'Troh :
Moro Prob 90 listened with a bounding
heart For moment there was silence. on
ly moment and then came the hollow
sounds of the Prancing hoof; at FIRST rapid
and irregular, as of a stccd struggling and
rearing "a EeJ rFrE riIeu HIfafiiet HEiz.tI. anu
after that the stroke of the iron heel in a
measured and regular galop. Nearer APP
/ pcarcd the sounds-ncarcr aud nearer, un-
I'll the gallant brute bounded out upon the
bank here he halted, and flinging back his
tossed manc. uttered another shrill neigh
: -ffc was tcWildcFcd 6nd looked on every side
snorting loudly. | knew that having once
seen me, he would not stop until he had
pressed his dose against my chcck--his usual
custom; and holding up my hand, once moro
called out the magic wor,ls-"Proh Moro
Prob 20
Now for the first time looking downward
he perceived my head and shoulders above
the water and, stretching himself he sprang
out into the channel and advanced towards
me.
The next moment held him by the bri-
die.
There was na time to be lost. was still
going down and my arm-p pit was fast. near
ing the surface Of the quicksand. Reaching
up, caught the lariat, aud passing it under
tltt. rtitii- fstrtts, r5trtrrri 1t IN Il tiuht firm
knot. | then loopcd the trailing end, max
ing it secure around my body, and across my
ribs. had leit enough Of the rope between
the bit-ring and the girths 20 enable me to
check and guide the animal, in case the
drag upon my body should become too pain
iul.
All this while, the dumb brute seemed to
comprehend what MAS about, rs well as the
nature of the ground upon which he stood :;
tor during the operation he kept lifting his
feet and replacing them alternately, without
either plunging or rearing.
My arrangements were at length complet-
ed and, with a strange feeling of awe, gave
my horse the signal. Here again the faith
ful animal bore evidence that he understood
the duty he was to perform Instead of NOV
ing off with start felt the rope tighten
upon me slowly and gradually, as if it had
been drawn by human hands! / experienced
the wild delightto feel that, slowly and grad
ually too, l was moving.
The lariat cut painfully, and I checked the
horse for a moment to ro-adiust the thong
This was done and giving the signal sec
ond time was drawn from the tenacious ell
ement, and felt myaelf--a- feeling / cannot
describe--sailing along the water. sprang
to my feet with shout of JOY. / rushed up
to my brave steed, and throwing my arms a
round his neck, kissed him with az much de-
light as | would have kissed a beautiful girl.
He answered my embrace with low and
singular neghing, that told me was under
stood.
! looked for Spy rifle. Fortunately it had
not sunk deeply, and soon found it. My
boots with their spurs remained in the quick,
sand and doubtless by this time have reach