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

firmly, bringing il "a the level. 1 then
slowly raised mysolf aud looked through the
leaves Of the ariemisia, was in the right
spot, and, sighting the heart of tho buck, !
fired, He leaped three feet frouhthe ground
AMI fell back again lifelcss heap.
! was about % rush forward aud secure my
prize when observed the doe, INSTEAD ut
bounding away, as ] expected, run up 10 her
ialloH partner, and press her tapcring nose to
hi- i'o'iyT-i+'r- WIS rut rnurr than twenty
yards from me- aud could plainly see that
her look WAS one of inquiry and hrwildor-
ment An at ones she seemed 90 eomprc-
hend the fatal truth, and throwing back her
head, commenced uttcring the most pitcous
-vrrrrT HTTru trrru rrrrrrrrrg III rtrvtur
round the dead body of her mate.
| stood wayering between two minds. Ny
first intention was to reload and kill the doe;
but her strange and plaintiyc cries entered
s'.s l..s'- .f-l'-t'-l -lt-rrrrirr-- NIT u
tile feeling nay, more began to feel ~
morse for what had already done, Had
drcamt Of witnessing spectacle 50 painful
~ the one before me, | should never have
let, the trail "JcrScd hull' for month,
aud half rations at that, would have been
Happiness Ia what I endured As I listened aud
looked upon this strange scene,
But the mischief was now done. 81 had
worse than killed her" thought /; 1T will be-
better to despatch her at once, aud IN This
way relieve her Of all pain"
Acluatcd by these principles Of a common
but TO her fatal, humanity, rested the butt
Of my rifle aud reloaded. With guilty
look and ialtcring hand ! raised the piece
aud fired, My hand was steady enough to
do the work, When. the smoke loatcd aside
could see the little creature bleeding upon
drgras-, her head resting upon the body of
her murdered mate
shouldcrcd my rihC aud was about 80
move forward, when 20 my astonishmcnt /
found myself held 10y the feet, aud firmly, as
ifmy boots had been screwed into Niccl
made an effort To raise my legs, but could
litt neither one nor the othcr--anothcr effort
more violent Was equally unsuccc,sf-sd
third still more desperate, aud losing my bal
anoe, fell back with plash npon the water
Half suilocatrd, | rudravorrd To recover my
upright position This | easily accomplished
as my knees we're already below the surfagc
oftbc sand, and, in fact, now bent with dini-
Guilty. GA my feet again what could do ?
was still as fast as before / could neither
move forward nor backwarl-to the right or
lhe lail-.pd l,.sassse s..l,sil,lt.-tlsat s.s.
gradually going down, deeper aud decrcr -
then the fearful truth flashed upon me lr..s
sinking ia q,acksdnd'
Affecting of horror ran through me. re-
ncwcd my efforts with the energy of dcspui-
alton. tbcnt to one side, thcn 10 the other,
utmost TJtfttug my ftnccg nom rNciiF S0cFetS
but my icct-I could not move them an inch.
The son clingy.sand had already oycrtoppcd
my high horsc-skin boots, wtdging them a.
round my legs, so that | yanly cndcayored
to draw them forth; and could feel that
was still sinking, slowly but surcly,as though
some horrid monster was lcisurcly dragging
me downward. The very thought caused
me new feeling of horror, and cried aloud
for help. To whom There was no one
within milcs-no. living thing Yes the
neigh of my horse answered me from the hill.
mocking my despair.
! bent iorwnnl. as lvell ~ H,, -ee,t-tr trri,,t,l
position would allow, and with frenzit,l fin
gers, commenced tearing up the sand. could
barely touch the surface, and the little
-hottow I was Hbio 10 scrdPc out fI1Cd up as
quickly as il had been formed.
A thought occurred to me. IL will place
my rifle between my thighs, horizontally; it
may support me for n time" looked around
for the object had dropped it in my first
efforts to get free. 1t was beyond my reach
IT had disappeared!
The next thought-"Can throw my body
fiat, and thus, 10y constant e&ertion, prevent
myself from sinking deeper ?" No the sur
face of the watcr was two feet above that of
the sand. jn this position | should have
been drowned at once | proved that 10y
bending forward and resting my hands upon
the bottom. The running stream swept my
face and shoulders,and I rose again half fchok-
ed with the water. This last hope had left
me; | could think of no other-I made no eff
fort to think; a strange stupor seized upon
me; my very thoughts were paraIyzed
knew that was going mad--for a moment
,rds mad
After an interval my senses returned
made an effort to rouse my mind from this
paralysis, in order that l might meet my
death, which | now felt-wns certain ike a
man. ! stood-rrcct my eyes had sunk to the
prairie level, and rested upon the still bleed
ing victims of my cruelty; my heart smote
me at the sight, and could not help feeling
that my t;rtc was rutributiUu from God. -
With humble and penitent thoughts turn
ed my face to heaven, almost dreadinp that
some sign of omnipotcnt anger would scowl
upon me from above. But no; the sun wns
shining as brightly rs ever, and the blue can
opy of the world was without>a cloud. I paZ-
ed upon it and prayed with an .earnestness
known TO the heart only in similar situA-