Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-11-25
THE HEROIC MOTHER;
Or, tho PeriIous Adventure.
BY EDWIN F. ROBERTS.


BY EDWIN F. ROBERTS.
In the north of Europe, as well as in
| the northern parts of America and Asia,
vast numbers of wolves abound. The
great forests and the mountain districts
of these countries afford them shelter, so
that their determination is next to an i'm
possibility; and as they are creatures OF
prey, and hunt it down in vast numbers,
the ravages they commit are sometimes
as extensive as they are tragic and horri-
bic.
When the SHOWS descend and harden
upon the plains, the wolves, pressed by
hunger, prowl about, and as the people
are nccessitated, despite all perils of the
way, to traverse extensive districts OH
sledGes, these animals, spurred on by in
turlatc hunger and eager scent, hover
about the sledge, It's occupants. and the
flying stceds, to whom at that time terror
adds wings, until either the horses out
strip them, or the untiring perseverance
of the rabid animals prove too much for
the noble brutcs.
At the house of a wealthy farmer stu
ated on the borders of a Swabian forest,
great festival had been held, which for
various reasons was continued for several
days, and which brought visitors from
several distant parts, SO that while the
halls were thronged with guests, the court
yards filled with gay and well secured
sledges, and the vast stables with horses,
two being generally attached to every
sledge
The snow hardened on the ground, not
to a solid consistency, but sufficiently SO
as to afford the peculiarly shod animals
good footing, and quite enough to favor
the rapidly gliding motion of the sledge,
and after the festival had come towards
It's termination, the guests one after the
other began to depart, and the sledgcs
laden with their occupants, hourly Quilted
the hospitable walls. The merry Jingle
of the bells on the trappings of the horse
gave chcerfulncss to the animated scene.
and the free, bracing air communicated to
them a lightncss and elasticity, which
was denoted by their impatient paving
and by the leaping gladness with which
they plunged into the apparently bound
less plain, while the severity of the cold
was mlugated to the waylarers by man
ties of warm furs in which they cncased
themselves up to the very chins.
Among the number was the wife and
two children of proprietor who dwelt
some fifty miles across one cXpanse cf the
unadnlating plain, that was now all white
and cleaning with SNOW that had fallen.
To the left, stretched like a white friacc.
the noble pines of tie great forest, and
within some distance Of which the level
tract of the sledgedriyc ran. This was
indicated, if the outline Of the ground
was lost, by tall pieces of sticks at reg
ular distances, i'll the form of mile stones,
so that there was, at least, 10 fear of
mistaking the way.
The lady was a woman of courage and
self-possession, and had often travelled
out i'll her husbands slcdge; and though
occasionally she had seen wolves hover
ing ID the distance, no serious danger has
as yet been encountered. She had, there
fore, no fear, though apprehensions were
entertained that after season of unusual
severity the wolves would pour out of
the forest in great force, and rendered un
tamcably fcrocious by the hunger gnaw-
ing their vitals.
Farewclls, cordial and grateful, were
uttered; messages of fricndiness passed:
the horses led out, and with a word, the
slcdge dartcd off into the white plain
the young children crouching snusly in
the bottom of the sledsc, on each side of
their mother, with a sense of comfort and
security that made her smile with pleas
ure. The hood was drawn over the
tough ash poles to keep the falling snow
away should a storm happen, which by
the heavy blue Of the distant horizon
before them seemed not unlikely. Away
went the noble steeds, away sped the
light compact carriage with speed like
that Of the wind, and which seemed
likely, within few brief hours, to place
them in safety and comfort within the
walls of their comfortable habitation.
With an occasional cry of encourage
mcnt the mother urged, almost unncccsSa-
rily, the horses to increase their speed:
and she had forgotten, in the rapidity
with which they were travelling, that
there were such things as wolves in the
country; when suddenly, long, low
bowling, rising upon the air, and incrcas-
ing Iii intonation, struck chill like that
OF death to her heart, and warned the
atfrlShted mother that the wolves were
out.
Horrible demon beasts. murderous and
obscene. there is no creature in this won-
dertul universe that seems so much to
have merited the adherence of man as
the wolf and still it would be arraign-
ing the wondrous system Of the creation
II Its uses, IN some sense or other were
ignored. The sense Of self-preseryation,
however, that places man in arms against
that which is inimical to his safety, ap-
pears justified in waging war with it, and
therefore every means that can be taken
to subdue, and even to exterminate these
frlghtful monsters, is sanctioned in its
very purpose.
The horses, too, had heard this fearful
cry, and their unerring instincts told
them that foe to be feared was on their
track. With smoking nostrils, erect ears,
and distended eyes, they dashed along