Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1858-04-16

Ethree children the oldest tenvapd
ometimes,, then i was away from home,
the sudden, gro8l ofsa bear. D. the,scream of
a panther aor the showlsro rof aswolf, would
make me eIthink Of them, and feel quite un-
easy y14eG iiie aaoh bIa 7fIas ou
,tFor a while, at first, the night>scream-
| ing and bowling of these animals alarmed
the childred 9. good sdeal-apd sometimes
my wife and me-especially when we
mistook the cry Of the panther for an In
dian yell but we soon got used to the diff
ferent sounds, and did mot mind them so
much; and after / had, got a few acres
cleared around the dwelling, they, geuer-
ally kept more distant at night-just as
if they comprehended that the place, now
in possession. of their enemies was, no
longer to be an abode for them. Besides,
l now and then shot one, which thinned
them alittle, and probably Enlightened the
others. for they gradually became less
bold and annoying. .n ri
During the first year l had two rath-
er narrow escapes-onee from bear and
once from panther; but the most reF
markable adventure was the one. which
happened during the second winter, and
which 1 have always designated as a
might among the Wolves"
Zone bitter cold morning-the ground
being deeply covered, with snow, so crus>
ted and frozen that no feet could sink in,
to it brought out the horse for my
wife to rideto C*'*** the nearest set.
tlement, where my wife had some pur>
chases to make, which she wished to at
tend to herself. Besides being well muf>
fed up in her own clothing, l wrapped
large buffalo robe around her; and ad-
monishing her that the woods were full
Of danger after dark, urged her be
sure and get back before sunset, which
she promised to do.
"All day long, after her departure,
from some cause for which could not
account, felt very much depressed aud
uneasy, as if something evil were going
to happen; and when saw the sun about
half hour high, and no signs OF my wife
returning got out my pistols, rife. am
unition, hunting-knite. saddlcd a young
and rather skittish colt, and bidding the
children to stay within doors, and the
house safely locked. I mounted and rode
off to meet her. which Iexpected to do at
every turn Of the horse path. But at ev-
cry turn was doomed to disappoint,
ment: and when had put mile after mile
behind me-, without seeing any sign Of
her, became more and more alarmed,
and dashed on still faster.
at was just about dark when saw the
lights of C**** cleaning in the distance;
but before / reached the town met my
wife Fastening home ward-sh having
been unayoidably detained by meeting an
old acquaintance, who had recently came
on from the eastward, and with whom
she had remained to gather the news and
take supper-the time passing away SO
quickly as to render her beiated before
she was aware oft. ans.-4
81 was greatly rejoiced to find her safe
and unharmed-but not little puzzled
to account for my presentment of evil,
which it tappearedto me had taken place
without cause--though in this respect 1
was greatly mistaken, as the sequel will
show.
eve now set Of at brisk trot home.
ward-thro' q dense, dark; gloomy wood,
which lined our path on either side-and
had safely proceeded about miles, when
we were somewhat startled by a series OF
long iplainitive howls, at considerable
distance, and in different directions, and
which our experience told us were
wolves, seemingly calling and answering
each other through the great forest.
"The wolves of this region were'of the
larger and fiercer species; and though or
dinarily and singly they might not attack
a human being, yet in numbers and press
sed by hunger, as the generally were at
this season of the year, l by no means
felt certain that We should not be molest-
ed.
"Accordingly we quickened the PAGES
Of our horses and as We hurried on
grew every moment more uneasy and
alarmed, as noticed that many of the
sounds gradually approached us. We
had just entered deep hollow. where
few large trees spread their branches ovel
| dense thicket, when suddenly there
arose several loud, harsh, bayiEg and
swapping sounds, close at hand: The
next moment there was quick rustlinl
and thrashing among the bushes; anc
then some six OF eight large wolves
lean gaunt and madened with hunger
sprung into the path close beside US.
"This happened so suddenly and un
expectedly that my wife gave sligl
scream and dropped her rein; and tn
" horse, rearing and plunging1at the sam
moment, unseated her; and she fell to tn
ground right in the very midst of the saw
age beasts, whose glaring eyes shown il
the dark like so many Goals of Ere.
Fortunately, her sudden fall startler
the wild animals a little; and they mo
mentarily drew back, she with rare pres
ence Of mind, at once gathered her but
falo robe, which she had dragged wit
her, in such manner about her perso
as to nrotect hersalf from the first onse