St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-08-23

odor of lnagnolias burdenel th;e. air, and,
every minute q dense copse would force US
to turn aside from our route. = i. :1.-:.:
"Hush! !'' whispered the Doctor, sudden
ly, with spasmodic pull at my coat tail,
'there's deer" =
T was just wondering at this absence of
deer, and could not account for it,. as it was
a rare thing to go mile in, Florida with
out seeing one. ... ..... g.. -.
""Where" I whispered; ~ don't see
it." i" =. :,''. .>2,&''| l.. .':.-
"Hush it has gone now but we will
see it in a moment again" " r":""'.
We advanced on tiptoe, both in body
and expectation. ',..........--...
''There there - said the Doctor, point
ing with his little finger little to the left;
but the luminous spot was gone before I
hardly got my eyes on it,. 1..-..
We were in the very place for deer. A
heavy wind-fall lay ahead of us, and the
mingled trunks and twisted branches look
ed like the chevauac de frise to some great
encampment. The Pickering light made
the shadows move back and forth with
spectral effect, as though dancing, and the
hush of the forest was unbroken by any
sound. Every moment I expected to see
again the phosphorescent stars that indicate
the deer's eyes, and then the true shot
would bring us the prize for our labor. It
seemed long time IN coming again.
"That deer must be very shy" whisper
ed the Doctor, just above his breath.
The next time I. saw it first. It was
some distance ahead, and there were two !;
but just before I could point them out to
my comrade, they had disappeared. Pres
emily we saw it on one side Of us.
"Charlie, that's will-o'-the-wisp," said
Poke, in rather subdued tone, s'or the
devil: who ever heard of deer going
around so?"
"ae H is, is examining you to see what man
"Perchance it is some spirit of a depart
ed buck, leading us wild chase to destroy
u.s." -. l..:
"There it is, right behind me, as livew
calculated the Doctor, in evident trepida-
ton. ."'j III ~ -. 49,.
Sure enough, as l turned my head,
saw the two blue lights that indicate the
rejecting lenses Of the eye. The Doctor
was taking aim, but I noticed it was not
very steady. He pulled the trigger; a
dull snap announced miss fire. He pull
ed the other trigger; it: snapped in the
same way. The gun was wet with rain.
"Was anything ever SO provoking" said
Poke, as the eyes vanished in the dark
ness. 81. d.. a'>< *:2 - -
8 "If. it is the devil, he. will have you
now" .... .'r....: ...:>E,...:... .., :.
Glow can you talk So" said the Doctor,
with strong accent on the tfcan."' :.
"There is your deer, Poke, in the wind
fall" :, said I, as 1. caught sight of the eyes
moving iapidly along over the mass of tim
ber that lay heaped and knvtted together
"That's no deer" said Poke; .""no GLOW.
en- foot could go ever that windfall that
way. I would rather see the nj ght hunts
man of the Hartz Mountains than those
eyes again.. AS he was speaking, I saw
in the inky darkness ahead of us another
pair of eyes, and two or three pairs on the
left. The truth flashed on me. The scar.
city of the deer, the proximity Of the wind
fall, the restlessness of those balefM eyes
all gave me the .clue-the wolves were
around us. ......:r...... ......
! A word to Poke, and the affair was ex.
|plained, and we stood still for consultation
We tried new caps on our gun; but it was
Of no use, the cones were saturated with
water. We turned toward the camp, ,bu'
in our confusion We forgot the direction
70 heighten the misery Of the scene, ou1
torch was almost burned outlet that dit
? and the rest would be easily OWNED.
We were standing, at the time, under .
grove Of small pecan trees, and at that in
J stant a low snort, was heard from the shad
ow near us, like the cough Of dog. ~,''
7 Poke did not say a word but, dropping
, the gun, and seizing limb Of one Of th'
trees over his head, with an agility TO
j, which I had never given him. credit, ele
vated himself to the crotch about ten fee
: from the ground. ''''"'1 @-@*.' l.. -..'.1'.'
I did not want to. do anything of th
, kind, of course not; / would rather hav
placed my back against q tree. and won J,
: glorious death in battle against my numer
D ous foes but alack! for bad example,
! dropped the torch, that broke Id pieces il
. falling, and clasping the nearest tree, whicl
c happened to be a medium sized gum tree
. soon scrambled up to place Of safety
! Lucky it was for me that I had that tore
in my hand, for when it fell it lay seattle,
b ed around the base Of the tree, still ficke,
J. ing and flashing id the darkness, and th
, animals that had Surrounded III, as the
I, saw their prey escaping, rushed forwar
>. with an angry noise; they savthe CLOWN
e embers, and held back just long enoug
9 permit my escape. AS I drew myself a