Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1860-03-30

ooh, SO comfortable" she answer
d, with nesting movement and smile
which made my hea1t leap joyously up
ward. - 81 : & q
But my attention was called away to
he creeping, crepuscular ipkyness of
he sky. It was, light, yet not day
light, but blue light-to coin word
hat wintry hue Of livid darkening
steel, always the precursor to fierce
change in, the weather. This only
made the along, level plains of snow
CLEAN with lustre the more dazzling
and intense. I remarked this, but with
q momentArily divided and wavering
sense.
I had never familiar as we had
grown, and I was "honest as the skin
between your ,brovs,' - as she, was in
fact)-I had never said "dear Lota"
before, and the words were yet in mine
ears like sweet old burthen. l loved
her with all my heart and soul, but l
had never told it. yearned to tell her
so now but I thought it scarcely fair
not up to the mark Of my manhood
to take what seemed an unfair adj
vantage of the protection Twas suppos-
ed to extend over her. / magnani-
mously resolved to withholding down
the words-but not for long. :,
Meantime, sscrick - crack !" went
the long whip, and still "cling-clang"
went the Ginning bells, and the horse
held on with undated pace and splen-
did vigor, but-where had "Windy
gap" gone to all this time ? for time
was up, and we should be there by this
time. as --' .- ~
"Goodness !" exclaimed Lota, all at
once, chow strange the sky looks We
shall have more snow "a heavy fall,
too" 40 IS sy1.a 45.E- WI.
81 fear 500 replied, ''but MIN
porte, we'll soon be out Of it."
eve are very long going, I fancy, y
she continued, reAect,vely; ''you have
driven there quicker than this before
0, Heaven!'' she cried, with the sud
denness of the revelation, "can We
have lost the track ?" g.
The blank question harped with q
horrible jar on my most vivid nerves
| Now or never was the time to be quite
cool.
"No, I think not" replied with as.
sumed carelessness eve shall come te
our landmark presently"
GA clump of irs-au old mill fur
Their on; yes," she added, 81 recollect
but we should have passed them Ions
ere this. Oh, l fear We are lost -
A cold chill seized me as l tacitl.
admitted that she vas right. coule
not account for my error, if such wa
the case. I looked round the horizon
but beheld no friendly sign twas onl,
circle gathering closer and growing
darker the while.
Suddenly my brave deer-hound liftet
up his head and uttered low growl
The horses gave startled swerve jus
as suddenly. A strange, lugubriou'
but appalling sound came all at ono.
from windward, wailing like death
cr}-a prolonged, awful. groaning dis
! cordancc = over the white cleaning
snow, and then it died away. aaf1
!. s.What was that ?" asked Lota, in 8
shuddering whisper, as she clutched my
arm.
l listened. cit is the wind signing
and dying away in the pine Forest"
) answered. .a .s
"And we do not 60 near the Forest
she said clark! there it is again. Oh
what-what can it be %
i Again that indescribably hideous anc
lugubrious sound broke forth clearer
nearer. 1t increased it multiplied
the horrible crescendo, bowling, shrek
ing and raving, was NOT that Of the
wind this time.
"Merciful Heaven!" gasped Lota
'THE WOLVES ~ '-.. Hls
never understood, till that moment,
what the concentrated essence of liter
al deadly horror might mean. neve:
experienced the shock before or since
and have, in my hunting excursions,
faced'my danger and played out the
game manfully. To have lost the way
was terrible enoug III but---the wolves!
land Lota! An instant I was numb
and dumb. .. 70. Il .-.. nm
1t was true, however. The severity
Of the weather, the migration or scare
ity of the animals on whom these I'M
clean creatures preyed, had made their
hunger raging, devouring madness.
They we're encroaching on civilized ter
ritory, and, losing their usual and char
acteristic craven cowardice, were
approaching the habftations Of men,
haunting village and settlement. Woe
to those in their path AS the internal
howl rose lingeringly again, the horses
darted away with shrill neigh of fear
and guided them, beginning to recover
myself, in an opposite direction, while
"Terror," my noble hound, stood up,
with his fang barred and every hair on
end, waiting for the enemy he had al
ready scented. g.5s,.-e 81 ..., z-rs,
If my good horses had gone on 50
admirably at first, they sped off now
like an arrow from the bow; for the
madness Of fear added wings to their
speed, as that of hunger did to onr
painting pursuers. I was growing cool
Lota'was pale but calm. I feltaproud
Of her, though it was certain that, if
we escaped not speedily, the brutesl
would run us down, and then, horror Of
horrorc rhot n doo+b e., b,~