The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-01-25
LUKE BLAIR'S
Encounter with q Pack Of Wolves.

The leaPing heart in Pricking sensation over
the skin. ........ 7
1t was the frst time had ever noticed {
such tremor in the old squatter's tones, or I
q manner which indicated that he ever felt |
fear. 1t was something unusual, and with
my own young pulse quickened, watched
the old man by the dim light Of the fire.
had known Luke Blair--"Old Id Luke" as
he was called--for ten years, and yet knew
nothing Of his history. There was mys.
tery about him which none ever penetrated,
and an eccen,ricity Of manner which gave
his movements a peculiar interest to bis
rough but true. hearted comrades. He spent
bis time in the woods, and never brought in
any thing but wolves scaIps. There was n
fierce burning look in his eye as he flung |
them upon the ground, and he would sit for
hours after one OF his excursions with his
head bowed between his hands.
AS unsocial as was the squatter, he was
respected by oil who had come in contact
with him. He was brave to madness, and
yet as cool in danger as in his camp. Nor
was there anything rough in his manners;
on the contrary, there was on easy bearing
almost eegance--wh bespoke day OF
education and refinement. And when he
did speak bis language was well chosen.
Blair had other qualifications which won
the respect of the hardy spirits around him.
He was six feet high, broad shouldered, full.
chested, and form erect, and his limbs were
models of symmetry and strength; his hair
and beard had grown unshorn since we had
known him, and were thickly sprinked with
gray. But the forehead, though darkIy
bronzed and deeply scanned, was almost mas
sive, and the head of faultless mould. The
eye was dark, lustrous, and in excitement,
of peculiar and fascinating power. Around
his neck was some sacred token, which nc
e, e had seen, ard which he guarded with &
jealous care.
There was something about the old mar
his commanding presence, his bravery
and his lonely habits and sad manner
which won my young heart, and / watchee
every opportunity Of maniesting my regard
l had engaged him to guide me to the Mis-
sissippi, by the way Of - Prairie.
For several days we threaded the dens'
forests which 'intervened, and under grea
difficulties. The snow had fallen to an un
usual depth, the cold was intense, and rem
dered more intolerable by the fierce win
from the prairie waste. We were wurml
dressed, but there were times when the wear
frame began to feel the dreary influence G
the sleep which steals so fatally over tn
senses.
On the night in question we had turDe
aside to seek the shelter Of grove Of sma
timber, and TO find fuel for our fire. We ha
faced the binding storm oil day, and cou
hardly keep sufficiently awake to kndle tt
fire and secure wood for the night. We HI
Just accomplished this when the hunter mat
the exclamation at the head OF our story =
I was awake at once, and the blood ting
through my veins, for | knew that LuI
Blair would not speak without cause.
"Harb !"
- The word was but q whisper, but had
terrible distinctness. His hand had inv,
UNFAIRLY sought his rihe, and his head turne
towards the wood heard nothing but t
- wild roar Of the storm as it swept by.
"There tits again The devils are {
our trackv' and he cIutched his kuile ho
TO- die with steady grasp, and breathed hard
through his thin nostrls.
''l' heard the noise this time that had
ION tracted his attention before, swelling, as
OF storm lulled aD instant, into wild, protra
tue ed howl, as from thousand famished throt
ana clear, dismal and wailiDg with that teur
70 tone which startles the boldest, even at I'll
mas firesides. Blair turned, and as our eyes I
eP' he slowly whispered
ugh "a pack Of hungry wolves! God h
ana mercy upon us!"
''uS A sickening sensation went like fl
Dis to the heart, and then csme burning thoug
IA. of home, and again the chills, as thou
ue'' of the shel.erless prairie and binding sn
0se' "Again the black devils are on
"" tracks |" AS Blair spoke he laid his h
Me- upon my arm, and with an expression
lPs sadness which l shall never forget loo
ana me steadily in the eye. There was treI
ting of the lin which I had never seen before
Ke' 1t was not fear--I knew lhat--but some
'een rible remembrance or presentment wi
hao came over him with irresistible power.
suf. "The bour bas come, knew !, uoul
, the have felt it for days. do not fear de
II ne but it il horrible to be hunted down in &
ater' a spot as this, and be torn by internal
eyes ils." ~a
Yet His breath came thick and kissing thro
avert bis clenched teeth, and his chest hes
'"u with intense emotion. a..
wa "Heres" said be. lifting the soiled st
over his head; and taking locket atta'
to it in HE hand, sis the shadow Of one
never knew, but the original was once
70 :" light Of my young life, and come with m
'n'o this territory when the world was bl
'ne with hope. l left her in the cabin, one
u! u and went TO my work. as usual. She CT
'ner' ed the valley, and came where Twas W
"a" ing. Wishing to fell the tree was dt '
j L II r 4 .- 4 ~