The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1864-04-12

enough for them to tear us to pieces an
devour us
We must put our sole trust in Coz
then J l groaned.
Yes, your honor, that is all that W
can do 7
Suddenly Jules, who had been sit,in
in silence, holding the reins of the run
ming horse with the same apparent firm
ness as if driving on race course, part
ly turned his head, and exclaimed
Quick quick your honor-hav
you strong, sharp knife p
Yes yes =
Quick, then ! in Heavens name J.
quick quick give it me give it me
another minute will be too late 7
tore off my glove, whirled back the
SKINS, furs and outer garments thrus
my hand into a pocket, and brou CHI
forth long, Spanish clasp p-knife, which
opened viii spring.
Here Jules-here =
He took it, with deliberation his ex-
cited words had not led me to expect;
and then. turning his eyes toward
Heaven, said, solemly :
May God smile upon the design il
seems our only hope i
Jules, | cried, with shudder. catch
ing him by the arm, surely you are not
medi'aiing seIf-destruction %
No, no, no, your honor but plan
to save us both, with Gods help Here
quick take the reins take the
reins |,
| did 50 mechanically, but amazed
and mystifed. Instantly Jules leaned
forward over the front of the sleigh, and
Tor a few moments seemed hard at work
Then starting up suddenly, he cut the
reins wiih a single stroke of his knife,
and at the same time struck the flyinp
horse smart blow with his whip. Be.
ore | had time TO ask what all this
meant, | comprehended what had been
done. lie had cut the traces. the horse
was leaving us, and we were running bv
our own momentum
III was our only chance, said jules,
pointing to The hut jost before us, about
opposite OF which | judged the still fast
moving sleigh would stop. Had we
passed that, | fear there wouldn't have
been any hope.
And what hope now . l cried, in des
pair, MS | heard the angry wolves all
around us. and saw their fiery eyes in
every direction.
You see' replied Jules, with a wild.
hysterical laugh you see. don't you +?
they're passing us, to the right and lett,
in full chase of the flying horse, which
they'll catch and destroy before they'll
come back for US =
1t was true, and God be praised it was
true ! They were passing us. to the
right and left i; and in less than haIfa
minute the hindmost was ahead of us.
and the whole yelping pack WAS in eager
chase of the noble beast that had done
his best TO save us.
Quick, your honor 7 he exclaimed:
'now's our only chance they'll soon be
back here we must get shelter in this
hut while we can.'
Waiting only 10 be certain that no
prowler was near US. we gathered up all
our loose coverings, and ran for our lives
to the shanty. 1t was old and untenant-
T, and the front door was fast. This
was terrible shock to our hopes. We
ran to the rear door. Gracious Heaven!
that was fast also.
We must get in J fairly screamed
That window 7 said Jules, hurried
ly IL could only reach in =
Here mount upon my shoulders
He did so and the next minute h.
sent il in with crash, and threw hi
body into the aperture. As lie shortl,
disappeared inside, leaving me standing
without, my ears were assailed with
wild, shrieking yell. that made my blooC
curde. | knew what it was-our poo
horse was already in the clutches Of ii
rapacious foes.
Quick Jules-for the love Of God
| cried
He extended his hands, seized them
and il few seconds more | safe inside
| kneeled down, and thanked God 70
our deliverance from almost certai
death, and wept for joy.
Ten minutes later. the still hungr
beasts were how ing all around us-bu
we were not destined 10 be their victims
The next day We related our wonder
ful adventures 10 astonished groups j
Carlsbad.