The Shasta courier., 1864-07-23

to protect, and the mae parent to devnur it |
This is disputed pointin natural history
but there can be nn dispute that the alligator
eagerly preys upon the dog whenever an op-
pnr.unity offers-seizing the canine victim in
his terrible jaws and carrTing it off to his
aqueous retreat This he does with an air
at such earnest avidity 10 leave no doubt
but that he e>teems the dog favorite mnrsel
was not surprised. then, to see halfa.
dozen OF these gigantic reptiles emerging from
amid the dark tree trunks. and hastily swim
ming towards the wounded houad
Tue continued bowling of the latter guided
them: and in lew seconds they had sur
rounded the spot where he struggled, and
were dashing forward upon their victim
A shoa of sharks could not have finished
{, hirl more expeditiousiy. A blow from the
Il il of one sienced his howling-three or
four pairs of eaunt Jaws closed up n him at
the same tme-a short scufie ensued-then
| the long bony reads separated and the huge
reptiles were seen swimming off agaiu, each
with morsel in his teeth. A few bubbles
and botches of red fruth mottling the inky
surface Of the water were all that remained
where the hound had lately been plunging.
Almost similer sce?e e occurred on the on
porite side of the lne-for the water was but
Il few feet in dept.,, and the dead hound was
visible as he lay at the bottom. Several of
the repties approaching on that side, saw
this one at the same time, and, rushing for
ward, they served HIM precisely as his COM
panion had e.n served by the others. 4
crunlb OF bread could not have disappeared
snoner among il hungry shoal of minnnws
| than did the brace of deer-hounds down the
threats of these ravenous reptiles. Singular
as was the incident. it had scarcely drawn
my notice. had far other things to think
| of.
After firing the pistol, ! remained stand
ing upon the ee, with my eyes fixed in the
direction whence came the hounds.
| gazed intenty among the tree trunks
away up the dark vistas of the forest.
watched the cane brake, to note the slightest
moti'm in the reeds. l listened to every
snund, while stood silent myself. and en-
joined silence upon my trembling companion.
| | had but little hope then. There would
lie more hounds no dnubt-slnwer hounds
following in the distance-and with them
Gayarre's angry friends They could not be-
far behind they could not fail to come up
soon-the sooner that the report of my pistol
would guide them to the spot. 1t would be
of no use making opposition to crowd OF
/
to surrender.
Ny companion entreate1m me to this course
adjurel me not to use my weapons-ior !
now held the second pistol in my hand. But
! ] hgi 10 intention of using them shnn.d the
crowd of men come uE had only taken out
the pistol as precautlon against the attack
of the dogs->huuld any more appear.
! For good while | heard no sounds from
the forest say no signs of ou. pursuers.
What cpid be OBTAINING them? Perhaps
the crossing of the bayou, or the track of
Marsh. | knew the horsemen must there
leave the trail but were they all mounted ?
| began to hope that The Bambarra"
might vet be in time. If he had not heard
the signal whistle he must have heard the re.
ports of MY pistol But. on second thoughts
that might only keep him back. He would
not understand the firing and might fear to
come with the pirogue or boat
Perhaps he had heard the first signal. and
was now on his way. 1t was not too late t.
entertain such asupposition. Notwithstand-
ting what had pissed, we had been vet but u
short while upon the spot. IF on the wav.
he might think the shots were fred from my
double barrelled gun-ired at some game.
He might not he deferred. There was still
hope he might come in time. If so we
would be able to reach his quarters in safety
There was no trace Of the dogs. save blo,ch
or two of blood upon the rough bark of log.
and that was not Visible from the shore U,
less there were uther dogs to guide them to
the spot, the men might not in the darkness
so easily discover these marks. We might
yet battle them
With fresh hope, turned once more to-
ward. the water and gazed in the direction
in which | expected the progue to come
Alas there was no sign of it. No sound
came from the lake Save the wild calling of
the affrighted birds.
! turned once more to the land
saw the cane brake in motion. The tall
cums vibrated and cracked under the heavy
tread of a man, who the next moment emery-
ing into the open ground advanced at Il ling
ing trqt towards the water
lie was alune and a foot-there were no
dogs wi h him-but the long rifle Used upon
his shoulder and the hunting accountrements
around his body. told me at ii glance he was
the owner of the hounds.
His black bushy beard, his leggings. and
buckskn shirt. his red neckclotI and raecoon
cap-hut, above all, the brutal ferociiy OF his
visage. left me in no doubt rs 10 who this
character was. The description of Anrore
answered him in every particular. lie coulh
be no other than Ruffin, Gayerres S best toa-
dy.
Yes, the individual who now adyanced was
Ruffin he too. rival and the dog | had
killed were his-a brace of sleuth- hounds,
we'll known in the settlement as being spe-
cially trained to track anything or anybody
that had incurred the wrath of their brutal
owner.
| never knew what was the bond between
Gayarre AMI this fellow. Of whom had been
I>tuId as an ardent admirer of Aurore He
was d ssipated fellow. half hunter and halt
hog thief, who dwelt in the woods like an
I,dian, but for some unexplained reason was
always at Gayarre's beck and call.
As n:.v. said ha | never seen this ind :
vidual. thuugh had heard of him Often
The Bamlarra and Aurpre had described
hin minutely had told me wild stnries of ii e
mans wickedness and ferocious cruelty.
lie was the terror and AVERSION of e. erv
! family along tie coast; and his name-ap-
pFpprlate To bis character-aft served the
mother as .bogey" to frightep her squal :.
ing CHILDREN into silence
| The sight of this man at once deprived me
of all far,her thought ofeseape. Ipermitted
my pistol arm TO drop l,oselv bv my side.
and stood rwaitipg his advance. with The in
tention of surrendering ourselves up. Re
siSfancr voRid he yain. and could only lead
! to the idle spilling of blood. With this ip
tention remained silent, having cautioned
my companion to do the same.