The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1865-12-15

after a brief pause, darted along t. Not
very iar; for within q half mile, should
think, | came upon the carcass OF u mon
strous bear, but Just dead, the tomahawk of
the Indian still fixed in his cloven skull
great gaping cuts all over his body, his
abdomen Iiprc1 UP, aud the ontrails uailed
along the ground full five yards from the
body, and they had been broken and drag.
god ont in his flight. Tho hunter and the
hunted, met n common fate
Wrcnching tho tomohawk from the skull
OF the dead bear, | started of again on a
long looping run, ilourishing the bloody
hatchet, aud whoopmg like an Indian. hav.
| ing no idea, aud now as little care WHITTIER
was running TO,
Thus continued my race, until somc.
time after dark, when suddenly started
with a leap like that of the flying elk. Away
off in tho woods, to one side Of me, and
considerably of from my trail, there rang
the long drawn out w0ilng cry ofa wolf.
| In few moments the call was answered
! by another on the other hand, and some
thing nearer. Then, in little time, there
came the third and fourth and fifth, and
so on to the twentieth yelping cry, until all
the forest was vocal with the devlish howl.
ing of the gaunt, mcrcilesB iiends.
Merciiul God! was hanked. should be
run down at last and torn into shreds by
the yelling, hunger driven brutes. | re
membered my empty rifle and laughed a
dry, hacking laugh, like the cachination OF
an idiot IL will not load ltw bonssed
like silly fool. "No, not if every wolf on
earth were at my heels. III fight the brutes
when it comes to fight, with this bloody
hatchet. But III run till overtaken;' aud
run did, like hunted antelope.
Thicker, faster, nearer, more furious came
the yelirg pack, falling 81 adually in behind
me, and it was not long until could hear
their sharp, shifting yelps, and even the
| pattering of their feet upon the snow; aud
once or twice turned my head and caugh,
the cleaning of their flashing eyes follow.
ing close in my wake. ffIH'3or
Desperately pressed on, until the fore.
most Of the pack were at my heels, when
suddenly ! ran headlong against some dark
barricade stretched across my path, and
looming up there in the darkness like a
black wall. Instantly | went sormbling
up and over it, discovering as did so that
it was one of those solid, uncouth fences OF
piledup logs with which the western pio
neels often surrounded their feds.
Iumbling inwards from the top Of the
log fence, ] went sprawliug down in among
some queer, hard kLobby things, and MS
lay there PROSTATE aud painting, could
hear the savage brutes whet their heads
q ainst the log barrier, against which they
recklessly ran; and lay there and laughed
at their wlimperirg yelps, and at the same
time groped about me with my left hand
seeking TO discover what those queer, hard
KNOBS were that had fallen among. They
were small cabbage heads, frozen as solid
as ice ITSELF
Chipping of with the bloody hatchet sew.
eral OF the heads, scarcely so largea as my two
fists, and thrnsting one into either pocket OF
my hunting coat, fell to gnawiug away at
the third at the same moment that my at
tentioh was called to my enemies on the 9th
er side of the fence.
Wolves are invariably sneaking towards
suspicious of all strange appearances, never
unless driven by severe hunger, venturing
within any Enclosure; and the whole yelling
horde that had been SO clamorously follow
ing me were now swapping, snalliug. whim
pering and yelpng at each other, beyond
the barrier of logs.
AT length one of the pack, that must have
been excessively hungry, gave a fierce howl
and leaping up, he clung his fore paws
over the top log, bringing his frothing jaws
white cleaning fangs ald fiery eyes within
two feet of my face, as stood there grasp.
ing in my left hand the frozen cabbage head
and welding in the right the Indians tona
hawk prepared for battle.
! The wolf was scrambling with his hind
claws to help himself up aud over the bar
rier; when swallowing my mouthful of icy
cabbage, and giving tongue in wild, ringing
war-whoop, lswung the hatchet high above
my head and brought its keen edge down
with all my might upon the animals skull
sinking the blade in his brain to the very
! eye.l oY s9f t5Fou nH rE
The brute fell back with dull thul, and
in an instant pyramid ofhis kindred iiends
were upon him, rending aud .devourlng
while his brute heart still palpitated will
life. 5l.ra. ,tg Hefs SUR
The carnival of blood was inauguratcd
and in my mad bewilderment, | was as ca.
ger for tho fray as the furnishing, fonr-foot.
ed auimals themselves. screamed, and
whooped and laughed; and leaping up on the
| log barricade, | deiied the miserable COW.
ards, daring them to come up and try to eat
me; and when some great beast, bolder or
more famislred than Ills fellows would ac.
cept the challenge, and leap at my face, as
| bent down over the wall Of lOgs, | would
drive the steel into his foaming mnzzle, send
! ing MN bIIlCkluB udCh uHOHB the y0lplUB
crew swarming beneath.
Tins the reVel went on, / have little idea
how long; but know | was III the while
munching the frozen cabbage, and laughing
bOisterously, and most horribly afraid OF
the fate was 50 recklessly tempting.
There was not one atom of moral courage
III all my mad bravado, 1t was only that
utter desperation that sometimes compcls
us to face unainchiugly dangers from which
we know there Is no escape. frf
But a reversion of feeling suddenly came
upon me aud with cry of terror. Ileaped
down and began cropping for my rife. As |
was STOPPING some Opaqne. object rose be.
tween my eyes and the sky, which was now
clear.
1l ~ A house house - 7 cried out and
having found my rifle, !, snatched it from
the ground, aud sped away in the direction
of the dark body, which seer!ed to be in
the center Of a cleared field of perhaps
twenty acres, and situated on little knoll.
1t was house as | had declared it, or
rather Q strongly built sqnatter's Lut, of
logs, having plank door, two small win.
dows high from the ground, and as hasty
outside survey assured me, in good repair,
and entirely defensiblc,
bad small leisure. however, for outside
surveys, for the wolves, gathering courage
were sweeping on again in full cry towards
the hut, which was ininhabited, ~
Entering, and securing the door with tho
strong Transverse bars attacled to it, |
struck light directly, bnilt a roaring fro