Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-29

cheer him up, the IRE must have been near
us then, but could not only feel its heated
breath, but above nay head, among the tree
tops, sparks and firebrands were whirling in
the air. took Louis in my arms, determ-
ined that never again should he be separate
ed from me, and pressed Onward with some
vague idea that | should soon reach Wolf
river,
Night was coming on, and since noon we
bad had nothing to eat. did not feel hun
CRY, but was t0rmented with the thoughts
OF what might happen if we did not soon
reach a place of safety, for | feared that
Louis would give out, and that was one of
the reasons which made me carry him. My
arms ached, and my limbs were scratched,
bruised and bleeding. Still l made good
Roadway, and soon came to natural clear
ing, on the thither side of which we sat
down to rest. By this time ninht had come
on, and what night : No moon, no stars,
but the cloudy heaven lighted I'D afar with
the horrible fires of the burning woods. The
clearing in which we sat was the dried-rp
bed of a stream, which, for some uraccount-
able reason, had rot thickly-wooded shores,
and we were at least two hundred feet from
the edge of the forest in flames. All this
| time Louis, manly little fellow that he was,
had not even asked for food, nor had he
cried since l myself foolishly frightened
! him.
| We sat there long time while was
| trying to think where we were, but l could
| come to no conclusion. | had heard nv
| husband speak of a stream which had run
dry, but that was in northeasterly Girec-
! ton from our house, and notwithstanding
! the fact that L was lost yet had general
| notion that | was approaching the Wolf
| river. The stars could give me no infor-
| nation, for i could not see them. What to
! do l scarcely knew, but when the heat of
| the fire became such that could not doubt
! that it was near ! determined to press on
| away from it, and taking Louis hand set
out On ordinary nights it should now
have been dark, but there was a nameless
! glare, yet not a glare, a horrible reflect
which came down from the sky and mingled
| with the smoke Hardly had | risen from
| the ground when in the direction of the
woods on the other side of the clearing
/ heard clashing noise, a mingled crashing
| and hoarse barking which instantly recog-
/ nized as that of wolves, and / scarcely had
! time to snatch up Louis, and run behind
magnificent pine tree whose trunk was
at least six feet in diameter, before
| heard them scrambling up the side of the
hill and felt them rush by me. Hooked out
and could see their eyes coming towards me
! like the wind. They did not stop for an
! Instant, and when they passed there came
in their track a herd of deer, uttering cries
that seemed almost human in their intense
agony. They ran blndly, for something
more terrible than wolves was behind them;
| they struck the tree and were hurled back
| by the shock, some of them falling back up
: m fbasa holnyNr Tho cfo caapnaH to,
| last for fully ten minutes, and when it was
| over and |, trembling with fear, dared once
more to emerge from my refuge and look
across the clearing, saw the woods already
at its edge burning-saw it lurid through
| the smoke, and felt its terrible heat upon my
face. ! turned and fled, iii the wake ofthe /
deer and the wolves. My shoes were strip
ped from my feet, aud my ankles were torn
! and bloody. Fallen trees lay in my way,
but clambered over them and crawled I'M
der them in my desperate fight. / was az
! oniZed with terror and despair, and finally
sank to the ground with my boy in nv
arms.
must have tainted, for knew nothing Of
what passed till was rudely shaken by the
shoulder, and heard wild, gibbering laugh.
| opened my eyes, and above me stood my
mother, with drawn knife in her hand.
The woods seemed all ablaze, although the
air was not so intolerably hot as it had been.
The forest beyond the clearing must have
been burning at its edge, and the strong
wind carrying the smoke upward and over
our heads. My mother looked down upon
me with eyes blazing with that hated light
| of insanity.
sfHo, holr said she, sine time of night
for mother and child to be running through
the woods Fine night, this Night-it is
day! Look at the red lght-'tis the light of
dawn, lie jour! ie jour du iltgeaent est ar
Tice, And the rocks are burning! Call on
them to fall upon YOU. The clouds of thun-
der and the day of doom, The Lord is COM
ing and the wheels of his chariot burn with
his mighty driving. Let us ride on the
smoke and thunder and sweepthe stars from
the heavens! Come, you shall go with me-"
And she seized Louis, who had thrown him
self upon me, and was clinging with terror
to my breast.
sprang to my feet and cried, Smother!
mother! what would you do-would you
kill me and LOUISE"
xiii you! yesl why wait ? The Lord
calls and the devil drives. He has let loose
his imps against the world. The trees fall
crashing in the forest, for all helrs demons
pull them down with hooks of fire. | have
seen them as followed you. / rode over
on wolf; twas iOup-gdrOu, an old friend
of mine; brought me over safely and kept
me from the deer. ! viii kill you; would
You burn to death? You shall 90 up-up
higher than the moon, and beyond the fire.
| Come, let us got" and again she seized
Louis while the knife cleaned in the air.
sprang at her, and with all the strength
of ten mothers in my arms, l struggled
with her. Torn, worn, and bleeding, as |
was, the thought of my child and my hus-
band gave me the strength of a giaht.
Overpowered the mad woman, and, forget
ting that she was my mother-that she was
anything but the would-be murderess Of
my boy-I seized her by the throat when
she was down rolling on the ground, and
would have strangled her. Her insanity
had almost made me mad. l felt then what
a murderess maniac feels.
But then l thought my mother was lying
almost dead and powerleSs, and the fire
would soon advance and perhaps Overwhelm
us all. NV hand was stayed, and when
my mother rose to her feet all her wildness
was gone, and in its place had returned
that calmness-almoSt imbecility-which
had characterized her for the last few years.
, She was ready and willing to do everything
told her, but kept that knife fast in my
hand.
The wind had fallen, and 4 slight rain
was dropping among the leaves overhead as
We went on for an hour or two longer, and
/ then, overpowered with exhaustion, and no
longer greatly dreading the fire, we lay down
in hollow and fell to sleep. When we
awoke it was morning. l was sick and
completely exhausted, and hardly knew that
there were men around us. Yet there were,
and good, kind men, too, who gave us food
and drove us to place of shelter, whence,
as soon as we were able, we went to Green
Bay, where l soon recovered from the sick
ness and terror Of that terrible night. My
| mother continues in that same state of i'm
becility, which the doctor says viii soon be
| come complete dementia. Louis was not
long in recovering, but as yet | hav heard
nothing from my husband.
LUCILLE MECHAND.
A FEARFUL SCENE.
correspondent of the New York Tri-
JWne at Chicago writes: One of the most
dramatic and impressive scenes of the fire,