The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-12-28

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But what prompts the little midship.
man, when not fifty rods from the branch
Ling Of the path, to break into sudden
rum 1t is not fear-he never dreems of
danger. Some sudden impulse or some
wild wish for home makes him dash off
suddenly after his saunter, with whoop
and bound On he goes as if running
race the path bends, and the man
loses sight Of HIM. "But I shall have
| him yet" he thinks; he cannot keep I'D
the pace long The boy has nearly
reachedlthe place where the path divides,
when he starts up white own, that
can scarcely fly as he goes whirling along
close to the ground before him. He gains
upon it /; another moment and it will be
his. Now he gets the start again; they
come to the branching of the paths, and
the bird goes down the wrong one. The
temptation to follow it is too strong to
| be resisted "he knows that somewhere,
deep in the wood, there is cross track by
which he can get into the track he has
left; it is only to run little faster, and
he shall be home nearly as soon.
On he PUSHES the path takes bend,
and he 10. just out Of sight when his pur
suer comes where the path divides, The
boy has turned to the right-the man
takes the left, and the faster they both
run, the further they are asunder
The white owl still leads on; the path
gets darker and narrower; at last he
finds that he has missed it altogether,
and his feet areon the soft ground He
founders about among the trees and
stumps, vexed with himself and painting
after his race. At last he hits upon
another track and pushes on as fast as he
can. The ground begins senslbly to de-
scend he has lost his way-but he keeps
bearing to the left; though it is now
dark, he thinks he must reach the main
path sooner or later
He does not know this part of the wood
but runs on. Oh, little midshipman /!
why did you chase that owl If you had
kept the path with the dark man behind
you, there was achanCe that you might
outrun him, or if he had overtaken YOU,
some passing wayfarer might have heard
your cries, and come to save you Now
you are running straight on to your
death, for the forest water is deep and
black at the bottom of this hill. Oh
that the moon might come out and show
| it to you!
The moon is under a thick canopy Of
heavy black clouds, and there is not
star to glitter on the water and make
it visible. The fern is soft under his
feet as he runs and slips down the slop-
ing hill. At last he strikes against q
stone, stumbles and falls. Two minutes
more and he will fall into the black
water.
Heydey" cried the boy, " whats
this Oh, this thOrnbush Oh my arm
L can't get free y He struggles and
pants All this comes Of leaving the
path" he says; 81 shouldn't have cared
for rolling down if it hadn't been for this
bush. III never stray away in w8bd at
night again. There, free at last And
my jacket nearly torn of my back ~
With good deal Of patience and a
great many scratches, he gets free of the
thorn which had arrested his progress
when his feet were within O yard Of the
water, manages to scramble to the bank,
and makes the best of his way through
the wood
And now, as the clouds move slowly an
ward, the moon shows her face on the
black surface Of the water, and the little
white owl comes and boots, and futters
over 1t like wandering snow drift. But
the boy IS IN the wood again, and knows
nothing of the danger from which he
has escaped. All this time the dark
passenger follows the main track, and be-
lleves that the boy is before him. At
last he hears crashing of dead boucbs
and presently the little midshipman's
voice fifty yards before him Yes, il will
pass the cottage in the wood directly, and
after that its pursuer will come upon
him.
The boy bounds into The path, and as he
sees the cottage he is thirsty, and so hot
Chat he thinks he must ask the inhabi-
tants If they can sell him a glass of ale.
He enters without ceremony "Ale?"
says the woodman, who is sitting at his
supper, !" No,we have no ale; but perhaps
my wife can give thee drink Of milk.
Come In" So he comes in and shuts the
door, and while be sits waiting for the
milk, footsteps pass.
They are the footsteps Of the pursuer,
who goes OF with the stake in his hand,
angry and impatient that he has not vet
come up with him.
The woman goes to the dairy fer milk,
and the boy thinks she is gone long
time. He drinks it, thanks her, and
takes his leave
| Fast and faster the man runs after him.
1t is very dark but there is yellow
streak in the sky, where the moon is
plowiAg up q fu1rowed mass of gray
clouds, and one or two stars are blinking
through the branches of the trees.
Fast the boy follows, and fast the man
runs on, with his weapon in his hand
Suddenly he hears the joyous whoop, not
before him, but behind him. He stops
and listens noiselessly. Yes, it is SO. He