Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1873-03-12
FiddIing TO the Wolves,

found almost everywhere. lie hills in the
gaps of desolation. His savage grinning
head appears through the broken glooms Of
the wilderness-hideous, gaunt and fierce.
He has no sympathies, and will give none.
Yet there is one drol incident with which
my boyhood was familiar which seems to
indicate in the wolf certain susceptibility
to softer emotions, and | will relate it here:
In the early days of the settlement Of
South Kentucky there was great trouble
in mid-wnter with the wolves. Old Dick
was colored fiddler. He was a very i'm
portant old gentleman, for no merry max
ing could take place without his presence.
Now Old Dick bad very strongly deve-
oped the most marked traits OF the fiddler,
the world over--namely, punctiliousness
and punctuality. Upon either Of these
points be was peculiarly irritable--nay,
even ierocious. Nothing caused him to so
far forget "the proprieties" in his own per.
son, as the Intervention of any unusual or
accidental causes Of delay.
On the occasion Of grand wedding festi.
val among the colored gentry of the neigh.
boring plantation, some six miles distant,
Old Dick was, of course, expected to off.
ciate as master Of the ceremonies. 1t had
been an unusually severe wiBter, and a
heavy snow lay upon the ground on the
the eventful evening, when, having donned
his "long-tailed blue" with its glitterinp
gilt buttons, and mounted the immense
shirt-colar by which the dignity Of his off.
cial character was to be maintained, the
ancient Apollo sailed forth, fiddle in hand
to dare the perils of the distant way alone
for the younger darkies had all gone to the
frolic hours ago, with a haste and eager.
ness altogether unbecoming his Importance
The moon was out, and the stars twinkled
overhead as the old man trudged away
over the crisp and cracking snow. The
path, which was very narrow one, led,
for the greater part of the way, through the
dark shadows of heavy forest. which vet
remained as wild as when the Indians roam.
ed in it, and was uutraversed by wagon.
road for many miles.
The profound and dreary solitude OF the
way could not have failed to impress any.
OUt nG UdDDtUtu 10 Ot enIlToIV Of-
cupied by one absorbing thought, such a.
now held absolutely the BODY and soul of
the old man in his anxiety to reach the
seat of operations in exact time. He was
goaded at every step by the maddenine
vision Of the expectant ranks of sable gen.
tility, rolling the whites of their eyes and
stamping their stocking feet upon the floor,
impatient of his delay for the truth was,
that he had fingered little too long over
the polishing of those brass buttons and the
settling of that immensity of collar. and he
first became conscious of it as he came
forth beneath the moon and perceived its
unexpected height.
On he dashed with unrelaxing energy,
needless of the black shadows and hideous
night-cries, in the deep forest. Wolves
were bowling around him in every direc.
tion but he paid no attention to sounds
that were so common. However, he was
soon compelled to give more heed to these
animals than was by any means pleasing or
expected. He had now made nearly half
of his journey, and the light opening
ahead through the trees showed him the
e" old clearing" as it was called, through
which his path led The wolves had been
getting exceedingly noisy for the last mile
and, to the indescribable horror of the old
man, he could hear them gathering about
him in the cracking bushes on each side,
as they trotted along to keep pace with his
rapid steps. The woods very soon seemed
to the old man to be literally alive with
them, as they gathered in packs from far
and near.
Wolves are cautious about attacking O
human being at once and usually require
some little time to work themselves up to
the point. That such was the case now
proved most lucky for poor old Dick, who
began to realize the horrible danger, as a
dark object would brush past his legs every
few moments, with a swapping sound like
the ring of steel trap, while the yelling
and pattering of the wolves increased
Dick knew enough of the habits of tho
animal to be aware that to run would in,
sure instant death, as the cowardy pack
would be sure to set upop him ia .
body on the instant of observing apy suct
indication of fear. His only chance wa,
to keep them at bay by preserving the ut
most steadiness until he could reach thu
open ground before him, when he hoped
they might leave him, as they do not lk,
to attack in such places. He remembered
too that an old hut still stood in the mid
die Of the clearing, and the thought tha
he might reach that haven gave him som.
comfort.
The wolves we're becoming more audac
ious every minute, and the poor old fiddler
could see their green eyes glaring deati
upon him from all the thickets around
They rushed at him more boldly one after
another, swapping as they went past in still
closer proximity to his thin lees-indeed
the frightened fiddler had at length tc
thurst at them with his fiddle to turn then
aside. In doing so the strings were iarret
land the despairing negro took some
hope when he observed that at the SOUND
the wolves leaped aside with surprise. Ht
instantly drew his hand hsrshy across th,
strings, and, to his infinite relief, they