The Portland daily press., 1873-08-16


was inexpressibly sweet with the spicy smell
of the oak-eaves. 1t was one OF those DAYS,
rare in the North, which makes one reaIi iZe
that there may be a state OF being Where me-
inst for its own sake, is worth the having,
and where the irrepressibe conflict between
man and nature may finally end IN peace.
We had been silent for some minutes, Mneh
Diana suddenly exclaimed: Whs' there Is
the ugly dogp There he was, SURE enougn.
and now that he had come so far from home,
he seemed to think it safe to make his appear
ance. and running by the side of the buggy,
locked IN TO u.s. wagging his halt-a-tail, and
harx;no his satisfaction till the woods rang.
81 never in my life saw anything so ugly as
that dog" said Dick.
"Hs's good creature, if ne is ugly" said
Diana, who was always ready to stand on the
defensive for any person or thing, herself eX-
cepted.
''And his uglness is so extreme that it be-
comes almost a beauty" said |.
Hes not much to look at, but he's good
one to BARK said Dick. And, indeed, the
ugly dogs voice was powerful organ. His
bark was quire unlike that of any other dog l
ever heard, land seemed a sort of cross between
the sonorous ring of the fox hound and the
halt-roar of the mastifi.
A mile or two brought us to the entrance
of the swamp. through which ran a log.road,
which. if we followed it, would cut OIL full
three miles.
..Hadn't we better take the swamp-road?'
said Dick-'.itt so much shorter; and then
you'n have more time for your visit, and we
can get home before dark"
''Whats the hurry about getting home be-
fore dark?' asked Diana. sit will be beauti-
full moonlight"
ooh, nothing" said Dick, carelessy: only
you know, Di, they say strangers that stay
out at night sometimes get fever-and ague and
[ thought that Mrs. Graham would like to
get home as soon as she could"
l was rather surprised at this instance of
prudence and consideration in Master Dick,
bat consented to take the short cut. as L
knew this particular corduroy" had lately
been mended. Otherwise 1 should have hest
tated about subjecting Calvin's 'colts' to the
risks of the passage-corduroy in that part OF
the world frequently resembling the laird of
Ellangowan's man-traps, where ''if man
went in he would break a horses leg.
We proceeded slowly though surely, and
with no more pitches and bumps than was
reasonable to expect. 1t was Diana's first eX-
perience of a log-road, and she laughed and
chatted in high glee; but it began to strike
me that Dick was even more silent than
would seem to be justified by the attention
occasionally glanced ronnd with look of APP
prehension, and once, at some sudden rustic
in the bushes, he started and actually turned
pale.
Dick Monroe was not boy to be scared
merely at finding himself in strange place,
and a vague nervousness and foreboding OF
knew not what began to creep over nv own
mind. Yet what possible cause OF dread
could Turk in the misunderstanding? In the
depths of winter there might have been some
possibilities of wolves, but none had been seen
in the country for years, and, though 1t was
just barely on the cards that we might see
black bear leisurely crossing the road, yet
knew at this season of the year all the brute
would ask would be to be let alone. But, in
spite of myself there grew upon me a sense Of
danger of which was ashamed to speak, so
utterly baseless and absurd did it seem in that
peaceful place and under the summer sky.
We had reached the middle of the swamp
where. on an island of firm land, stood a de-
serted Lighthouse and barn. A sad story was
attached to this place. A few years before, a
young man had come from the East with his
bride and had taken up this lonely bit of land.
Though he and his wife were not more than
Is, and though very poor, even for new set
tiers, they had gone on and prospered for the
first year. Then the poor girl died with her
first baby; and her husband in spite Of the
efforts of kindly neighbors to detain him, had
wandered off no one knew whittier, leaving his
homestead to go to ruin. A mournful inter-
est thus belonged to the ''Meadowes place."
and the superstitious avoided the island in the
swamp after nightfall.
had been with Alice Meadowes when she
died, and had taken home the poor little baby
who, however, lived but few days, and was
buried in her mothers grave. As locke at
he lOu-hnnSa there a
vivid remembrance of John Meadowes as he
stood in the door and watched me as / went
away with his child.
But had small time for thought for thenext
instant the ugly dog, who had run on before
us out of sight, came tearing back along the
road and barking and yelling appearantly out
of his senses; he sprang at the horses heads,
and seemed determined to stop the buggy or
even turn it from the path.
"GooG Heavens! The dog is mad!' said
Diana, in alarm.
The next instant snorting, screaming, wild
with terror, the colts wheeled short around,
overturned the buggy, and kicking desperate
w. broke from the traces and dashed back on
the homeward road. We were all thrown on
the soft grass, and sprang to our feet unhurt.
Diana was in mortal fear of the dog, for she
thought him mad; but L knew that some 9th
er danger threatened and, looking round for
IL
to which Dick was already urging his sister;
while the dog, running backward and forward
from one to the other, whined and yelped in
an ecstasy Of Impotence and distress. The
one room of the house was bare and empty,
but ladder led to the loft above.
Cup the ladder, up the ladder, Mrs Ora
ham, quickp' cried Dick, aud he flung to the
door. ''Quick! 1 know what is coming!
Good God! This door won't fastenr'
Flying from we know not what, we rushed
up the ladder into the loft, and, as we stood
together on the boards, Dick, with desperate
strength, tore the ladder from its fastening.
and send it crashing to the floor below.
Most happily for US, there was trap door
oven the opening, and Dick pulled il from
the rusty wire which held it to the wall, and
secured it with a large iron hook which Slip
ped into a staple in the floor. On the trap
door the dog took his stand; and, alternately
growing and waggng his tail, seemed at
once to defy the coming danger, and encour-
age his friends.
There was a small window in the room.
The glass was broken, but the heavy wooden
shutter still swung to and fro on the wind,
and Die. pulled it close and fastened it on
the inside,so that but for the faint light that
shone through the cracks in the roof and up
through a hole in the floor we were in dark
ness.
''What is it? l asked, in whisper, but,
before Dick could speak, was answered.
There was terrible sound between yell
and roar, the door below was dashed from
its hinges by some great weight, and then
roar on roar of baflied, brutal rage rent the
air. We chung close together, expecting
death, though, as yet. neither Diana nor
knew the nature of our enemy. There was a
moments pause in the deatenipg uproar, and
l looked down through the space left by a
missing board in the floor. What was the
creature that carried its vast tawny bulk to
and fro across the lower room, swift, easy,
and graceful, as bird? As 1 looked, the
thing lifted its huge head and showed its
green eyes, glazing with hate, and the white
glitter of its terrible teeth. There was no
mistaking tie nature of our peril. The beast
was the Bengal tiger we had seen few days
before in the caravan.
Splritless and dull as the brute had been in
his cage, he had struck me then as uncom-
monty powerful and fierce, aud we had been
told that his temper was untamably savage.
What were we to do? We had no means
of defense should the creature break in up
on us. 1t was a lonely place, and very few
people passed that way ANY traveller who
saw our wrecked buggy and came to seek us
would only be rushing on certain death. The
horses might run home, and orr friends
might come in search of us, but the worst
they would apprehend would be some acct
la,Nt I.