St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-05-15
ST. JOENSBURY, VT, FRIDAY, MAY Is, 1874.
A Night with Wolves for Companions.

the following sketch occurred during a
sojourn of three months with Il survey
inc party in one of the widest districts
of Canada. We were occupied i'll trac-
ing the course of hitherto uncXplOred
river, which umfolded to us Il succession
of scenic effects. such as would have de-
lighted an artist and poet, and which
they only could describe.
1t would he difficult to convey to the
reader who has not bivOuacked out in
the woods, the luxury of those evenings
around the campfire.
After ii deal of story telling, we all
turned in for the night-that Is, we
rolled ourselves III our blankets, and
fell asleep with our feet toward the fire.
The stories told upon the evening |
have in my mind had all been about
wolves. some of which rapacious crea-
lures. were said to he then in our neigh
borhood. Owing, perhaps, to my imag-
ination having been excited by these
tales, | had Il terrible nightmare |
dreamed that wolves were pursuing me;
| knew they were gaining on me; l
could hear their hOwls growing more
and more distinct. There is a point of
agony at which i'll dreams must have
IN end awoke with a terrible start,
and found myself bathed i'll Il cold
sweat. and il prey to a sense of terror
for which could not account. Instead
of the cheerful blaze which had seen
ere tell asleep. all was now cold and
dark The fire had sunk to Il heap of
red embers | could not distinguish
one of my sleeping companions. Good
| heavens, can | he still slumberlng :
| There. again. is the long. low, wailing
| howl which heard 81 distinctly in my
| dream.
sit up erect, and listen. What Is
! that sound ID rustlin. among the brush
wood some of the party stirring? No.
all are silent as the grave. | am the
only one awake in the camp. Once
again Surely | am mistaken. |
thought the fire was nearer to me. Just
III front and SO it is. What. then, can
be those two glimmering lights Il few
yards off? Now they are moving. |
awake the nearest sleeper-an Ameri-
can named SilaS Wood. The man starts
to his feet. ruhS his eyes what is
it p Look there. >ila>." He looks.
and a> quick as lightning seizc> il burn
ing tagot. and hull> ii with all his force
and an uncrring aim. The cleaning
/ hruShwnod ii sharp. short bark close
at hand. and then in Il minute or two.
the long low vail i'll the distance is
heard.
>ilaS then stirred and raked the burn
ing cmhers. and throwing on an i'm
men>e heap of dry brush. i'll a second
the Egyptian darkness is di>pelled by Il
bright flame which leaps up six feet in
To the air and brings the sleeping fig
urc> and the nearest trees into full re
lief.
"Sllas. what does it all mean p
asked.
lit means. squire. replied the Amer
lean. speaking with his usual deliberate
drawl wolves"
a VOLTS eyes. squire: and | guess
his friends warn't fur off. awaitin' kind
er anxious to hear tell of their scout
Hark if the darned things amt agroan-
in and lamrntin over their di>appoimt
mcnt. a> sure as my names Slla>
Wood"
Once more the long low howl. mex
pre>>ihlN sad and fearful. w;IS heard nj
Il greater distance. Now that knew
what il implied. it made the blood cur
die in my veins.
Il shall never forget Il VOLTS howl.
exclaimed: Il heard that accur>cd
sound in my dream as plainly as heal
il now. But are we not in danger !!
and began mechanically to pile NJ
more wood on the blazing fire.
NO fears now. squire" replied the
Yankee coolly: ''thc cowardlY critters
larSn't come near IL fire like that. Be
sides | reckon the fcller scared 81 with
that ere burning chip has told 'em it,
no go 10y this time. They're ~ cum
ming Us humans. is them critters. Az
he of and a good riddancc to We. VI
hoWliug vaimint>," he added. a> the
low vail Wa> once more heard diving
away ia the distance.
Notwithstanding the assurance that
the wolves We're retrcating. took great
pleasure III seeing the fire blazing NJ
brightly. for knew that III that con
sisted our protection. Il suppose We
have had a narrow escape ?" | said It
my companion. who. besides myself
was the only one awake i'll the camp.
Il reckon I've seen Il narrower. then,
replied he. "Why that ere skulkin
scout darsn't have give warming to the
rest of the pack as long as IL single RED
full ateared of fire"
Well" | rcioined, Il am not at al
sorry awoke when did. But as we'r,
the only two awake. suppose You tel
me this narrow escape. You allude to
that is. if you don't feel sleepy"
Me. squire? amt sleepy, not ;
mossel. couldn't sleep wink if
; tried. feel too kinder happy like tC
have cotched that darned sneakin' scou
Sich Il lick :" and the Yankee laughe,
quite tickled at the recollection. -.
guess he had it right slick atween the
eyes. knowed he felt it by the barI
f he gave. Well. squire, it'll give IN,
. considerable satisfaction to narrate my
adventure with the tarnal critters.
guess, squire. it he Il matter of ten yea
: agone that Deacon Nathan had raiSin
: away down to Stockville, in Yarmouth
, where | was reared.
| "Well, guess it were a pretty hi!
, barn that Deacon Nathan was agoin' t.
, raise. and so we had considerabl,
sight of boys, and IA regular spree ant
when ii came to draw towards night
1 the deacon he says to me: 'Silas.' say
he, Il don't kinder feel easy leavin' thi
, here barn unprotected during the night
| The heart Of man is desperately wicked
t and there's some loaters in the village
+ and there's no end to boards and shin
p giles lying about, and so, Silas. wha
2 will you take to stop here all night ?
Deacon says |, "what will vol
p give7'
. "Well, you see the deacon was clos,
where money was concerned; so h,
4 puts on long face, and screwed hi