Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-04-19
I had never met with these animals,

| [ had never met with these animals,
but from the description given of them,
[ had very little pleasure IN making
their acquaintance. Their untam cable
fierceness, and the untiring strength
which seems part of their nature, rem
der them objects Of dread to every be-
nighted traveller.
There was no time for thought; so /
bent my head, and dashed madly for
ward. Nature turned me toward home.
The light flakes of snow spun from the
iron of my skates, and was some dis
lance from my pursuers when their
fierce howl told me was still their flu
gitlve. l did not look back; I did
not feel afraid, or sorry, Or glad; one
thought of home, Of the bright faces
awaiting my return, of their tears if
they should never see me again, and
then every energy of body and mind
was excerted for escape. I was per-
fectly at ease on the ice. Many were
the days that I spent on my good
skates, never thinking that at one time
they would be my only means of safe
ty. Every half minute an alternate
cry from my ferocious followers made
me only too certain that they were in
close pursuit. Nearer and nearer they
came; heard their feet pattering on
the ice nearer still, until I could almost
feel their breath and hear their shifting
scent. Every nerve and muscle in my
| tention.
The trees along the shore seemed to
dance IN the uncertain light, and my
brain turned with my own breathless
speed, yet still they seemed to hiss
forth their breath with a sound truly
horrible, when an involuntary motion
on my part turned me out of my
course. The wolves close behind, una
bic to stop, and as unable to turn on
the smooth ice, slipped and fell, still
going far ahead their tongues were
lolling out, their white tusks glaring
from their bloodthirsty mouths, their
dark, shaggy breasts were feeced with
foam, and as they passed me their eyes
glared, and they howled with fury.
The thought flashed on my mind that
by this means could avoid them, viz. !:
by turning aside whenever they came
too near; for they, by the formation of
their feet, are unable to run on the ice
4
at one time, by delaying my turning
too long, my sanguinary antagonists
came SO near that they threw the white
foam over my clothes as they sprang
to seize me, and their teeth clashed to-
gether like the spring of a foxtrap
Had my skates failed for one instant,
had [ tripped on stick, Or caught my
foot In assure in the ice, the story I
am now telling would never have been
told.
[ thought all the chances ever; I
knew where they would first take hold
of me if [ fell; | thought how long it
would be before [ died, and then there
would be a search for the the body
that would already have had its tomb;
| for Oh how fast mans mind traces out
all the dread colors of deaths picture,
only those who have been so near the
grim original can tell.
But / soon came opposite the house,
and my hounds-I knew their voices
reused by the noise, bayed furiously
from the kennels. / heard their
chains rattle; how I wished they would
break them ! and then I should have
protectors that would be peers to the
fercest denizens of the forest. The
wolves, taking the hint conveyed by the
dogs, stopped In their mad career, and
after moments consideration, turned
and fled. [ watched them until their
dusky forms disappeared over neigh
boring hill; then, taking off my skates,
wendell my way to the house, with
feelings Chat may be better imagined
than described. But even yet I never
see'a broad sheet of ice in the moon
shine without thinking of that shifting
breath, and those fearful things that
followed me SO closely down the fro
zen Kennebec.-W A. c.. an the Ger
naa'atoaOn Telegraph.