Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-03-19


Mother and mourner shall their loved ones meetf
Miaer and wanderer will He in mercy greeti
Magdalen and prisoner will He wash in His blood
1to mem Do clean ere they CROSS the dark hoodf
Shall they sing the sweet anthems where Hef 10y
Ases: tic stars, tn. p.l,nsl.t.r. ~, =
- ..- ........ 4, ,t,r*u~
JUDGE AND ExECUTIoNER. . :.
About the beginning of Novembe,
in the year 49,, in the middle Of thu
day, a sledge drawn by horse dashed
through small village in Russia, and
stopped in the courtyard Of one of The
largest houses. The horse had evident
" run away, and the sole occupant Of
the sledge was clearly unable to guide
itin the least. -"
In less than minute q great many Of
the villagers, who had been attracted By
the Gathering of the inhabitants Of thu
house, reused by the appearance of the
sledge in the courtyard, surrounded
the young woman. It was evident she
was powerless to distinguish any one
around her. There was just faint sign
OF life, and that was all but to the ma
GRITTY OF the bystanders she looked far
more dead than alive. Il
She was carried into the house and
restoratives were administered, She
had hardly recovered her consciousness
when questions Of every sort and kind
were put to her from all sides. She was
asked who she was, where she came
from, where she was going to, who was
pursuing her, and how the horse had
run away. The room in which she was
placed was full of villagers, who had
come in to satisfy their very natural
curiosity.
Among the most excited of the ques.
tioners was young serf about 20 years
old, who held in his hands the Ratchet
with which he had been telling wood
when the sledge dashed through the
quiet village. The beauty and painful
grief of the woman seemed to have made
rather Ill effect upon this young serf.
He was certainly more anxious than the
rest to hear her story, and was very
prominent in his attentions, and put
himself forward in endeavoring to offer
her consolation.
At last the object of all this excite
ment had so far recovered as to be en-
abled to yield to the entreaties of those
who surrounded her, and, in broken
voice and amid very general silence. she
spoke as follows: - "A. .y.g q. .
Il had heard that an old relation of
mine, who lives in neighboring village,
was dangerously i'll, and I determined
to set out and see if I could be of any
assistance. Early this morning I har-
messed our horse to the little sledge and
fet out"
Alone?" asked the young serf point
edly, still swinging the Ratchet in his
hand.
The bystanders we'll understood the
meaning of the question, and the same
word seemed involuntarily to escape
their lips.
"Alone?" #
It may be as we'll here to give sbor'
explanation, which will account in some
way for the exclamation.
When the Russian troops which had
conquered Finland under the command
of Gen. Buxoyden were returning home
again, they we're followed by countless
troops of bears and wolves, who ragged
and quarreled over the bodies of those
who, from time to time. died of cold OF
fatigue, and howled for the scraps OF
God left behind by the conquering
army. The province which the army
passed through was infested by these
fierce animals long after its departure,
and they soon became the terror of the
humble peasantry who lived in that dis
trict. They were not content with de-
vouring the various domestic dogs and
cats that came in their way, but fiercely
attacked any human creature that
crossed their path. It became impossi-
BILE to travel in safety at any hour of the
day upon even frequented road with
out very strong escort. Any ono who
neglected these necessary precautions
paid the penalty of his oarelessness by
hideous death. In the course Of the
preceding winter forty human beings
in this particular district had fallen q
prey either to wolves or bears.
"Alonew answered the Young woman
in strange, unnatural voice, half choked
with sobs; "unhappily for me, was not
alonel Why, in Heavens name, did !
risk such journey2 Dontcompel me,
beg of you, to relate the horrors I have
gone through and all the miseries Of
that awful morning"
"What has happened to you? Who
went with your" still asked many OF
those who surrounded the woman, and
whose attention and curiosity were now
thoroughly reused. ,-.,. Z 80
Miserable woman that I an" an.
swered she, II took with me my three
little children, the eldest OF whom was
about 8 years old, the youngest little
darling only 6 months and still at the
breast" Z 4 fGa,fs 80. -. 4.
An exclamation Of horror ran through
the circle of bystanders, and each one
at last seemed toguess the hideous truth
And then, amid more awful silence
than before, the young woman went on
with her story rg4s, s,Ess: :, - rsTy's's =
1T was lovely morning. the road in
tolerably good order, and the old horse
trotted merrily along. My two little
boys played st my feet, and the little
one slept in my bosom. i was IN hiet
spirits, and happy at the thought that
was able to get away, and so, perhaps
be of service to my poor old relative
My happiness, however, was not of very
long duration. About an hour afte1
our departure from the village, The
thought struck me how daring ani
venturesome it was to travel alone Will
my little ones through q vast deser,
OF snow, cut of from aid and far away
from any hY,y,oo,, hob:%o&sor nh - e.,