The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-08
The Fiddler and the Wolves.

In the early davs Of Kentucky, tn,
settlers were put to great trouble by tn,
wolves. The barnyard suffered to a grea
extent in the way of pigs, calves, etc.
from their depredations, which frequent
ly, in mid-winter, were even carried tt
the audacious extreme of attacking
human beings. Indeed, it was no un.
usual thing for the belated traveller tc
find himself surrounded by them in the
woods. Some striking stories of hair
breadth escapes and desperate adven.
lures belong to this period and condition
of things Of somewhat amusing char.
acter was the adventure which befen old
Dick, the negro fiddler.
He was "a good-for-nothing old dar.
key" as the word went in the neighbor-
hood, whose sole merit consisted in his
fiddling; but, by the way-singular as
this merit was-it in really constituted
him by far the most important gentle
man of color within forty miles around.
The fact is, nothing of any interest could
occur without his presence.
On the occasion of grand wedding
festival among the colored gentry of a
neighhofng plantation, some six miles
distant, old Dick was, of course, expected
to officate as master of ceremonies. 1t
had been an unusually severe winter,
and heavy snow lay upon the ground
on the eventful evening, when having
donned his "long-tailed blue" with its
glittering gilt buttons, and mounted the
immense shirt collar by the aid of which
the dignity of his official character was
properly maintained, he sailed forth,
fiddle in hand, to dare the perils of the
distant way alone; for the younger dar-
keys had all gone to the frolic hours be-
fore.
The moon was out, and the stars
twinkled merrily overhead, as the spry
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 shadow Of heavy bottom forest,
which yet remained as wild as when the
Indians roamed it, and was untraversed
by wagon-road for many miles.
On he dashed with unrelenting energy,
needless of the black shadows and hid
eous night-cries in the deep forest.
Wolves were bowling around him in
every direction, 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 through
the trees showed him the cold clearing" ;"
as it was called, through which his path
led. The wolves had been getting exces-
slvely 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 either side as
they ran along to keep pace with his
rapid steps. The woods very soon seemed
to Dick to be literally alive with them.
as they gathered in yellow packs from
far and near.
Wolves are cautious about attacking
human being at once, but usually re-
quire 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 terrible
danger, as dark object would brush
past his legs every few moments, with a
swapping sound like the ring of a steel
trap; while the yells and patter of the
gathering wolves increased with terrible
rapidity. ..
Dick knew enough of the habits Of the
animal to be fully aware that to run
would insure his instant death, as the
cowardly pack would be sure to set upon
him in a body on the instant of observ-
ing any such indication of fear. His only
chance was to keep them at bay by pre-
serving the utmost steadiness until he
could reach an old hut that still stood in
the middle Of the clearing not far of.
The wolves were becoming more au-
dacious every minute, and rushed at
him, swapping as they went past in
closer and closer proximity to his thin
legs. The frightened fideier instinctivelv
thrust at them with his fiddle. The sud-
dne sound of the strings caused the wolves
to leap aside with surprise. Dick in
stantly drew his hand across the strings,
and to his infinite relief they sprang
back and aside as if he had shot among
them. Taking immediate advantage Of
this lucky diversion in his favor, as he
had now reached the end of the clearing,
he mvde break for the hut, raking
his hand across the fddle-strings
at every jump, until they fairly roared
again.
The astonished wolves paused for a
moment on the edge of the clearing, with
their tails between their legs, looking
after him; but be had broken the spell
by running, and in a moment they were
after him.
Luckily the old man reached the hut
just as they were at his heels, and, slam
ming the rickety door behind him, he
had time to climb out on the roof, where
he was comparatively out of danger.
The wolves, thronging the interior,
L. L. Al