Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1880-06-23

| menus tnero were long 0trotches OF
forest filled With wild beasts, and
now and then you came upon .
band Of strolling savages. Be-
sides these, there WAS the usual
class Of villains, borse thieves and
renegades, who would not hesitate
to take . mans life, IL they thought
it to their advantage to do 20.
"One night l stopped ut . tavern
which stood in the midst Of . set.
Element Of not more than . dozen
log houses- l had been the round
of them, and in the morning l was
to 60 on, at ~ early an hour a. pos
sible, for i learned that / had
nearly a score Of miles to 60 before
| should reach the next settlement.
an the evening there were a.
sembled In the bar.roOm all the
male denizens OF the place, and
among them was one whom ! at
once sat down as a villain. Hia
looks plainly showed that there
was little he would hesitate to do,
II III the end there Was anything to
gain. Again and again | caught
him looking at my pack, which l
had placed in one corner Of the
room. near the bar; and at once l
felt sure he WAS looking at the as
though calculating whether or no l
should be u dangerous antagonist
in case he shouts rob me Of it.
The more ! Jaw Of him, the less ]
liked his looks, aud | felt relieved
when ut last he left the rUOm for
home.
81 was up betimes the next morn
ing, and "a soon "a had finished
my breakfast I started. As left
the settlement behind me. l could
not help glsnciDg about to make
sure that the man Of whom had
formed 40 poor an opinion WAS not
following me; but he was not to be
seen. Hardly any one was stirring
ont Of doors, and there was little
life except about the tavern, or
where the white smoke curled up
above the roof of each cabin.
"ODce within the forest, bur.
ried on, desiring to put as great 4
distance az | could between me aud
the settlement in as little time as
possible.
"A feeling Of danger oppressed
me, which l found impossible to
shake of. / am not naturally timid,
or given to presentiments, as many
are; but on this occasion there was
a sort OF fear upon me of which !
could not rid myself, trying as
hard as I might.
"All the morning l kept OIL this
way, and by noon l felt that l had
put such q distance between myself
and the settlement that l had no
longer cause to fear any ono had
left behind me.
"As l had learned from the land,
lord that should not be able to
reach any human habitation before
nighttall, l had taken my dinner
along with me, and now, feeling the
need of it, set down by the edge
of a clear stream which crossed the
road, and commenced my nOOntide
meal. Only a man who had walked
a had done that morning can
know the relish | had for the bread
and meat which had been provided
for me, and when the generous sup.
ply disappeared almost wished
there had been more.
1.-THE extra exertion / had made,
and the hearty meal Of which l had
partaken. made me sleepy, aud
placing my pack under my head, !
closed my eyes, thinking that
would take q few minutes rest be.
fore going onward.
IL did not mean to sleep, yet ia
less than five minutes l was uncon
scious Of all that was passing around
me. How long | slept know not
II might have been y few minutes
or il might have been m hoar, bu,
. | awukr AZ last with u start, aud u
seuse of some great danger hang
Ing over me-. did not start up OF
move hand or foot. A certain
something. ! could not tell what
seemed To calm me down.
~ opened my eyes and looked
about ne, bHt saw nothing; and
was just on the point of making a
motion to get upon my feet when
heard the slight cracking Of a
branch above my head. kOking ~
III the direction OF the sound, | be-