The daily gazette., 1880-03-26
The Fiddler and the Wolves.
BY d. NJ.

settlers were put to great trouble b
the wolves. The barnyard suffered tl
a great extent in the way of pigs
calves, ETC., from their depredations
which frequently, in mid-winter, were
even carried 20 the audacious extreme
of attacking human beings. Indeed,
| il was no unusual thing for the belateJ
traveller to find himself surrounded bs
a herd of them in the woods. Some
striking stories of hairbreadth escapes
and desperate ventures belong to thi.
period ard conditions Of things. OF q
somewhat amusing character was the
adventure which befell old Dick, the
negro fiddler.
He was ga good-for-nothing old
darkey," as the word went in the
neighborhood, whose sole merit con
sisted IN his fiddling; but, by the was
singular as this merit vast in re.
ality constituted him by far the mosl
important gentleman Of color within
forty miles around, The fact is, moth.
ing Of any interest could occur without
his presence.
On the occasion Of a grand wedding
festival among the colored gentry of a
neighboring plantation, some six miles
distant, old Dick was, Of course, ex-
pected to officiate as master of the Ger.
emonies. 1t had been an unusually
severe winter, and a heavy snow lay
upon the ground on the eventful even.
ing, when, having donned his "long.
tailed blue" with its glittering gilt
buttons, and mounted the immense
| shirt-cOllar by the aid Of which the dig.
nifty of his official character was pro.
perly maintained, he sailed forth, fid.
die in hand, to dare the perils of the
distant way alone for the younger
darkies hal all gone to the frolic hour.
ago.
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 narrow one, led, for the greater
part Of the way, through the dark
| shadows of a heavy bottom forest,
which yet remained as wild as when
the Indians roamed ii, and was untra.
versed by q wagon-road for many
miles.
On he dashed with unrelenting en-.
ergy, needless of the black shadows
and hideous night cries in the deep
forest. Wolves were bowling around
him in every direction, but he paid no
attention to sounds that were SO COM
mon. However, he was soon compell-
ed to give more heed to these animals
than was by any means pleasing or ex-
pected.
He had now made nearly hslf of khis
journey, and the light opening ahead
through the trees showed him the sold
clearing" as it was called, through
which his path led. The wolves had
been getting excessively noisy for the
last mile, and, to the indescribable
horror of the old man, he could hear
them gathering about him in the
C ackling 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 yel-
low packs from far and near. tl'nl'
Wolves are cautious about attack
ing human being at once, But usual
ly require 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 horrible danger, as a dark
object would brush past his legs every
few moments, with swapping sound
like the ring of a steel trap;--while the
yells and patter of the gathering
wolves increased with terrible rapid
ity.
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 body on the instant
Of observing any such indication of
fear. His only chance was to keep
them at bay by preserving the utmost
steadiness until he could reach an old
hut that still stood in the middle of a
clearing not far off.
The wolves were becoming more
audacious every minute, and rushed
at him, swapping as they went past in
closer and closer proximity to his thin
legs. The frightened fiddler instinc-
lively thrust at them with his fiddle.
The sudden sound of the strings
caused the wolves to leap aside with
surprise. Dick instantly drew his
hand across the strings, and to his in
finite 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 made break for the hut, raking
his hand across the fiddle-strings at
every jump, until they fairly roared
again.
The astonished wolves paused for
moment ON the edge of the clearing,
with their tails between their legs, look
ing after him but he had broken the
spell by running, and in moment
tney were after him.
Luckily the old man reached the hut
Just as they were at his heels. and
slamming the rickety door behind him
he had time to cline out on the roof,
where he was comparatively out of
danger.
The wolves, thronging the interior,
leaped at him with wild yells of gnash-
ing rage. Poor old Dick had managed