The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1880-07-01
NO. IL.
AN AWFUL FATE.
Caught ia Wolf Trap and DevOurcd
nv Wolves

AN AWFUL FATE.
Caught in a Wolf Trap and Devourcd
by Wolves.
All the Year Around
The favorite trap employed for wolves
in Burgundy is the tanquerard. This
is the most dangerous even to man. the
strongest that is made requiring two
men to set it. 1t has springs of formid-
able power and dclicacy, and when
these are touched the jaws of the trap,
armed with rows Of teeth shut one
within the other 1t spite of every pre-
caution, however, very sad occurrence
will happen in these forests.
Some years ago Il trap was placed
near deserted footway, and the usual
warning precautions taken. The same
day a young man anxious to present to
his fiance some turtle doves and pigeons
with rosy beaks, with whose where
abouts he was acquainted, left his home
a little before sunset to surprise the
birds on their nest. He was late. The
night closed rapidly, and with the in
tention of shortening the road he took
his way across the forest. Without in
the least needing the brambles and
bushes which caught his legs, or the
bitches and streams he was obliged to
cross, he passed on, and after a contin-
ued battle with the thorns, the stumps
roots, and the long clinging tendrils OF
the wild roses, came exactly on the
track where the trap was set.
The night was now nearly dark, and
thinking only of his doves and loved
one, he failed to observe that several
little pieces of string were swinging to
and fro in the breeze from the branches
Of the thicket near him. Dreadful, in
deed, was it for him that he did not,
for suddenly he felt a terrible shock, ac-
companied by most intense pain, the
bones of his leg being apparently
crushed to splinters. He was caught in
the wolf trap.
The first few moments of pain and
suffering over, G must have compre-
hended the danger of his position, and
had, it is presumed, with great presence
of mind, endeavored to open the SER
rated iron jaws which held him fast
But though danger is said to double the
strength of a man, the trap refused to
give up its prey, and at each movement
Of his body the iron teeth buried them
selves deeper and deeper in his flesh
his agony must have been of the most
exquisite description. He probably
shouted, and would have continued to
shout, however hopelessly, for help, had
it not been for the fear of attracting the
wolves that might be lurking in the
neighborhood. He had under his coat
a small hatchet, and with this, in the
event of his being attacked by the
dreaded animals, he trusted to defend
himself AS the night heightened, the
moon rose and shed her pale light over
the forest. All at once, far away, he
hears a confused murmur of indistinct
sounds. Approaching with IA
pidity, these murmurs become
cries and yells. They are those Of
wolves on the track-hellish demons,
which ere few minutes would be up
on him, carried direct to the spot by
the trails set for his destroyers. Fear
not being part of his hardy nature, he
by almost superhuman efforts, and in
the awful moment forgetting all pain,
he contrived to drag himself and the
trap toward an oak tree, against which
he placed his back.
Here, with his hatchet ready to
strike, the young fellow, full Of courage,
doubtless offered up prayer to his
God, and embracing, as it were, in his
mind his poor old mother and his bride,
awaited the horrible result, determined
to show himself true child of the for
est, and meet his fate like a man. A
few minutes more and he was sur
rounded by a Gordon of yellow flames
from the eyes of the brutes, the ami
mails themselves, which he could scarce
ly distinguish, sending forth their horri-
bic yells full in his face
On the following morning, when the
unfortunate forester who set the trap
came to examine it, he found at the
foot of the oak, deluged with blood, the
bone of human leg upright between
the iron teeth, and all around, scattered
about the turf and the path, a quantity
of human remains. Shreds ola coat
and other articles of clothing were also
discovered near the spot. With the as
sistance of some dogs, which were put
on the scent, three wolves, their heads
and bodies cut open with a hatchet,
were found dying in an adjacent thick
ct. When the venerable cure of the
village, after previously endeavoring in
every possible way by Christian exhort-
alton to prepare his aged mother to
hear the sad fate, informed her that
these remains of humanity were all
that was left of her boy, she laughed!
Alas! it was the laugh of madness; rea-
son had fed.