Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1880-11-04
The Fiddler and the Wolves.

etc, from their deprGdatlOns, which
frequently, IN mid winter, were even
carried to the audaciOus extreme of at
tacking human beings. Indeed, it was
no unusual thing for the bclated travel
er to find himself surrounded by them
in the woods. Some striking stories of
hair-breadth escapes and desperate ad
ventures belong to this period and con-
dition of things. OF somewhat anus
ing character was the adventure which
befell old Dick, the negro fiddler.
He was "a good-for-nothing old dar-
key" as tho word went in the neighbour
hood, whose sole merit consisted in his
iiddling, but, by the way-singular as
this merit vast in reality 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 q grand wedding
festival among the colored gentry of a
neighborhood plantation, some six miles
distant, old Dick was, of course, expect
ed to Officiate 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
glitterng 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 pcrils of the
distant way alone; for the younger
darkies had all gone to tho frolic hours
before.
The moon was out, and the stars
twlnkled merrily overhead, as the spry
old man trudgcd away over the crisp
and cracking snow. The path, which
was a very narrow one, led, for the
greater part of the way, through the
dark shadow of q heavy bottom forest,
which yet remained as wild as when
the Indians rOamcd it, and was untra-
verscd by wagon road for many miles.
On he dashed with unrelcnting cner-
gy, needless of the black shadows and
hdeous night cries in the deep forest.
Wolves were bowling aroundhim 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 OK.
cessively noisy for the last mile, and to
the Understandable horror of the old man,
he could hear them gathering about
him in tho rattling bushes on either side
as they ran along to keep pace with his
rapid steps. The woods very soon seem
cd 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 them
selves up to the point.
That such was the case now, proved
most lucky for poor Dick, who began to
realize tho terrible danger, as q dark
object would brush by his legs every
few minutes, 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
observing any such indication of fear
His only chance was to keep them at
bay by preserving the utmost stcadincss
until he could reach an old hut that still
stood in tho middle of the clearing not
far off.
The wolves were becoming more aud
acious every minute, and rushing at
him, swapping as they went past in
closer and closer proximity to his thin
legs. The frightened fiddler instinctive-
ly thrust at them with his fiddle. The
sudden sound of the string caused the
wolves to leap aside with surprise. Dick
instantly drew his hand across the
strings, and to his infinite relief they
sprang back and aside as if be he had
shot among them. Taking immediate
advantage of this lucky diversion in his
favor; as he had not reached the end of
the clearing, he made break for tho
Int raEi nU his honda ocrOss tho f;dllo