The Red Cloud chief., 1881-05-19

Nc,teHfLR the F'rN l.illlcb UDEiLDl
careriy - catch sight of any shelter
that mi2at be visible, / saw nothing
that could help me. 1t was clear that
nv best chance o: safety lay in nv be-
ing able to foil Lie hounds b. making
lem lose tie trail. The tales ] had
read in my bay hood o: the ha;r-breadth
escapes OF runaway slaves in Cuba
flashed across M mind, and ! sudden
" reco.iected that in these stories water
almost always pia, Ell Il prominent part.
To cast my ewes round n search OF =
stream was the wora % a moment; but.
As ma b. imagined. on the high ground
whore ! was. no stream was possible.
No time was 10 be lost, for already-ihe
noes of nv pursuers sounded clearer
and clearer, showing that they were
gaining on me. dare not run at too
great q speed. fo- ! knew | should soon
become exhausted. The ~undulating
nature OF the ground made it very hard
work for me; bat for all that, il was not
an unmixed evil. a it prevented the
hounds, which now gained steadily on
me. from quitting the trail 10 run by
sight. On descending slope, | was de-
lighted To behold 4 long and someR hat
winding pool of water. Here. thought
I. is NV chance: and l Immediately
made for it. The run was beginning TO
tell upon me, and | knew well that the
reduction in nv speed, rendered neces-
sary BIZ m having to wade almost knee
deep in wate-. would enable me 10 re-
cover nv breath somewhat. Fortunate
IL. the wafer was not very deep little
more than a foot-and after the FIRST
few steps. the bottom was fairly firm
and hard. Ny progress now was not
only, slow, but very fatiguing; and
nearer and nearer came the hounds.
After wading about a hundred yards,
a stronger gust Of wind than
usual waited the deep one of
nv pursuers ever more clearly
to my ears. and the fear that M ruse
might not be successful, compelled me
TO quit the water once more. aud toll
YEARLY upthe slnplng side az tue min
iatn-e e'cn in which the pool was stu
a;ed. Once on the summit o. the slope,
| paused. and looked behind, 10 catch.
if possible, a hurried glimpse of my
p~ursuerS. To my horror, i saw them
stream over the side OF the hi. and
make straight for the spot where | en-
tered the water. Here, Us had hoped.
the hounds were puzzled, but only for
a little.
| was rapidly becoming exhausted
with nv long run. and more than once
| was tempted 20 stop and collect 4 heap
. OF stones and try 10 keep the hounds at
bay until help should arrive. Reflect
ing. however, that il might be an hour
or two before the keRneIman discovered
the whereabouts of his lost pack. / gave
up thn idea for the present. and moved
on with all the speed | could muster.
Since losing nv trail the hounds had
been silent, and | began to flatter nv
self that they had lost the track, when
suddenly the recomnlcncement of their
cries told me that they had hit OF the
scent again.
On, on | tottered, my head reeling
and nv eyes swimming with the IN
wontedexertion. Thoughts of the home
| might never sec again floated across
nv brain and renewed my failing
strength. My pursuers Were gaining
fast now. and already no more than 3
couple OF hundred yards interviewed be-
tween Us. Presently. a sudden increase
in the music behind-which just then
was ANYTHING but music TO me-caused
me TO look round, when | saw that
the hounds had viewed their quar-
~. and with heads in the air,
were racing on at well nigh double their
former speed. Increasing my pace
without even looking where l ran. l
.arrvh+ ~ foot IN an rift ~ vrac- NIL
nearly lei, turning half round in my
efforts 10 n myself.
1t was Il fortunate trip for me-; for at
a short distance OF. on my right. | saw
a STUFFED OAK, nearly dead, 1t Is true.
but high enough from the ground to
afford me 3 safe reSting-place. II only l
could climb up into the branches before
the dogs reached ME. If | had not
tripped l should have passed this tree
without seeing it until it was toe late
10 be of service TO me, for it was hidden
by some higher ground from my view
until | reached the spot where | nearly
fell, and then | was past il.
With the little strength / had left |
dashed for the tree; but. TO my dismay.
i saw that the lower branches were be-
yond nv reach. No time was 10 be
lost. for already the hounds Were close
at hand. Suddenly l remembered that
] had nv butterfiy-net. which, provi-
dentially, was strong and serviceabie,
in nv hand; and on reaching the foot
OF the tree / hooked the ring of the net
over the broken stump of a bough, and
by dint OF almost superhuman exertion
l managed, / hardly know how, TO
scale the rough bark and drag myself
into the polled head OF the tree. l was
only just In time. for. rs | reached this
place OF safety, the hounds were round
the foot Of the tree, baying furiously.
Feeling q deadly faintness creeping
over me, Ihad enough presence of mind
left TO undo the stout leathern belt l
wore round my waist. and fasten myself
bv u to one of the branches. Then the
baying OF the hounds. the ruStling of
the leaves. and. as / faneied. the blow
inc of a horn, were mingled together
IN a confused murmur. and L swooned.
When L recovered consciousness. /
was stretched on the ground. nv head
! supported on the knees of the old ken
nelman; while N of his assistants was
attempting to pour a little brandy
through my clenched teeth. Nv old
purSuers were lying on the ground close
BY, watching the proceedings with sol
emn i~ndiffereace; and a couple of horses
were cropping the grass a few PAGES
AWAY. was oon sufficiently restored
to mount one of the horses; and. rs We
walked slowly home. the old man told
me how il happened that the hounds
had broken loose. He had taken them
out for q run on the heath SIS usual, he
said, when suddenly they appeared TO
hit off trail of some kind. Thinking.
IS I did when / first heard them. that
one Of the deer had escaped from the
park, he encouraged them TO follow Up
the scent; and, as he WAS riding over
some rough ground, his horse put his
f"ot in a rabbits burrow and fell.
throwing him heavily. The old man
was somewhat stunned BY the fall: and
4 when he came tn hfmself he found that