The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-06-24

vas dropped and the hounds set loose.
They traeked their quarry splendidly,,
but were Six hundred yards behind when
Moahtjoy reached the inn at the end of
lhe eours and shut the door upon them,
outside Of which they howled their dis
satisfaction until removed by the keeper.
DisbeleYers in the bloOdhonnds scent
were still unconEineed, fayerring that
they had sighted the mar for q part Of
the Journey at least; and, to settle the
point beyond dispute, another match was
made. 70 be run az night. the distance
U-nsuspicious Of foul play, Aonntjoy
went gaily on his way, but had not &C
complished more than two-thirds Of tho
distance allowed him by the conditions
when his hair stood on end, a. the cry
Of the dogs, hot upon his trail, reached
his ears. They had purposely been
slipped before the proper time. without
any warning, ssFor one second" said
he, Il stood stock-still, as il / had been
frozen, and then dashed away and ran,
as / had never done before and have
never done since. l "a In perfect
raining and condition, but the cold
Wseat broke out from every pore and
poured down my body, while my legs
,eemed like lead. and l trembled all
over. Stin / kept desperately on.
while nearer and nearer came the deep
Loarse bay of the hounds, as the scent
yrew warmer and they knew they were
running up TO their prey. thought l
vas lost. Those few seconds were like
weeks, and ! wondered whether they
could grip me first by the leg Or fy
Itraight at my throat Luckily. i did
rot lose my head; and after the first
mad burst / settled down and raced Of
l pace which l knew would last the dis
ance; but still closer and closer came
he horrible cry. that sounded like my
Heath knell; and. in sheer desperation.
| put on all the speedI could. At last
/. Saw the lights Of the lonely little inn.
md my heart rose within me; but at
hat very instant the brutes broke out
INTO q fierce, savage yell that told me
hat they had sighted me at last. There
vas q small garden in front of the
iouse. andIas i flew up 10 1t 1 saw that
he cato was shut. HowIdid it / never
thew; but, blown and exhausted with
error and the pace as l was, i cleared
(, darted through the door. which for
unately stood open. and slamming it to.
| TODD with my back against il. The
| bck had hardly closed when bang!
5angi against the panels came my ter
| ,ible pursuers; and then they lay down
| md yelled savagely at finding them
elves baked of their prey. a41,
As soon as he felt himself safe, rage
ook the place OF fear; and seizing bold
II a bottle. Mountjoy swore he would
Srnin Lord w. If he entered the place.
} threat he would have fulfilled had not
hose present got him out OF tho room
d time TO prevent most ~justiiable hon.
cide.f -- -
The Georgia Oracketss
A.coirespondent Of the Atlanta Con-
| yesterday o communication from my
riend Dr.. w. B. Jones, of Burke, upon
he origin of the term ''cracker." as APP
,lied to Georgians. He says it is of an
ilent origin. and 'began in the city Of
savannah Immediately after the war Of
,776." He conjectures 1t is derived
| rom the custom. then a necessity, which
prevailed among tbs, country people
| turing the war Of the revolution Of
tracking corn for food, "as best they
.ould'i-mills then being inaccessible TO
| hem. The term is of even more an
| FituL OtiRiu tnAn tnO NOCbSit osatCo u
hat origin not quite 50 gratifying to our
pride as he conjectures. Shoftlyi after
0glethorpe's settlement upon the Savan-
pah was founded, the outlaying forests.
Tot very remote from Savannah became
lhe resort of escaped criminals from
North Carolina and Virginia. These
people were lawless I a ~degree,-and
heir depredations much dreaded by
The Oglethorpe settlers. whether of town
Or counirylmuch more so by the conn
Try farmers than by the citizens OF Sa-
cannah, because the. former were more
exposed to the attacks of these maraud-
ers whom they denominated ''crackers"
Or cracksmen-precisIy as we apply
the latter term to house breakers to-
|ilay.- -
In course of time tho children of these
pcople, better than their fathers, be-
came orderly citizens and intermarried
with tho Olethorpe country farmers.
Tho name, however, stuck, and was af-
forward indiscrihiinately applied by the
residents of Savannah ito all country
people, and is now a sobriquet of every
Georgian, even though he may be a
denizen of Savannah, and entitled to
move. In that select circle styled some-
u ia AolStACp a.
of Savannah, because tho members OF
1t are in the habit of engraving upon
their silver the crests Of their family
court Of arms.
My authority for the foregoing histo-
~ Of tho term .~.cracker,n is q work on
the judicial history Of the American
colonies published in London In 1888
by Anthony Stones, the first and only
royal Chief Justice of Georgia, who left
the Colony When the English forces
evacuated Savannah at the close Of the
Revolution. His law library. then ex-
tensive for tho time, was burned by a. he'll
from one Of the mortars Of the Amori-
cans when they attempted to- storm Sa-
vannah in October, 1776. His work is
rare One copy is in the Congressional
Library at Warrington, and Colonel G.
c. Jones and Mr., Salem butcher, both