Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1881-04-07
by some higher ground from mr. view
until reached the sl'ss where ( nearly

untii reacheU the sian where I nearly
fell. and then / was past il.
With the little. strength ] had len
dashed for the tree. but. TO my disrrlav,
| saw that the lower branches were be.
yond nv reach No time was to be
lost. for already the hounds were close
at hand. Su.denlyI remembered thar
| had my butterfiy-net which. provi-
dentially. WIS strong and serviceable.
in my hand; and on reaching the foot
OF the tree hooked Che ring Of the net
over the broken stump o! \ bough. and
by dint of almost superhuran exertion
1 managed. i hardly know how. 10
scale the rough bark and drag myself
into the pclieG head OF the tree. | was
only Just in time, for. as reached this
place of safety, the hounds were round
the foot of the tree. bsying furiously.
Feeling a deadly faintness creeping
over me, had enough presence OF mind
left 10 undo the stout leathern belt
wore round my waist, and fasten myself
by it to one of the branches. Then the
baying OF the hounds. the rustling OF
the leaves. and. as fancied. the blow.
ing OF q horn. were mingled together
in n confused mirmnr, and swooned
When l recovered consciousness. ]
was stretched on the Ground. my head
supported on the knees of she old ken
neiman; while one Of his assistants was
attempting to pour little brandy
through my cienched teeth My Old
pursuers were living on the ground close
by. watching the proceedings with sol.
-
were cropping the grass a few PAGES
away. Twas soon sufficiently restored
to mount one of the horses; and. as we
walked slowly home, the old man told
me how it happened that the hound.
had broken loose. He had taken them
out for run on the heath As usual. he
said. when suddenly they appeared to
hit off trail of some kind. Thinking.
as 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
foot in rabbits burrow ard fell,
throwing him heavily. The old man
was somewhat stunned by the fall; and
when he came to himself he found that
the hounds were away, and the horse
had evidently gone back to the stables.
Thither he also fastened, and found his
horse; aud taking one of his .helps'
with him, he set off in search Of the
hounds. Meanwhile these had followed
up the trail by themselves. with the
results mentioned above. The two men
rode after them rs well as they could.
hax or.lxr tho sound and fhat ut
times very faint. to guide them. The
nature of the ground over which they
were riding obliged them to proceed
slowly; and it was some time. probably,
after had tainted that, instead OF the
deer thev expected to find. they had
come upon me hanging by my belt in
the tree.
would the hounds have killed me
il I had not been able to find shelter?'
l presently asked.
"Yes; most certainly they would"
was the old mans reply, " if they had
been left to themselves"
What a narrow escape l felt hal
had! But for the refuge If that solitary
tree my life would most certainly have
been sacrificed When at length /
reached my cousins house the reaction
consequent upon the intense excitement
of the past few hours had begun. and
had to betake myself TO bed, where
raging fever detained me for few
weeks. During all that period my
thoughts were occupied with the fear
full experiences Of that day on the moor;
and even now, thong restored to my
former health and vigor, it is not with
out shudder that I am able to think
of that run for my life = Chambers
journal. 70 ~