The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-10-18
THE SKELETONS STORY.


il tbr rolling prairie. This broad val
lev strikes the Sierra Nevadas and stops
as if 4 wall had been built across it.
What is it on the grass? Askull here
"A rib thcrc-bones scattered about as
the Wild beasts left them after the hor-
rihlc feast. The clean-pickcd skull
,,rins and starcs bone and scat
tcrcd lock of hair has its story of a
tragedy. And what besides these rel
irS3 More bones mot scattered, but
wing in heaps "A vcrtcbra with ribs at
tarhed-a fleshless skull bleaching un-
der the summer sun. Wolves! Yes.
Count the heaps of bones and you will
find nearly a score. Open boats are
picked up ut sea with neither life nOl
Sign to bctray their secret. Skeletons
arr found upon the prairie, but they tell
Il plain story to those who halt beside
them. Let us listen:
Away off to the right You can see
trcc-tops. Away off to the left You can
see the same sight. The skeleton is in
line between the two points. He left
one Grove to ride to the other To ride
Ccrtainlv Il mile away is the skeleton
oi a horse or mule. The beast fell and
was left there. If he left the grove at
noon he would have been within mile
of this spot at dusk. 1t is therefore
plain that he did not leave until mid
afternoon, or possibly at dusk. Signs
Of Indians may have driven him from
his trappiug-grOund, or mayhap he had
exhausted the game and was shifting to
new fields.
ItiS months since that ride, and the
trail has been oblitcratcd. We're il
otherwise, and YOU took it up from the
spot where the SKI lctOn horse now lies,
You would find the last three or fouI
miles made ut tremendous pace.
step step! step
What is it? Darkness has gathered
over mountain and prairie rs the hunt
cr JOS along over the broken ground.
Overhead the countless stars look down
upon him around him is the pail OF
night There was the pattcr of foot
steps on the dry grass. He hatS and
peers around him, but the darkness is
too deep for him to discover any cause
for alarm.
"Pattcr. pattcr, patter.'
There it is again. 1t is not fifty yards
from where he last halted. The steps
are too light for those of an Indian. A
grizzly would rush upon his victim with
4 roar of defiance and anger A
panther would hurl himself through
thirty feet of space with scream to
uncrvc the hardest hunter.
"WolYcs," whispers the hunter. rs a
bowl suddenly breaks upon his ear.
Wolves. The gaunt, grizzly wolves
OF the foot-hills-thin, and poor, and
hungry, and Savagc-thc leg> tircless-
b" mouth full of teeth that can crack
III" shouldcr-bonc of buffalo. He can
~" their dark forms fitting from point
t" pont-the patter of their teet on the
rarchcd grass proves that he is sur
rounded
Now the race begins. There is nc
shelter until the grove is reached. In,
Sllnct guides the horse, and terror lashes
hIm with such a whip as human hand
never welded. Over space. through
IN" gloom, almost as swift as an arrow
sent by strong hand, but dark line
follows. A line of wolves spreads out
to the right and left, and gallops after
tongues Out-eyes iiaShing-great flake,
OF foam flying back to blotch stone and
grass and leave a trail to be followed by
the cowardly coyotes.
Men ride thus only when life is the
sake A horse puts forth such speed
only when terror follows close behinC
ana causes every nerve to tighten like 3
WIRE drawn until the scratch of finger
makes it chord with wall of despair
pigeon could not skim the valley with
such swiftnesS, and yet the wings of fate
are abroad, and long, and tireleSs. The
me is therc-aye! it is gaining! Incl
ny men 1T creepS up, and the red eyes
lake on more savage CLEAN as the
hunter cries out to his horse and open,
IRE from his revOlvers. A wolf falls OF
me rlght-a second on the left. Does
the wind cease blowing because it meets
forest? The fall of one man in mac
mob simply increases the determination
OF the rest.
With cry so full of the despair thai
wells up from the heart of the strong
man man when he gives up his struggle fol
lie that the hunter almost believes 8
companion rides beside him, the horse
Observation-Disclosures forward
lalls to The earth. 1t was glorious
struggle, but he has lost.
The wings of the dark line oblque tc
Inc center-there is confused heap ot
sharllng, fighting, maddened beasts
ana the line rushes forward again.
saddle, bride and blanket are in shred,
the horse skeleton. And now the
Chase is after the hunter. He has hall
mile the start, and as he runs the
VEINS stand out, the muscles tighten
anu he wonders at his own speed Be
nlhd him are the gaunt bodies and the
i'reless legs. Closer, closer, and now
ne Is going to face fate as a brave mar
shouid. He has halted In an instant
circle is formed about him-a circle
OF red eyes, foaming mouths and
yellow fangs which are to meet in his
There is an interval-a breathing
spell He looks up at the stars-ouI
upon the night. 1t is his last hour, but
mere is no quaking-no crying out II
,he night to send him aid. AS the
Noiles rest a flash blinds their eyes-s