Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-08-08

Viry was well covered in wraps. She laugh
ed and said she thought IL was Mr.. Beckwith
| coming
But Luke, with hunters instinct, want
ing to see whore the moose had gone, gave
Viry the reins to hold while he got on the
log-railing, on the lower side of the road
ovor which tho moose had jumped-to look
for him.
CHANGING down through bush into the
gorge beneath, he saw at first only the deep
trail whero the animal had plunged into the
drift and 1oundered downward. Then he
he saw something moving in the snow still
further down.
1t was the antlers of the moose-just his
horns-protrudng from the soft deep drift.
The creature had literally buried itself over
! It's back It houndered on, but only went
deeper. The drift there was % or 20 feet in
depth-all light soft snow.
"Viry!" cried Luke in great excitement,
there's that moose stuck like a fly in q cup
o. molssses II l can only kill him, he's
wuth $50 to US !" And seizng the snow
shovel which he had put in the pung, Luke,
with that weapon alone started after the ami
NAL.
"Hold on to Jack now !" he called to wi
~.
'viry on her part was dosirous to have the
moose secured, but she felt some alarm.
"Oh, do be careful! I" she pleaded. Don't
let him hurt you, Luke :"
Luke, oagor and determined, wallowed
down into the ravine. He attempted to ap-
proach the animal on ono side. But the
moose, hearing him, plunged frantically
through the snow, and in a moment Luke
slumped shoulder-deep in the soft drift and
tho moose was completely buried
At length the young man approached with
| in striking distance. and struck the animal
| yUiih hiq alumpv W. The hlOW had
serious effect on the creatures thick neck
but served to make ii rear up, and its hind
| hoofs catching on q log or rock, the animal
rose almost out of the drift, gnashing its
teeth, and with outstretched fore hoofs, came
furiously down upon its rash assailant.
In an instant Luke was beaten into the
| snow, which, luckily for him, was soft and
| yielding. For some moments he struggled
to rise, or crawl out from under the brute
But the moose, feeling him move, and SEEM
ing to realize that it had an advantage, kept
treading upon him, gnashing its teeth and
snorting, apparently determined to keep him
| down.
Luke's condition was now a serious one
| He was iammed down into the snow three
or four feet, though thus far the moose had
not bruised him much. But he knew the an
imal might kill him, If once it could fairly
bring its fore hoofs to bear on his body.
And there was Viry up in the road II he
called to her, she could do nothing in such
drift. He dreaded to frighten her 1t was a
''bad fix, as Luke expressed it, and how to
| get out Of it was more than he, in his cramp-
ed and snowy condition, could conceive.
Meantime 'Niry, sitting in the pung and
holding the horse, was full Of anxiety. From
where she sat she could not see the struggle
that was going on below but she heard the
moose snorting, and at length, hearing moth
ing of Luke, she got out of the pung, and,
| holding fast to the reins, wRded through the
snow to the log railing and looked over.
Fifty or sixty feet down the steep bank she
saw the moose in the drift, but could not sec
her lover. Thoroughly frightened, she now
| called out:
Luke! Luke Where are your Has
he killed your"
To this appeal Luke, from deep in tho
snow under the moose replied in muflled
tones
mo, viry; no-not yet !"
Immediately the moose, hearing his voice
under it, plunged about, snorting furiously
again and tramping him down.
Imagine the horror of poor 'Viry Again
she cried out in trembling tones
30 Luke Luke! Has he killed you p
And again Luke. from deep in the snow,
replied, mo, no, 'viry-not yeti"
Again the moose, hearing his voice, stamp
ell and trod upon the poor fellow furiously.
All this, though amusing perhaps, to the
reader, was serious tragedy to poor 'Viry
Several times she repeated her terror-inspired
inquiry and then, made desperate at the
sight OF her lovers peril, she hitched the
horse to the log railing and went down the
steep bank, through snow waist-deep, to at
tack the moose
Weapon she had none, not so much as a
stick, but she had plan of approach and at
tack nevertheless-and not a bad one.
She took the buhalo-skin and one of the
large blankets from the pung. First she
threw one of these on the soft snow in front
of her, then crept forward upon it. This
partially sustained her weight. Then she
spread the other one ahead-and so worked
her way down into the ravine.
'Pm coming, Luke! ;" she called to him.
go back !" he cried, Mortified at the
thought of the moose turning upon her.
'Viry would not go back. Her plan-a
very sensible one-was to approach the
moose and throw the big blanket over its
head.
How the affair would havo ended it il not
easy to predict. But at this juncture, Mr..
Beckwith came along. Finding Luke's horse
in the road, and surprised at the sight of
'Viry creeping on buffalo-skin in the ravine
below, he at once hailed her most vigorously,
and was most pathetically invited to take
hand in her lone effort at moose hunting.
Tho itinerant Clergyman was man who
could act promptly and efficiently as well as
preach.
With his own reins and those from Luke's
harness, he rigged moose which, after some
wsding in the drift, he was able to throw
over the moose's antler's. Then bracing
against tree, he contrived to cast the an
imal on its side. hitch round sapling Sc
cured it.
Luke now crept out of his snowy bed.
With Mr.. Bcckwith's assistance, he soon
killed the moose and in half an hour they
were all three on the way back to Viry's
home where the marriage took place as had
been arranged.-C. 4. Stephens in The
| Youths C0HlDaRiOn.