The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1884-01-23
.rIrE sKEI.Er0N.s sTonY.

Rideelosef!
Itistro miles aheadtc the fpati
hills-two miles Of parched turf
and rocky rpuce. To the right
the left-behiud, Tie rolling prai.
rie. This broad valley strikes the
Sierra Neyadas and stops as II o
wall bad been built across IL
What Is itonthe grasS Askull
bere--a rib there bones scattered
about az the Wild beasts left them
after the hortiblefeast The clean,
picked skull grin and stares-- every
bone and scattered lock Of hair has
It's storyof a tragedy. And what
besides these telics2 More bones
notfcattered, but lyiugin heaps
a yertrhrg with ribs atlached-a
fleshless skull bleaching under the
summer sun. Wolyesl Yes
Count The heaps Of bones and you
will find nearly score, Open
boats are picked up at sen with
neither life nor sign to betray their
secret. Skeletons are fnpnd upon
the prairie, but they tell plain
story 10 those who halt beside,
Let us listen:
Away otto the right you can
Zoe The lree.tOps A8ayDF to The
left you can see The same sight.
The skeleton is in line between
the two points. He left me grove
to ride ~ the other. To ride! Ger.
tainly;a mile away is the skeleton
Of u horse or a mule. THE beast
fell and was left there. II he left
the grove at noon ho would have
been within mile Of this spot al
disk. 1t is therefore plain that he
did not leave until mid afternoon
or possibly at dusk. Signs Of In
dams may have driven him from
his trapping ground, or mayhaphe
Ind exhausted the game and wa
shifting to new fields.
II is months since that ride, nnt
the trail has been obliterated
Were it otherwise, and you took II
up from the spot whore the skele
ton horse nov lies, you would fine
the last three or four miles made
Ut tremendous puce.
Step! step! stcp!7
What is il2 Darkness has gath
cred over mountain and prairie as
the hunter jugs along over the
broken ground. Overhead the
countless stars look down upon
him-around him is the pail OIL
night. There was the patler oil
Footsteps on the dry grass. He
halLs and peers around him, but
the darkness is Ton deep for him to
discover any cause for alarm.
"Putler! pattcll patterl"
There it is againl 1t is not fifty
yards from here he lust halted
The steps are to light for those Of
an Indian. A grizzly would rush
upon his victim with a roar Of dc.
fianceanda anger. a panther would
hnrl himself through thirty feet Of
space with a scream 10 unnervc
the hardest hunter.
Evolves" whispers the hunter as
a howl suddenly breaks upon his
car Wolves! The gaunt, grizzly
wolves Of the foot.hills-the legs
trrless-tho mouth full If teeth
which can crack the shoulder bone
ola buffalo. He can see their dark
forms fitting from point to point
the paIter OF their feet on the
rarched grass proves that he is
surrounded.
Now the race begins. There is
no shelter until the grove is reach,
Instinct guides the horse, and ter.
ror lashes him with such whip as
human hand never welded. Over
space, the gloom, almost as swift
aSan arrow sent by a strong hand,
bit u dark line follows. A line oil
wolves spreads out to the right and
left, and gallops after-tongnes out
eyes tlashing-great flakes Of
foam flying to blotch stone and
grass aud leave trail to be follow.
ed by the cowardIy coyotes.
Men ride thus only when life is
Lhestako. A horse puts forth such
speed only when terror follows
close behind aud causes every
nerve to tighten like a wire drawn
until the scratch Of a finger makes
il chord with a wall Of dispair A
pigeon could not skim this valley
With such swiftness, and yet the
wings Of fate are broad, and long
and tireless. The line is there
ayel it is gainingl loch by inch
it creeps up, and the red eyes