The Penn's Grove record., 1884-12-06

Look !
A gaunt, stumbling wolf which has
been making erratic circles on the pral-
RE suddenly stops, lifts his s high
above the grass, and snuffs the air in
every direction.
Hank |
A l~ong-drawn howl-a sound which
rasps on your nerves and brings a chill.
The honest growl of the tiger would be
music in comparison. 1t has no honest
echo, but you hear the T-r-r-r-r ~sneaking
across the half-mile of prairie to find
evil company in the thickets beyond.
See !
The echo is hardly lost in the pines
before it is caught up and sent back
from a dozen thrOats, and a moment
after a pack of wolves break cover and
race across the grass to join the lone
animal which sent forth the rallying
call.
Skulking - malignant - deyilish
There are beasts which will look you
square in the face. The wolf never
does. Restless eyes-uneasy bodies
lOlling tongues-yellow fangsi
There they gOl
The pack head across the prairie to
the south, shifting ut the summer breeze
as they run, and at each long leap their
eyes grow iercey and clots of foam fly
from their red mouths to blotch the
velvet grass. 1t is a trail they are fol
lowing, and the scent is fresh.
Come on
1t is a strange sight which meets our
| eyes. Lying stark and stiff on the
prairie, fingers clutching the grass and
a look of agony on the face already
turning purple under the hot sun, is the
body Of a hunter. Dead? No need to
ask that when you have seen the terri
Die hole in the breast, and the blood
which was welled out and soaked the
grass and changed the color of the
flowers. His rifle at bis side-his pack
at his head, No a~ccident2 Perhaps
yes-perhaps no. There is II who
| could tell us if he could but speak.
"Here, dog 20
Lying beside the dead-rising quick
ly up a. we approaches the hunters
friend and co~mpanion-a grand old
dog. He looks straight into our eyes.
If we have come to bury the dead with
kind hands, 1t is well. If We have come
to rob the master-beware There is
Courage and Fidelity and Determine
tion.
Hush | The dog wheels about and
| faces the north. A sound has reached
his ears which sets his eyes afiame and
| raises every hair On his back. Yelp |
yelp yelpl 1t is the wolves-the pack
which picked up the trail he had made
as be went to the north in search of
water.
Now watch
There are twenty to one, and the
scent of the dead adds to their fierce
ness and daring, but as they advance to
within ten PAGES of the dog every wolf
comes to a stop, Standing with his
fore paws ON the breast of the corpse,
the dog growls a warning at each and
every enc before him. He could run
away and save his life, but the base idea
never comes to him. He will hgh6the
whole pack-he will die defending his
dead
See | The wolves huddle together for
a moment, as if in consultation, and
then they break up and form a circle
about their victims. The dog wheels
slowly, growing his wrath and utter.
ing his defiance. Even now he could
break through and escape, but he will
not. OF a sudden the leader of the
pack dasLes at HIM, but he returns TO
the circle-whipped- bleeding-venge-
full. His place is filled by three com
panions, and for a moment the corpse
is hidden from view and the uproar is
frightful.
Grand old dog ! They have tasted of
his blood, but he has sent them crawl,
ing back.
Again and again the charge was re-
newedhnd the a~ssailants were driven off
until the early dawn crept over the
mOuntain-top when the wolves retreat
ed, leaving the noble dog master of the
heled.