St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-12-18
Aitacked BY Wolves.

| lIie- pliiCt TtlL uEt- plstCe--bIlt uuIu-
ing chunks of wood and logs rising one
above another, lighting the room with
a dancing glare aud making light and
shadow on the wall as the flames rose
and fell.
As grandmother came out of her
room, father rose and placed her arm
chair comfortably before the fire. She
seated herself. saying pleasantly
'.Now you are all still, will tell
you the story of the last conclave' we
were talking about at dinner-time. -
".You must know that. this is not the
house that was first built here. Ny
| father. came here from Connecticut and
| builta II Lighthouse and barn. For safe
ty from wild animals he built high
log enclosure around the barn, into
which the cattle and sheep were driven
every. night, suiuIns,. and winter. They
always seemed ready to go in, for |
think they We're afraid To stay outside
op account of the bears and wolves
and wildcats, which were very numer-
Gus. Notwithstanding, there We're Il
great many killed, for every man took
IA gun wherever he went.
After father had his house and
barn finished, he went back to Con
necticut for mother and the goods and
what stock he owned, and then re-
turned with them. We three children
were born here. | was the first, then
Uriah, and last little golden haired
Huldah.
What | am going to tell you hap
pened III March. | was ten years oil d
the summer before, Uriah wasn't quite
nine, and baby Huldah was two. ..
'It was Sunday morning, and father
and mother were going to church. AS
the church was seven miles away, it
was necessary for them to start quite
early. The horse was brought to the
door, and fathers saddle and the pill
ion were placed on his back. Mother
kissed us, told lis to he good children
and keep the fire. Father told Uriah
to fodder the cattle at noon and turn
them ont to drink, hut not to allow
them to wander into the woods to
browse--for cattle are fond of green
twigS III the spring, when they have
had nothing to eat but dry hay all
winter.
''Atter they rode away, to amnse
baby Huldah we had fr0lic with old
Troll, our Watchdog, and not long
after we felt hungry, and ate our din
ner of baked apples and milk. Of
course, Troll must have his dinner. So
Uriah crumbed brown bread into milk,
and set the dish on the floor between
the table and the outside door. He
was tapping his milk noisily, when
with Il sudden motion, he stopped
stopped and seemed So eager and in
tent that we all stopped eating too In
an instant lie gave "a smOthered growl,
spTang tO the door, and put his nose
all along the crack at the bottom, sniff
ing and growing as he moved to aud
fro.
"'What is it. Troll p said Uriah.
81 caughtup baby Huldah, for S0me-.
how the dog did not act as if it was
person who had startled him, for he
always barked loudly when any man
came to the house, but did not show
fear. Now he was hristling up and
shivering, either with anger or fear or
both.
''uriah ran aud turned the hig hut
ton; then pounding sharply on the
door, he called ont, who's there p
''Jnst as soon as he did that, Troll
began to bark and to jump against the
door and said, Let him out Uriah
opened the door far cnough TO allow
the dog tn pass through, and he shot
ont with great tierceness. We then
heard him scurIy along the path. but
could not tell what happened, for we
were too frightened to look after him.
''All was still for IL minute, and then
came II terrible howl from the direction
of the barn then another nearer the
house, with bounding and scutfling in
the SNOW; then some confused sounds
we could not tell what they were,
though we knew they came from the
throats of fierce animals followed by
il prolonged howl of pain from Troll.
Then all was still until the dog came
to the door and whincd piteonsly to be
let in.
Eve did not dare move mt first, but
Us the dog kept 10y the door, and his
whine grew more. natural, we took
courage and opened the door.
''As he came in, he went shrinking
all around the room with his tail be-
tween his legs, shaking his head with
IL sidewisc jerk, us if something had
hurt his ears. His hair was standing
up, ana he kept growing to himself.
Even after he had stopped circling
about the room, and had begun licking
his feet and legs, he growled.
'Finally he became quiet, and our
courage came back. don't suppose
we reasoned much about it. We had
seen bears and wolves both dead and
alive and once father killed Wild
cat-amOng the hunters they are called
'bob-cats,' for they have short tails,
and they are about twice as large as
big domestic cat, only more chunky,
and they are the most terrible fighters
in the world. Dogs are afraid of them !:
and never dare to attack them alone.
Afterwards, when the scratches on
Troll We're examined, it was thought
likely that Il wildcat was prowIine
around, because all was so still.
"When we were well over our fright,
Uriah took IA chair and climbed up to
the window next the barn. The win
dOws were so high up that father could
just look through them standing
They were very small just one log
cut through. There were only three
of them, one at the back, one at the
front, and one in the end for the fire.
place took up the other end of the cab
in, which had but two rooms.
''Uriah saw nothing there then lie
went to the window next the door. He
looked all around as far as he could,
and said, Il guess there isn't anything o
out there Next he went into the 9TH
| er room TO look ont of the back win
dow, and came back laughing, and
said, pointing his finger at Troll /:
'0h, you old coward, yonl | know
what allied you. You were afraid to
be ont alone
1--WE all laughed, aud | think onr
/ courage was perfectly restorcd for
Uriah said suddenly, with wide-Open