The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-03-20

made my sled, stayed all night, and
started of bright and early the next
morning.
"Gentlemen, were YOU ever in the
mountains about sunrise in the winter
time, with the snow covering every
thing, and an icy crust all over it? Mop
Well, then, you've missed one Of the
most dazzling sights that man ever saw.
All the colors of the rainbow, all the
hues of all precious stones-ruby, sap
phire, pearl, emerald, diamond flash
from every twig of'every tree; the trees
are pillars of frosted silver, and under
foot a sea of crystal mixed with fire. !
It reminded me, that morning, Of the
hymn / had recently been hearing Mrs.
Lee sing:
"s Jerusalem, the golden,
With radiant glory blestl
Beneath thy contemplation
Sink heart and voice 0ppreStl
With jasper glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The SardiuS and the topaz
In thee unite their rays;
Thy splendent walls are lucent
With hyacinthine light.
The light that has no evening,
That needs nor moon nor sun,
The light divine and golden,
The light that is but onel'
II had stopped moment at the head
of Lost Trail Creek, to look down the
canon at the marvellous scene, when /
heard little Nellie, whom had forgot
ten for few minutes, call out:
'sOh, what bid pussy! Unkie John!
Unkie John, see the bid pussy-tat!'
II looked around, and there, just
above the trail, and not the length of
this log from the sled, stood the finest
specimen of mountain lion think I
ever saw. Twas queer, but at first
sight, / didn't feel bit afraid -
in fact, hardly surprised, at seeing him
there am not poet, as you know,
but / was so near to one that morning
that really think had forgotten for
the moment that there was any such
thing as danger or death on earth.
''As looked at him, my first thought,
derived, suppose, by an association of
ideas from the hymn which had been
running through my head, was:
'LeoneDs he tribu Jude.
HE was SO stately and massive, so
dignifed and-I can't find any word to
express his look but magnanimous-
that for moment / felt nothing but a
kind of wondering admiration.
Then, in a flash, woke up. There
was that blessed baby, holding out her
little hands and calling: Pussy, pussy!
pity pussy! come an pay wiz Nellie.
Come to Nellie, pussy; Nellie love 90.
And there, not ten yards away, facing
her, was that yellow brute, cruel,
savage, greedy beast, who might the
next second ugh! it makes me SILVER
now to remember it. And to think
that ! was as powerless to help or pro-
tect her as she was herself that the
slightest move on my part would prob
ably only hasten the tragedy:
so we stood there, how long / don't
know, Nellie coaxing and pleading, her
eyes sparkling, her black curls dancing,
her rosy cheeks glowing, and her little
mittened hands outspread to the grim
beast that stood, with head turned a
little to one side, watching her steadily,
and as motionless as if carved out Of
rock.
II don't know whether it was instinct
or desperation that at last made me
step slowly backward, pulling the sled
after me. Foot by foot the distance
widened, the great cat keeping his vel
low, unwinking eyes on Nellie, as she
slowly turned her head to keep him in
sight. | think we might have left him
there, if she, despairlng of his coming
to her, had not turned to me and cried:
t'Unkie John, Please let Nellie get
out and pay wiz her bid pussy-tat!'
This seemed to break the spell which
had held him, for be stepped slowly
down into the trail and followed us.
Backwards went, drawing the sled
with my left hand, and keeping my
right on the butt of my revolver, ready
to fire if the worst came to the worst,
and he crouched for spring.
IF any Of you want the hardest job
Vou have ever had, just try walking
backwards up steep, icy trail, on
twelve-foot Norwegian sno w-shoes, not
turning your head to see where you are
going. / didn't dare turn around. nor
take my eyes off the tawny beast that
was following us. Every now and then
he would stop and rub himself against
tree, arching his back and purring in
deep, mlffied bass, just like COM
mon house-cat only hundred times
as loud. Then he would turn out from
the trail, quicken his pace little, ami
for hundred yards or so, walk abreast
of the sled, then drop to the rear, cross
to the other side, and do the same thing
there; and then saunter lazily on be-
hind again.
after the first five or ten minutes, I
lost good deal of my fear of him, he
seemed SO peaceable and good natured;
but didn't know what minute his
temper might change. AT last saw
q break in the trees ahead, and knew
we were coming to timber line. In q
few minutes we were out in the open
pass, within quarter Of mile Of the
divide
LAS we drew away from the woods,
our self-appointed attendant seemed to
conclude that he had escorted as as fac
as politeness demanded, for he stopped
and watched us as we climbed away