Bridgeton pioneer., 1885-03-26

I
smooth as billiard table.
Not much chance to run away" he said
! to himself "EAcouraging fact in natural
| history; the PIC, wild or domestic, cannot
climb a tree. Now, | am rather good at
| climbing trees: and that is where | have the
| pull of piggy. Qiery. VIII he give me
| time"'
In the course of two or three minutes,
which went by, because Of his mental ten
/ sion and the constant succession of these
small eXcitem"nts, like an hour, he began
! to grow less intereste /, and to look about
! him with an eye to the pictorial capacities
of the place. The trunk OF the forest were
all overgrown with Il beautiful moss of
/ light greenish-bluish gray, except near the
base, where on one side he moss was of the
| freshest and most vivid emerald green. The
| untrodden snow took a BIZ III tinge in the
| shadow the red russell of ,ln leaves was in
exquisite contrast with it ...ll on the small
er trees the leaves still chung thickly), the
branches of the underground We're plum
colored, and only score of yards away
swan and tl0ated rich purple air, rs ripe
and as lovely as that which broods ON tie
extreme verge of an Italian landscape on u
summer day. Arthur noted these things
with the keen delight of born colorist.
Summer itself is not so charming'' he
said to himself. Even autumn is not so
richly colored. Olivia said the country was
lovely in all seasons, and she was right
Olivia? That's a tolerable piece of insolence
young man, if you will but consider the fact
that you have only spent an Lour in the
lady's society,""
1t began to be bitter cold, and more than
little drcary, when he first heard the voices
of the traQueurS, who gave forth a loud oc-
2aSional "Pr-r-r-r.' This reused him for a
minute or SO, but nothing coming of it, he
grew liStleSs again, when all of q sudden
the perfunctory "Pr-r-r-rw swelled into g
prodlglouS hoWlmg within the forest.
Hi. hi! hi! How! how .how! Sanglier!
Sangler! Hi! hi!hi!'
Nlr. Arthur Lawrence rose silently from
his bowlGer in sudden beautiful calm of
spirit which had a certain bright exutation
i'll it, for at last he heard sound about
which it was impossible to be mistaken, the
magnificent rush of q boar through the
tangled undergrowth, the crash with which
the boughs parted, and the pounding Oh the
cracking leaves. Not even a novice could
dream that this was the coming of a deer
and the youngster knew well enough what
/ to expect before he saw the great black mass
come headlong on, bursting into the open be-
tween two saplngs, each as thick as mans
wrist, and not eight inches apart. These
yielded to the impetuous bulk like withes,
| and second later the forest monarch was
amazed by the noise of a smooth-bore, a
| flash of flame, and the deadly pellets that
stung his shoulder In his ordinary mood
the wild pig is contented to express his con-
tempt for human kind by sulky shyness,
but there is no Drawer gentleman alive, and
xrrhn hn il, al G,-l,f I,
fuses challenge. He did not pause a
| second in his forward rush, but went for his
| assailant, straight, and with as little hesita-
tion as if he had set ont upon his race with
| no other intention.
Doesn't give time to climb tree"
thought lawrence, with the beautiful calm
| just touched with brightness still upon him.
''Shan't miss this time" Fast as his quarry
came he seemed to have ample space in
which to think thus, and when the wicked
white tusks and vengeful piggish eyes were
within six yards of him he pulled triggeit
and the wild boar of his own momentum
turned half SummerSault Then every.
thing went oddly quiet, and the beautiful
calm altogether deserted Mr.. Lawrence's
mind. Suppose" he said to himself, half
aloud, and with tightness in his breathing
Suppose the cartridge-maker had forgot
ten the powder in that particular cartridgep'
Then he laughed, and wiped his brow, and
stood astonished to find how hot he was.
Wasn't a bit nervous minute ago." he
thought. Horribly nervous now Suppose
should be cool again if another came? l
wonder''
He stood looking at the dead enemy with
respect, when Crack! crackn' Went two
shots almost both together, and second or
two later voice on the right began to
scream eau secours! Au secoursw Law.
renee, with new calm, opened the breech of
his gun without moving a foot, drew out the
destroyed cartridges, supplied their place,
closed the breech, all swiftly and with meth.
cd, and then raced like hound up hill in
the direction of the cries. Two-thirds of the
way up he heard two shots, and he heard
also the pellets which tore the leaves over
his head.
Missed" he said, and went racing I'D the
hill along the tracks which he and the guide
had left behind them. The cries not only
continued but grew more urgent, and he
ran as he had never run before. He had not
more than forty yards to go in all, but those
forty yards lay up breakneck hill encum.
bered with great powders, over which
craWled entangling briars, which were for
the most part hidden treacherously in the
| snow. When he came upon the scene he
became aware of sudden inappropriate de-
sire to laugh. A fat gentleman in the very
height of Belgian sporting fashion, coat of
Lincoln green, unsmirched by weather
brand new game-bag with beautiful fringe
and tassels, bronze cords, and spotless new
boots of yellow leather reaching to mid.
thigh-a fat gentleman thus accountered
was hanging on to the branch of an oak tree
with his toes dangling two feet from the
ground, and well-grown boar was tuskinp
at the soles of his boots with savage energy,
whilst the fat gentleman, who dared NOT
drop, ceased not to roar at the top of his
voice, "Au secours! Au secoursp 1t was
really too bad to laugh at such moment.
and yet for his life Lawrence could not helm
it. The contrast between the fears he had
had time to form and this reality had some.
thing in it almost Historically droll, and his
gun trembled when he brought it to his
shoulder, but only for second. The boar
leapt at the discharge of the first barrel and
at the discharge of the second turned round
fnl1 l.