Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-06-17
A WILD CHASE.
Saved from an Awful Death by
tho Rocking Stono.

"IOu know Dolly Calhoun, boys?"
intcrrogativcly remarked the Colonel.
"Ah, see YOU do He laughed ut
the various expressions of admiration
which the subject of his question called
forth. ''ics, YOU are right; neither
Louisville nor lexington that
means Kentucky, which beats the
world-can produce II finer specimen
of young womanhood She has more
than beauty and brains; she has pure
grit and all the staying qualities OF u
Morgan. know this, because when i
was last in Honduras she and | had n
little adventure together in the woods
down there. which
"What? Was Dolly Calhoun ever in
Central America? Certainly she was.
Honduras is only two days out of New
Orleans. Sixty dollars will pay the
round trip fare from New Orleans to
Puerto Cortcz. and few dollars more
will take YOU, via the lnter-Occanic
railway, from that point into the heart
of the country. We were both visiting
at the hacienda OF Don Francisco Gar
della, near the City Of ComayaSua,
about midway between the Atlantic
coast and the Bay OF Fonseca on the
Pacific. With party we had left the
hacienda in the cool of the afternoon
on the backs of the pacing mulcs-or
audadoras. rs they call them bound
for the Rocking Stone, one OF the Don :
lions. had no idea what the Rocking
Stone was, and rs Dolly and myself
were soon at some little distance ahead
aud out of sight of the main party |
neither cared what nor where II was.
suddenly our mules stopped pacing
and began dancing.
What can be the matter with this
old mulc3' cried the girl. pouting out
her lips in that mock-babyish way
which she has sometimes.
although my own mount was even
more excited than hers drew closer
to her side, in order to be- near in case
her beast boltcd, ~ il threatened TO do.
With itS ears pricked forward, it was
trembling along its entire body and
shying away from thick coppicc of
jicOral. or calabaSh trees. which lined
the road ahead. There was crashing
sound coming from the coppice, and
thcnext minute a wild boar broke from
il and trotted into the center of the
road. where he stopped short to stare
at Us out of his little red eyes. He was
lean and hungry-looking. His lips
were drawn back from his front teeth
like the lips of a bulldog, and big four
inch tusks stood out sharp and glitter
ing from the sides of his black jaws.
"When he charged us our mules
went away together into the forest on
the right-hand side of the road. For
the first few rods we could do nothing
but crouch close to the animals necks
and tug at the brides. The immense
Spanish bit, however, soon gave me a
command over my frantic steed, and at
the first open spot wheeled close to
Dolly's side and, grasping her audadora
with my right hand while l checked
my own with my left, l soon brought
the beasts to an easier gait Then i
looked behind. and as / live, gentle
men, instead of one there was an entire
drove of wild boars racing toward us
the leaders champing their jaws so
that, even in the semi-darkness of the
forest, we could see the foam drop
from them.
Then came n chase which in an
open country could have had but one
issue-the audadoras being very swift
PAGERS and more than match for the
fleetest hog behind Us. But the coun-
try was BY no means open. and the
fears of our beasts led them TO dash
into jungles which kept us back sadly.
but hindered the wild boars not a bit.
Once during the run / saw the sleek.
spotted body of jaguar crouched
along the lower limb of silk-cotton
tree; little animals like our common
ground squirrel ran across our path'
and twice we reused an armadillo.
Suddenly Dolly cried out. threw
the lines forward and slipped from her
seat to the grass. The head of boa
constructor swung down from ma
hogany tree and brushed the saddle
she had just Quilted. Ny own mule
reared as reached forward to lift her
from the grass. and the next minute
w were both in the same Yrsdi0ADsa'