The Southern herald., 1886-06-26
A WILD CHASE.
Saved from an Awful Death by
the Rocking Stone.

"You know Dolly Calhoun, boysP'
interrogatively remarked the Colonel.
"Ah, l see you do" He laughed at
the various expressions of admiration
which the subject Of his question called
forth. Eyes, you are right; neither
Louisville nor Lexington--and that
means Kentucky, which beats the
world-can produce a finer specimen
of young womanhood. She has more
than beauty and brains; she has pure
grit and all the staying qualities of
Morgan. know this, because when I
was last in Honduras she and | had
little adventure together in the woods
down there, which
"Whatp Was Dolly Calhoun ever in
Central American 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 Cortes, and few dollars more
will take you, via the Inter-Oceanic
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 Comayagua,
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 mules-or
audadoras, as they call them-bound
for the Rocking Stone, one of the Don's
lions had no idea what the Rocking
Stone was, and as Dolly and myself
were soon at some little distance ahead
and out of sight of the main party l
neither cared what nor where it was.
Suddenly our mules stopped pacing
and began dancing.
"'What' can be the matter with this
old muleP" 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 bolted, as it threatened to do.
With its ears pricked forward, it was
trembling along its entire body and
shying away from thick coppice of
jicoral, or calabash trees, which lined
the road ahead There was a crashing
sound coming from the coppice, and
the next minute wild boar broke from
it 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 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 checked
my own with my left, soon brought
the beasts to an easier gait. Then
looked behind, and as l live, gentle
men, instead of one there was an entire
drove of wild boars racing toward US
the leaders champing their jaws Sc
that, even in the semi-darkness of the
forest, we could see the foam droE
from them.
Then came a chase which in Al
open country could, have had but on'
issue-the audadoras being very swift
pacers and more than match for thu
fleetest hog behind us. But the coun
try was by no means open, and thu
fears of our beasts led them to dasl
into jungles which kept us back sadly
but hindered the wild boars not bit
Once during the run saw the sleek
spotted body of jaguar crouche'
along the lower limb Of silk-cottol
tree; little animals like our common
ground squirrel ran across our path
and twice we reused an armadillo.
Suddenly Dolly cried out. threV
the lines forward and slipped from he
seat to the grass. The head of boa
constructor swung down from a ma
hogany tree and brushed the saddl
she had just Quilted My own mul
reared as reached forward to lift he
from the grass, and the next minut
We were both in the same predicamer