The National tribune., 1888-11-29

tnat OF any p0ac0eT VINO might DC FaJcnlDR H.
/ lay motionless. Suddenly. as the deer raised
its head TO listen, gnnshot rang sharply out
on the cool night air. and the deer, with
shrill snort Of agony, bounded two or three
times high In the air and fell dead with bullet
through its head. / started up, trembling with
cold and excitement, and waited anXlously for
further developments; but with the excep-
ton of the crash and rustic as few other deer
rushed in terror through the underbrush, no
sound was heard. waited long and anxiously.
Would the poacheT leave his game and fee in
alarm at the echo of his own gunshOt? crept
forward IN a STOPPING posture, hut the moment
that rustlcd the underbrush there was a fash
and report from the branches Of a tree 60 yards
away. on the edge Of the open ground, and
bullet whizzed dangerously near to my head
and buried itself i8 a tTee-trnnk with spiteiul
sound ] was cunning enough TO shrek loudly,
as though wounded. and not knowing how
many foes I had 20 deal with / discharged my
gun. as nearly as l could judge, at the spot
where l had seen the fash, and then fell head
long into the bushes Iquickly reloaded as lay
on my back, and then drew myself like snake
along the ground until | was safely hidden in
a thick Clump of bushes within dozen yards
of the deer, which lay in a small spot clear Of
bushes and some - yards wide.
" How long / lay there / cannot tell, but it
seemed an age. ! shiveTed and my heart he&s
so loudly that / feared my foes if anywhere
near. would hear its uncomfortable humping.
The moon sank lower and lower toward the
tree-tops, and the chill breeze rustied the
bushes and long grass until imagined crawl
ing poacher in every moving shadow.
Hank a slight crack of broken twig.
With every sense keenly on the alert | watch
ed, and an interval of silence ensued, brief but
terrible Was I surrounded by poachers Had
they discovered my hiding place and would
be shot like dog if ! attempted TO rise? l
furtively glanced 10 the right and left without
moving my head, and not 10 feet away, to the
left. / saw the tops of the long grass gently
moving. A few moments more and the figure
Of man rose from the ground at the side of
the slain deer, He looked cautiously aboRt
him, and as he turned toward me cloud pass
ed from before the moon and ] saw once more
the grim features Of the poacher who had forced
me to dine with him in the tree.
- cannot exactly tell how it happened.
remember dimly, as in a dream, the terrified
start of the poacher as he heard the click of
my gunlock, the fash of his knife as he drop
ped it in the motion of cooking his gun; the
thought that he would kill me Unless l killed
him, and then the flash and report of my own
piece, the wild yell of my enemy as he fell
across the body of the deer, and then a wild,
horror stricken race through the tangled forest,
where night-elvcs seemed TO whirl and tiutter
around my uncovered head, until / fell eX-
hausted against my fathers door with jar
that awakened the entire household. / was
hastily carried in by my father. and lay gasp
ing and unable TO speak. while the whisper
went round Poor fellow! he has seen a
ghOstl'
My father knewzhetter. The empty gun,
the clothing wet and Smcared with clay, the
many scratches of briars and brambles in that
Wild race, spoke to him of an encounter with
the only real terror Of the forest in his estima-
tion-,he dreaded poachers. The neighbor5
were aroused; / told my story, and early next
morning, while | slept the deep sleep of eX-
hsusIi0n. q magistrate and a strong party of
mon visited the spot They found the dead
deer and near it my cap, and some 90 yards
away they found the dead body Of the poacher.
He was shot in the breast, and might possibly
have risen and walked that distance. But
there was nothing 10 show that he was a
pOacher. He was the dissOlute son Of well-to
do parents, and was supposed to have fled from
the country on account of some petty ofense
against the laws. He had evidently been liY
ing in some secret place in the forest, but no
gun Recommendation could be found. Poachers
frequently used guns made 10 be screwed to-
gether Or taken apart ia short sections at will;
but no pieces OF such weapon could be found
upon him.
Ugly whispers began TO circulate among
the crowd, some Of whom were relatives of the
dead poacher. Ny long absences from home at
night; the fact that the man had no weapon,
and that the knife found beside the deer might
possibly be ny- own, were freely commented
upon; and at last a cousin of the dead man
openly charged that / was a poacher, and hav-
ing been surprised in the act of killing a deer,
l mad shot the only witness of my crime and
had then endeayored to fasten my own guilt
upon him.
" Poor little Gretchen refused to believe the
charge and wept bitterly when l was arrested
and led away Tor hearing. / earnestly de-
4 clared my innocence, and only begged for time
4 TO search FOR the dead mans gun. | told how
( he trapped me from his perch in the tree and
compelled me TO eat and drink with him, but
my statement was ridiculed. | was told that
( the ground had been carefully searched, that
I the footsteps showed that no one except the
dead man and myself had been there that
night, and therefore no one could have carried
( the gun away, and that further search was
useless. / wished hundred times that the
/ preacher had killed me, for l feared l should
/ be executed fsF murder.
Fortunately for me, the Duke was a sensi.
bic and obserYant man. He had watched me
! for weeks. and felt certain that was faithful
/ and that my story was true. He requested
+ the magistrate TO allow me to search the ground
! again. under a guard. / thought that the
poacher might have dropped his gun, and that
the crowd had trampled it into the mud, and
with q long. sharp stick proddcd the ground
az around the spot, while poor little Gretchen
with her eyes red with weeping, followed my
every movement, only to return at night tC
my mother who was Frustrated by the shock
with the news that 10 gun had been found. II
occurred TO me that someone had stolen the
gun during the Grst search, and | was almost
in despair.
On the third day, as drove my pole intt
the dark mud of a sluggish spring that oozet
from the ground among some tussocks, at leas
20 yards from where the dead man had lain
struck something hard. My heart stood still
4 few more prods of the sharpened pole, and
wild with excitement leaped into the bog
plunged my arm into the half-liquid soil, anC
drew forth with a shout of joy the pOacher'
gun aud a SMALL pouch containing powder an(
balls,
" Homeward, fast homeward, few it'll
Gretchen, her wooden shoes scattering tn
leaves, her red petticoat flashing through tn
woods like swift meteor; homeward, with he
long, yellow hair torn loose from its ribbons b,
the branches that brushed her rudely as sh
passed; homeward, with dilated eyes and hut
tering heart, until at last, with glad cry, II
/. is saved He is saved she fell fainting besid
my mothers bed.
- A closer examination showed that tn
wounded poacher, with wonderful strength G
; will, had contrived to stagger to the spring
where he sunk the gun deep into the yieldin
: mud with one foot, and then he had toiled o.
a few yards further and had fallen dead in hi
, tracks. The color of the mud upon his shoes
which had not before attracted attention cor