Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-02-15
WiLDiNG'S SUMMONS

" lIH e NhlA = skOIE Ol LlN Allt
at the p.-gugs? Well, l don't know
that remember any stories, and II
ild. they'd be rather rough ones"
"Oh, never mind their being rough,
BERTHE; It would make them sound all
the better
Would It, indeed, Miss Kate! l
rec0liect something that happened to
me-Ot least, under my own eyes-be-
fore / got To the DICgiugS. You might
Ike that. particularly II you have belief
in the supernatural. Ii is uAdeuIably
true, AMI It Is quite appropriate 10 the
day. this GIv, | mean, when We are
now sitting together
"Oh, tell IL; 30 tel il, Berthe"
Il was New Years Day. l and Kate,
brother and sister, and fixtures in the
old home, had welcomed the wanderer,
ROl eTt, Culy two days before, after his
long roviugs II seemed that We could
not make enough of him, and that Kate
would ever cease plying him with queS-
tiOus We two brothers were older by
several years than she was. All the
uuCles and The cousins and the auutS
were coming To dinner in the evening:
but this was only Afternoon, and We
had gathered round the blazing tire in
the dark January day. after the lunch
eoU-tray was removed.
Please tell It, BERTHE! What are
You waiting fOr2
So BERTHE began his tale.
81 was for some time in the pine
fore s OF Maine, If you remember,
sharing in the pleasures and pains, the
good and bad luck, of clearing sur
yeyOr's camp. One afternOOn-it was
the last day of the year-when the
labor of the day was over, darkness
came swiftly down upon US, surrounded
As we were with towering mountains
and uaighty trees. The fires were
lighted, and we sat beneath the over
hanging roof OF the rude hut which
formed the nucleus of the camp. IL
front of Is the great fire of LemlOck
logs and branches rUared and blazed
and cracked, "a its hue tongues Of
flame ieaped upwards toward the leadeu
sky aud made the darkness of the forest
see N Vet more awful and impeuetrab.e.
The ruddy hight that shoue upon our
faces as We sat mOtIOnlsSs Illuminated
another and more active group close at
hand, three or four who were preparing
the game which had been shot for sup
per. In front -
"A dull, dark afternoon, Just such
another rs this one; and you were sit
ting around the Tire as we are inter-
rupted Kate, who could never be silent
very long together.
"Oh, very much Ike this, " answered
BERTHE, with - queer smile After
which he went on with his narrative
I'm front OF and below US lay the
river, ITS swift current chained 10y the
Ice, and its white surface stretching far
out until it was lost IN the gloom be-
youd. No sound came To break the
stiffness Of that vast solitude. save our
own voices, the signing OF the wind
overhead among the pine cones, which
announced that = storm was getting up,
the Intermittent howl of the wolf, and
now and then the shrlI cry of some
distant LOOM"
"Wolvesp' .crIed Kate in a whisper.
81 should not have liked that. Why
DO YOU syop, Bert!e,"
My chief friend in the camp. nay,
my only one, was James WIldlnE. He
had come from the Oh country, no
mistakIug that, nor that he WAS an
educated man and a gentleman Often
! wondered what brought him out To a
place so little suited 10 his refinement
but he volunteered no Information, and
/ did not Ike To ask questions An
other EugLshmau there WAS callei
Gregory tlcrest were OF various breeds,
chiefly Yankees. That Gregory had
been a servant 10 Wudmg, and indeed,
was so still in a degree. We knew; but
IN the camp all ranked pretty nearly As
equals Gregory was a hearty, honest
man, much attached 10 his master"
Was he good .OokIugr" demanded
Kate.
"WLo7'' asked Bertie, when he and
I had uai our lIush out ''GregoryE''
NO, no; James Witdlng."
"Very gouj-IookIng, indeed, sister
nine. /. rJr nero OF romance. Am
1 TO go ou:"
Why, YOU know you are"
YES, WudIug was good looking;
even You young ladies' would have
thought him so; but he was worn and
sad and wasted. The man had some
great care upon hIm-l had always
seen that. Sometimes 1 would catch
GTegoUy's eyes liked upon him with a
strange yearning. This afternoon OF
which am speaking Wllding seemed
quite buried in gloom, scarcely replied
70 remarks, and hardly ate any supper
when We sat round To 1t. For a man
sharing camp life out in those wild and
desOlAte regions 10 be of his food to
the extent of refusing supper Is re-
markable fact
Il dare say IL vas not well cooked, y
said Kate; ''you should have had
me there-I'd have made him an ONE
let"
without eggs; my dear?"
''Diuu't you get anv eggsp Goodness
graciOu,l Go on, Bertie.'
supper WAS half through, the rest
Of Us eating Ike wolves, when | spoke
to him. What's amiss, Wilding, this
EVENING" You seem 10 have flt OF the
blues upon you"
"WIlding did not answer for q min