The Arizona sentinel., 1888-05-05
FOR OUR YOUNG FOLFS
HOPES FORT.
The Bounty That Was Laid Up for Her
 Wedding Dower.

'Be careful, Hope, and don't sing, dear; it is dangerful road. whereon you might draw evil notice"
 "Yes, mother. I'll keep my mouth just so," and the little maid pressed her lips firmly together.
 "Give yourself breathing space, said the mother, smiling; and. looking into her darling's bag, to see if her luncheon was all right, she kissed her again, and watched her trip down the road. As Hope turned out of the lane she looked back. kissing her hand in farewell, and Mrs. Raymond went slowly into the house. '1 don't know why it is" she murmured, 'but my heart misgives me sadly. l am sore tempted to call Hope back. But fool ish, sinful woman." she added, reso- lutely, you have had better training than to mistrust the Lords provi- dence.
 She set about her work, for in the early colonial days the farmers wife afforded very good illustration of perpetual motion. This was especially true of New-London, or Pequett. where the rocky, sterile soil demanded the constant care of husbands and wives.
 The farm of Oliver Raymond was four miles from town. but it was not uncommon for the children to come even farther than this to get the benefit of the school which the cOlonists of Pequett had succeeded in establishing with much expense. For some time Hope Raymond ran along in strict obedience to her mothers injunction, then she paused to listen to birds song. or gather a flower. The road. which was newly opened, ran through the heart of the forest and wound out into long stretch. bordered on each side by perpendicular cliffs and dense growth of bushes, and halfway between the town and farm was a great mass of granite, fully fifty feet high.
 It was beautiful September morn- ing. the trees. through their thick, green garb, showed here and there a faint dash of golden-scarlet; the chip munk and squirrel darted up and down the gray trunks, or swung from branch to branch; the sober brown cedars tried to look bright with dingy red touches; the wild grape vines trailed along the ground, weighted with luscious fruit; the stately golden rod bent it's head in the gentle breeze. A wiser head than our eleven-year-old Hope might have yielded to Natures enticing charm. She paused to pick ripening grape, or add to her little bouquet. And as she did, her voice rang out in some childish ditty so clear and sweet that the feathered warblers stopped to listen to their new rival. But something else heard the child, and crept cautiously through the un- dergrowth.
 Just another, and what pretty nosegay I'll have for the teacher, said Hope, as she bent over flower. She had gained the curve in the road now, and yielding to sudden impulse, turned and looked back. For mo- ment she stood paralyzed with fear; for down the road, gaining upon her with every lope of its long, gaunt body, was one of the terrible gray wolves of Pequett. Hope thought of every tale told of their ferocity, and with terri fled scream darted forward, but there was no tree, no refuge at hand. Oh, if she could only reach the great rock The little feet barely touched the ground But the wolf gained at every bound!
 Hope was almost at the rock; she gained it, and with trembling fingers, tried to climb up the notches, but, frightened and exhausted, slipped back. E or second she lay motionless; her pursuer was not fifty yards distant, and at every bound gave a sharp cry which was answered by yells from the forest. Again Hope essayed to climb up the ledge. The notches had been made by the hunters of the colony, who often left signals for one another upon the flat surface of the rock, but they had been made for men, and as the child tried to reach them. she slipped again and again, and almost fell to the ground. But at last she gained foot hold; up, up, oh, she was at the very edge-another effort and she was safe on the summit!
 Just in time. Four or five wolves were gathered below, and, snarling and snapping, endeavored to leap up. Hope's heart almost stopped beating, and for moment every thing seemed to go round and round, as she watched with bated breath the infuriated beasts below. But Hope Raymond came of sturdy Puritan stock, and something of stern courage filled the childish heart '.Now, take that!" she said, exerting all her strength to roll a huge fragment of rock upon them. It struck and stunned one, and without giving it chance to rise, its famished com panions sprang upon it, rending it limb from limb. Hope shrank back, appalled,. then resolutely closing her eyes, hurled down every rock that her strength could master, but without avail. The long hours wore on until her head whiried, and the number of wolves was every little while increased. She looked despairingly up and down the road. No one. The farmers were, like her own father, all busy in the fields. Nothing but echo answered her cries. The blistering noon came, and