The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-10

joyod some hours Of daylight after We were
shaded by the western hill, 20 We were In
no alarm when the sunshine disappeared
from the highest tree-tops, and when the
darkness wa fairly upon "a, we thought We
had como into q denser part Of the forest.
Lets get out of this dark hole - said my
sister. We hurried along. but finding II
grew no lighter, we looked up, and through
the leafy canopy we saw the stars.
"Pitch dark! Girls, let's go home" This
seemed the only course for US to pursue, and
We reluctantly turned back.
Lets 60 home by the saw MILL" I pro.
posed.
20 no, not that way. There's all sorts Of
'bo0gers' round the sswmill."
"POohl Who's afraidi I'm going that
way"
In vain the girls urged that tho route by
the sawmill was longer and rougher; that Q
piece Of marsh-ground lay in the way. and
that we must cross tho brook o n . narrow
o ot-bridge. I had no argument in favor Of
my plan, except to say that We should reach
the highway sooner by that route; but l wa
Observation-Disclosures that night, and repeated
II shall 60 by the way Of the sawmill. You
n 60 which way you choose"
but we Ill wan to 70 together" said my
sister. 81 asked mother il We might stay
with Ellen tonight"
IL don't want to; rather sleep at homo.
You need not wait for me il you got out
first"
Saying which 1 plunged into Q thick
growth Of underbrush in the direction Of
the sawmil. The way MAS r0ugher b ]
thought. The bushes were very thick and
tangled, but I stumbled along . few rods.
Then I heard. or thought I heard, the girls
calling me. Quite glad OF q excuse to for.
sake my plan, I turned toward them and
called, but received no answer. I called
again and again. and ran to and fro TO avoid
the rocks dinly seen through the incrcas.
ing darkness. till I grew quite angry with
them for not answering, but for . long time
had No thought Of being lost.
When I gave up tho hope of o~vertaking
the girls. I stopped quito ~bewildered, for l
had lost the points Of compass entirely. !
could not judge of my course by 1.-The lay OF
b land" for the mountain rises in combs.
and the growth Of trees was 50 dense that l
could not SEQ the clipper" which was the
only constellation I really knew.
began to run back and forth at random,
controlled by . fear which every moment
grew moro intense, till I seemed to be en-
veloped in an atmosphere Of terror. l ran
and ran, and screamed and shouted, beat
ing against trees m stumbling over rocks
and roots till at last I fell headlong down .
precipice. only = few feet, probably, though
I seemed to be falling through miles Of
black space.
Dumb with terror, I lay on the soft bed Of
leaves where I had fallen. AL was dark
ness and silence, except the signing of the
wind and the cry Of . scrcech-Owl in the
distance. l was not brought up in the woods
to fear an OWL but that low. mournful
tremolo, which has brought . chill 70 many
an older heart than mine, added to Inc gloom
OF the situation.
lay where I fell till I became calmer.
Ny fears had been altogether vague, for l
had not once thought of rattlesnakes, cats-
mounts or ghosts, with which the mountain
was said to be infested.
began to reason with myself with such
success that 1 soon came to the conclusion
that I had not been frightened at all-at
least not much-and then I formed . plan
for getting home. Iarose, peered carefully
Of the woods, which I hoped indicated .
V4Co4 Au6s l0At NY WY oAVWAy UrSWOOA SuO
trees, which were very small and thickly
set, till on putting my foot carefully for
ward. I set it on a end Of some cylindrical
object which yielded under my foot, while
the other end few up and hit me near my
waist
Without doubt it was . flexible branch,
but my only thought wa rattlesnakes, and.
with one wild shrek and bound, Istarted OF
through the woods, frenzied with fear, beat
ing and bruising myself against the trees.
Finding that running was out Of the ques-
ton, I crouched down by the foot Of . tres
and waited for The snakes, for I felt sure
tha. I was just where Mrs. Howard warned
me not 70 go-in the rattlesnake dens. ]
fancied l could hear them coming from al
directions, creep, creep. creeping along. But
they never reached me, and after awhile
c~Ommon-sense anne tony aid n instructed
me that snakes did not travel 1t night. ]
breathed freer till the swapping Of sdry twiR
supplied me with . new terror. Painters,
Of course! night wa just their time for
providing. and I made M question but that
should be dragged away to make q supper
for . litter Of young catamounts within q
few minutes. In less than that time I saw
something which drove serpent and beast
from my mind for the rest Of that night.
Ny father was a singularly fearless man
and taught us to be %. He allowed Us to x
plOre the mountain and take our chances,
which. he said, were ten Thousand to one
that we never saw rattlesnake; and the
last panther known to have been on that
mountain was killed, he told Us, eighty
years before. As for ghosts, which were
said to float uneasily over the old cemetery
on the south slope, we did not even 50 much
as dare mention them in his presence. But
il ever mortal eyes saw q ghost. here was
n
Just before me was . little opening, and
beyond, under . low, branching hemlock,
was the ghostly presence. swaying and
beckoning to me in the dim starlight. II
was terrified before I was frozen with horror
now, and I felt my hair rising under my
pink calico sun-bonnet. Again and again
looked. till I could endure it no longer; then
I covered my Dyes till the unseen terror was
worse than the sight itself.
As I have said, my education in ghosts
and ~hobgoblins had been neglected, but Aun,
Chatty. an old woman who sometimes
washed for my mother, had told US Of various
appearances" on the mountain. As the
latest OF these apparitions was fifty years
before. we felt tolerably secure, but now
ordinary weeks seem short to the time
stood confronting that diabolical whitenesa