Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-09-25

spot where he left the peons to 90 a.one
into this gloomy soiitpda?'
DO YOU mean--" srasnad larusha
Ben half rising with amazenlent. hopf
and JOY and doubt all the time showing il
his face
DO you mean that you are-'
''Of course l do. my darling!' the
stranger answered, and as the hat and
beard " re thrown aside, and .TeTusha'
golden hair streamed over her shoulders
| the lips of the partners met In a passionate
| kiss
An adventurous zenzontle lighting on
the window of the hut poured out caro-
OF blessing melody; eying the while the
exposed gold with ignorant superciIious
ness, but cooking his head sidewise and
gazing npon the united lovers with a most
appreciat1ve satisfaction.
- 1880 An Exciting Experience.
| For myself. was chopped down once.
and once only. It happened in this wav.
| IN the madwlnter of 1879 | had occasion
to visit the chief camp of the Little MAZDA
! waska. Coming from the city, and to a
camp where | was a stranger to all the
men, was not unnaturally a pron0unc-
ed specimen OF the greenhorn. took ~
pains to tell any one what the boss already
we'll knew, hat Is, that had been a fire.
quen'er OF the camps from my boyhood.
Many and many a neat trap was laid for
my apparently tender foot, but avoid
ed them all as if by accident As for
cllmblnga tree, always laughed at the
Idea when 1t was proposed to me. I al
ways suggested that it might spoil nv
clothes. Before long the men, by putting
little things together, came to the con-
cluslon that | was an old stager, and,
rather sheepishly, they gave over their at
tempt to entrap me. Then | gracious V
waved my hand, as it were, and was frank
ly received as a veteran, cleared from every
suspicion of being green.
At last the day did come when | did
wish to climb tree. The camp was on
high plateau, and not far off lowered a
magnificent pine tree, growing out of
the summit Of knoll IN such a way as to
command all the surrounding country.
Its branches were phenomenally thick: its
gl4th of trunk was magnificent. And this
tree | resolved Que day to climb, in order
to get a clear idea of the lay of the land
Of course | strolled off surreptiously, and,
as thought, unmatched. But there
was much mistaken. No sooner was
two thirds OF the way up the tree than,
with shouts of laughter, the lumbermen
rushed out of the surrounding cover and
proceeded to chop me down. The chance
was too good for them to lose.
| concealed my annoyance, and made
no attempt to descend. On the contrary
| thanked them for the little attentions
and climbed a few feet further up, to
secure position which | saw would be a
Ta tO,, e
AS | did SO, perceived, with a gasp and
tremor, that was not alone in the tree
There, not ten feet above me. stretched
at full length along large branch, was a
huge panther, glazing with rage and ter
ror. From the men below the form was
quite concealed. Glaring restlessly from
certain just what to do. As | carefully
refrained from climbing any further up,
and tried to assume an air of not having
observed him, he apparently concluded
that | was not his worst enemy. In fact,
! dare say he understood what was going
on and realized that he and | were fellow
sufferers
l laughed suftly to myself as | thought
how my tormenters would be taken aback
wien that panther should come down
among them. [ decided that, considering
their numbers, there would be at least no
more danger for them tn IN that to which
they were exposing me IL their reckless
foollne. And. already influenced by that
touch of nature which makes us so Won
dr0us kind, | began to hope that the
panther would succeed in making his es-
cape.
The trunk of the pine was so thick that
| might almost have reached the ground
before the choppers could cut it through
At last 1t gave a mighty shudder and sag
ged to one side. balanced myself nimbIy
on the upper side, steadying myself by a
convenient branch. The great n.ass of
foliage, presenting a wide surface to the
air, made the fall a comparatively slow
one; but the tremendous sweep of the
draught upward, as the tree-top described
It's gigantic arc, gave me sickening SEN
satlon. Then came the final dull and
thunderous crash. and-in an instant.
found myself standing in my place, Jared
but unhurt, with the snow threshed up
all about me.
The next instant there was another roar,
OR rather sort Of screaming yell, over
whelmlng the riCt0us laughter of the
woodsmen; and out of the confusion of
the pine-boughs shot the tawny form of
the panther in whirlwind of fury. One
of the choppers was in his path and was
bowled over like a clumsy nine-pin.
The next bound brought the beast on to
the backs of a yoke of oxen, and his cruel
claws severely scratched the oxens' necks.
As the poor animals beloved and fell on
their knees, the panther paused, with
some idea, apparently. of fighting the
whole assembled party. But as the men,
recovered from their first amazement,
rushed with their axes to the rescue of
the oxen. the panther saw that the odds
were against him. He turned half round
and greeted his enemies with one terrific
and strident snarl, then bounded off into
the forest at pace which made it idle
to pursue him. The owner of the oxen
hurled an ak after him, but the missile fell
wide of its mark From 'Chopping Him
Down" by Charles g. D. Roberts. in Sep
TENDER ST. Nicholas.
Wooden Shoes for Girls.
San Francisco Examiner
The fashion of wearing wooden shoes