Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-12-04
Chased by Mad Dogs.


dogs don't bite. Like other popular
sayings, this is a fallacyand misleading.
Barking dogs do not bite while they
are barking, but there is only one
species of canine that sneaks up TO
you and takes hold without saying a
word. That is the Scotch collie, which
inherits its habit Of silent biting from
sheep nipping ancestry"
STORY. story called out the pres
ident.
STORY? God bless you! have none
TO tell, sir, quoted the raconteur,
remembering his classics; this is
only memory of Two dogs, accursed
brutes, that lived with an unfriend!y
man on a hill, over which the post
road was laid. This man. who was a
Cain among his fellows, kept two
I savage mastiffs, who not only barked
but bit whenever it was possible. /
was counting my first wife up there in
| the Cumberland mountains in British
North America where this happened,
and had to pass the house regularly.
! / drove blooded mare that went like
bird, and the dogs were no match
! for her, but it was very annoying to
have them follow Inc down the hill
for mile or more barking and yelp-
ing like demons. They would bark at
| the stage coaches and run long dis
tances after them, but the passengers
were safe inside and the driver and
those on the outside were too high
for them to reach. But heard fire.
! uuent stories of their attacking men,
! and being beaten off with sticks and
stones. asked why they were not
killed and my answer was always the
same, shrug of the shoulders and
the remark You don't know the
kind Of man their owneris.' 1t seemed
that he lived alone with his dogs, and
people feared him so much they dare
not go to him to complain or call in
the provincial Law to help them.
"A crisis came, when one day l
took my sweetheart out for a sleigh
ride in low pung belonging to her
! father, to which was harnessed my
own sure and swift footed mare 1t
was lovely day and we expected to
make safe and rapid descent OF the
mountain, a distance Of ten or twelve
miles. The air was crisp and cold,
the sleighing fine, and we skinned
up the ascent and reached the land
ing before we knew we had started.
There we were met by the dogs. |
think it would have been less difficult
to have gotten rid of a pair OF wolves.
| dare not give my mare her head
going down that long, steep declivity
on frozen snow, and the dogs, EN-
boldened by the cold or maddened by
repeated lashings from my whip,
jumped at my companion and tore
her cloak and her dress in mouthfuls.
l dubbed with my whip and beat
them on the head, but they did not
even seem to feel my blows.
Their great black and yellow frames
quivered with ferocity. The hair on
their backs stood up like names; their
eyeballs cleaned red and angry, and
the noise they made was deafening
and distracting.
"'Ohr l exclaimed, why haven't l
a pistol?'
"'Look in the box under the seat,
cried my companion, whose face was
blanched.
81 looked quickly, and found rusty
double-ba -barreled horse pistol Of make
of forty years ago.
lis it loaded!' | asked.
"'Yes, but don't shoot. If you do
that man will kill your
Il remember thinking how like a
woman it was to tell me where TO find
the pistol and then ask me not to
shoot.
Il laid the reins loose on the mares
head and away she went like the wind,
beyond my control now, and knew
she would never stop till she was a
mile beyond the level ground at the
foot of the hill.
If the pung held together; if moth
ing made the mare swerve from the
direct line; if, in fact-if Providence
kept an eye on US, and the breeching
didn't break, we might escape break
ing our necks. | looked back and saw
the dogs gaining on us, even at that
mad gait-then l took aim and fired.
Bang Bang! There were two dark
objects lying prone on the snowy road
and as quick as she could gather her
feet under her my mare stopped in
her tracks She was trained TO the
use OF a gun.
But my companion urged Inc TO
hurry on, and we were soon down
the incline and beyond the reach OF
recognition or pursuit, and strange TO
say no one bur our two selves ever
knew WHO hilieu tbOst uOSn. We
heard the most marvellous accounts
Of the slaughter, the weapon varying
from Queen Anne musket to can
non, but dead they were as door nails,
and their reign of terror over. i'm
agine their owner did not care to
venture out to avenge their death.
drove boldly past the house every
day, but was never molested or even
suspected. But l often heard their
unknown slayer praised and applaud
ed for the deed which rid the neigh
borhood of their hateful presence"
Mamma-Sallie. il you had little
spunk you'd stand better in your class.