Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1892-02-26
THE NoosE,s MISTAKE.

The antlered head was thrown back
proudly, the nostrils were dilated, and
Asel shifted the crisp air with delight.
The snow Law white on wood and glade,
and he looked about on a wide stretch of
oi,n. sno sun sinking low IN the west
threw rosy glow over the scene, and
the keen eyes scanning it all discovered
away in the south steel-blue line that
marked a stream of water.
(Which | will taste" said Alse.
Those others have no genius for dis
covering"
The 'others" were his companions
from whom he had strayed, or rather
who had halted in their course as the day
drew toward its close, while he pressed
forward alone.
"stay with us, Alse,p urged a wise old
moose, $50 shall you keep out of danger"
Danger Asses head tossed in deris-
ion as he repeated the word, glorying in
his own superb strength. "What danger
can there be for one like me, to whom
the other animals are mere pismies?"
1t was glorious freedom to be alone,
to press forward and feel monarch Of all
the solitude. The clear air made dis
lance illusiye, and the stream he sought
was farther away then it had first APP
peared but that fact did not change his
determination to reach it. The sun had
dropped out Of sight, and the pink glory
of the sky was fast fading into dull
gray. From dark line of woods came
the distant howl of wolf.
Gone of the dangers against which l
was warned, suppose" commented
Alse. As if | could not easily master
any of those ereaturesl Let it howl; it
dare not come near me"
Another voice took up the doleful
''woo-ool' but Alse, disdaining trifies,
did not motto that the single cry was
changing to chorus. Dark forms stole
out of the woods and began to follow
him, cautiously at first, but growing
holder as their numbers increased Their
cries grew sharper and so near that Alse
hnally looked back to see dozen or
more dark bodies skulking along in tho
edge of the wood.
"Cowardly creaturesl" sneered Alse.
yet with the next breath he added but
there are SO many of them!" And he
quickened his pace. His increased
speed seemed at once to increase the
! yalor OF his pursuers. They left the
shadows and chased eagerly after him,
and where he had counted dozen he
might now have seen score. There
hungry voices rent the air and sounded
ominous and fearful. They were draw
ing nearer, too, though Alse, no longer
careless, was exerting his utmost power
in the race.
Il could easily vanquish any one of
them, he painted, "but alp
Alasl twas all of them he had to fight
when be was brought TO bay at last.
Nearer and yet nearer they drew until
the sharp swapping of their jaws could be
distinctly heard amid their cries. Alse
felt that his strength was spent. The
stream was still far away, and his
enemies were closing in around him.
lie lifted his head despairingly to the
darkening sky, and realized, too late, the
folly of treating with contempt the dan
| ger he might will have avoided. His
foes were insignificant singly, but to-
gether they were force against which
his boosted strength was weakness.
They sprang upon him on every side,
and the unequal contest was soon over.
Poor Alsel he was only one of many who
learn too late the power of small evils
neglected to grow into great one, and
that life may be wasted by despising
so-called triies - Forward. :.