Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-01-14


lake cannot help thinking how those
herce beasts once gave me my severest
lesson in skating. 1t was away up in
the northern part of Wisconsin one
bleak December day, years ago. that
went out to a friends house some miles
from the little town where l lived. l
was only fourteen years old then, but,
like every other boy in that cold eli
mate, where ice begins in October and
lasts until April, had skated ever since
was six years old
took my skates along, as my friend
lived near lake, and there had as vet
been no snow, which every boy knows
spoils the ice. We had great fun skat-
ing for several days.
One Thursday afternoon about three
o'clock started to walk homo, some
six miles. Dear old Mrs. b, Char
lies mother, carefully warned me not
to leave the main road, and l prom
lsed, but l soon forgot my promise, so
when came to a path which ''cut
across through the woods and which
l knew would shorten my walk mile
or so, took it, and had not left the
main road many minutes when it be.
gan to snow, so softly at first that l
did not see how necessary it was to go
back to the main road. Deeper into
the woods l went, and faster fell the
snow My path was rapidly getting
harder to follow. At last stepped on
its hard surface into the soft mass off
each side. l f1oundered about till got
turned around. Then l tried to find
the path again. 1t was gone! Every
part seemed equally soft to my tired
feet. The sun had gone down and
darkness came on as I kept pushing
through the ever-deepening snow.
thought every now and then to strike
the path again, but no trace of it ap.
peared
1t must have been six o'clock when
the snow ceased to fall. | leaned
against tree and tried to think which
way home was. 1 began to get drowsy
and would no doubt have gradually
slid down into the snow and a sleep
that would have ended in death had
not a sound come that lifted me to my
feet, erect and trembling. 1t was only
bark, and to a city boy might have
been mistaken for the bay of distant
deer hound.
But to me, boy of the frontier, it
meant the bark of a wolf-and it told
me that the beasts had smel1ed me out.
Almost before had time to realize my
danger the noise had ceased to be the
bowling of a single wolf The cries
were caught up and repeated from diff.
ferent parts of the forest as the ami
mails gathered on the trail. l was
getting weaker and weaker with the
fright and the advance of night, but I
plunged forward until, rising over the
crest of a little hill, l saw lake be-
low To cross was to be wholly at the
mercy of the wolves, whose bowling
by this time seemed SO near that l
fancied could see them jump from be-
hind the trees upon me-
Should l climb into u tree? What
good would that do? In the first place,
benumbed with cold as l was, how
could get up, and then how could
keep awake through the night, and a
nod might mean falling to the ground?
All this shot like flash through my
mind. No, | said, I'll stay on the
ground. But what to do? Oh, those
awful bowls, how near they are. All!
what was that dark spot on the lake?
In sheltered cove the wind eddies
had blown the snow to one side, leav-
ing large circle of clear black ice,
the joy of a skaters heart.
As l stood trembling with a new
SILVER at every fresh bark of the rapid
ly nearing wolves a passage from a
lesson in natural history rose before
me:
Wolves are afraid of fire and many
persons have saved their lives by its
cid"
felt in my pocket and found some
matches. That heap of brush over
there! Under the top there must be
some dry branches tore off the
This cut illustrates the Normal