The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-02-20
In THE NICK OF TIME.
AN OLD HORSE PISTOL WHICH
PROVED USEFUL.
Thrilling Adventure OF . Man sieighins
With His Northumberland by
savage Dogs-Two Very
Good Shots. fe

| ~sNAs AAOO ASo6 Ahk ooA0O Lac
pipe with look Of regret he began:
| "Its popular saying that barking
dogs don't bite. Like other popular
sayings. this Is fallacy and mislead-
Ing. 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 q
word. That is the Scotch collie. which
inberits its habit OF silent biting from
a sheep ancestry"
Story! story!" called out the presi-
dent
''Storyp Bless you! have none to
tell sir" quoted. the raconteur. re-
Numbering his classics; this is only
a memory OF two dogs, accused
brutes. that lived with an unfriendly
man on a hill over which the post road
was laid.
! This man was a Cain among his
fellows, kept two savage mastiffs who
not only barked but bit whenever it
was possible.
| Il 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. l drove a blooded mare
that went like bird and the dogs
were no match for her. but it was
very annoying 70 have them follow
me down the hill for mile or more.
barking and yelling. like demons \
They would bark at the stage
coaches. and run long distances after
them. but the passengers were safe in
side and the driver and those on the
outside were too high for them 70
reach. But ! heard frequent stories
OF their attacking men and being beat
en- off with sticks and stones
| Il asked why they were not killed,
and the answer was always the same
shrug of the shoulder and the re-
mark: You don't know the kind Of
man their owner is 1t seemed that
he lived alone with his dogs. and peo-
pie feared him so much they dare not
go to him and complain or call on the
provincial laws TO help them.
"A crisis came when one day took
my sweetheart out for sleigh-ride in
q low pung belonging to her father to
which was harnessed my own sure and
swift-footed mare.
1T was a lovely day, and we ex-
pected to make q safe and rapid de-
scent Of the mountain, distance Of
ten or twelve miles The air was
crisp. and cold. the sleighing fine, and
we skinned up the ascent and reached
the landing before we knew we had
started.
There We were met by the dogs
think 1t would have been less difficult
to have gotten rid OF pair OF wolves
dare not give my mare her head go
ing dOwn that long, steep declivity on
frozen snow, and tho dogs, emboldened
by the cold or msddened by repeated
Hastings from my whip. jumped at my
companion and tore her cloak and her
dress in mouthfuls.
Il 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 quiv-
cred with ferocity. The hair on their
backs stood up like names; their eye-
balls cleaned red and angry. and the
noise they made was defeaning and
i, distracting.
+ "'Ohr exclaimed. why haven't l
"a pistolp'
I ".Look in the box under the seat
T" cried my companion, whose face was
blanched.
X. II looked quickly and found rusty
double barreled horse pistol of q
make of forty years ago.
\ ~. is 1t loadedg asked.
fs..'.Yes; but don't shoot If you do
that man will kill you
II remember thinking how like n
woman it was to tell me where to find
the pistol and then ask me not to
, shoot.
i 81 laid the reins loose on the
!. mares back. and away she went like
the wind, beyond my control now. and
~ knew she would never stop till she
was mile beyond the level ground
at the foot OF the hill.
:f,If the pung held together; II
0 nothing made the mare swerve from
4the direct line; if. IL fact-if Provi-
Z dence kept an eye on us. and the
: hreeching didn't break-we might es-
, cape breaking our necks. l looked
''OtvSh ohu ooW oho toSo VII ia
even at that mad gait-then / took
vain and fired Bang! Bang! There
rwere two dark objects lying prone on
gthesnowy 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 me to
hurry on. and we were soon down tho
, incline and beyond the reach of rec
v0gnition or pursuit and strange to
!. say, no one but our two selves ever
knew who killed those dogs.
~ 1--WE heard the most marvellous 40
counts of the slaughter the weapon
varying from q Queen Ann mnsket to
ID canon; but dead they were as door
nails and the reign of terror over.
imagine their owner did not care to
venture out to avenge their death.
i drove boldly past the house every
day. but was never molested or even
suspected. But / often heard their
I, pnknown slayer prsised and applaud
/, cd for the deed which rid the neigh
J b0rhood OF their hateful presence