Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-11-29
rHC tx SAVED HIM.
A TRAVELLING s,crclisr's ADVENTURE
N RrsstA.

Nr. Fred wishaw gives In Land and
Water an account Of his being chssed BY
wolves In the district Of l'skoff. lie had
gone 10 Russia with bicycle, and at
the time he fell In with the wolves was
on his machine, having covered . dis
tancc of some twelve miles In an en-
deavor 10 "head" some elk.
I had, he says, ridden but q mile or
two on the rvturu Journey, when u
struck me that ought to allght and re
fresh my machine With . few drops of
oil. Hut hardly was on foot than, hap
penlng Ca glance hack along the road. ]
saw something which At hrst sight caus-
ed . thrill Of pleasurable excitement,
but soon gave place 90 very different
sensations. Hardly q quarter OF mile
behind, and coming toward me At the
long gallop which covers the ground at
wonderfully rapid pace, we're i've
large, gray wolves. 1 saw the leader
raise his nose, and, catching slght Of
me, cock his ears, and give tongue, Ju.i
As q dog might. There Was no doubt
about the fact: ! was being hunted.
Was speedily up and away, aud ~ ]
caused the pedal. Ia whlrl In n manner
to which they were entirely unused, ]
tried to calculate cooliy the probable
relative swiftness of bicycles and wolves.
had At least ten miles 10 20 before ]
should reach safety. ] might possibl,
do that In threeguarters of An hour, u
the machine aud my breath held out.
Could the wolves accomplish the d.
lance In less timer The situation Was D.,
uo means one for triflhg. When hsd
ridden = couple 81 miles or 80, ] ,cL-
turrd to glance back, the result being
the instantaneous conviction that wolves
can travel faster than bicycle. Tie
brute. had gained upon me. They h,a
gsined n hundred yard. at least. ~ TIL.
rate I quickly calculated they ~oul
pull the down ju.t about two mile. b--
fore . could reach my destination aud
city of refuge, iayrik; unless, Indeed,
they could not keep up the pace, wh'ci'
Z nstterrd myself was rather hot.
Another two miles aud another peep
behind me. The wolves were barrel,
two hundred yards away nov and CON.
lug along AZ though they enjoyed IL. ]
could swear that the leading wolf licked
hi. lips ne be saw me look around.
tried q spurt. The road Was As level n
billiard table aud strAined every nerve
Ia the utmost. Hut even as ! did so u
Was borne In upon me that spurting
would not do. I must slacken OIL al
once, for ! could never keep up Oh.
terrific rate nc which was nov travel
Ing.
IN fact must ccopomlrc all my stay.
Ing powers In order Ia last out the al.
tsnce at even my former rate of pro
gre..ion. Then suddenly an idea o.
CURED to me. ! would ring my bel
loudly aud spontaneously, and see VIA
effect thi. would produce. Iprcssed tn
gong and turned round Ia observe
wh.thcr the sound would cheek my pur-
sucr.. The effect Was instantaneous.
No sooner did the frat cling of the gong
ring out than the wolye.--eyery on. al
thcn-.toppcd dead and disappeared b.
hind the tres. gave q yell of deh,nc
aud delight, aud dashed on, ringing ava,
Tor dear life. Hut INV triumph Wa
short lived. On looking hack few mo-
men,. after ! found that my foes wcrr
again 10 full pursuit. However, ! h,a
g,in.i little.
On We new, INV gong sounding hsr-h
aud strident la the silence of Oh. forest.
II was magnificent. At least 10 ~oulu
hs,, been II u hal not been .o borribl,
dangerous. There WAS = rut trodden b,
bot.e. running all along the very middh
of the rosd. ! avoided this and ro'i. 81
th. side, which Was smooth, for the run
Der. of the slight slcdgc. do not q.
rule wesr the snow. II was rs.y enough
of course, Ia avoid th. rut when riding
straight ahead: hut while looking round
thef. WAS the danger of my front wheel
slipping Into IL. aud either checking th'
Nay of the machine or even causing .
csp.ite.
! had just turned NV head Ia look
ryund upon my pur-uer. for IA. TWEEN
tIeth time-alss, they were .till gaining.
aud were now within fifty yards. Hear
ing a loud clstter In front ~ mr turned
back sgain Ia .ec what new danger
threatened me from that direction. IN
thu. twisting back aud round again
allowed my front wheel Ia 90 out ~ the
direct line. The next in.,ant ! was H.
the rut, aud before ! had time To see
what Was hspIenlng, WAS, With my
trusiy bicycle, buried couple of feet
deep In the snow at the side of the
road, gave my.elf up for io.t.
All this did not take long to happen,
aud as emerged from the snow ! WAS IN
time Ia zee t~o things. The hr.t ohject
which met my gsre WAS q magnificent
bull elk, follosei by four smaller ones.
just In the act of trotting scross Oh.
road. not ten yards from me, striiing
through the snow at long trot, their
head. well raised ani r-.iing back on
their shoulders. The other ohl-ct was
little pack of wolves. scarcely hfty
yard. behind the wk-n ! up.ei, th--s
were upon me Ia q moment, aud ] had
barely time a. sei,e the heavy spsnner
of my machine. aud put my back Ia
tree when, to my delight, the wolves
then but Ave yard. from me-prick-d az
their ears. passed m. like a h,sh Of
creased lightning, AMI dsriei away Ia
pursuit. of the elk.
picked up my bicycle, and, ." put u
mildly. rode away With all speed. ]
think I rode those three miles Ia ''r-cord
tlme;' anyhow, u was fifteen minutes
lee. than t~o hour. from the start when
I .cudded Into Isvrik. aud u had not
ridden twenty-eight mile. ] must have
done pretty near IL.
| n IL stated that two men out of every
three u.e tobacco. Til. theory recclyrs
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