Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-06-17

Ueast, haunting the vicinity con
stantly, was too much for our nerves
| We would have been afraid to
venture away from the cabin door
nor was the cabin itself any toe
strong in case of attack.
Our packing up was complete in
q very short time. Everything bu,
our guns vas strapped tightly on
the sled, and after careful survey
OF the island. we startad rapidls
across the ice in the direction OF
home.
My goodness = exclaimed Jim,
suddenly. 'Pll bet that man sleeps
in the cabin at night. That ex-
plains the door being open, and that
is why he visited the island this even :
ing. When he saw the door and
the shutter closed. he knew that
some one must be inside, and went
back to the shore
j hope he won't take it into his
head to come after US, | replied.
and at the thought we involunta-
rily quickened our footsteps.
1t was relief to reach the main
land, and. with single backward
glance at the little island that We
were leaving under such strange
circumstances, we turned up the
sloping hillside in the shadow of
the trees.
The moonlight shone down on
the snow through the bare branches
so that even in the forest it was al
most as light as dav.
The first ascent was short one.
and as we paused for brief rest be-
fore plunging down the other side.
Far across the lake we could see
the opposite hill-tops plainly. and
the forest at their base.
At that moment, Jim uttered
sharp cry of alarm, and, glancing
down on the surface Of the lake be-
low us, was horrified beyond words
to see dark figure speeding rapid
ly in our direction.
It's the wild man = cried Jim.
'He is following our sled tracks
over the snow. We must run for
it with all our might, Ned. MY
stars +. See how close he is =
Our terrible pursuer was indeed
close-within n dozen yards of the
shore, in fact-and, realizing our
danger, we turned and fled down
the hillside at break-neck speed.
How we escaped serious injury
seems almost miraculous, for the
trees grew thickly in our path, but
we landed safely in the valley be-
low, AID dashed up the ridge be-
yond.
When We reached the top of this,
We could distinctly hear the crack
ling of dry limbs on the hilltop we
had left u few moments before.
He's gaining on us" painted
Jim. Run for your life, Ned y
1t did not occur to us at that
time to use our guns. We were to
frightened to think of anything
but the terrible wild man who was
following our tracks through the
forest.
We reached the second valley,
which was a very wide one. and
turned up the centre It is won
derful how well our strength kept
up, for we ran over the frozen snow
for three or four miles, dragging
the sled after Us.
We heard nothing of our pursuer
for long time, and began to hope
that he had abandoned the chase.
We we're soon undeceived. As we
started up the mountain-side to
cross into the next valley, the sound
OF running footsteps came plainly
to our ears. We pushed on with
desperate energy, and as we looked
back from the crest of the noun
tain, We caught glimpse of the
wild man through the trees. He
was barely twenty yards below US I,
We can't get away cried Jim,
despairingly. He will overtake US
in a moment or two, and feel as
though | could not run ten yards
more -
We struggled on across the ridge,
and as / saw the frozen mountain
side sloping into the broad valley
below, bright idea flashed into
my head.
Just below the crest a belt of
timber had been cut away, and this
clearing extended to the base of the
mountain, terminating at q little