The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
CHASED BY WILD WOLVES.
AN incident OF WINTER TRAVEL
ON THE UPPER MISslSSIPPL
A TounEster at the Rsins. the Regular Driver
Break. ana the Other Passenger Badiy
R~att,ea-snved ~ an Accident to the Team.

rnn.r Miosiss,npi. all trafic in the summer was
nv steamboat which carried also the mail. In
~ u,n,or .rervtbipO was carried nv stape.
Tn.ro was. line NJ mailstares between ST. paul
ana prairie DIN Cbien-or the southern terminu,
w. ho,a h.on Ia Crosse Mt the time Of which I
vr,,o Tbese staOea followed the riyer-bov
mroh n, tho dIstance on the ice I cannot .ay.
hut in NV neiObborbood. where the river ex.
n.rded ana became Lake pepin. tho route was
ali On The ice. and most of the way far from tho
.horo Iako PENN Ia some three miles vida nnd
twantv.aovep n,iles long. and although in reality
on,r . ,videninp nj tho river. IL ia a truo lake. in
which the current of the river ia almost lost.
Thar. Ia No other such body Of water in the
,.hnis Io,o,h n, tho Mississippi. Tn, pnner
S M,'o,ssip pon rs worn ,@ Io JS,I p.D inJ !, i surro NJ saS
by high bluffs, with bold nat tops. Leading
down to the lake, on both the Minnesota and
Wisconsin sides. arc many rayines or o0qloes.
worn oS the watercou,ses anu "ooueu, Even
now there is much Wild land among the bluffs.
that found myself at HAWK LANDING on tho
Minnesota side OF the river Just below
th. foot NJ tho lake. whittier had gone
~, ~ n,oI. ~ fo,ns tho, HE hrs,.
ness would detain him longer than he ex.
pected. and he decided to send me back
alone on the stage. 1t should have left the
Landing at l o'clock. but it was delayed some
where down the river. and did not arrive till
"He,o Wv" -.
nearly .. IL was u tuii at'ernooh oriNet hake
City, but the driver said he had n good team, and
pronniseu ~ set v" LILY. .sn."".
ing the ia.e TART. NJ "as" .ousn uise'pateu
man. but ne ne haa the reputation ono Oh al, alw Ssa, Keep 30
-, n. az. 49, w. ~. nnao, H.,
pleted. But the delay may nave upset him'
and l think he began drinking before we started,
although no one .nem n oi,S IT. ne set.a,nly
liquor, as 1 soon had occasion to know. sup
pose I could not have been more than IL or 10
years old. although life in a new country and
on q farm had given me ability to take care OF
myself beyond my years.
on tho levee, and swung along up the road
for the driver, Notwithstanding his roughness.
We slackened somewhat when we got beyond
the line OF houses along the single street. and
soon rounded the bluff and kept along the edge
OF a bank above the frozen river. II was here
fat bottle. This alarmed me. because l had
already seen much OF the effect of liquor on the
class OF men to which he belonged. He passed
small sip, 1 thought more because he was afraid
to refuse than because he wanted it.
Fond du Lac Point and out upon the ice, where
the road was marked by little cedars. The
and on the lake / round cause to be alarmed at
something else. This was the state Of the
weather. The wind had freshened a great
deal, and the snow was drifting rapidly. 1t was
not sufficient to shut out from our sight the row
Of evergreens. and we could see even the bluffs
was sitting along over the crust like streaming
hair, and rapidly filling the track. This made
driver was soon a greater hindrance. He drove
either with the horses on a run or a slow walk,
although they walked more than they ran. He
kept returning to his bottle with freq uency.
We were not yet half way when the sun was
only a little above the Minnesota bluffs. with
big orange sun dogs standing up each side of it.
Just as it disappeared below the BLUFFS the
driver slid out Of the seat into a drunken sleep
the front seat and took the reins myself.
" You seem to know how to drive; do you
think we can get there to-nighti' asked the 9TH
er passepger.
II can drive four horses."I answered. very
doesn't storm so that we can't follow The trees"
He lrcw a long breath at this and made him.
self comfortable under the buffalo robes, leav-
ing me 10 the full management of the team,
which / was glad enough to assume, even IL my
hands were pretty cold.
In half an hour it was dark. There was no
moon. but the sky was clear and the stars bright.
With the going down OF the sun the wind had
died away. leaving a calm; clear night; but be.
dritted snow and left the travelling heavy. We
logged along past the endless row OF little trees
at a pretty good rate. The only sounds were
the creaking OF the sleigh. runners in the snow,
for the night was bitter cold. and the occasional
deep rumblings OF the ice. sounding. as it
always seems to me. like distant thunder near
at hand. There was a faint play of northern
lights in the sky ahead OF us.
had for some time been looking anxiously for
the lights o; the town. although there was no
hope OF seeing them yet. when my attention
was attracted by a dark object on the snow far
to the right toward the Wisconsin shore. At
first | took this thing to be one OF the immeusc
ridges In the ice where IL had cracked and
hcaved up. several OF which were on the lake,
some OF them almost ms high as a honso. Then
saw il was moving along like a shadow at
right angles to our course.
The man saw It ana said: What's coming
o err ihere-some other teams r.
They wouldn't be going so fast" answered,
picking M the WHIP from the bottom of the
sleigh. The shadow was now directly TO the
right.
"Its some sort OF animal" went on the man.
He pause0 a moment and added: They look
like big dogs
AT that moment there came the cry ! had so
often heard al home, only much deeper, harshcr,
and louder.
They're wo! yes!" l said. and | cracked the
whip al the horses. although that was hardly
necessary, as they heard The savage howl as
we'll as we did and knew il meant danger.
They were. indeed. ., pack OF timber wolves.
starved ont OF the Wisconsin coulies and cross
ing the lax IN s,irch OF fool on the Minnesota
aldo The hpUl which they set I'M showed that