Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-10-20

shows How We Nay EluGe the Pur-
suing Hounds of Trouble and Safe
Iy Reach the Lake of Divine sOlace
and Rescue.
copyright. Louis Klopsch, 1901
WASHINGTON. Oct. lJ.-The gospel as
great refreshment is here set forth
bv DR.. Talmage. under figure which
will be found particularly graphic by
those who have gone out as hunters to
find game in the mountains; text,
Psalm xiii, l, "As the hart panteth
after the water brooks"
David. who must some time have
seen n deer hunt points us here to a
hunted stag making for the water.
The fascinating animal, called in my
text the hart. is the same animal that
in sacred and profane literature is call
ed the stag, the roebuck, the hind, the
gazelle, the reindeer. In central syria
in Bible times there were whole pas
ture fields of them, as Solomon sus-
costs when he says. Il charge you by
the hinds of the field" Their antlers
iutted from the long grass as they lay
down. No hunter who has been long
in 'John Browns tract will wonder
that in the Bible they were classed
among clean animals. for the dews.
the showers. the lakes, washed them
nc clean as the sky. When Isaac, the
patriarch, longed for venison' Esau
shot and brought home a roeDucR
Isaiah compares the sprightliness OF
the restored cripple of milennial times
to the long and quick jump of the stag
saving, "The lame shall leap as the
hart" Solomon expressed his disgust
at a hunter who. having shot a deer IS
FOO lazv to cook it. sayiug, THE sloth'
ful man roasteth not that which he
took in hunting"
But one day David, while far from
tbe home from which he had Deeh
driven and sitting near the mouth OF a
lonely cave where he had lodged ana
ON tbe banks of pond or river. hears
pack Of hounds in swift pursuit be-
cause Of the previous silence or the lot
est the clangor Startles him, ana ne
saws TO himself. Il wonder what those
doos are after" Then there is
cracking iu the hrushwood and the
loud breathing Of some rushing won
der Of the woods. and the antlers OF
deer rend the leaves of the thicket,
and bv an instinct which all hunters
recognize it plunces into a pond or
lake or river to cool its thirst ana al
the same time, by its capacity FOR
svifter and longer swimming. to get
away from the foaming barriers.
True TO Nature.
David says to himself: AHA! Ihat
is myself. Saul after me. Absalom
after me. enemies without number art
er me. | am chased. their bloody muz-
zles at my heels. barking at my good
name. barking after my body. barking
after my soul Oh. the hounds the
hounds, But look there" says David.
~Tbat hunted deer has splashed into
the water. IL puts its hot lips ana
nostrils into the cool wave that washes
the lathercd 1anks. and it swims away
from the fiery CANNES. and ii Is rree AT
last. Oh. that might find in the deep
wide lake of Gods mercy and consola-
ton escape from my pursuers! on
for the waters Of life and rescued AS
the bart panteth after the water
brooks. so panteth my soul after thee
o GOdw
Some Of you have just come from
the Adlrondacks. and the breath OF
the balsam and spruce and pine is still
on YOU. The Adirondacks are now
populous with hunters. and the deer
are being slain by the score. once
while there talking with a hunter !
thought would like TO see whether
nv text was accurate in Its alluslon'
and as | heard the dogs baying little
way off and supposed they were on the
track Of n deer said to the hunter
in rough corduroy, do the deer al
wavs make for the water when they
are pursuedY He said: "Oh, yes mis-
teri You see, they are hot and thirsty
animal. and they know where the wa
ter is. and when they hear danger in
the distance they lift their antlers and
snuff the breeze and start for Racquet
or Loon or Saranac, and we get Into
our cedar shell boat or stand by the
runway with rifle loaded ready to blaze
away"
NV friends, that Is one reason why
like the Bible so much. Its allusiOns
are so true to nature. Its paruidges
are real partridges, its ostriches real
3 ostriches and its reindeer real reindeer
do not wonder that this antlered
glory Of the text makes the hunter
eve sparkle and his cheek glow and bis
respiration quicken, to say nothing OF
its usefulness. although it is the mosi
/ useful of all game, its flesh delicious
its skin turned into human apparel III
sinews fashioned into bow strings. Ii
antlers putting handles on cutlery anC
he Shavings Of its horns used as re
stOrative. its name taken from the mar
and called hartshorn. BY putting aside
its usefulness this enchanting creature
seems made out of gracefulness ant
elasticity. What an eye. with lqul'
brightness as If gathered up from
hundred lakes Mt sunset! The horns
) coronal branching into every possible
g curve. and. after it seems done. ascend
ing into other projections Of exquisite
ness. a tree of polished bone, uplifte'
. in pride or swung down for awfu
combat. 1t is velocity embodied. Il
mldity impersOnated. the enchantmen
OF the woods. eye lustrous In life an
n pathetic in death. the splendid anlma
Ie a complete rhythm Of muscle and bon
and color and attitude and locomotior
whether couched in the grass anon
the shadows or a living bolt she
through the forest or turning at bay t
attack the hounds or rearing for II
last fall under the buckshot Of th
trapper.
1t Is a splendid appearance. that sh
painters pencil fails to sketch. an
only a hunters dream on pillow
bemlocks al the foot Of St Regis
able 10 picture. When, 20 miles fro