Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1899-01-28

CHAPTER X.
Although the strange cry that sound
ed through the night and threw the
African into panic was unfamiliar to
me, | could not mistake its meaning. 1t
was the baying of a bloodhound.
When first heard, it was so distant
that it could have borne no relation to
Inc, but the internal fate that seemed to
cling to m" had brought the owner to
the inn where Cy Walters was prompt
to take advantage of the frightful means
thus placed at his disposal for my un-
doing. I knew that the scent of those
animals approaches as close to the mar
velOus as anything i'll this world. 1t
was possible for me to shake off the
brute or bTutes (fOr there WAS no saying
whether there was one or more on my
track) except by taking to the water,
and knew not whether there was Il
stream within miles Of me, nor could
guess which way to turn to search for
one.
These descendants of the man hunters
of slavery days would trail fugitive
into the widest recesses Of a swamp
and cCmTcl him to escape rending by
climbing a tee, where his pursuers
could Cartnre him at their leisure.
drew my revolver and with something
of the panic shown by Erastus turned
toward the wood which loOmed in
front and plunged into Black Mans
swamp, intent only upon getting away
from my enemy, who was to be dreaded
More than Il Jungle tiger.
The ground was soft and spongy, the
best in the wcrId for trailing, and none
could have known better than that the
brute would soon be on my heels.
''If there Is but Cne or possibly two, I"
| reflected, 81 will settle him with my
revolver.
The laying sounded at intervals, and
! fancied it came from one animal,
though there could well be several
whose cries were similar. The men
who accompanied the hound did so i'll
silence There was no call for them to
waste tEcir strength i'll shouting
| thrashed ahead, sometimes catching
my feet ii the wirelike vines, with the
branches switching my face and larger
limb occasionally compelling me to
change my course, but all the time |
was plunging deeper into the swamp
which had served more than one run
away slave in the past.
The terrifying danger, leaving out Of
account the dog was from the men at
his heels 1t had been announced by
Jim DUNCAN, leader Of the mob, that |
was to be skCt down if | tried to escape
from my captors, and | had not only
made the attempt but had well nigh
succeeded. Consequently they would
make short work of me, and Cy Wal
ters would not hesitate to give me a
variation of the ''witch's parole" as
he had done in the case of more than
one miserable wretch i'll wartimes
| had run barely 200 yards when |
heard the bloodhound thrashing behind
me, He was en- my trail and emitted a
bay which | fanCied contained a note of
eXultation in it's horrible discord. Ger
tainly it was warranted.
To my surprise, the ground suddenly
sloped upward, and before | suspected
anything Of the kind | debouched into
small clearing less than half an acre
in extent, in the middle of which was
pile of logs, evidently the ruins of
some cabin that had tumbled to pieces
through the lapse of time and the weaI
Of weather
With that instructive longing to de-
fer the final calamity | ran swiftly
across the open space TO the pile of logs,
where | paused, revolver i'll hand, and
looked back. Since meeting with the
dog was inevitable there could be nc
better place than the logs i'll the middle
of the clearing.
1.-THE men must be some distance be-
hind him-ah p
Matters went with Il rush. | had not
stood more than three minutes painting,
at bay when the hound burst into sight
ON the edge Of the clearing and charged
straight for mo like a meteor
The true bloodhound is not of large
size, but satan himself could not possess
"a more hideous 'front.' while his strength
is prodigious. A dusky Hercules corner.
ed by one of those black demons has
Drained him with club when he made
his leap or he has slitted his throat with
knife at close quarters, but the chances
are always the other way. None knew
better than | that i'll hand to hand
struggle l would be as helpless as
against the assault of a panther. But
my revolver contained three charges.
In the clear starlight the dog caught
sight of me at the same instant that ]
saw him. He emitted a peculiar cry and
rushed across the open space as if shot
from catapult.
stood asrigid as iron. My panic had
vanished, and | never was cooler in my
life. Before the hound was half way tC
me | leveled my weapon and held my
finger on the trigger until he was hardly
five yards distant. Then let fly.
made the statement at the opening
of this story that was an expert with
the revolver. as my numerous friends
Of the Seventh regiment will testify,
but 1 never made prettier bullseye
than on that October night in Missis,
sippi swamp, when sent bullet into
the brain Of the bloodhound that was