The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-10-28
A FOREST TERROR.

BY ROE L. HENDRICK

upward. His eyes appeared glazed and
sightless, and there was an air of pitt
less ferocitX about the dog wholly UNI
like the playful, friendly Bose the boys
knew so well.
Washington called and whistled, but
the hound did not even turn his head.
AS he disappeared in a thicket he broke
into howl, noise so savage and un-
like his customary musical bay that
the hearers shuddered involuntarily
For half hour or more they heard it,
growing fainter and fainter till it had
become a mere echo of sound far away
to the south.
That was the beginning of Bosses
career as a cunning, insane demon.
Bose was not rabid, but every one be-
| lieved he was and his bite was more
dreaded than that of a rattlesnake.
Then, too, the story of his disappear
ance grew as it passed from mouth to
mouth, till it attained a wierdness that
kept children awake at night But
there was something besides mere ru-
NOR to add to the general uneasiness
before long
About ten days had passed, and one
night the lumbermen were sleeping on
| the ground under their bark shelter
when Timothy Eldredge, who lay near
est the opening, suddenly screamed and
| then gasped as if strangling All
thought he had a fit of nightmare; but
when Daniel Davis sprang to awaken
him, he grasped, not the man, but
writing, tensely muscled animal that
stood over Eldredge, and was slowly
throttling him.
lnstinctively, and in spite of the
darkness, Daniel recognized the beast
A great horror came upon him Grasp
ing the dog by the neck with both
hands he tore him away from the man
and threw him into the center of the
fire. Again came the howl he had
heard before, now rendered doubly hor-
rible by the darkness, as the insane
animal rolled away from the Goals and
disappeared.
Eldredge was half-dead, chiefly from
fright, for he had seen the dog the in
slant before it had seized him. A fold
of his blanket had prevented the ami
mails fangs from meeting through his
throat, but one side of his neck was
badly bitten, and the pressure had
nearly strangled him. He started on
foot for home the next morning, al
though manifestly unfit to travel. He
declared that a thousand dollars would
not hire him to spend another night
in the shack.
The others were becoming nervous.
and when Bose attempted to rush the
camp again on the following night,
there was panic Everybody wanted
to stand guard at once, and no one
slept The dog was easily beaten off
with a club, but he circled about and
hOwled steadily.
Daniel went over to Changers the
next day and got his rifle, but that did
no good, although he fired at the dog
repeatedly. The insane beasts cum
ming rendered a fair shot impossible,
and the men soon realized that moth
ing short OF killing him outright would
drive him away
On the third night they bolted in a
body and went to Changers barn,
where they slept in the loft. They were
beyond Bosses reach, but it did not
take him long to learn that he could
make them as miserable by day as by
night. All he had to do was to rush
at some isolated man, and howl shrilly
and fiercely.
These tactics he began two days af-
ter the abandonment CT the shack, and
soon the teamsters refused to take
load out unless accompanied by
guard with gun. Bose knew gun
and it's uses, and he took no liberties
with an armed man. Neither did he
attack the horses or other animals.
Men were his only prey.
The work dragged and matters went
from bad to worse. Finally after
week had passed, Joe Thomas, the en-
rand boy of the gang, was bitten
through the ankle. He had gone to the
spring for water, and had laid down
the shotgun he was carrying that he
might dip up a pailful when Bose
sprang upon him from the tall grass
The lad was bowled over, and the
dog seized his ankle and began worry
ing it, Joe's shrieks brought the
whole party on run, and the hound
disappeared before any one could shoot
| him.
ITS a matter of twenty-five miles
to Springbrook," Henry Kelley re-
marked with quiet emphasis, 'but I'm
going there this night. My life is
worth more to me than six shillings
a day."