Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-06-24
ADOUBLE DANGER
BY Arthur
l.. Meserve.

i marked the great forests
SFO9 that stIll stretch away
from their base in many
directions, with no sign of break
therein except where Il thread OF silver
marks the course Of some mountain
stream as it starts out from the great
solitude on its way to the ocean.
These forests are still the haunts OF
wild beusts, the reuIulns of the sUoat
throngs that used to swarm about the
| base of the mountains, having their
homes in the dark caverns and wild
glens where the sunlight never pene-
| trated.
Hardly any save the feet of the hunt
er press the messy carpet Of these for
ests now, but the wild denizens there
of are becoming less numerous every
year, and the time is not far distant
when, like the savages who once made
their homes here they will be gone
forever.
With this touch Of prelude come
to the story l set out TO tell.
One day in midsummer l set out on
a fishing excursion into these wild
woods. l knew of stream that was
famous for its trout. and in anticipa-
ton saw myself returning at night.
fall with huge string of the speck-
led beauties.
Taking rude path which had been
cut out by lumbermen some years be-
fore, and which led along the bank of
the stream, / followed it to Its end be.
fore l cast n line into the water. |
knew that thus far the stream had
been repeatedly fished over, and that
there was little use for me to try my
luck there. Once in the deep solitude
of the forest, where the echo of the
woodlands Ak had never been heard,
l felt sure Of meeting abundant sue
cess.
l found that in these expectations l
was not mistaken. No sooner had /
cast my line into the stream than a
half dozen of the finny tribe were
struggling to catch the bait
For hours l went up on the stream,
having as gloriuos sport MS ever de-
alGhlNN liC IL sull VI a ioi1Cl lluus
1t was not until the hour of noon
was well past that began to think
OF giving over my work and turning
back.
l had already in hand fine string
of trout. Taken altogether, they were
noble fellows, md made about as big
load as L wished to carry back over
the rough way which lay between me
ana the end or the logging road.
With sigh, 1 ceased the sport, and
doing up my fishing tackle, l clam
bered up the steep rank which bor-
dered the stream, and sitting down at
the foot of large hemlock, proceeded
TO count my treasures and to take lit
tie rest before setting out on my re-
turn.
The day was warm ard / was more
fatigued than had thought; and after
finishing the count l lay back upon
the EARTH and before was aware of
what was doing l had dropped Off
into nap.
How long 1 had slept knew not
but | was awakened at length by a
sound that sel.t thrill through my
entire being such as l had never ex-
perlenced before.
1t was the Ominous warning of a
rattlesnake.
know not why it was, but even in
the midst of my fright / had the pres
ence of mind to lie perfectly still. The
sound told me that the snake was
close at hand, and that the slightest
motion on my part would be a signal
for my destruction.
The first frightened glance l gave
about me showed the hi6eous reptile
close by my side. Two-thirds of its
length lay in glistening coils, and from
the centre the head uprOse to an at
titude of nearly two feet from the
earth. It's eyes were gistening like
Goals Of fire, and from its wlde-open
jaws the long forked tongue protrud-
ed, showing that 1t was fearfully ell
ragged.
What had aroused 1t to such a pas
sion l could not conceive, for rs yet |
had not made the slightest motion
whereby to anger it.
You can imagine the fear which per-
vaded my entire being. A terrible death
stared me in the face from which there
seemed no possible way of escape.
/ dared not fix my gaze upon the
snake for even moment at a time.
l was afraid of being charmed by it,
and l knew that if brought under this
baleful Influence my doom was sealed.
But at length | became conscious that
the serpent was not trying its hypnotic
influence upon me- Its eyes seemed to
be fixed on some object beyond.
What could 1t be? So far as | knew
there was no other living creature
near us.
But was not long kept In suspense.
A deep growl fell upon my ear start
ling me almost as much MS the shrlll
rattle Of the snake had done when It
awoke me.
In this new surprise l forgot my
caution, and that any movement on
my part might hasten my destruction,
and so turned my head TO see whence
this new danger came. AS 1 did 81
my eyes fell upon a huge bear stand
ing within q dozen feet of me.
In moment l cOmprehended why
1t was that I was indebted TO the
presence of this new visitor. Bears
are extremely fond of fish, and. being
possessed of a keen scent, bruln had
been attracted thither by my trout,
upon which he longed to make feast.
They were lying close by my side,
and as yet the brute had not dared to
approach near enough to seize them.
Perhaps II had been the snake which
thus far had kept him at bay.
The eyes of the brute changed rap
idly from the object of his contem-
plated feast to the serpent, giving II
but little time TO pay much attention to
me.
The moments ay there in this ter
riole suspense seemed an age