Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-06-15

ed forth in life. Tall. straight. broad
or antlers We're you. The rich. good
blood OF many noble generations was
flowing In your veins. Your eye was
quick and clear, your ear keen aud
alert Your foot was as swift as the
wild gazelle's. If simply one dog had
come near you you could have Crap
pied with him and overcome him, but
Satan as sportsman never hunts his
game with but one NANCY cur. When
he starts forth for his prey he lets
loose whole pack or hounds. AS you
look back into your past life. * Is not
the baying of one dog that you bear.
but or myriads OF dogs. Their calls
seem TO have come from all directions
when one of these hounds gave the
signal that be had struck your trail.
You knew then. as the stag Knows !
when he hears the call OF the deep
throated hound, that your safety Is
not In the point Of your antlers. but in
the swiftness of your flight
When the hounds of temptation aud,|
persecution get upon your trail. you are
in almost exactly the same position. as
the belated Russian traveller who Is
caught in a snowstorm upon the wild.
the stories of those tragedies. Now we
can see the man bundled up In his
furs in the sleigh quietly driving to-
ward his home. The hour grows late:
the stars begin to come out Suddenly
there comes echoing over those Rus
sian moors a weird call. The man
shudders. He turns his head sharply
over his shoulder to listen. He won
ders II there is a mistake. Then comes
that strange call again. He mutters to
himself: "Wolvesi Wolves! o God.
save me! The wolves. He grips the
lines and the whip and begins to beat
his horses into mad run. Nearer and
nearer comes the call. Then shadowy
forms are seen leaping after him. The
man turns and raises his rifle and
sends u bullet between a pair of the
cleaning eyes. For n little while the
pack halts to banquet of the quivering
flesh of one of their own dead. Then
on and on comes the pack again, and
again the rifle speaks. Then one horse
is sacrificed Then another. The race
is run for life. If the man is not
able TO reach the Enclosure OF the house
he himself must be offered up to the
indispensable hunger OF the wolves.
Is not that the way trials and tempta-
lions come after you? Did they not
come as pack of hungry wolves? Did
they not come as wild dogs upon the
track OF deer?
The Coyotes Call.
You could have stood the poverty.
You could have stood the death OF your
child. You could have stood the calum-
MES and the misrepresentation OF the
world IL those misfortunes had assailed
you singly and alone. but your troubles
tried TO overthrow you. They came
upon you as pack OF wild dogs on the |
track OF a deer. Their voices sounded
like the calls of the coyotes. remem-
Der well when ! first heard the coyotes
call. IL was blood curdling 10 me. for
] had never heard the like OF II before.
! was then novice at camping. We
were away Off in the mountains on |
the outskirts of an Indian reservation. |
was alone i'm camp at the time. IL Is
strange sensation to be alone out In |
the woods. 20 feel that though you may |
put your hands 10 your lips aud utter |
the loudeet OF halloes, yet the only an |
swer which will come TO you Is the |
echo OF your own voice which the cliffs |
throw back upon your ears. Well. 7 |
was alone In the woods. Suddenly the |
whole river bed below me was filed |
with the most awful sounds. There |
came floating up the widest, weirdest. |
strangest OF choruses At times the |
voices that ] beard in that chorus arose |
like the anguished waiIings of lost |
souls. At times they sounded like the |
yelling Of fends or the gIoatings OF 10. |
quisitors in the dark ages At times |
they seemed To be the hooking and the |
derisIve laughter OF a lot OF depraved |
children They seemed to be not one /
voice. but millions OF voices I found |
out after awhile that those voices came |
from pack OF miserable coyotes on |
the track OF n jack rabbit running for |
his life. That Is the way the baysngs
or the honnds must sound upon the
startiedsear Of the. fleeing stag. That |
Ia the way the voices or the hounds. Of |
temptation and persecution sounded col
Us when Satan first let loose his hellish |
pack upon our trail.
- swfft ~ aAe iwsnd. -
But" you say. ''the. deer. should NOT
De afraid of the baying OF the dogs IL
ne Gan only hear 1t In time. Why
you say, 'just go out to any Of our
geological gardens and study the hoof
or the deer. Never was there hoof
or leg like it. Truly the speed OF |
the deer Is as swift as the wind. The
dogs speed is as nothing compared to |
II That is true, my friend, in one
sense, but false in another sense. A
deer is like a racing horse which has
been trained to run quarter of
mile. For that distance he can travel
as fast as an express train. but try
10 run him two or three miles and his
wind will leave him. and he viii. be
helpless. Now. the deer Is sw,fter than
the hound ~ the short run. but the
hound has the greater staying DOW.
ers. In the long race he Will outrun
the deer. Unless the deer's tracks are
destroyed. the pursuing dogs Will Ger.
tainly overtake Their prey and pull
down his proud antlers into the dust.
Now, what does the deer do to obitt.
crate those tracks? lie runs as the
Fugitive slave used TO run when star.
tied by the hounds baying upon his
tracks-he runs until the buIging eyes
almost burst from their sockets. He
runs until the hemo-rhage almost
gusnes from his gaping mouth. He
runs until he reaches the water brooks.
where Is his only hope OF safety.
-. When the deer comes to the brook or
the creek he leans into tha aanta- >. |