Year: 1868

4 AV w VA Vn60Cs
During the winter of 1854, be-


ing engaged in the Northern part


of Maine, / had much leisure to


devote to the wild sports of a


new country. To none of these


was / more passionately addicted


than that of skating. The deep


and sequestered lakes of this
Northern State, frozen by intense
cold, present a sIide field to the


lovers of this pAstiIne. Often


would I bind on my rusty Skates,


and glide away upon the glitter


ing river, and wind eack may


streamlet that flowed on toward


the parent ocean, and feel my


pulse bound with joyous exercise.


1t was during one Of these excur-


sions that / met with -an adven-


ture, which even at this period of


my life l remember with wonder
and astonishment.


/ had left my friends house
one evening just before dusk, with


the intention of skating o short


distance up the noble Kennebec,


which glided directly before the
door. The evening was fine and
clear. The new moon peered
from her lofty seat, and cast her
rays on the frosty pines that skirt
ed the shore, until they seemed
the realization of fairy scene.
All nature lay in quiet which
she sometime chooses to assume;


while water, earth and air seemed
to have spnken into repose.


/ had gone up the river nearly
two miles, when coming to a lit
tie stream which emptied into the
larger, / turned to explore its
course. Fir and hemlock of a
century's growth met overhead,
and formed an evergreen archway,
radiant with frostwork. All was
dark within, but l was young
and fearless, and as / peered into
The unbroken forest that reared
itself to the borders of the stream,
| laughed in very joyousness. My
wild shout rang through the woods,
and stood listening to the echo
that reverberated again and a.
gain, until all was hushed. Oc-
casionally a night bird would flap
its wings from some tall oak.


The mighty lords Of the forest
stood as if naught but time could
bow them. l thought how oft
the Indian hunter concealed him.
self behind these very trees, bow
oft the arrow had pierced the deer
by this very stream, and how oft
his wild halloo had rung for his
victory. / watched the owls as
they futtered by, until ! almost
fancied myself one of them, and
held my breath to listen to their
distant hooting, when suddenly
q sound arose, it seemed from the
very ice beneath my feet. 1t was
Never before had such
a noise met my ears. thought
it more than mortal--so fierce,
and amid such an unbroken soli-
tude, that it seemed a fiend from
hell had blown an internal trum-
pet. Presently / heard the twigs
On the shore snap as if from the
tread of some animal, and the
blood rushed back to my forehead
with bound that made. my skin
burn, and / felt relieved, that I
had to contend with things Of
earthly and not spiritual mould;- .
as / first fancied. My energies
and | looked around me
for some means of defence. The
moon shone through theopening by /
which ] had entered the forest, and
considering this the best means of |
escape, I darted towards it like
an arrow. Twas hardly a hum
lred yards distant, and the swal-
low could scarcely excel my des-
oerate flight; yet as / turned my
eyes to the shore, / could see
two dark objects dashing through
he underbrnsh at a pace nearly
double that of my own. By them
great speed, and the short yells
which they occasionally gave 4
Snew at once that they were the