Year: 1876

wet and chilled all over. NotnlnE
! short Of a gold mine would have
induced me to come doWn anc
| face that dog; but as no one offer
ed me q gold mine or anything
else, remained on my airy seat
I whistled, swore and called the
dog pet names, and then went
near the ground and asked him il
I could come down.


All was still for a few moments
and I was making ready to jump
to the ground, when 1 was star
tied almost out Of my wits by hear
ing an unearthly growl, accompa,
MED by a fearful bark and how
combined. This was too much for
me. I was always a little ner-
vous, and this unwelcome surprise
totally unstrung me. With a
crash aud q cry, mingled with a
howl, I fell downward, and struck
square on the dogs back. In an
instant I was on my feet and ma
king tracks in some direction
where | knew not.


After running for half an hour [
stoppedto rest and find out where
I was going, and see if I was pur-
sued. Finding that ! was not, [
rested; but where I was could not
tell. I wandered On in the dark
ness, for the moon had gone down
and I could hardly see my way.
I was very sleepy-felt just as
though l could easily 60 to sleep
on the ground and sleep forever,
if it had not been for. the hound [
had left behind me. On I went
stumbling over logs and sticking
my nose against every tree that
was in my reach.


Suddenly I saw before me what
appeared to be a house. I made
for it with q rush. And after fall
ing three times [ reached forth
my hand and felt a wall. The
next thing to find was door, so
l commenced feeling carefully
round with one hand, and guarding
my nose with the other. After
going along three walls in this man
ner I came to a fourth, and there
found door. l knocked and pound
ed and yelled until I was hoarse, but
received no response: I am a very
even tempered man on most alloc-
casions, but this was too much for
ne. I stepped back about two feet,
spit on my hands, and made a rush
for the door, intending to kick it
open when I arrived.


arrived and kicked, but that
door escaped my avenging foot,
for the latter struck a. solid oak
sill under the former, and from
that hour forth the sole of my
right boot was absent from it's fel-
low, and the favorite toe, that, one
short moment before (the COLLISION
had been most prominent among
it's companions, was now ''stove
up" far from it's former position,in
the direction Of my heel.


Words cannot describe my feel
ings. I danced around on one
foot for abouta a quarter of an hour,
thoroughly awake, and bowling
like a fend. Presently [ STUN
bled against the door, and, to my
utter astonishment, it burst open
and in I went, sprawling, hitting
my foot against the door jamb
and running my elbow through
the bottom Of a chair.


I made a few appropriate re-
marks,extricated myselt,and arose,
still remarking-no matter what.
Now whose house was [ in, and
where were the inmates that I had
not reused them in this confusion.
After knocking over two chairs,
one stove, tables and boxes I reach
ed a kind of shelf hanging from
the wall.


For wonder, the first article |
touched that was movable was a
box of matches. Never since the
fall of Adam was the means of OBJ
tanning light more warmly welcom-
ed. With eager, trembling hands
I scratched on the wall to light it,
but it was no go-the match or
the wall or both was wet. I threw
it away, and in so doing, knocked
over the box and spilled the con-
tents on the floor. I picked ano-
ther one up and tried it as before,
but it was useless. [ sat down on
the floor and tried about two hun
dred matches sixteen different
times, and at last struck a light,
INIT inst as it was rroVino from