a desperate, but fruitless dash at her from which she alighted, in a favorable position on the back of her aged foe. For a single moment only could the panther remain there, the great strength of the dog returning with a convulsive effort. 13. But Elizabeth saw, as Brave fastened his teeth in the side of his enemy, that the collar of brass around his neck, which had been glittering throughout the fray, was of the color of blood, and directly, that his frame was sinking to the earth, where it soon lay, prostrate and helpless. Several mighty efforts of the wild-cat to extricate herself from the jaws of the dog followed; but they were fruitless, until the mastiff turned on his back, his lips collapsed and his teeth loosened; when the short convulsions, and stillness that succeeded, announced the death of poor Brave. 14. Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the beast. There is said to be something in the front of the image of the Maker that daunts the hearts of the inferior beings of His creation; and it would seem that some such power, in the present instance, suspended the threatened blow. The eyes of the monster and the kneeling maiden met, for an instant, when the former stooped to examine her fallen foe; next to scent her luckless cub. From the latter examination it turned, however, with its eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail lashing its sides furiously, and its claws projecting for inches from its broad feet. 15. Miss Temple did not or could not move. Her hands were clasped in the attitude of prayer; but her eyes were still drawn to her terrible enemy; her cheeks were blanched to the whiteness of marble, and her lips were slightly separated with horror. The moment seemed now to have arrived for the fatal termination; and the beautiful figure of Elizabeth was bowing meekly to the stroke, when a rustling of leaves from behind seemed rather to mock the organs than to meet her ears. 16. "Hist! hist!" said a low voice; "stoop lower, girl; your bonnet hides the creature's head." It was rather the yielding of nature than a compliance with this unexpected order that caused the head of our heroine to sink on her bosom; when she heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of the bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was rolling over on the earth, biting its own flesh, and tearing the twigs and branches within its reach. At the next instant the form of the Leather-stocking rushed by her; and he called aloud-"Come in, Hector; come in, you old fool; 't is a hard-lived animal, and may jump again." 17. Natty maintained his position in front of the maidens most fearlessly, notwithstanding the violent bounds and threatening aspect of the wounded panther, which gave several indications of returning strength and ferocity, until his rifle was again loaded, when he stepped up to the enraged animal, and placing the muzzle close to its head, every spark of life was extinguished by the discharge. COOPER. 45. THE SKATER AND THE WOLVES. den'i-zens, inhabitants. glint'ing, shining fitfully. im'mi-nent, near at hand. ren-coun'ter, a combat. se-quest'ered, lonely. 1. DURING the winter of 1844, being in the northern part of Maine, I had much leisure to devote to the sports of a new country. To none of these was I more passionately addicted than to skating. The deep and sequestered lakes, frozen by the intense cold of a northern winter, presented a wide field to the lover of this pastime. Often would I bind on my skates, and with exultant joy and delight glide away up the glittering river, and wind each mazy streamlet that flowed beneath its fetters on toward the parent ocean. Sometimes these excursions were made by moonlight; and it was on one of these latter occasions that I had an encounter which, even now, I cannot recall without a thrill of horror. 2. I had left my friend's house one evening just before dusk, with the intention of skating a short distance up the Kennebec, which glided directly before the door. The night was beautifully clear. The peerless moon rode through an occasional fleecy cloud, the stars twinkled in the sky, and every frost-covered tree and shrub sparkled with rare brilliancy. Light also came glinting from ice and snow wreath and incrusted branches, as the eye followed for miles the broad gleam of the river that, like a jewelled zone, swept between the mighty forests that bordered its banks. 3. And yet all was still. The cold seemed to have frozen tree, air, water, and every living thing. Even the ringing of my skates echoed back from the hill with a startling clearness; and the crackle of the ice, as I passed over it in my course, seemed to follow the tide of the river with lightning speed. I had gone up the river nearly two miles, when, coming to a little stream which empties into the larger, I turned into it to explore its course. Fir and hemlock of a century's growth met overhead, and formed an archway radiant with frost work. All was dark within; but I was young and fearless, and as I peered into an unbroken forest that reared itself on the borders of the stream, I laughed with very joyousness. 4. My wild hurrah rang through the silent woods, and I stood listening to the echo that reverberated again and again, until all was hushed. Suddenly a sound arose. It seemed to me to come from the ice beneath my feet. It was low and tremulous at first, but it ended in one long, wild howl. I was appalled. Never before had such a noise met my ears. Presently I heard the brushwood on shore crash as though from the tread of some animal. The blood rushed to my forehead; but I looked around me for some means of escape. The moon shone through the opening at the mouth of the creek by which I had entered the forest; and, considering this the best way of escape, I darted towards it like an arrow. 5. The opening was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could scarcely have excelled me in flight; yet, as I turned my eyes to the shore, I could see two dark objects dashing through the brushwood at a pace nearly double in speed to my own. By their great speed, and the short yelps which they occasionally gave, I knew at once that these were the much dreaded gray wolves. I had never met with these ferocious animals; but from the description given of them, I felt little pleasure at making their acquaintance. Their untamable fierceness and untiring strength render them objects of dread to every benighted traveler. 6. The bushes that skirted the shore now seemed to rush past with the velocity of lightning, as I dashed on in my flight to pass the narrow opening. The outlet was nearly gained; a few seconds more, and I would be comparatively safe. But in a moment my pursuers appeared on the bank above me, which here rose to the height of ten or twelve feet. There was no time for thought. I bent my head, and dashed wildly forward. The wolves sprang; but, miscalculating my speed, fell behind, while their intended prey glided out upon the river. 7. I turned towards home. The light flakes of snow spun from the iron of my skates, and I was some distance from my pursuers, when their fierce growl told me I was still their fugitive. I did not look back, nor feel afraid. I thought of home, of the bright faces awaiting my return; and then all the energies of body and mind were exerted for escape. I was perfectly at home on the ice. Many were the days that I had spent on my good skates, never thinking that they would thus prove my only means of safety in such imminent peril. 8. Every half minute a furious yelp from my fierce attendants made me but too certain that they were in close pursuit. Nearer and nearer they came. I heard their feet pattering on the ice; I even felt their very breath, and heard their ferocious snuffing. Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to the utmost tension. The trees along the shore seemed to dance in an uncertain light, my brain turned with my own breathless speed, my pursuers hissed forth their breath with a sound truly horrible, when all at once an involuntary motion on my part turned me out of my course. 9. The wolves close behind, unable to stop, and as unable to turn on smooth ice, slipped and fell, still going on far ahead. Their tongues were lolling out-their white tusks were gleaming from their bloody mouths their dark shaggy breasts were fleeced with foam; and as they passed |