Show I j I FOT OUT Youth THK WOLVES OF CHICAGO I II I A Record ol Throe Minutes to tho JUlIe By Hans Leigh In the year 1850 I spent the Christmas holiday with my uncle Joel Parker who worked a lonely little farm about twenty miles out of Chicago not far from the i Chicago river Illinois was a wilderness then and Chicago wasnt much more than a market mar-ket town The farmers used to run in to buy a jug of whiskey or a parcel of sugar or herrings and they didnt think enough of the place to put on their best clothes when they went Well there came a frost and a thaw and another frost that left the roads too rough and icy for wheels and not Icy t enough for runners and as luck would f have it Uncle Joel broke his ax on a hardwood knot and he couldnt get to town to buy another Now heres where my story comes in I was a good skater in those times and for all the fine records I see nowadays in I the papers and for all the newfangled r patent skates they wear Id take my old wooden ones with the deerhide thongs and the long blades curling up over the toes and if I was thirty years younger Id back myself against the best of them t I that draws beath but thats neither here nor there I was a great skater and BO 1 offered to skate into Chicago and buy a new ax for Uncle Joel It was a clear bright morning and the l r ice was smooth and white as thaw ice most generally is Well I struck creek about ten rods from my uncles door 1 tied on my skates and went booming down to the river The stream winds t l somewhat as you know and I calculate it was about twentyfive miles into the r city but that wasnt a circumstance tot to-t me I made the distance easily in three hours and was in Chicago in time to dine I at noon Well I met some pleasant young felt fel-t lows and the time passed away until t before 1 knew it the sun was away down in the west I was a little startled at first but the sky was clear the moon was up and a moonlight skate wasnt at all to lay dislike Some of the young fellows made a few remarks about wolves along the river but I rather thought they were guying me for a tenderfoot Never you mind said for with my skates aud the axe Im going to buy I dont fear nny wolf or pack of wolves in tne state of Illinois So nothing more was said I went out and bought an axe Then I came back to the tavern and after taking some supper picked up my ska ea und lit out for the river The sun was just going down as I I eat on the edge of the stream and tied on my skates and I tied them tight I knew that there really were wolves alone that stream but for the matter of that the state was full of wolves big black fellows and fierce too They knew a man from a r woman ani used to come prowling round i the farmhouses when the farmers were at l work barking under the womens very noses and carrying off poultry and young pigs right under their eyes and do you know a strange thing might be caused by throwing powdcred assafcetida so as to fill the air with its odor Wolves within reach of that smell would become fascinated fascina-ted with it and rushing to where the odor was strongest they would stand howling until shot down or clubbed to r death But however cowardly they might be by day when alone and near houses they were less so when traveling in packs by night and at no time were they to bed be-d by a boy like me alone poorly armed and far from home so I tied my skates carefully and firmly threw my new axe over my arm and struck out The snow lay on the ground in patches relievpcby dark grays greens and blacks where little knolls and hillocks had been I wasted clean by the rains The brushwood brush-wood ilong the banks was leafless and i L brown The sky was cloudless but overall over-all there was the thin pink reflection I from tLs sinking sun and the great red I path in the ice along which I was skating toward home 1 And I skated fast not breathlessly but with a long swinging roll that I I could have kept up for hours The banks seemed to fly pastpoplar and birch brush and brambles cabins and rail Jences Here and there I passed little creeks and could hear the water from them trickling into the river underneath the ice but save for that sonnd and the creaking ofmy skates all was silent Lights were burning in the farm house windows but no noise came from them the cattle yen were safely housed the men were sitting around the fires with their wives and children and work was over lor the day After a little I passed beyond these signs of civilization between lands which were either wild or far from the owners houses and I aw no more lights The last of the day had gone and the moon was high cold round and white It ighted up the ice like an arc lamp at first Then some clouds came ut and dimmed it and presently I shot in between be-tween the walls of a forest where the shores were swampy and the trees black and tall made the river almost like a dark room But the ice gleamed whitely and showed the way and the blood vas dancing through my veins with the joy of swift motion so I didnt care for a little gloom but I made the pace faster aud whistled a tune for companys sake Now I was always an absentminded boy and so by and iby thinking of things I forgot where I was and skated on like a machine scarcely hearing my own movements or the trees cracking with the frost in the forest and so when another Round broke on my ear I didnt stop to figure on it but it fell in and became be-came part of the tune I was whistling and part of the creaking of my skates against the thaw ice Wolves Why of course it was wolves crashing alone through the swamp beside the river with a low growling and sometimes some-times a bark above the undertone of growls And there I was skating along and whistling I whis-tling like the moonstruck schoolboy that 1 I was Suddenly like a flash of gunpowder 11 woke to the reality of my position Fifteen miles of river before me Fifty starving wolves behind me Good axe in hand good skates on feet Youth and strength and two thousand yards in my I favor That wasnt so bad after all I was opposite an opening in the forest just then and looking at my watch 1 saw that it was halfpast six I had come eight miles in little over an hour and I reckoned that the wolves had been behind me for two miles I increased my pace to about twelve miles an hour and listened to hear if they still gained Yes there was no doubt of itt they were coming closer I increased the pace to about fourteen miles an hour and listened again The sound of the galloping did not increase in volume for a few minutes but after that they slowly began to draw up again It was evident that I was their game and it was a race for life and death I had covered about two miles since first realizing my danger The wolves must have gained 500 yards and now they were coming forward at top speed overhauling me at every bound There was no more time for calculations I threw the throttle down among the oil cans as the engineers say and started off at my best racing speed The moon was out highly again and I was clear of the forest I had developed almost the speed of an express train my skates scarcely seemed to touch the ice I was flying in the air rather than skating Trees brush and stumps went by like birds and the low fields and woods took on the revolving aspect which every child has seen while looking from the window of a moving car I was almost dizzy with the motion and I bent my body low to avoid the rush of air against my eyes as I well as to gain the utmost speed possible I And as I looked back now I could seethe I see-the wolves chasing along the margin straining every nerve to overcome me j and they were succeeding and every bound brought them closer I had gone four miles more aud less than five hundred hun-dred yards separated us At the same rate of progress I could go five miles further and then the wolves would pull me down still seven miles from home I began to gasp out some prayers and then something in my heart told me to I skate faster I put out another effort and when my body responded to the impulse im-pulse of the mind I felt astonished My pace was increased to an extent which I would never have believed possible Today To-day it seems like a miracle to me and strange to say I never tired My wind that was weakening came back pains that were ro ingin my side and stomach had disappeared and my legs grew like bars and springs of steel Still the wolves gained but their gain was not so rapid I had made the eight miles I had como to the spot where I had thought to die and I was still two hundred hun-dred yards ahead of my pursuers In the next mile they gained about one hundred and fifty yards and then only fifty yards separated us Then the pack took to the ice which was smoother than glass and within two minutes they had lost fifty yards I thought I saw a chance for salvation there but in a moment they were onshore on-shore again barking with fury and racing with even increased speed could see their red tongues in the moonlight and the white foam flying from their jaws Soon they recovered their ground and the foremost wolf was almost abreast of I me He dashed out upon the ice slipped and then with almost a scream of anger he losthis momentum and fell behind I was skating in the middle of the stream A moment later another wolf darted out upon the ice bending his course BoaS to intercept me I held my way until within with-in five feet qf the spot where we should have met and then swerving suddenly away from him I described a curve and wenfron leaving the animal howling and gnashing his teeth Again arid again these tactics were repeated re-peated Once the leading wolf fairly intercepted in-tercepted me but my uncles axe was ready I knew its use and I left the brute dead aud bleeding with one blow from it f But such a running fight could not continue con-tinue I wasstill three miles from home The wolves had seen the hopelessness of their mode of attack and were beginning to string themselves out along the bank ahead of and behind meAt me-At that rate my death was certain within a mile There would be wolves to I Intercept me if I advanced and wolvesto cut me off if I retreated and to take the opposite bank was also sure death At this point I saw on the left bank a little deserted cabin about a quarter of a mile ahead If I could reach that before my pursuers began to close in I might be safe I bent every atom of my remaining strength to do this and I had almost reached the goal when the wolves ahead began to shoot out over the ice completely com-pletely cutting oil my escape up the river Then the ones far ahead came dashing back towards me and the others in the pack began to close in behind and at the sides I was the objective point in a semicircle of fifty ravenous mankilling beasts and the door of the cottage was I my only hope I picked out the wolf that would reach it first My race was with him I It all occurred in a space of less than twenty seconds I shot up to the bank 1 i dJ 1f N 6 I tL11111 j7 S fiUII like a stone from a catapult The wolf was ahead of me bu t leaving the ice with a bound and with the tremendous momentum mo-mentum which I had acquired I flew into the air like a bird and passing over the brutes head landed squarely on my feet and in a flash had reached the door of the cottage forty feet away To rush inside and slam the door was the work of a second but the whole pack was behind me They paused for a moment mo-ment and in that time I saw that there was no fastening to the door The cabin had been stripped even of its bolts The upper floor was gone but the rafters raf-ters were there three feet above my head but hastily thrusting the axe in my belt I gave a leap grasping one of them and drew myself up Then a dozen bodies were dashed against the door aud the room below me was filled with the pack They howled snarled and screamed I with fury and disappointment They dashed themselves against the walls and I bounded up towards the rafters I Sometimes such was their hunger and desperation they actually secured a hold near me but then my axe came into play and they fell back cut and bleeding upon up-on their fellows Then another idea struck me Working Work-ing my way towards the door I climbed partially down and with a long strip of wood which 1 found lying across the rafters I slammed the door shut I then thrust the strip into a crevice in the door casing and with a nail which was sticking stick-ing loosely in the upper end I nailed it to the wall The wolves were my prisoners To knocka hole in the roof with my axe was easy work and in a few moments mo-ments I was sitting on the roof enjoying the cold air and the discomfort of my enemies I By this time those inside were thoroughly thor-oughly cowed frightened while the one or two still left In the open air had begun to feel very nervous A few chunks of wood smartly thrown caused them to slink off into the woods and then I felt almost free Any how it was nearly 8 oclock and the people in my uncles house had grown alarmed I could hear shouts in the distance and presently lights appeared ap-peared coming down the ice and ry uncle and cousins carrying pine torches and well armed dame in sight A shout from me guided them to the cabin and in a moment the whole party was on the roof I A torch thrown into the cabin lighted up the interior and then we took turns nl potting the wolves There were twentyfive of them and within ball an hour they were all dead Next day we returned and skinned them and the heaos and hides brought us in a pretty penny Time Well now 1 ook here I made some close calculations calcula-tions on that and I make out that I did that last ten miles in thirty minutes And there is no case on record where that time has been equaled AVIlLY OF STKATJTORD How Ho Sivam the Avon in a Bravo Deed I IBy Joljn Ernest McCann It was a stormy night in Stratfordup I nAvon over 300 years ago To be I exact in Sept 1576 The wild winds i raved over the old English town like I droves of Invisible wild horses driving rivers of rain before them down Greenhill street through the thickpleached alley leading to the old Stratford church over and under the arches of Cloptons bridge all around the inner court of the grammar school and up Henley street until they came to John and Mary hakespeares house the finest in tne town Here they agreed to concentrate their forces and endeavored to drench and batterdown the strong oak edifice Inside it was almost as stormy as without for Master William Clopton the greatest man in the town was holding hold-ing forth to Mr and Mrs Shakespeare and his topic was their son Willy aged twelve years Willy surrounded by his brother Gilbert Gil-bert two years younger than himself Joan five years of age and little Annie then three years old In Mrs Shake peares arms was her latest born Richard twelve months old She looked very worried as ponderous Master Clop I i 1L 4 1H I 1 I l 3 ton spoke of her Willys shortcomings and her sweet eyes looked appealingly from his face to that of her honest husband hus-band from time to time II was a wild night Mistress Shaks jeare and a dark night too said Master Clopton rising to go I have done my duty by you and yours and you should look to him glancing darkly at Willy or hell come to harm No boy can go day after day without studying and amount to anything The master of the school told me today thatin Williams desk he found many pernicious books such as the Canterbury Tales The Book of Troy The Book of Chivalry The Siege of Jerusalem and The Life of King Arthur I Nice books these for your boy to have In his desk I His eyes I are always wandering away from his lesson les-son How is he ever going to be a good honest British butcher glover drover or farmer if he doesnt lodk to his task and know how much 2and 2 makes I I But I do know how much they make Master Clop to n22 mildly remarked Willy from nis corner There t almost yelled Master Clopton Vhat did I tell you Two and two 22 when everybody knows that they make 4 My lady you must study very solemnly sol-emnly II am studying alL tho time spoke up Master Will suddenly and hotly But how canI keep my eyes on my lesson les-son when between the book and me come such sad and queer and funny faces such troops of men and horses such cities such king and queens and forests and rivers And the birds and their songs They are always with me As soon as I open a book a robin readbreast sits on the ton of it or a meadow lark hops from it to the top of my head Then I cannot help looking at the schoolmaster and the boys No matter if my eyes are on my books I see everything they do Those books the master found in my desk I read only at I recessnever in school hours Ill leave i it to Tom Cardre Ralph Coverdale or Tony Waller if thats not so concluded Willey taking a long breath as his brothers and sisters squeezed sympathetically sympatheti-cally around him Master Clopton glared at Willey for a I moment in astonishment then he strode toward the dbor At the door he paused longenough to say I You will never be of any use in this world mark that William Shakspere and then the door opened and hanged alter him as Willy at a word from his mother snatched up a lantern lighted it put on his cap and followed Master Clopton out into the wild black night He hadnt gone 300 yards before he found Master Clopton floundering in a ditch Ho helped him out and piloted him to his homewhere he received a gruff Be a better boy 17 forhis trouble The next mornine there was great ex citemQnt in the town Stratford for the long low wooden bridge below Cloptons Bridge had been suddenly carried away by the swollen1 angry waters of the Avon all but the center section of itj I and on the section was a little girl and a little lamb She was daughter of Grover Cprter and had ventured with her little flock across theold wooden bridge Just as she reachej the middle of it there was a great crash and away went the bridge pigs and sheep down the rapid and dangerous stream leaving her and one littlelamb on what was left of the first structure with the boiling waters all around them The entire town gathered on the Avons banks and stupidly watched the child in her perilous position Nobody seemed able to devise a plan of rescue No man could swim out to her and no boat could be rowed for the river was like a racehorse race-horse carrying trees logs nd boxes before be-fore it If a log or a tree struck what remained re-mained of the wooden bridge it meant death for Molly Carter and her lamb The rain came down in cataracts It was like looking through animmense veil to watch them from the banks of the Avon I Ive got a planl Get a long rope cried little Willy Shakspere pressing his I way in among the men and women lOne end of the rope he tied around his waist the other end he instructed the crowd on the bank to hold on to and payout pay-out when necessity demanded 4 But lad you cannot swim out there shrieked the now fearfully excited crowd No but I can swim downandhe dashed up towards Cloptons bridge a half mile away the rope dragging out behind be-hind his waist and the crowd at his nimble I I nim-ble heels Reaching the bridge he ran to the middle I mid-dle arch threw his cap off pulled off his jacket stood one instant on the parapet I and then plunged over into the boiling desperate waters Down he wentup he camea tremendous tremen-dous shout reaching him from the shore Steadily on and on down the stream he went his objective point being what was left of the old bridge in the center of the river It was swaying fearfully He expected ex-pected every moment to see it fall He I could see little Molly kneeling with whiteface white-face turned toward him still clinging j loyally to her little lamb Willy was a good swimmer but a huge log at his side was a better and they were both aiming for the bridge If the log got there first it would destroy bridge lamb and Molly that Willy Shakspere knew But the log didnt get there first for for one full minute it encountered a lot of brush which enabled Willy to forge ahead reach the bridge pull off Molly and her lamb and just as they were well awaycrashand the gigantic log hit the structure with all its force and destroyed de-stroyed it I Willy Molly and the lamb were pulled ashore and as Willy wet and growing red was folded to his mothers heart Master William Clopton said to her I am sorry for what 1 said The lad is a good boy The Medicinal Value Water The human body Is constantly undergoing under-going tissue change Worn out particles I parti-cles are cast asido and eliminated from the system while the new are ever being formed from the inception of life to its closeWater Water has the power of increasing these tissue changes which multiplies the wasto products but at the same time they are renewed by its agency giving rise to ncreased appetite which in turn provides fresh nutriment Persons but little accustomed to drinking water are I liable to have the waste products formed faster than they are removed Any obstruction ob-struction to the free working of natural 11 laws at onco produces disease which if once firmly seated requires both time and money to cure ieople accustomed to rise in the morning morn-ing weak and languid will find the cause in the imperfect secretion wastes which many times may be remedied by drinking drink-ing a full tumbler of water before retiring retir-ing This very materially assists in the process during the night and leaves the tissues fresh and strong ready for the active work of the day Hot weather is one of our best remedial I I agents A hot bath on going to bed even in the hot nights of summer is a better reliever re-liever of insomnia than many drugs Inflamed parts will subside uudev the continual poulticing of real hot water Very hot water as wo all know is a prompt checker of bleeding and besides I if it is clean as it should be it aids in sterilizing wounds Halls Journal of I Health |