CHRISTMAS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
835
he find here a living grave: the hemlock
to frame his coffin and resting place,
with the canopy of heaven above as a
shroud ? " God can not be so cruel,"
thought he; yet, had he not been acting
foolishly, in attempting to bridge the can
yon with his tree, and knowing full well
his heavy weight, to cross on it ? Tho
punishment did not seem unjust; he had
richly deserved it The miracle to him
was how he had escaped being dashed
to the rocks below, and at that moment
being but a mass of quivering flesh, l'er
haps he might get dizzy and fall yet;
who could tell ? His great, throbbing
heart seemed to still and refuse to beat
And then thoughts of home flashed be
fore his now thoroughly aroused imagin
ation. How bright and joyous every
thing must be there ! The supper must
by this time be cleared away, and his
father must be smoking in the chimney
corner, now and then shifting uneasily
in his chair, and saying to his wife: " I
no can yust dell vot dot poy means. I
fear him be lost already, and never back
cooms."
And he could see the anxious look of
his mother, as she went back and forth
to the door and watched for him, and
imagined she heard her son's cry on
every wail of the wind. They weuld
surely go and search foi him; but would
it occur to them to look in the canyon ?
How could he make them hear ? His
trail in the snow they could see that.
But what if a storm should come up and
cover his tracks ? As ho looked at the
matter, he becamo more and more con
vinced that it would be at least twenty
four hours until they should find him.
Suddenly he heard a noise; afar off at
first, so faint that it seemed he must
have been asleep and dreaming, and had
awakened with a start Again he heard
it, more loudly. This time ho thought
it the echo of the noise caused by the
fall, reverberating from the depths be
neath. But no; it came stronger and
louder and fuller. Oh, could it bo possi
ble I The wolves had found his tracks
and are coming pell mell up the moun
tain to where he lies buried alive. 41 Oh,
God 1 " he moaned. " And to meet death
in this awful placo I " Ho trembled as
the wprwn trembles when kissed by the
htiiiiiiti't-tf breeze, and his check was
white as the snow that covered him in
his fall. Nearer and nearer they ap
proached, and their baying was more and
njwiu distinct Summoning all tlio
strength that was in him, Hcinrich gavo
a cry for help which fairly deafened him,
and for a moment stopped the dreadful
beasts above him. Again it was renewed.
He lifted his eyes toward tho opening.
There, on tho brink, were innumerable
eyes, seemingly balls of fire, and tho
blood-thirsty animals snapped their
teeth, as if in very delight, at their pros
pective meal. Now they seemed to bo
fighting each other, and could it bo, ono of
them moro bold, and perhaps moro hun
gry, than the rest, hail leaped downward,
or perhaps had been pushed in by tho
now insano pack. Hcinrich offered a
prayer to heaven, and calmly awaited
the death which soemed inevitable But,
with a heart-rending yell, tho poor beast
swept on past him and was mangled to
death on tho sharp edges of tho rocks
below him.
Then there was a lull in tho noiso
above him. Apparently realizing tho
utter impossibility of reaching their
prey, they seemed to bo quietly discuHS
ing as to a modo of proceed uro. Taking
advantage of this, Hcinrich halloed again
for help. Tho trco shook beneath him
and warned him to desist But his cry
was heard. Several gun shots reached
his car, two moro dead wolves wcro
hurled past him, and ho heard tho shouts
of voices above. Ho was saved.
" Well, well, well I " camo;to him from
abovo.