The Lost Trail | Page 7

step in my way
you may find it a dangerous matter. You think I tried to shoot you, but
you are mistaken. Do you suppose I could have come as near and
missed without doing so on purpose? To-night I could have brought
you and your master, or his wife, and sent you all out of the world in a
twinkling. I've roamed the woods too long to miscarry at a dozen
yards."
Teddy began to realize that the man told the truth, yet it cannot be said
that his anger was abated, although a strong curiosity mingled with it.
"And what's yer raison for acting in that shtyle, to as good a man as
iver asked God's blessing on a sunny morning, and who wouldn't tread
on one of yer corns, that is, if yer big feet isn't all corns, like a toad's
back, as I suspict, from the manner in which ye leaps over the ground."
"He knows who I am, and he knows he has given me good cause to
remind him of my existence. He can tell you, if he chooses; I shall not.
But let yourself and him take warning from what you already know."
"And be the same token, let yourself be taking warning. As sure as I'm
the ninth son of the seventh mother, I'll--"
The hunter was gone!
CHAPTER II.
THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT.
The echoing rock, the rushing flood, The cataract's swell, the moaning
wood; The undefined and mingled hums-- Voice of the desert never
dumb! All these have left within this heart A feeling tongue can ne'er

impart; A wildered and unearthly flame, A something that's without a
name.--ETTRICK SHEPHERD.
With extreme difficulty, Teddy made his way out of the ravine into
which purposely he had been led by the hunter. He was full of aches
and pains when he attempted to walk, and more than once was
compelled to halt to ease his bruised limbs.
As he painfully made his way back to the camp he did a vast deal of
cogitation. When in extreme pain of body, produced by a mishap
intentionally conceived by another, it is but following the natural law of
cause and effect to feel a certain degree of exasperation toward the
evil-doer; and, as the Irishman at every step experienced a sharp twinge
that ofttimes made him cry out, his ejaculations were neither conceived
in charity nor uttered in good-will toward all men. Still, he pondered
deeply upon what the hunter had said, and was perplexed to know what
could possibly be its meaning.
The simple nature of the Irishman was unable to fathom the mystery.
He could not have believed even had Harvey Richter himself confessed
to having perpetrated a crime or a wrong, that the minister had been
guilty of anything sufficient to give cause of enmity. The strange hunter
whom they had unexpectedly encountered several times, must be some
crack-brained adventurer, the victim of a fancied wrong, who, most
likely, had mistaken Harvey Richter for another person.
What could be the object in firing at the missionary, yet taking pains
that no harm should be inflicted? That was another impenetrable
mystery; but, let it be comprehensible or not, the wrathful servitor
inwardly vowed that, if the man crossed the path of himself or his
master again, and the opportunity offered, he should shoot him down as
he would a wild animal.
In the midst of his absorbing reverie, Teddy suddenly paused and
looked around him. He was lost. Shrewd enough to understand that to
attempt to extricate himself would only lead into a greater
entanglement, from which it might not be possible to escape at all, he
wisely concluded to remain where he was until daylight. Gathering a

few twigs and leaves, with his well-stored "punk-box" he soon started a
small fire, by the light of which he collected a sufficient quantity of
fuel to last until morning.
Few scenes of nature are more impressive than a forest at night. That
low deep roar, born of silence itself--the sad sighing of the wind--the
tall, column-like trunks, resembling huge sentinels keeping guard over
the mysteries of ages--the silent sea of foliage overhead, that seems to
shut in a world of its own--all have an influence, peculiar, irresistible
and sublime.
The picket upon duty is a prey to many an imaginary danger. The
rustling of a leaf, the crackling of a twig, the flitting shadows of the
ever-changing clouds, are made to assume the guise of a foe,
endeavoring to steal upon him unawares. Again and again Teddy was
certain he heard the stealthy tread of the strange hunter, or some
prowling Indian, and his heart throbbed violently at the expected
encounter. Then, as the sound ceased, a sense of his utter loneliness
came