. Old Ironsides, the hero of Tripoli and 1812, and other tales and adventures on sea and land . o the rear. Then, knowing that he was near-ing a dangerous precipice, he applied the brakesand stopped to await the rising of the moon, whichwas now in sight. The cries of the brutes were so far away that heconcluded that they had given up the pursuit andhad started after some slower-footed game, but hesoon discovered his mistake. The howls came rap-idly nearer, proving that they were on his scent andwere approaching on the swiftest run. The hunter,who had removed his shoes, quickly slipped themon a
. Old Ironsides, the hero of Tripoli and 1812, and other tales and adventures on sea and land . o the rear. Then, knowing that he was near-ing a dangerous precipice, he applied the brakesand stopped to await the rising of the moon, whichwas now in sight. The cries of the brutes were so far away that heconcluded that they had given up the pursuit andhad started after some slower-footed game, but hesoon discovered his mistake. The howls came rap-idly nearer, proving that they were on his scent andwere approaching on the swiftest run. The hunter,who had removed his shoes, quickly slipped themon again, nothing averse to showing the animalshow quickly he could leave them out of sight. Bythis time the moon had risen and it was as lightas day. But at this moment the fugitive made a terrify-ing discovery. The incline was not great enoughfor the snow-shoes to run themselves, as thev had t> done to that point, and it was impossible to acquirethe necessary speed without such help. There wasa bench nearly a third of a mile long, and fromthere the trail veered to the right, and for half a. HE WAS GOING FASTER THAN A MILE A MINUTE. 167 168 OLD IRONSIDES. mile descended almost at an angle of forty-five de-grees. This decreased somewhat, but was still quitesteep, and led straight as a string to his cabin door,seven miles below. The question of life or death all depended onthe hunter reaching this steep incline ahead of thewolves, who were again yelping at his heels, and itneed not be said that he put forth all the energy Ot7 of which he was possessed. He not only shovedhis skees forward as fiercely as he could, but usedthe pole with might and main, gaining consider-able help thereby. The foremost brute came so close that he madea plunge at the head of the fugitive. The latterquickly stooped, and the wolf shot like a meteorover his shoulders. The next instant the manstraightened up and started clown the steeper partof the trail as if shot from a catapult. Heavens, how he went! Tr
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