“The thought flashed on my mind, that, by these means, I could avoid them, viz:  by turning aside whenever they came too near; for they, by the formation of their feet, are unable to run on the ice, except in a straight line.

“At one time, by delaying my turning too long, my sanguinary antagonists came so near, that they threw the white foam over my dress, as they sprang to seize me, and their teeth clashed together like the spring of a fox-trap!

“Had my skates failed for one instant, had I tripped on a stick, or caught my foot in a fissure in the ice, the story I am now telling would never have been told.

“I thought over all the chances; I knew where they would take hold of me, if I fell; I thought how long it would be before I died; and then there would be a search for the body that would already have its tomb! for, oh! how fast man’s mind traces out all the dread colors of death’s picture, only those who have been so near the grim original can tell.

“But I soon came opposite the house, and, my hounds,—­I knew their deep voices,—­roused by the noise, bayed furiously from the kennels.  I heard their chains rattle; how I wished they would break them! and then I would have protectors that would be peer to the fiercest denizens of the forest.  The wolves, taking the hint conveyed by the dogs, stopped in their mad career, and, after a moment’s consideration, turned and fled.  I watched them until their dusky forms disappeared over a neighboring hill; then, taking off my skates, I wended my way to the house, with feelings which may be better imagined than described.  But, even yet, I never see a broad sheet of ice in the moonshine, without thinking of the sniffling breath, and those fearful things that followed me closely down the frozen Kennebec.”

OUR FLAG ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

We find the following incident of placing the American flag on the highest point of the Rocky Mountains, in “Col.  Fremont’s Narrative:” 

We managed to get our mules up to a little bench about a hundred feet above the lakes, where there was a patch of good grass, and turned them loose to graze.  During our rough ride to this place, they had exhibited a wonderful surefootedness.  Parts of the defile were filled with angular, sharp fragments of rock, three or four and eight or ten feet cube; and among these they had worked their way leaping from one narrow point to another, rarely making a false step, and giving us no occasion to dismount.  Having divested ourselves of every unnecessary encumbrance, we commenced the ascent.  This time, like experienced travelers, we did not press ourselves, but climbed leisurely, sitting down so soon as we found breath beginning to fail.  At intervals, we readied places where a number of springs gushed from the rocks, and, about 1800 feet above the lakes, came to the snow line.  From this point, our progress was uninterrupted climbing.