Legends of the Shawangunk2 JR.pdf - Friends of the Sabbath ...

142 Legends of the Shawangunk.
the ponderous weight, and all would yet be lost. It was a forlorn hope at the best.
What is that object looming up directly in his path? It is the bear-trap. But the door!
the door! The shadows of the forest render the vision indistinct. He cannot tell whether
the door is shut or raised. It appears to be shut. A few more steps will decide. Already
he hears the panting of the brutes at his heels, and expects each moment to feel their
sharp claws ill his flesh. There is a mist before his eyes. He feels that his strength is
failing. One moment, and—“Thank God,” he cries; “the door is raised.” With a wild
energy begotten of despair he tears the terrified child from his breast, thrusts her through
the opening, touches the spindle and down comes the ponderous door with a thud. Then
seizing an overhanging limb he swung himself up out of reach just as the jaws of the
foremost wolf came together as he snapped after his prey.
JESSIE MITTEER AND THE BEAR-TRAP.
Now that the necessity for immediate exertion no longer existed, the reaction was so
great that Mr. Mitteer feared he would fall from the tree from sheer exhaustion; to
prevent such an occurrence, he tied himself securely with his cravat and handkerchief.
All night long the wolves perambulated about that bear-trap and tree, and made the night
hideous with their howling. It was a night ever to be remembered by both father and
child. They were sufficiently near to one another to converse, so they could cheer each
other during the long and tedious hours.
The trap in which little Jessie lay was built so strongly that the largest bear could not
get out after it had once sprung the door. The father had told her to keep as near the
centre of the pen as she could, and she would be safe: Though out of reach of harm, her
position was far from enviable, with the ferocious brutes all around and over her prison,
thrusting their noses and their