22 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



tied in the wood a little while ago. Per- 

 haps you can bring assistance." 



Laddin hesitated, but the wife, suit- 

 ing the action to the word, unbarred 

 the door. At that instant the front 

 door fell and in rushed the Indians. 

 They buried their tomahawks in the 

 brains of the two women and tore off 

 their scalps. 



In the hasty glance which he had 

 thrown backward as he stood in the 

 door, Laddin had seen the tomahawks 

 descend. Frenzied by the spectacle he 

 dashed out to his horse, pulling out 

 nis hunting knife as he ran. The mo- 

 mentary delay while the scalps were 



being taken enabled him to cut the 

 thong that held the animal. As the 

 Indians burst from the house in pursuit 

 Laddin jumped upon the horse and 

 turned its head toward the top of the 

 cliff. The cries of the Indians behind 

 spurred the animal forward, and in a 

 moment the rock's crest was reached. 

 Horse and rider disappeared from the 

 sight of the pursuing Indians. The 

 echo of the crashing undergrowth be- 

 low came over the cliff's edge, and 

 then all was silent even the baffled 

 savages making no sound as they 

 looked over upon the horse and rider 

 lying dead upon the ground below. 



My Experience with a Camera. 



BY THE REVEREND J. I. WILLIAMS, AL- 

 BUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. 



My ministry, for the most part, has 

 been among the mountaineers of the 

 Blue Ridge Mountains, where much of 

 my time was spent in riding on horse- 

 back along the creeks and rivers, 

 through dense forests of poplars, wal- 

 nuts and oaks, with a deep under- 



growth of rhododendrons and laurels. 

 Between my visits to the homes and 

 settlements, there must necessarily be 

 long, lonesome journeys with no com- 

 panions but nature and Don Carlos, 

 my trusted horse. In these circum- 

 stances, and with grand or beautiful 

 scenery ever about me, nature began 

 to speak a varied language. Trees, 

 babbling brooks, rocks, waterfalls and 



A MOUNTAIN TRAVELER. 



