484 Lucy Austin. 



" Whip! Whip!" groaned I with all the vehemence of a dreamer 

 who sees his vision realized. 



" Whip, I'll swear," said Leader, preparing to rush to the rescue 

 of his favourite. 



*' Leader, for God's sake refrain : you're mad !" exclaimed I in 

 despair ; and hardly had he turned to learn the reason of so un-< 

 courteous an appeal, when the cry of " Mad dog ! Mad dog !" re- 

 sounded on all sides. Right opposite to the spot in which I stood, 

 and full in the view of Lucy and Leader, Whip, in all the frightful 

 hideousness of canine madness, came rushing on, followed by some 

 fifteen or twenty men and boys armed in divers manners, and all bel- 

 lowing out the fearful cry. Whip took to the side of the river with 

 much speed, and ran for the length of some two hundred paces ; but 

 suddenly he made directly to where Leader stood all his late pur- 

 suers becoming the pursued the moment he turned. Leader seemed 

 completely incapable of moving to the right or to the left as Whip 

 raised his sluggish glazed eyes and foaming mouth within a dozen 

 yards of him. For a moment the infuriated creature paused, proba- 

 bly instigated by a passing glimmering of recollection ; and as he was 

 about to bound forward I screamed out, half delirious with horror, 

 44 Fire, Leader fire I" 



He did so, and missed ; but the flash and noise scared Whip, who 

 betook himself for the bridge with redoubled speed. The moment 

 Leader saw in which direction the danger lay all his apathy at once 

 forsook him, and with amazing velocity he reached the object of his 

 pursuit just time enough to strike him from the steps with a violent 

 kick on the head. While stunned, he endeavoured to grasp him by 

 the throat, but the maddened brute bit him. Had a musket bullet 

 entered his heart he could not have been apparently more paralyzed, 

 while Whip for an instant looked upon him as if touched with remorse 

 and again attempted to regain the bridge. Again was every fibre 

 in Leader's frame strung with its former vigour, and he fled after 

 the dog incredibly fast ; but the cursed game outstripped the hunter. 

 Already had the untired animal begun to ascend the steps connected 

 with the bridge, in the middle of which Lucy continued to stand, as I 

 first mentioned, but with the moveable portion of the rail swung from 

 her. I thought she was beside herself with terror, for she had not at- 

 tempted to escape, and escape was now out of the question. The 

 conviction of my total impotency, from the position in which I was, 

 rendered me almost frantic. Whip was not ten feet from her, and 

 Leader was about as many yards from him, with his gun raised ready 

 to strike if a chance offered. I had abandoned all hope. Nothing 

 but a miracle could save her, when Leader screamed out in a voice 

 almost unearthly from intense emotion, " Leap, Lucy, leap I For the 

 love of heaven, leap !" 



She seemed as if in readiness for the command, and in a second 

 was in the stream, Whip and she reaching the water almost simul- 

 taneously. Now came the moment for me to exert myself. The 

 imminence of her peril, and the consciousness that I might be of 

 utility, completely restored my self-possession. Had I plunged 

 in at the instant, I should have had to swim against the current, and 



