gue, he still retained some of their superstitions.

The wind continued to blow, the wolves howled, the lightning flashed,
and the thunder rolled. Ere long the little black pony snorted aloud
and paused abruptly.

"What ails you, Pete?" said Joe from his lofty position on the steed,
addressing his favourite little pet. "Get along," he continued,
striking the animal gently with his whip. But Pete was as immovable
and unconscious of the lash as would have been a stone. And the steed
seemed likewise to be infected with the pony's stubbornness, after the
wagon was brought to a pause.

"Why have you stopped, Joe?" inquired Glen.

"I don't hardly know, sir; but the stupid horses won't budge an inch
farther!"

"Very well; we can remain here till morning. Take the harness off, and
give them the corn in the box; we can sleep in the wagon till
daylight."

"But we have no food for ourselves, sir; and I'm vastly hungry. It
can't be much farther to the ferry," continued Joe, vexed at the
conduct of the horses.

"Very well; do as you like; drive on, if you desire to do so," said
Glenn.

"Get along, you stupid creatures!" cried Joe, applying the lash with
some violence. But the horses regarded him no more than blocks would
have done. Immediately in front he perceived a dark object that
resembled a stump and turning the horses slightly to one side,
endeavoured to urge them past it. Still they would not go, but
continued to regard the object mentioned with dread, which was
manifested by sundry restless pawings and unaccustomed snorts. Joe
resolved to ascertain the cause of their alarm, and springing to the
ground, moved cautiously in the direction of the dark obstruction,
which still seemed to be a blackened stump, about his own height, and
a very trifling obstacle, in his opinion, to arrest the progress of
his redoubtable team. The darkness was intense, yet he managed to keep
his eyes on the dim outlines of the object as he stealthily approached
And he stepped as noiselessly as possible, notwithstanding he
meditated an encounter with nothing more than an inanimate object. But
his imagination was always on the alert, and as he often feared
dangers that arose undefinable and indescribable in his mind, it was
not without some trepidation that he had separated himself from the
horses and groped his way toward the object that had so much terrified
his pony. He paused within a few feet of the object, and waited for
the next flash