Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1823-02-13

sAs
panion in such an extremity /; and she
tell on her knees. by the side of the in
animate Louisa, tearing from the per
son of her friend, with an instructive
readiness, such parts of her dress as
might obstruct her respiration, and
encouraging their only safeguard, the
dog, at the same time, by the sounds of
her voice,
Courage, Brave" she cried, her
own tones beginning to tremble, "cou-
rage, courage. good Brave
A quarter grown cub, that had hi
therto baen unseen, now appeared,
dropping from the branches Of a sap
ling that grew under the shade OF the
beech which held it's dam. This igpo-
ant but vicious caeature approached
near to the dog, initiating The actions
and sounds of its parent, but exhibiting
a strange mixture of the playfulness OF
a kitten, with the ferocity Of it's race.
Standing on its hind legs. it would
rend the bark of a tree with its fore
PAWS, and play all the antics Of a Cat.
for a moment, and hen, by flashing It.
self with its tail, growing and scratch
ing the earth, it would attempt ths
manifestations of anger that rendered
it's parent 80 terrific.
All this time Brave stood firm and
undaunted. his short tail erect, his body
dawn backward on its launches. and
his eyes following the movements of
both dam and cub. At every gambol
played by the latter, it approached
Digher to the dog, the growing of the
three becoming more horrid at each
moment, until the younger beast, over
lesping it's intended bound, fell direct
ly before the mastiH. There was a
moment of fearful cries and struggles.
but they ended almost as soon az COM
menced, by the cub appearing in the
air, hurled from the jaws Of Brave
with q violence that sent 1t against a
tree so forcibly, as to render it com.
ple,ely senseless.
Elizabeth witnessed the short strug-
gle, and her blood was warming with
the triumph of the dog, when she saw
the form of the old panther in the air,
springipg twenty feet from the branch
Of the beech to the back of the mastiff.
No words of ours can describe the fury
of the conflict that followsd.5 1t was a
confused Struggle on the dried leaves,
accompanied by loud and terrible cries
barks and grswls. Miss Temple con.
t,nued OH her knees, bending over the
form of Louisa, her eyes liked ON the
animals, with an interest 30 horrid,
and vet so intense. that she almost for
got her Own stake in the result. So
rapid and vigorous were the bounds of
the inhabitant of the forest, that It's &C.
tive frame seemed constantly IN the
air, while the dog nobly faced his foe
at each successive leap. When the
panther lighted on the shoulders of the
mastiff, which was its constant aim, old
Brave, though orr with her %talons,
and stained with his own blood, that
already flowed frem a dozen wounds,
would shake off his furious foe like a
feather, and rearing on his hind legs,
rush to the fray again, with his jaws
distendtd, and a dauntless eye But
age. and his pampered life. greatly DIS
qualified the noble mastif for such e
struggle. In every thing but courage,
he was only the vcsrige of what he had
once been. a higher bound than ever
raised the wary and furious beast lar
beyond the dog, who was maning a
desperate but fruitiess dash at her,
from which she alighted in a favorable
position on the back of her aged foe.
For a single moment only. could n
panther remain there, the great
strength of the dog returning with a
convulsive effort Bnt Elizabeth saw,
as Brave fastened his teeth in the side
of his enemy, that the collar Of brass a.
round his neck, which had been gilt
terinskthroughou the fray, was of the
coler OF blood, and directly that his
frame was sinking to the earth, where
1t soon lay PROSTATE and helpless. Sc
veral mighty efforts Of the wild cat to
extricate herself from the jaws of the
dog followed, but they we're fruisless,
until the mastiff turned on his back,
his lips collapsed, and his teeth loosen
ed, when the short commissions and
Stiffness that succeeded announced the
death of poor Brave.
Elizabeth now lay wholly at the
mercy of the beast. There is saIG to
be something in the front of the image
OF the Maker, that daonts the hearts
Of the interior beings of his creation
and it would seem that some SUCH pow
er in the present instance suspended
the threatened blow. The eyes of the
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