The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-06-14
MORNING JUNE IA, 1853.
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
THE PANTHER sENTINKLs.
.[coScLupEn.

From the evil effects which followed, il is
probable that the two feline Tapped up alright
smart chance" of the whiskey. as il flowed
from the bunghole ofihe keg, for thew erowIed
other awfuily. and considerable t1ssle
was heard among the dry leaves where thew
stood. Old friends, however, soon furge, ipiu.
ries, and SO did they, for they lay down side by
side to rest. And now all might have been
well with the two prisoners, for the probability
is that the two panihers would have peaceabiy
departed and left them to pray for daylight. but
for an incautious expression of Bobby's, who.
rejecting on the various catasuophes of the
night, the rupture of the jag, the spilling Of the
keg, breaking the gunstock, and Confinement
in the hollow, which abounded in feas, as hog
beds always do, moved by these considerations,
and boiling over with anger, called out, soto
roee, ''drat their pictures"
The words were no sooner out than both the
animals sprung 10 their feet with deep growi,
turned their eyes, fairly shooting fire, toward
the hapless men, and communicated with each
other as to the cause OF the alarm. An instant
suficed for explanation. By that mysterious
instinct which brutes possess, the tails was told,
the plan of joint attack laid, and they sprang
to the rear Of the sycam1 b.
Oh! how Uncle Bobby wished for his rife,
as he saw the broad forehead Of the beast with
in pace of him. He fairly wept as he thought
what chance he was missing for ''painter
skim" that would buy half barrel of whiskey
in Burlington. But now his love OF gain
changed into love life, as the panther, with
mighty grasp, seized the chunk which filled
the entrance, and endeavored to draw i, out
an attempt that would have succeeded but for
the joint efforts of the pair on the inside
For VIII lie il seemed as if he would gain the
prize, and had the other panther, who came
round and stood looking on, but did not know
enoug h 10 assist him. there wodld nave been
wall at Uncle Box's for a moral certainty
AS it was, the old man lost coat sleeve, the
boy fnger nail, both torn off by the claws
of the ihfurated animal.
Disappointed in his efforts, the panther ex-
changed the exercise of pulling for that of
scratching, and'If you ever saw little dog
with wiry hair and rummy eyes, laboring tv
scratch out q rat hole, you can form some idea
of the way the dirt flew before the big feet and
powerful claws of the brutes. Uncle Bobby
clung to his chunk, however, and although
both eyes. mouth and nose were filled with
the moist earth that flew in clouds, he kept up
a good heart, and stuck fast, yelling like an
IDIOT, in hopes to alarm his assailants. 1t is
a fact that the human voice is generally dread
ed by wild animals; but just now it seems to
have lost its power, for the panthers, intoxica-
U
tbirsting for human blood, seemed quite re
gardless of the old mans voice, and scratched
away harder than before. Their labor was
quite in vain, for they soon cleared the earth
away TO the more solid roots, upon which their
claws made little impression, and again they
paused in their exertiOns. A moments con-
sultation, and one of them, with lions hound
went up the tree, evidently in search of q hole
by which to enter the cavity from above. This
was the most trying moment OF the whole
night, for had such an entrance existed, the
imprisoned man we'll knew that his life and
the life of the lad were not worth a moments 3
purchase.
II is q peculiarly, however, ofthese frontier
settlers, to fight against all emergencies, and if
they csnnot win the game, al least to "play it
out" knew one OF this class, when lying
upon his death bed, to order his Bowie-knife,
pistols and rifle to be laid at his side that he
might be ready to meet death "with his own
tools" and it was done. Uncle Bobby was
"all game" as they say. None in Barren
County was braver; none on Skunk River had
less coward drops; SO he resolutely drew his
big spring knife, braced himself upright, and
waited for the monsters descent, determined
"to have the first blow," if he died for it. A
short suspense and he was relieved of this
difficulty, for the panther returned down upon
the outside evidently disappointed. Another
ten minutes at scratching and then another
pause.
A change of tactics and both sen,nels shift.
ed positions TO the other side of the tree, and
bent themselves unitedly to the task. Nobody
knows what hole they maae!- Uncle Bobby
declared he could have buried FIVE year old
in it without difficulty, and as Jereny bears
testimony TO the same effect, we must believe
it, more especially as my informant, whoss
ort 10 hos Of at,a
assertion.
The tree, as observed, was leaning one,
the sheer being towards the water; it was old
and rotten, and whether the pan,hers knew it
or not, they were pursuing just the right plan
to make il fall. Crack went one of the upper
limbs, as it broke of, and with a loud splash
fell into the creek. Crack went one of the
large roots, weakened by old age, that had for
hundred years helped TO sustain ii from fall
ing. The thick cobwebs, loaded with spiders,
and piles of rotten wood that had accumulated
on the inside of the tree, began to fall upon
t6em, and almost 10 smother them with the
dust.
The confined air was sufocating-theirem emo
tions ntense-and still, hour after hour, the
panthers worked on. The end was not far off
for now, slowly and reluctantly at first, then
more and more rapidly, then with the force
and rush of an avalanche, down came the old
sycamore, covering the opposite banks of the
creek with rotten wood, and breaking in the
centre, 30 as to throw the butt OF the tree high
in the air. Head forward slid Uncle Bobby,
followed closely by his nephew, nor ceased bis
career until brought up in the midst ofa colo
ny of bats that had nestled foot thick in what
was formerly the top CT the cavity. That bats
can bite had long been shrewdly suspected,
but the individuals above mentioned settled
the question and put it at rest forever.
Now Uncle Bobby succeeded in hosting
himself feet foremost, encountered as he was
by the weight of his nephew, and punctured as
he was by a thousand ravenous bites, so that
be quite forgot that there was such thing as a
panther in existence; and when he felt his feet
TO be at the entrance, he incontlnentiy shook
off The lad, leaving him 10 slide back amongst
the bats, and sprung TO the ground glad to get
out 90 any terms. Rubbing the spiders and
their webs from his one eye, he stared around.
The morning was breaking, the panhers gone,
the keg lay empty at his feet, the broken rifie
at his side, and his night of horrors was past.
La due season the tired pair arrived home
without drop of whiskey, 10 meet the execfa
lions of a score ot men assembled according 10
appontment for the "raising." But the hopes
Of q ''painter huni' speedily drove the disap-
pointtnent from their minds.
In a few heufs large party on loot aud
horseback, with hundred powerful dogs, were
IN hot pursuit 1 rcnnot tell YOU the details