Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1871-04-29

AS long as my 1lre Kept bright; Dut
soon 1t began to go down, and 1t was
impossible for me to go after any
more wood, as l knew well enough
they would attack me as soon as
stepped outside the light. | began
now to feel that my situation was no
enviable one, and to wish that | had
uvailed myself of the opportunity to
get into the trees while the wolves
were yet on the hill. But now 1t
would be almost certain destruction
for me to attempt to reach the trees
unless l could frighten the savage
brutes away, which l did not see
much prospect of doing, for they
seemed to grow bolder, and the sound
of my rifle would only scatter them
for moment, and then they would
return and snap, and snort, and howl,
and fight, and trot around me in u
circle, their eyes glaring upon me rs
If they could hardl y restrain their APP
petite for my blood. l had never seen
them in such numbers, never so bold
as they were that night /; and as my
ire burned to bed of Goals, and the
circle radually grew smaller, l felt
that sooner or later / must he devour-
,intervened. / had just emptied my
4 rifle amongst them and was reload
ing as rapidly us possible, when u
new actor appeared upon the scene.
The wolves suddenly turned up their
noses, and then, as/with common
consent, all darted away into the
gloom, some of them passing very
close to me in theirhttempt 20 escape
and a full grown panther sprang into
the freight; and, landing within
ten feet of where l stood, he paused
for a moment to gather himself for u
spring upon me. / had no time for
thought or action. My gun was but
half loaded; and l instinctively
grasped my knife and drew it from
the sheath, as with low, vengeful,
horrid growl, the monster sprang up
on me. | darted quickly to one side,
throwing up my left arm rs did so,
holding my knife in my right; anu
as he came down his left paw struck
my shoulder, his claws sinking deep
into the flesh, whilst he siezed my
arm between his teeth, almost crush
ing it. My right arm being free, my
knife instantly sank to the hilt in his
side. We rolled together on the
ground, and Il desperate struggle fof
life ensued. | managed to keep my
right arm free, and gave several tell
ing plunges with my knife; while
the monster still retained his hold on
my left arm, while his claws tore and
rent my clothes and flesh in the most
horrid manner. / felt my strength
fast leaving me, while | struggled
with the desperate energy of u man
who feels that his life dep, nds upon
his own eXertions. AS my own
strength failed, however, | had the
tagonist was also falling. We had
rolled over and over in our struggle
until the bed Of the stream received
us, and here we wallowed in mud and
water, the latter not being deep
enou- h for drowning. Suddenly
felt his hold upon my arm beginning
to relax, and rising with one super
human effort, | lunged my knife to
the hilt in his heart. He sprang to
his feet with savage growl, letting
me go entirely, but the next moment
he fell and quivered in the agonies OF
death. This was the last | knew; i
sank senseless in the bed of this
stream. When Iawoke all was inky
darkness, and the rain was pouring
down in torrents. For moment
, was bewildered aud did not know
where | was or what had happened
but when | attempted to move, the
acute pain in my arm and lacerated
flesh brought to mind the late terrible
struggle. Twas lying in the stream
and my clothes were completely satu
/, rated with water; and this, with the
rain pouring down in my face, had
revived me to state OF conscious
hess. attempted to rise hut fell back
weak and faint from the loss of blOoo
and the pain it gave me to move.
r The wolves were once more howl
/ ing around; and | could already heal
: them tearing the flesh from the bone,
4 OF the dead antelope. The blood wa,
\ still iiuwinS from my arm, and hW
!, no means of preventing il. | ielt my
time had indeed come, and | ment,
: ally raised prayer to heaven that
: it might come before | should be de
, voured alive by those horrid wolves
: The rain ceased, and the daylight
was approaching, rs | could just be.
/ gin To see the dim outlines of the
wolves as they fought over the car
!, c,iss of the dead antelope, and | SAW
, beside me, dimly in the faint light
I the form of the lfeless panther. SOor
, they finished their repast, leaving
, nothing but bones, and began to ap'
/ proach the spot where j lay. There
was but few of them, however, anG
these, having feasted upon the ante,
: lOpe, were not fcrOciouS enough,
knew, to devour me instantly. | en-
, deavored to raise myself once more
! rs they came very near; and seeing
signs of life, they drew back little
, and seemed to hesitate. | managed
though not without the most acute
pain to crawl Il few feet back and
| place my back against the bank of the
, stream where ii was four or five feet
, in perpendicular height, and grasping
my knife in my right hand, | thus
| awaited their approach, determined
to sell my life as dearly aS possible.
they began encircling around me,
occasionally sitting down uron their
launches To watch me as a cat would
watch a wounded mouse, walking
along on the bank directly over me,
and looking down and swapping their
teeth within few inches of my head,
and | expected every moment they
would leap oil upon me.
The sun had fully risen, when one
/. more bold than the rest sprang upon
the dead panther and commenced
tearing out the flesh. felt my blood
curdle in my veins as | saw his hor-
: rid teeth setting into the dead ami
NAL, not knowing how soon | was to
undergo the same operation. The
time had come! One of the largest
and most Notwithstanding Of the
; pack could stand it no longer; and
growing and showing his chattering
teeth in a horrd grin, he squatted
with the intention of jumping on
me. | made an attempt to raise my
knife to defend myself, but was too