The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1876-03-24

could rot mis- ake--a loud, hcarss rear
. That had head macy time in the fo:es:
at niGtt, and never heard without fceling
struck rne-''Oh, Heaven lie iaodar."
L shall never forget that moment For
or M lnte [ was quite sick and helpless,
as FAN i'ie lie had been si~uck oas o m e
at one bow aad hen thought flashed
upoT me: There was no Keeping the
Jagusr out, for most o. the doorways were
only hung with curtains but in the store
room close or tiiere WIS huge wooden
cora chest, pearly empty, and big enough
10 hold six or seven people at once. If
Loli,t and | could only get in there we
m gllt yet be saved !
] suatchcd up the child, ran with her
inio the storeToon, and croucled down in
The chest. Uniuckil7 it closed with n
spring lock, so that had to keep tbe lid
slightly open with my lef5 hand, TO avoid
being shut Gown AID s,aed outright but
il had an overlapping edge seve.al inches
long which quite covered my fingers.
VS. not a moment 100 sool. Hardly
had ! Got fairly se,.'e1 in my hiding place.
wi'en heard The great claws scraping the
floor, ard the hungry sniff as the .jaguar
quesied about in search of food. lie came
straight 10 the chest and there stopped
shot moment, as if suspeciing a trap.
Then he pat his head close to the narrow
opening, SO ;hatI l could feel his hot breath
on my face, snuGed once or twice to satisfy
Iiu1seIf nd than f,iei t, fo,ca I,a ia ~,
with his paw but, thank God, the great
pAw would not go into that little chinlz
All lie could do was 10 get his tongue in
aod lick my fingers, making them bleed as
il they had been Iasred with saw. And
then, what with The taste OF blood, and
what with hearing Lolita crying inside, his
fury was reused, and he began 20 roar, not
an honest, deep mOuthed lion roar, bu. a
sharp, snarline yell, that made my blood
ruu cold. Ugh. cau't think how 1
d;du't die outright, but the touch of Lolita S
little arm, ciiuging round my neck, seemed
TO give me Courage.
But the worst was still to come. Find
ing that he could not reach me from below,
he sprang On ,he top of the chest, crushing g
my hand between the lid ard the upper
edge. Then I thought all was over, and
gave a scream that made the whole house
riug.
My scream was answered by Il sound
that made my heart leap--the distant cry
OF bloodhound! The jaeuar heard it, too,
for lie leaped down and stood listening for
a moment, and then ran 10 the door, as if
to escape. There it was aoaiu-much
nearer-and with it the voices of men
calling 10 each other. They were coming
back! Meanwhile the jaguar seemed TO get
bewildcred, and ran wildly up and down
tho inner gallery.
Suddenly there came loud shout at one
of the windows, and then two shots and a
frightful yell; and then my husband S
voice, strained tc its loudest 'iCachite
Where are you?'' 1 just managed to crawl
to the door and let him in, and then
tainted outright.
They told me afterwards that our blood
hound had struck the trail of the ja2uai
leading straight toward the house and
then they all set off to run like madmen,
fearing some harm To me. My husband
and Jose distanced the Iest and came uT
lust in time to shoot the beast through the
window.
AS for my hand, it was so crushed thn,
couldn't stir a joint of it for weeks after.
, The Indians doctored it for me aud they
tell me 1 shall have the use Of it again by
, and-by /; but l don't need that to remind
me Of that day. If | live thousand year.
] shall never forget it.