The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-08
bv civilization. On the afternoon Of

by civilization. On the afternoon Of
the day above mentioned the old gen.
tleman announced to his family his in
teniion of watching this deer-lick, and.
taxing his trusty rife. departed. IL 10
fair 10 presume, with the object of get
ting a shot NJ q fat buck. although the
game laws do not ~countenance such
sport at this time of the year. Old
residents. however. are not prone &c
regard su-h regulations. considering
them more especially designed To pro-
tect game from the wanten assaults oi
amateur sportsmen. He did n o re
turn that night. q Circumstance which
! caused his family no great uneasiness.
as Mr.. Painter was not too feeble TO
regard camping out aione as 5
hardship. When the day was far
spent, however. and still the absentee
did not appear. his relatives became
anxious and thought some misfortune
might have befallen him. and his broth
er set out 10 hunt him up. He made his
wav 10 the derrick b. the shories,
course and with all possible haste. but
the sun was setting n he approached
the lonesome spot. Ii Wa, in the midst
of dense woods. through which ran u
purling stream, that he a. last halted
and called his brothers name, but only
an echo hooted in return, Is though in
derision. In the soft earth at the edge
of the brook he saw the imprint of
deers' hOofs and finally came upon the
well defined impression Of ~humanioot.
where the owner had stepped across the
water. On the other side of the brook
were other traces OF 4 mans presence,
such as would only be noticed by a
woodman's keen eye, and. following this
imperfect trail. he was led to a sort of
natural amphitheater surrounded by
brush and fallen trees. ~ though the
place had been visited b. a whirlwind.
A broken bush covered with blood at
tracted his attention, and, looking over
il. he saw a rifle lying on the ground
Mr.. Fainter picked it up and recog-
niZed it as the time honored arm be-
longing to his brother. The barrel was
partially separated from the stock as
though by a violent blow. a collapsed
cap on the nipple indicated that a charge
had been fired.
a horrible misgiving seized Mr..
Painter a he looked upon what seemed
to be- the mute witness TO 4 woodland
tragedy. and sick at heart he continued
his search. He did not have far to 90.
Stepping over n log ut one side OF the
natural Enclosure. which seemed To he a
sort of vestibule to the deer-lick. be
stumbled upon the carcass o. a great
cat-likc animal, such as he had seen in
The early days Of the settlement, but
never of late years. IL was u catamount
of large size, such a no hunter would
care to meet alone in the woods. Sew
eral wounds showed that il had died
hard, and it looked still hideous in
death. A few feet away lay a human
figure, partly Overed with bloody rags
aud showing in the denuded parts the
marks of terrible c'aws. 1t was lying
on its face, but NJ. Palmiter knew now
the worst, and was not surprised to see
the CHASTITY face Of his brother. Oae
stillcned hand held 4 huntin r-kniie,
BLOODY to the hilt, and in the other was
a handful of grass torn up by the roots.
as though in supreme agony. The un-
fortunate man was partially disembOw-
eled. and indeed his whole body showed
fearful mutilation, while his set features
wOre a look of great anguish. His deal
adversary had a bullet hole in the
shoulder and several stabs in the neck
and body. |. was easy for the afflicted
brother to fathom the exact nature Of
the cruel struggle. As Mr.. Fainter
lay watching at the lick the catamOunt
was also watching. aud, mad with hun
ger. as shown by his emaciated body.
had selected human prey instead of
deer and sprang upon him. The man
attacked was enabled to get one shot
at the ravenous beast, when it struck
the rifle from his hands and grappled
with him. The struggle must have
been fierce and pr~otracted. as the
ground for some distance around was
covered with blood. until, MORALLY
wounded, the cOmbatantS separated by
mutual consent TO wrestle with the
death agony. The catamount measured
five feet six inches in length and ovcr
twenty inches high Bradtord tPa.)
Era.