The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-06-26

UclGnSE
The unfrequencY with which l had
lately encountered this foe, made me
neglect on this occasion to bring with
me my usual arms. The beast that was
now before me. when stimulated by
hunrpr. was accustomed to aSSail
whatever could provide him with a
banquet of blood. He would set upon
the man and the deer with equal and
irresistible feroCity. His sagacity was
equal to his strength, and he seemed
able to discover when his antagonist
was armed.
NV past experience enabled me to
estimate the full extent of my danger.
He sat on the brow of the rock, eye nc
the bridge, ami apparently deliberting
whether he should cross it. 1t wa,
probable that he had only scented my
footsteps thus far, but, should he pass
over, his yigilcnce could scarcely fail
of detecting my asylum. " II
Should he retain his present station,
my danger vas scarcely lesSened. TO
pass over in the face of a famished
tiger was Only to rush upon my fate.
The falling of the trunk, which had
been so ~anXiously deprecated. was now
no less earnestly desired. Every new
gust | hoped would tear aSunder its re-
manning bands. and, by cutting Oft all
communication between the opposite
sleeps, place me in security. My hopes,
however, were destined to be fruStra-
ted. the tibreS of the PROSTATE tree
were ObStinately tenacious of their
hold. and presently the animal scram-
bleu down the rock and proceeded to
cross it.
OF all kinds of death that which
now menaced me was the most abhOr.
red. TO die of disease. or by the hand
of a fellow creature, was lenient in
comparison with being rent to pieces
by the fangS of this savage. To perish
in this obscure retreat, to lose my pOr.
ton of existence by 50 untoward and
ignOble a destiny, was inSuppOrtable.
| bitterly deplOrCd my raShneSs in COM
ING hither unprovided for an encount-
er like this.
The evil of my present circumstan-
ces consisted chiefly in suspense. My
death was unavoidable, but my imagi-
nation had leisure to torment itself by
anticipations. One foot of the savage
was slowly and cautiously moved after
tie other. He struck his claws so
deeply into the bark that they were
with difficulty withdrawn. At length
he leaped upon the ground. We were
now separated by an interval of scarce
ly eight feet. To leave the spot where
| crOuched was impossible. Behind
and beside me the cliff rose perpendic-
ularly, and before me was this grim
and terrific savage. | shrunk still clo-
ser to the ground and closed my eyes.
From this pause of horror l was
aroused by the noise occasloned by a
second spring of the animal. He
leaped into the pit, in which | had so
deeply regretted that | had not taken
refuge, and disappeared. My rescue
was so sudden, and so much beyond
my belief or hope, that | doubted for a
moment whether my senses did not de-
ceiye me. This opportunity to escape
was not to be neglected. l left my
place and scrambled over the trunk
with a precipitation which had liked
to proved fatal. The tree groaned and
shook under me, the wind blew with
unexampled violence, and / had scarce
ly reached the opposite steep when the
roots were severed from the rock, and
the whole fell laundering to the bot.
tom of the chasm.
My t~repidations were not speedily
ouieted. | looked back with wonder on
my hair-breadth escape, and on that
singular concurrence of events which
had placed me in so short a period in
absolute security. Had the trunk
fallen a moment earlier, | should nave
been imprisoned on the hill or thrown
headlong. Had its fall been delayed
another moment, / should have been
pursued; for the beast now issued from
his den, and testified his surprise and
disappointment by tokens, the sight of
which made my blood run cold.
He saw me and FASTENED to the verge
of the chasm. He squatted OH his hind
legs, and assumed the attitude of one
preparing to leap. My CONSERVATION
was excited afresh by these appear
ances. 1t seemed at first as If the rift
was too wide for any power of muscles
to carry him over in safety; but / knew
the unparalleled agility of the animal,
and that his experience had made
him a better judge of the possibility
of this exploit than / was.
Still there was hope that he would
relinquish this design as desperate.
This hope was quickly at an end. He
sprang, and his forelegs touched the
verge of the rock on which ! stood. In
spite of vehement exertions, however,
the surface was too smooth and too
hard to make good his hold. He fell,
and q piercing cry, uttered below,
showed that nothing had INSTRUCTED
his descent to the bottom.
Building q Railroad at Night.
Phfadelphia Times.