Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-08-26

val Ot about hve minutes between the
screams. and then be was suddenly
answered by his mate. who was on my
side Of the stream aud apparently not
more than twenty rods away. I've
had to do with various wild beasts in
my time, and / never knew anything
to weaken a dog like the yell Of
panther. That dog of mine wouldn't
have hesitated q moment to attack a
bear or wolf. but the yells of those
panthers made q coward of him in no
time. He crawled into the tent, and
could neither coax nor drive him
out. However, didn't blame him
90 very much, for every yell sent the
shivsrs climbing up my spine in a way
to make me ashamed Of myself. I
heaped on the wood until had big
fire, and after the beasts had called
10 each other . few times they ceased
screaming, and the woods were az si-
lent as q graveyard. In about an
hour the dog regained courage and
came out Of the tent and began
snufing around. BY and by some
small animal ran across the open
ground in our front, and the dog
uttered q bark and dashed after it.
heard him rushing through the woods
for two or three minutes, and was
about to whistle him to return when
there was one loud, fierce yell from one
Of the panthsrs. yelp of terror from
the dog. aud I knew that he was a
goner. / whistlsd and called, but
had seen him for the last time.
got but little sleep that night,
feeling that was at the mercy of the
beasts if they had a mind to attack.
Directly after breakfast l started out
in the direction the dog had taken,
and after travelling about $50 feet l
came upon the spot where he had met
his death. l think the panther had
leaped down on him from tree and
secured a great advantage. for there
had been no struggle. The pine cones
were spashed with blood and tufts Of
hair could be found here and there
where the dog was dragged OF in the
direction Of the stream.
l had with me q double barreled
shotgun and a revolver, and I deter
mined to revenge old Tigers death.
had noticed big heap of driftwood
a short distance up the river. and on
the other side. and from this heap a
fallen tree bridged the stream. When
| came to inspect this tree I found
more blood and more tufts of hair,
and it was plain that the dogs body
had been carried across to some den
in the driftwood. crossed by the
log and mounted the heap. 1t was
composed of limbs. trunks and dead
logs. which had been flung there on
the low ground in high water. 1t
looked like a good place for a panth-
srs den, and as | carefully moved
about l held the gun ready for a shot.
My idea was to descend the heap
and look for the opening of the den,
but / descended in q manner entirely
unlocked for. A limb suddenly gave
way under my feet. and l went crash.
ing down through the pile. which at
that spot contained hollow as big as
an ordinary bedroom. Both barrels
of the gun exploded as l fell, and the
gun was lost from my grasp. land.
ed ina heap on the ground, surrounded
by broken branches, and enough day
, light came down to enable me to see
what sort of place had fallen into
II would be no great job to climb out,
and | was about making a move in
that direction when / heard the faint
squeals and squeaks OF kittens, and
looked down to find a pair of wee
little panthers almost under my feet.
Scattered around were bones and
pieces of flesh to tell the fate of old
Tiger. l was in a panther's den. aud
as | realised it my heart jumped into
my throat until it seemed as if could
not get my breath. was thoroughly
ratified and ready to run. and for two
or three minutes made frantic efforts
to Chamber out. As fast as / reached
a limb it broke under my weight and
let me down again. but was still try
ing when heard one of those panthers
yell out. 1t WASH the cry OF the pre-
vious night, but snarl of rage, AMI |
knew ] was to be attacked. Now for
what followed | have received the
credit Of being a very brave man, but
am ready TO confess that | never
felt myself more of q coward. WAS
at bay, and towards will fight when
driven to the wall, | just bsps down
over those cubs, drew NV revolver,
and in about = minute | caught sight