Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-10-28

rccoonized- Waliar- a~.i
made his entrance on the right. MY
end Of the Jungle was thicker
than Oastleton's; but the edge
was fairly clear. aud by pcering under
the brake, could SEQ four or
five yards in front Of me. Very soon,
the cane aud bushes became so dense
that l had to clear away the leaves
with one haud whilc | held the rifle
ready cooked in the other We had
each Sepoy accompanying us and
carrying our second wdapoh, the spear.
To my man 1 gave instructions that
the moment I fred, would hand him
back the rifle, and he was to give me
tha spear. OF course l kept him bo-
hind me, so that he should be in no
danger We had not begun our adj
vance moro than two or three minutes,
and had not penetrated. at our slow
and cautious pace. more than about
twenty yards, when Castleton whistled.
at once stood still After slight
| pause, he called out In sort of
stage whisper. II see him; but it's a
nasty shot. / can only see his hind
| quarters and there Is lot of Jungle in
the way. Shall | shoot?'
Fire away" i replied, in an equally
melodramatic tone. heartily wishing
that his chance had been mine. In
about half minute the report of Castle
tons rifle rang out. IL was followed
by an angry roar somewhere from my
right front, and there was n dead 81
lence. The smoke from Castlcton's 5
rifle came floating over my head; but
though | listened intently with my rifle
half raised to my shoulder. not the
sound OF footstep or the cracking of
n twig could hear. At last Castleton
called out; ''rve hit him, but not badly,
think; and he has gone of in your
direction
Giving Castleton time TO reload, |
again began moving forward with even
greater caution than before. had adj
yanced only few PAGES, when on
pushing aside a screen Of leaves thick
er than usual, aud thrusting my head
into bush, l met sight that made my
heart jump; there, within about six feet
of me, crouched the leopard, his eve
balls glowing like balls of green fire in
the dark Jungle, look OF the most
savage mischief on his face. and evil
IDENTIFY just on the point of springing
straight at me. My first impulse was
TO throw my rifle to my shoulder and
lire ut once; but more quickly than u
flash OF lightning came the conviction.
like living voice speaking in me: IF
you do, and II you don't kill him.
ne II kill you." My nerves seemed to
grow steady at once. and checked my
first rash impulse. Then keeping my
ava HNaI IN hie I ,,;.oI ,,,,- IN. -.
ly and deliberately, took steady aim
AMI hred. A dull groan and a desper-
ate convulsion followed, and then in
half minute all was sill. NV faithful
sepoy had duly obeyed my instructions;
he had taken my rifle and had given
me the spear, and with this spear held
at the charge, ready to receive the
leopard II he came my way, we waited
until the convulsIon subsidized. Then
pecring in again. we found that tho
leopard had gone back; and 1t was not
until we had advanced some ten Yards
that we came upon him lying dead. Ii
shows the marvellous vitality OF the feline
race; fer though the ball was a heavy
one, and had crashed right through the
brain, yet he had managed 20 20 fully
eight yards from where he was crouch
ing. Had the ball been turned aside at
all by twig, or had IL glanced of his
skull, he would almost certainly have
made his spring, and in q Jungle so
dense | could hardly have hoped to
Keep him of or defend myself.
l called up Castleton at once, and
we soon pulled the leopard out Of the
thickct We found that Castleton's bull
let had hit him in the side, but far back.
so MS not to Interfere in any wav with
his powers of attack. | congratulated
myself on lucky escape. The villagers
were delighted at the death OF robber
which had more than once laid their
nocks under contribution, and pressed
their services on US to carry him home.
procession was soon formed, and we
returned to Julbarri IN triumph with
the leopard swung on pole in front
OF us. The other hunters had not re-
turned; so we had ample time TO ex-
hibit our prize TO the sympathetic eyes
Of Mrs. Castleton and Miss Jervoise
In about an hour. the others returned,
wearied and disgustcd The tigers had
been disturbed before their arrival, and
betaken themselves TO somo very heavy
Jungle, whence, in spite OF their best
efforts, they were unable to dislodge
them. II required lot Of good feel. !
ing on their part to make them con-
gratulate US rs heartily as they did: |
and l hope our sympathy with their i'll |
luck showed itself quite untingcd with
any sense of our own better fortune
Chambers journal.