The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-09-15
certain to overtake me. made up nv

mind as ran that l would try the hol
in the cliff. 1t was large enough 70
me to enter, and might DO large enough
for the bear, but once inside coult
turn and use my revolver. Old grizzl,
was hardly more than rod behind M
when 1 plumbed into the hole art
scrambled ahead on hands and knees
After going in about ten feet the holt
turned to the left and narrowed consii
erably, and seven or eight feet further
on came to the end. As did so my
hand encountered something soft and
furry, and there was hiss and q SPIT
that told me that kitten panther wa'
present. felt all around me in the
black darkness, but the kitten was the
only living object. He was little fel.
low, OF more than four or six weeks
old, but ready to bite and scratch if my
fingers touched him.
The grizzly did not follow at once
into the cave. 1t was five minutes be-
fore l heard him working his way
in, and by this time / had re-
covered by breath and nerve. l was
certain he could not reach me within
six feet, and was rather glad to hear
him wheeling and snorting as he pulled
himself along. By and by l saw his
eyes shine. He could come no further.
His claws dug at the rocks aud his roars
of rage deafencd me, but 1 was safe. 1t
was now my turn, and gave him two
shots from the revolver which caused
him to redouble his roars of rage. For
about ten minutes / felt very queer
over the situation, but all of sudden it
struck me that had gained othing by
the change. In placs of being q fugi.
tive l was a prisoner. The bear showed
no disposition to retreat. and'I now be-
came aware of the fact that the cave had
rank smell and that the body of the
bear prevented the fresh air from enter
ing. Ifelt that l must drive him out,
and Ibid very foolish thing. l edged
nearer to him and put four bullet, into
his head, and after a long drswn moan
he closed his eyes and died. congrat-
ulated myself for a moment, but then it
dawned upon me that had chokei up
the passage to liberty with the carcass
of bear weighing at least GOO pounds.
| thought l might DO able to push it be-
fore me, but when / made the attempt
could not stir it an inch. 1 had done
an ldiotic thing, and there was no way
to repair the error.
/ was wondering how l should get
out of it, when l heard the scream
of another animal at the entrance of the
cave, and in a moment more realized
that the mother of the cub panther had
arrived. 1t was we'll for me that the
body Of the bear blocked the entrance.
The panther went wild with fury when
her kitten began to call. She bit aud
clawed at tho bear, and by great effort
pulled it back few inches Had not
the space been so contracted she could
probably have drawn it out, but she did
not have fair show to use her strength.
Her eyes looked at me over the BODY of
the bear, and if one ever saw fury it was
in those orbA Igavo her a couple of
shots, hoping to drive her of. 1 think
wounded her In the head, for she set
up terrible screaming aud ran out,
but In two or three minute, she was
back again with more fury than ever.
now pushed her kitten forward, hop
ing she would be appeased at its restor-
alton. 1t climbed over the bear and
reached her, and she took it in her
mouth and backed out. Twas pleased
man over this result, for the cave was
As hot as an oven, smelled powerfully
stout of panthers, and the powdee smoke
almost stifled me. Being o bit ratified
had brought on an intense thirst.
md / felt that l had got to
10 something pretty soon or
Pretty soon 1 crept for.
ward, and began pushing at the big
carcass, but had not been engaged over
Two or three minutes when the panther
She had carried her kitten
% place of safety, and was now bent
IN revenge. She realized that the
carcass must be got out of the way be-
ore she could come at me, and had 1
,ot seized the grizzly BY the car and