The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-06-02

Heart. plcrced With rCniIng love and sorrow-
IireNthed notes TOO gOd,like sweet 10 borrow.
SO, poet, shall II be with you.
IN 4 PANTHER'S Cave.
Twenty years ago, before the disap
pearanGe of the buffalo, and before the
power of the fighting tribes of indiana
was broken, white man could get al
most any sort OF adventure west o
Omaha at very early hour in themorn
ling. The Blue Mountain country o
Oregon, in which rise two ofthe branches
Of the Columbia River, was once n hun
ter's paradise, and it was there the Gin
namon and the grizzly bears grew the
largest and were always aching fora row
with some one. The first few white men
in there after pelts CHANGED so many
perils that it was almost a miracle il any
Of them got out alive. The Indians were
numerous and watchful, bears and pan
theirs as thick us mice in farm house,
and IN adventure OF some sort was sure
to occur daily.
| had been in bit OF cove or valley
on the eastern side OF the mountains for
ten or twelve days before | got anything
like a scare. II was within forty miles
Of the south line Of Washington Terri.
tory, and the country for hundred
miles around me was in the same savage
state as when Columbus discovered the
continent. The Indians were further
east, on the Snake river, or further west,
on the Columbia and its branches, and
only detached parties were to be feared.
While this was u great burden off my
mind, the bears and panthers were so
numerous that ! was in state OF con.
slant alarm through the day, and dared
not Shut both eyes to sleep ut night. l
had a pack and riding mule, and on
the first night OF my arrival, while |
had q bright fire burning, and the ami
mails were tethered within stones
throw, a panther sprang upon old Bob,
my riding mule, and olawed him in n
terrible way before / could get near
enough to settle him with bullet.
Three or four bears prowled around my
camp all night, and the screams of n
panther kept my eyes wide open until
daybreak. However, after / had thinned
out the colony by dozen or fifteen, the
varmints began to give me a rest.
On the tenth or eleventh day OF my
stay left camp at an early hour in the
morning loaded for bear. ! followed the
valley up for half u mile, and then
turned into ravine which was the bed
of creek during the melting OF the
SHOWS. 1t assembled very gradually, and
l had been following it for half an hour
when it took sharp bend to the right
At this point there was q hole in the
right hand cliff, and as l halted to look
ut it | wondered ii it was not the home
of some savage beast. | had moved on
about five hundred feet when grizzly,
which had been lying down among the
broken rocks, suddenly rose before me.
| was looking for his kind, but his ap.
pearance was so sudden and he showed
light so quickly that my heart was beat
ing altogether too iaSt as pulled up for
shot. II had to be snap shot, for
not more than thirty feet separated us.
Mine was single barrelled rifle, and |
also had a knife and revolver The bull.
let struck bruin in the left shoulder, and
he spun round dozen times like top.
/ was reloading when he got ready to
form closer acquaintance. He had
worked up the ravine and ! had wor ked
down, and we were now II hundred feet
apart. ! knew l could not finish load
ing before he reached me, aud there was
no other way but to run for it and
hope that he was too seriously wounded
to overtake me,
In those days l could run like n horse,
and | was accustomed 10 all sorts of
ground, but hadn't made ten jumps on
this occasion before my foot slipped on n
stone and | went down with crash.
Old Grizzly was within ten feet OF me
when got up, and pitched my rifle
into his face rs ! took n new start The
roar he made lifted me n foot high, and !
made dozen extraordinary leaps, but II
wasn't minute before realized that he
was holding his ground, If not gaining a
little. Not man can guess how far n
wounded and enraged beast will pursue
him. believe l could have kept clear
OF this bear down TO the mouth OF the
ravine, bpt II he pursued me far enough
he would be certain to Overtake me,
made up my mind rs l ran that ! would
try tho hole in the cliff. 1t was large
enough for me to enter, and might be
large enough for the bear, but once in
side could turn and use my revolver.
Old grizzly was hardly more than a rod
behind me when | pumped into the
hole and scrambled ahead on hands and
knees. Alter going in about ten feet the
hole turned to the left and narrowed
considerably, and seven or eight feet
further ON came to the end. As die
so nv hand encountered something sot
and furry, and there was hiss and {
spit that told me that u kitten panther
was present. felt all around me in thu
black darkness, but the kitten was tho
only living object. He was a little fel
low, not more than four or six week
old, but ready to bite and scratch II m!
fingers touched him.
The grizzly did not follow ut once int!
the cave. 1t was five minutes before
heard him working his way in, and b!
this time | had recovered my breatl
and nerve. ] was certain he could no
reach me within six feet, and was rathc
glad to hear him wheeling and snortini
Us he pulled himself along. By and b.
saw his eyes shine. He could come NJ
further. His claws dug at the rocks AM
his roars OF rage deafened me, but wa
safe. It was now my turn, and ] CAV
him two shots from the revolver whicl
caused him to redouble his roars Of rage
For about ten minutes | felt very guee
over the situation, but all OF sudden
struck me that had gained nothing b
the change. In place OF being fugitiv
| was prisoner. The bear showed NJ
disposition to retreat, and | now becam
aware OF the fact that the cave had
rank smell and that the body Of the bea
prevented the fresh air from entering
I felt that | must drive him out, and
| E.zI.,l AItsnr, a1r,nI V,nhFnP 4