The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-10-12

and the powder snlphe diiiVst IN ny
Being a bit ratified had brought on an IN
tense thirst, anu | felt that had got
to do something pretty soon or s~uifoeate.
Pretty soon | crept forward, and began
pushing at the great carcass, but had not
been engaged over two or three minutes
when the panther returned. She had car
ried her kitten 10 a place of SAFETY, and
was now bent OH revenge.
She realized that the carcass must he
got out of the way before She could come
at me. and had / not seized the grizzly by
the ears ms hung on She would have
pulled the body out of the cave. She
hung to it for half an llour before she
quit the job, and then she retired in a
way which left no Doubt that She would
watch at the entrance.
When the panther had gone / struck a
match and looked Mt my watch. It was
nearly noon. and / was really suffering
for water. There was a damp spot on
the rocks over my head, and ! licked it
with my tongue and in that way got
some relief, but I would have traded my
whole outfit that day for one glass of cool
water. l felt that l was in "a bad box,
and as is generally the case in such in
stances, l thought of every way out of it,
but the easiest one
Ireloaded my revolver, and planned TO
wait until the panther would leave the
neichborhood, but about , O'Clock / sus-
pected from the movements inthe tunnel,
that the one | had encountered had
hunted up her mate and brought him to
the front. Such soon proved to. be the
fact, but as only one could enter the place
at a time, it was no advantage to them.
MI $780, ,,ar- 80 - 2 he 10 no. Q = Of
the bear, and the new conner would have
dragged it out in short order but for my
interference
There was a space Of about six inches
between the body and the roof of the
tunnel, and, though the fumes of the
powder almost choked me, / showed my
revolver along until close to the panther,
and then pat two bullets into him. He
let go his hold and then backed out, and
the way he did rave up and down that
ravine made my hair stand.
| had wounded both, and neither of
them ventured into the place again. For
about an hour I heard them growing and
snarling outside, and every click of their
claws on the rocks was plainly audible,
but by and by they gave it up as a bad
job and went away.
1t was now ClpSt To . . CAOCh. anu heHG
at the carcass with the determination to
push ii before me. 1t was too late; the
limbs had stiffened like sticks, and the
feet caught at every inequality and resis-
ted my efforts. There l was, a man of so,
q giant in strength, a born hunter and
Indian fighter. penned up like a rat and
just as helpless.
1t came to me, even with all that meat
before me, that / was doomed to die of
hunger, and it was only as the sun had al
most been lost sight of outside that COM
mon sense returned to my aid. The way
20 rid myself of that carcass was to cut il
up. It ought to have occurred to me at
the very outset, but the race and close
pursuit had upset me.
l had a stout hunting knife, and ] had
Just begun work on the bearwhen heard
the voices of Indians outside. l also
heard them inside. for one of the fellows
crept into tie tunnel a few feet and
shouted IN his own language tc his friends
outside:
st smells very strong Of bear in here,
but the beast doesn't seem to be at
home"
He backed out after finging several
missiles at the rear of the cave, and from
the voices and movements / was satisfied
that it was a hunting psrty numbering
eight or ten persons. They sat down
right there for the night and built acamp
fire, which reflected right into the mouth
of the tunnel, and kept their chatter
g-going until nearly midnight.
r. They had three or four dogs with them,
and the miserable ours took turns at
sticking their heads into the opening and
trying to raise an alarm. One of the In
dians encouraged his dog to enter, and
the animal came almost to the dead bear,
and raised such q fuss that had the red
men been the least suspicious they would
have investigated. did not get n wink
OF sleep that long night, and was a thank
full man to hear the Indians move of in
the morning about sunrise.
They had no sooner departed than l fell
to work upon the bear, and in the course
Of half an hour had cut him uD so that l
could squeeze out.
As the Indians had gone down the "a
vine from the mountain l expected that
they would discover my camp and lie in
ambush for me. There was also a likeli-
hood that the wild beasts had killed both
mules during the night.
Luck was with me, however. The In
dams crossed the valley too high up to
discover my camp, and l found the mules
safe and sound.
That afternoon, as [ was looking after
some traps set on a creek about q mile
from camp, l found Il panther dead in a
thicket. He was an enormous fellow and
had two bullet wounds, and it did not
need much cogitating to conyince me that
he was the male Of the pair which sought
to get at me in the cave.
One OF the bullets had gone square into
his head, and almost any other animal
would nave died at once, but he had not
only survived it for two or three hours,
but had Travelled a long five miles from
the cave.
THE KING COLOR.