Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-01-19
An Early Morning Adventure.


An Early Morning Adventure.
bout three wears ago two young
men. Walter Robbins and John BEN
net, operatives in Lynn shoe factory,
finding themselves unable TO save up
much money by their work, and DIES
pairing of getting ahead much at the
east, turneG al their possessions into
cash went out to - yoming territory.
and embarked in the business of sheep
farming. "hcy located on one of the
tributary creeks of the North Platte
river. at the foot of the mountains.
Very early one morning, not long
ago, they slaughtered fat sheep and
hung it up to the limb of pine tree,
few yards away from the door of their
shack, or slab house Then while
Robbins dressed the sheep, Bennett
proceeded to get breakfast, and fried a
mess of the fresh sleeps liver.
Breakfa being ready about the time
that Robbins finished his task, his part
ner called him in. and they sat down at
taole inside TO eat While they were
thds agreeably occupied, they were
suddenly disturbed by the cracking of
the pine boughS, and heard thud, as
or some heavy body falling to the earth.
They rose hastily from the table and
stepped to the door, and were astonish-
ed by the sight of large tawny- colOred
animal, making off with their mutton!
1t was mountain lion which had
come boldly up to the shack while they
were eating, and lcaping among the
branches where the carcass hung, had
broken them down and secured the en-
tire sheep!
After one hasty glance, they both
turne to snatch down their "Winches-
ters," and Robbins, getting out little
ahead fired several shots at the creature
as it loped off up the narrow valley of
the creek But the active movements
Of the animal, notwithstanding the
weight of mutton it was carrying, pre-
vented him from getting a good aim,
and he failed to touch the creature
The lion kept its course up the canon
Tor several hundred yards, and then
disappeared in one of the deep. narrow
gulches or draws that open out into the
creek valley.
"He's gone into that drawn said
Walter, eXcitedly Now we'll get him
if he hasn't got deep den in there.
You 90 round on top of the hill, to the
head of the draw, John, and III 90 into
he draw; and if 1 don't shoot hiri in
.here, you'll get a good shot as he
comes out
"nll right" said Bennett, "but be
sure and leave me time enough to make
The head of the draw.
Gun in hand the two men started at
run. Bennett went up over the bluffs,
md Robbins hurried up the bed of the
gulch
Walter soon reached the entrance to
The draw which was merely q deep.
70 ,kv notch, thickly grown TO buffalo
berry bushes and stunted pines. Here
he waited, until he thought Bennett
must surely have reached the head of
The draw, though, owing to sharp
curve in the ravine, which prevented
him from seeing. he was not able to
determine the fact de then started
hurriedly up the narrow, bush-grown
waterway, at the bottom, holding his
rifle in readiness for scot
He soon found himself entering a
gloomy, potket-like rayine, with sides
rough, steep and forbidding. He after
wards admitted that he knew it to be q
rash undertaking, but he was deter
mined TO have satisfaction for that
mutton and pushed on with more haste
than prudence, scrambling over bould-
ers that lay in the bed of the waterway,
and forcing a passage through thickets
of brush that overhung it. All the
time, too, he kept a sharp lookout for
the panther which he expected to startle
out of its hiding place by the noise of
his approach.
He did start the creature presently,
and knew that he was on its trail; for
upon several of the big rocks which lay
at the bottom he discovered traces of
blood where the fresh carcass had been
dragged over them.
A moment later he came to a sharp
curve in the gulch, formed by point
of rocks jutting out into it. Here the
water-bed suddenly widened to plat
of hard earth, overhung and darkened
on one side by low, beetling ledge of
red rocks, and shut out on the other by
b-ushy slope, so steep and ragged
that man would have found it difficult
to climb.
The sun was not yet very high, and
the whole gulch was still in shadow; so
that although Walter had now brought
himself face to face with the panther,
he was first made aware of its presence
by low snarling that came from tho
base Of the projecting ledge.