The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1888-08-23

/ tHat tOIu me IAdt kitten pan lucE W IL
present. l felt all arouad me in the
black darkness, but the kitten was the
only living object. He was little fcl-
low, Il OF more than four or six weeks
old, but ready to bite aud scratch if my
fingers touched him.
The grizzly did not follow at once
into the cave. 1t was five minutes be-
foro l heard him working his way
in, and by this time I had re-
covered by breath and nerve. 1 was
certain he could not reach me within
six feet, aud 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 and his roars
of rage deatencd me, but was safe. 1t
was now my turn, and l gave him two
shots from the revolver which caused
him to red oublc his roars Of rage. For
about ten minutes | felt very queer
over the situation, but all Of sudden it
struck me tn t had gained nothing by
the change. In place Of being a fugi-
tive was a prisoner. The bear showed
no disposition to retreat, and I now be-
came aware Of the fact that the cave had
a rank smell and that the body Of the
bear prevented the fresh air from enter
ing. l felt that l must drive him out,
and Ibid a very foolish thing. l edged
nearer to him and put four bullets into
his head, and after long-drawn moan
he closed his eyes and died. l congrat-
ulatcd myself for a moment, but then it
dawned upon me that | had chokei up
the passage to liberty with the carcass
of bear wei hing at least 600 pounds.
I thought might be able to push it be-
fore me, but when l made the attempt
l 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 moment moro realized
that the mother Of the cub panther had
arrived. 1t was we'll for me that the
body of tho bear blocked the entrance
The panther went will with fury when
her kitten began to clI She bit and
c!awed at the bear, and by great effort
pulled it back a few inches. Had not
the space been so contracted she could
probably have drawn it out, but she did
not have a fair show to use her strength.
Hyr eyes looked at me over the body of
the bear, and if one ever saw fury it was
in those orbs. [ Gevo her n couple of
shots, hoping to drive her eff. I think
I wounded her In the head, for she set
up a terrible screaming and ran out,
but in two or three minutes she was
back again with more fury thaa ever.
l now pushed her kitten forward, hop
ing she would be appea5ed at its restor-
alton. 1t climbed over the bear and
reached her, and she took it in her
mouth and backed out. [ was pleased
man over this result, for tho cave was
as hot as an oven, smelled power rluIly
stout of panthers, and the powder smoke
almost stifled me. Being a bit ratified
had brought on an intense thirst,
and l felt that I had got to
do something pretty soon or
suffocate. Pretty soon I crept for
ward, and began pushing at the big
carcass, but had not been engaged over
two or three minutes when the panther
returned. She had carried her kitten
to place of safety, and was now bent
on revenge. She realized that the
carcass must be got out of the way be-
fore she could come at me, and had l
not seized the grizzly by the ear and
hung on she would have pulled the
body out of the cave. She hung to it
for half an hour before she quit the
job, and then she retired in a way
which left no doubt that she woul d
watch at the entrance.
When the panther had gone I struck
match and looked at my watch. 1t
was nearly n oon, and / was really suffer
ing for water. There was a damp spot
on the rocks over my head, and
licked it with nay tongue and in that
way got some relief, but l would have
traded my whole outfit for one glass
of cool water. I felt that I was in q
bad box, and as is generally the
case in such instances, I thought
of every way out of it but the easiest
one. / reloaded my revolver and
planned to wait until the panther would
leave the nsighbOrhOod, but about
o'clock l suspected, from the move
ments in the tunnel, that the one l 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, il
was no advantage to them. They took
turns tugging at the carcass of the bear
and the new conner would have dragged
it out in short order but for my inter,
ference. There was a space of about
six inches between the body and the
roof Of the tunnel, and, thou n the
fumes of the powder almost choked me,
chOve1 my ravO1var q IOo ~ I10f7 closo