The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1889-07-20
panther Of the East and South, and I

| Oe1S1ly UOi0 C1CA OOGIl WIN u Single
shot from my Winchester if they got in
range.
''They hesitated but an instant, few
seconds rather, then leaped the chan
mel OF the stream with catli!ze jumps,
and approached the elk which they
cautiously shifted with pointed noses.
re]oiced at the prospect of securing
two such magnificent cats.
Zone of them. the larger and a male,
came up 10 the!bait first, snuffed it over,
licked the fresh blood about the neck,
then with a sudden proprietary air he
mounted the carcass with his forefeet,
gave a satisfied purr, that sounded like
the muffled drumming of a partridge 8
wings. and switching his tail about
with a swapping motion at the end,
just as a cat with a fresh-caught mouse
| in her paws might have done.
1.-The female took her turn at licking
the bloody neck, and snarled her cat
pleasure at the prospect of gratuitous
feast. They did not seem to be in the
least hungry for they made no move to-
ward devouring, but after snuffing and
examining the game for bit. they sat
about scratching leaves and dirt over
it. with the evident intention of pre-
serving or hiding it for future use.
Thinking my time had now come,
L shifted my position carefully, and
brought my gun to bear upon them,
waiting only for an opportunity to
make one bullet kill or cripple them
both. as I feared that the unhurt one
would get out of sight before could
get a fair shot at it.
"Suddenly, the big one threw him
self upon the elk with hash snarl,
his hair raising on end, his ears laid
back, and his tail twitching viciously
as he lay at full length, his head turned
away from me, evidently watching
some object down the canyon. The
female too advanced nearly beside him,
her hair sticking out like bristles,
and her angry snarling was deeper and
more threatening than his.
Eat first could see nothing of the
intruder against which this fierce
threatening was launched, but 1 more
than suspected it's nature, and nv
excitement rose. Either another lion
or a bear was approaching, 1 felt GER
tain, and SO it proved; it was a grizzly,
and one of tho largest l had ever
seen!
"He reared himself suddenly out of
the bed of the little stream, only a few
yards from the lions, and the elk. He
had been travelling up the bed of the
creek-as bears often do in a shallow
stream and attracted by the snarls
OF the lions who had heard him COM
ing had emerged to see what the fuss
was about.
''Io my delight he took in the stu
alton at a glance, and without min
ute's hesitation he shambled toward
the belligerent cats, mingling his
hoarse growls with their savage snarl-
ings.
Il had heard that the mountain lion
would not run from a grizzly, but did
not believe it, and despite the fearful
threatening of the two before me, l
expected to see them give way as the
monstrous bear came up. Imagine
my establishment when as the grizzly
charged within leaping distance, both
OF the panthers sprang upon him in
stantly.
81. could not properly describe the
scene which followed; both brutes
bounced upon the grizzly tooth and
nail, and closed with him in such a
fury of savage outcries as made my
hair rise, and my whole body prickle
with intense excitement.
''The grizzly reared as the two ami
mails struck him; as he came up into a
sitting position upon his launches he
shook the female lion from his shoul-
der But the male lion held him by
the throat, his tawny body lay along
the BEARS belly, and his hind legs were
working with lightning-like speed and
strength.
1.-The bear opened his mouth wide,
and roared as he turned his head side
wise and downward, and strove to
catch his antagonists neck with his
teeth. He failed in his attempt, but at
the same moment he caught the lion S
body just below the shoulders in a
clutch of his terrible claws. which
seemed literally to fiatten the animal
between them.
The lion relaxed his hold of the
BEARS neck, threw back his head, and
sought to writhe loose from the BEAR
1t would have gone hard with him, had
not the female lion by desperate
spring fastened herself so strongly upon
the back of the BEARS neck that he was
forced to drop the male and turn to
her.
"Over and over they rolled about
the elk carcass. They clawed, bit and
tore at each other with deep, muffled
snarls and growls. Sometimes the bear
was on top of a lion, and again both
lions were on top of him.
THE grizzly would gather one OF
them suddenly in his huge forearms,
bear it down upon the ground in the
effort to crush and bite the life out OF
it, then feeling the teeth of the other,
which would invariably seize upon the
back of his neck, the Infatuated mon.
ster would loose his hold. and whir]
upon that one-~ IL
''Soon, in one Of these whirls, he
caught the smaller lion. and gave her
such terrible bite before the males
| atkack-which was from hehind os