The Arizona champion., 1890-09-06
AN HEROIC MOTHER.
How ske BraveIy SaveI Her Child from
 tho Jaws of n Panther.

! A1OW CAo HsEaNely shcA hiVAn tho Jaws of n Panther.
 Mrs. Frances Darlyng, of Fort Pierre,
 Fla, is a native of Kansas, but her ex- | ploits here with the gun and rod have proved that she Is we'll fitted for frontier life. She is great fisherwoman, and equally proficient with the gun. A few
 weeks ago she killed big panther | here, under most exciting circum- stances. Near their house flows a small creek, and near it is fixed the ] wash-house. Rig trees surround and hang over It. making it cool and de { lightful in the hottest day. OD this day Mrs. Darlyng's servant girl was do-
 ing the weeks washing there and with her was Mrs. Darlyng's youngest daugh- ter, baby of two years.
 The mother was at the house doing some work, when all at once she heard terrible scream from the colored girl, followed by shrill cries from her baby. Snatching up Q Winchester that hung up beside the door, the alarmed mother darted toward the creek. As she reached 1t she heard a loud cry or unearthly yell, that she recognized too well as the tones of an enraged panther.
 The scene that she beheld as she emerged upon the creeks bank will never be effaced from her memory. Seated under long, low, branching limb of a water oak was her child, looking up into the tree and crying piteously. The servant girl was lying down near by, her head buried in her apron, almost dead with fright. The mothers quick eye glanced up in the tree, and there encountered the fierce eyes and snarling face of 0 huge panther, that crouched low on it's belly on the limb, eyeing the child be- low, ever and anon licking its chops at the prospective feast before 1t
 The mothers nerves grew as steel, at the peril of her beloved child, and she raised the gun to her shoulder, and with steady aim pulled the trigger. A hor- long yellow body shot swiftly down. ward. The huge beast had leaped the moment she had fired, but the rifle-ball had changed it's course, so that 1t alighted several feet from the child. It landed on the ground, rolled over several times and then rose up and faced the undaunted woman, its yellow fangs showing as it snarled and yelled with rage and pain.
 Slowly advancing toward the heroic mother, the big cat snarled necessarily and its tail switched from side to side, its rage increasing all the while. When within dozen feet it gathered itself together and sprang upon the woman. She pulled the trigger, but the cartridge failed to explode. Stunned for mo- ment at this mischance, the brave woman never for an instant lost her wits. Springing forward she grasped the big dipper used for drinking water, and standing beside the big kettle that was filled with boiling water, she ladled it out freely and dashed il in the face of her ferocious assailant. This weakened the cat, and it fell back, rolling over and over in its agony, as the water was scalding hot
 Mrs. Darlying continued to dash on the hot water and finally the panther, with a baffied cry of pain and rage, hastily scrambled up a low tree near by. Then woman's pluck showed itself. Reaching for her rife, she examined the cartridges carefully, and taking good aim at the yellow, furry body amid the leaves above her, fired three shots as rapidly as possible. The panther tumbled down in a hurry, and with one long waul gave up the ghost.
 Drs. Darlyng clasped her child to her bosom, and ran swiftly to the house, where she fell in faint on the door step. Her husband, an hour later, on his return from the post-offioe, found her just sitting up, the baby batting her mothers cheeks and saying: Me man. ma dood-she it big kitty" The panther was skinned, and it's pelt now adorns Mrs. Darlyng's cosy little sit ting-room as reminder of the bravery that saved her child's life.-St Louis Globe Democrat