The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-07-05
A PANTHER'S LAST LEAP.
A Woman's Lifs savsi By a Good Eye
and Sharp Shooting

|rsr<- . 81 = SA"A 6uVUb1uS ~ -
An Adirondack Guide Relates a City Man,
Exploit In the North Woods, in the state
. New .York-Big Game for q Revolver.
Here is a story. which I took down
from the lips of one of the oldest guides
in the North Adirondack region the
other day.
The best marksman I ever saw in
st. Lawrence county was a Buffalo
man named Birgin, who came here q
few years ago with his wife, who was
an invalid. She was threatened with
consumption, and the doctors had ad-
vised her to try the air of the noun
talns. Birgin had a neat log cabin
I built about two miles in from here,
early in the spring, and when he had
furnished 1t handsomely he moved in
with his wife and two servants. He
seemed to have plenty of money and
didn't have anything to do but take
a r Of, his wife and sketch and write
a little and practice shooting with a
revolver. He didn't seem to care much
for hunting, and Idon't think I ever
saw him use a rifle.
Il never. could see why. he practiced
so much, for he could hit everything
| within range that he could see. I
have known a good many crack shots
and seen a deal. of close shooting in
my time, but this city mar beat them
all. He didn't use any of these new
tangled pistols, but always practiced
with a. rather. old-fashioned looking
Colts revolver. He always said he
hated to kill anything. He shot to
kill before he left the woods, though.
II was not very busy in the spring
and early summer and I went around
with Birgin a good deal. Like every
stranger, he was afraid of the woods
and he paid we'll for anything that
looked like work.
"When l had nothing particular to do
/ used to stroll over to Birgin's cabin
along in the forenoon. when the wealth
er was fine Then, as, his wife contin-
ued TO improve, l would take them
farther and farther into the woods;
each time in a new direction. On
these trips always carried my double
barreled muzzle-loading shotgun; and
it's worth three OF any breech-loaders
I aver handled. In the left barrel 1
always had a heavy charge of powder
and buckshot, and in the other barrel
/ a charge of fine bird shot.
zone afternoon my boy, who was
then a lad of is, had been out with
my shotgun. He. came home at
night a good deal excited. He had
met some OF the boys and they had
told him about a panther that had
been seen and heard in the neighbour
hood. He talked so much about the
panther that he forgot to tell me he
had fred the charge iol buckshot and
left both barrels of the gun loaded
with bird shot.
Il didn't take any stock in the
story about the panther and thought
the boys had been trying to scare the
lad. had never seen a live panther,
and never expected to see one, at least
about here. l thought SO little about
it that l didn't mention the matter to
the Birgin people.
THE next morning I took my shot
gun and went over 10 the cabin. Mrs.
Birgin was feeling stronger than usual
that morning, and we walked a long
way from the cabin One of. the serv-
ants went with us and carried a big
basket of provisions. We camped for
lunch in a pretty little ravine. After
lun CHI Birgin and myself crossed the
ravine and left the, women sitting on
the bank. 'Birgin had his revolver in
his belt, as usual and began hammer.
ing on a rock looking for specimens.
and I sat looking o I. with my gun
over my knees.
"Suddenly I heard a stir in the un.
derbrush IN the other side of the ra'
vine. I turned my head and you car
imagine how / felt when I saw a full
grown male psnther. only a few feet
back Of where the women sat. It had
probably beou attracted by the smell
OF the provisions, and was making OBJ
servations. - r
Il confess / lost my head a little, as
I was not hunting for p~anthers. My
first thought was to give the panther
"a dose of buckshot, and l took quick
aim and let go my left barrel, owe the
heads Of the women. / know by the
light recoil that something was the
matter with the load, but l could not
understand it. I sent the other charge
instinctively. The panther was less
than a. hundred feet away.
You a imagine the effect of the
bird shot 10 the face of a robust and
hungry panther 1t simply maddened
him. The beast prepared to spring
upon the women, but I could do moth
ing with only an empty shot gun. At
my first shot Mrs. Birgin had turned
and caught sight OF the panther just
above her and fell in a.dead faint.
stThe huge beast made the spring,
but went wide OF his mark and rolled
down the bank to the bottom Of the
little ravine. Birgin had been equal
to the. emergency. He sprang up in
stantly when / shot, and. drawing his