Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-09-17
IN A PANTHERH JAWS.
ADVENTURE IN A
TExA6 WOOD, .
The sreepins Babe Torn Fro M II.
ust,,er,p nxoAAe-IAe Little One.
Father to th> Hescac> ana Thon
ro,loyyed Q Fight to the Deatll.

They still have good story-tellers in
.roxas some tell little lies and Others
,all lies Of larger proportion, but a St .
f'o,,is paper vouchea for the veracity Of
Us one. He was ono Of party at the
Rel cod house. Dallas, recently. Every.
hnfy opened their eyes wider when
h, said that no was no great story
lien But" tlo continued, Il once
did pre- ty bit Of shooting not very
IN, from where We arc talking now
that Just about saved my life, and pos
sin,y some other lives, too
The gentleman, who is old, but
never prosy. Immediately had an lu-
terestod audience.
Il am pretty quiet citizen now
.sbut about forty years ago was
lively enough. People had to Do lively
that lived in this country then. 1
hunted all up and down the Trinity for
q good many miles, and never came
back from one Of my trips without
game
But on one of these trips I came
mighty near being game myself when
! came home. Dallas wasn't anything
but little scattering hamlet then. /
lived on IL farm out here about ten
niles on the other side of the river,
uad used to come here to mill, leuve
nv wagons over on the other side,
where Oak Cliff now is, and bring my
corn over in boat. Sometimes 1t took
us a week, for so many wonld be ahead
OF us, and wo would have to wait till
our turn came.
lone time came with one wagon,
and brought my wife and two babies
with me. We canped over there, just
about where the dummy line strikes
the hills, and after the first day my
wife got tired of town and stayed ut
the camp with tho children. She never
was much of hand for town. anyway
II waited around thu mill all the first
day, and the second and third. On the
evening Of the third day l was pretty
late getting off from town, and could
scarcely see my way to the camp after
got across the river.
The moon had just risen and it made
every thiag vague and indistinct. | was
getting along. though, the best could
and was about 100 yards from the
camp, l should iude when heard one
long, wild scream in the direction of
the camp and knew that it was nay
wife. J had my gun with me, an old
fashioned, muzzle-loading, double bar
relied shot gun, and I Lit ont as though
the Old Nick were after me, shouting
t. her that l was coming. My only
thought was that some ruf1ian had
stolen into the camp and frightened
her, and cooked the gun Us l ra.A.
After her scream there was silence
and then directly I heard the loud,
frightened cry Of the baby. My, how
did run. My foot caught in a root
and I fell fully ten feet. dischargine
one barrel of the gun, bnt was uI
again like flash, with one barrel still
eft to fight with.
And there was the camp, with its fire
smoking away, and everything was
quiet in the wagon, where the family
were sleeping, and off in clump o
bushes the baby was crying in a pitiful
frightened way. OF course ran il
that direction first. 1t was a tangle o
underground, and l had to g
half bent. Stumbling blind.
ahead, almost in total dark
ness, merely guided by the child
cries, l came suddenly upon some
thing that stopped me as though wa
shot. The largest panther l ever say
had the child! 1t had dragged tn
poor baby out into the bushes, and ha
faced around to meet me, holding tn
child by the dress. 1t stood for an in
slant with its head lowered and it
tail waving wickedly, and then, befor
knew l had seen it almost, it droppe
the baby and sprang over its body W