The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-04-28
,auty was completely soothed ana

porous Dcduty was Coulpleeciy SoOtutO anu
| iulled
When he felt sure that he had perfectly
subdued the ferocity of his capricious COM
| panion, whose hunger had been satisfied SO
cruelty the night before he got up to leave
| the grotto. The panther let him go, but
| when he had climbed the hill she came
bounding after him with the lightness of a
sparrow hopping from branch to branch,
| and rubbed herself against the soldiers leg,
arching her back after the fashion of cat
Then looking at her guest with eyes whose
brightness had grown less infexible, she
uttered that savage cry which naturalists
have compared to the sound of a saw.
What an exacting beauty" cried the
Frenchman, smiling He set himself to
play with her ears, to caress her body and
to scratch her head hard with his nails
Then, growing holder with success, be
tickled her skull with the point of his dag
ger, watching for the spot to strike her
But the hardness of the bones made him
afraid Of failing.
The sultana of the desert approved the
action of her slave by raising her head,
stretching her neck and showing her de-
light by the quietness of her attitude. The
Frenchman suddenly reflected that in order
to assassinate this fierce princess with one
blow he need only stab her in the neck
He had Just raised his knife for the attempt
when the panther, with a graceful action,
threw herself upon the ground before his
feet. casting on him from time to time a
look in which, in spite of its ferocity of
nature, there was a CLEAN of tenderness.
The poor Provencal. with his back
against palm tree, ate his dates, while
he cast inquiriug glances. now toward the
desert for deliverers now upon his terrible
companion, to keep an eye upon her du-
bious clemeucy. Every time be threw
away date stone the panther fixed her
eyes upon the spot with inconceivable mis-
trust. She scrutinized the Frenchman
with businesslike attention, but the eX-
animation seemed favorable, for when he
finished his poor meal she licked his boots,
and with her rough, strong tongue re-
moved the dust incrusted IL their creases.
But when she becomes hungry"
thought the Provencal
Despite the shudder this idea caused him,
the soldier began examining with curiosity
the proportions OF the panther. certainly
one of the most beautiful specimens OK her
kind. She was three feet high and four
feet long, without the tail. This powerful
weapon, as round as club, was nearly
three feet long. The head-as large as that
of a lioness-was distinguished by sn ex-
preston Of rare delicacy; true, the cold
cruelty of the tiger dominated, but there
was also q resemblance TO the features OF s
willy woman. In word. the countenance
of the solitary queen wore at this moment
an expression of fierce gayety, like that of
Ner,1 Hushed with wine: she had Quenchel
her thirst in blood and now desired TO play.
The soldier tried 70 come and 90, and the
panther let him, content 20 follow him
with her ewes. but less after the manner OF
8 faithful dog than OF q great Angora cat,
suspicious even of the movements OF its
master When he turned round he saw
beside the fountain the carcass OF his
horse; the panther had dragged the body
all that distance About two-thirds had |
hasn d.raurai This sight nAsssur.ad tAa |