The morning call., 1892-01-25
MEETING A PANTHER.
4 Terrifying Encounter in q
Lonely Mountain Path.

81 never see a panther" said a man at
the Central Park menagerc,' to a New
York Tribune reporter. but have a creep
ing sensation OF fear, brought about by a
frigh, which one of these brutes gave ne in
the Wiids Of the Adjrondacks one night
some years ago.
There were FIVE Of rs in all, camping in
the woods near the Indian Pass. 1t was
about as wild a section Of country as could
De found 10 any part # the mouutlins, and
the NEST beautiful scenery I ever expected
10 see We all took our turn at doing the
camp drudsery, which consisted Of cooking,
washing pots and kettles and keeping the
IRE going It was mean work, but it had to
be done. I had been doing camp duty all
that day, While the rest Of the boys were
of huutng OF fishing.
When evening came / took the little tin
pail and started down The mountain 10
little farmhouse about a mile away. Il
grows dark sooner in the mountains than on
tae level, aud by the time / had reached the
farmhouse the twilight had changed 10
night and q bright full moon was just rjs-
ing over the top of a neigl boring peak. The
road or path to tie camp had been cut
through the forest some years before by
party OF Iro,ueCtars who imagined that
they had struck a rich vein Of iron ore but
i1r some reason they had abandoned the
place and only a huge hole in the mountain
side and a tuWb.e-dOWu log shanty were
left TO give evidence that the place had
once been visited by q white man.
The path up the mountain was lighted
here and there with bright patches Of moon
light and the shadows between them we're
black and threatening. Everything around
me was IS stu as death. / could hear my
own breathing and the tread Of my foot
steps was TIE oniy sound which broke the
silence which Ur0Odad thick and heavy.
aver everything around and about me-
EueTy time / entered one of the black shad-
OWs a feeling Of nervous apprehension
would come over me, which grew worse as
l advanced. By the time / got half way up
the mountain my surroundings had worked
upon my imagination until every tree and
rock seemed alive and eXpectaut or listen
ening Tor something which was 10 come
And 1t djd come. An awful veil half
human aud half UnearthIy, like the terrified
child, pierced the still night air and sent
the cold chlIls in leapfrog gambols up and
down my spinal column. It was the most
uuearthy sSund / ever heard, and has
haunted me more or less ever since.
1T seemed to come from a clump of pine
trees just In front Of me, ana scared me so
badly that ! stood frozen 30 the spot. ]
could not move q muscle for a minute,
though it seemed an eternity. NV heart
pounded nv IibS until / could plainly hear
the beats ! grew faint aui cold. l knew
lnStincJvely what 10 was. ! stood there on
a lonely mountain alone and az night with
n mountain panther on my trail ready TO
spring up0n me al any moment. / had not
even iaCk-kuife 60 defend myself with A
thousand thoughts rushed into my head and
out again | tried 10 think Of tho many
ways and means by which the bruiser heroes
Of the dime novels had Surreptiti)usly read
managed 20 get out OF similar difficulties,
but none Of them seemed applicable to Just
the peculiar situation ! was in at that mo-
ment, There was always some element in
their favor which was totally wanting
in mine II it had been daylight l
would have felt easier. l could have
seen the brute at least and might
have had a chance to dodge. But
no; it was dark as Egypt. / don't know
why l did it, but / stopped down and felt
around on the ground until my hand struck
a loose stone, and ! threw II into the black
shadow in front Of me. That movement
gave me the self-pOsSessi0n ! needed. for 1
felt relief from the friEhtfully nervous
tension to which l had been subjected a mo-
uent before.
Il heard a crashing, scrambling sound :,
accompanied with suppressed snaTllng
ErOwl, and a long yellow streak Il lshed
across the light spot just beyond the dark
shadow. Our old cat at home had taught
me a lesson in cat ethics which | am salts
fed served me good turn at that time
The brute was irving to get behind me aud
make his spring from the rear. A eat never
likes TO face man when he springs, and |
felt that if / could keep him in front of me
he oud delay his attack until my shouts
could be heard by the boys at the camp.
little further up the mountain, and give
them a warning OF my danger.
! moved on, gathering stones and sticks
at every open spot on the path where |
could see, and kept up a continuous racket
and shouting. | saw tho panther several
times leap across the path and always in
front Of me. / finally reached the little
clearing where the camp was pitched, and
found the boys preparing, in a half-scared
way. 10 come to my rescue.
w hen l reached the fire and knew hat
l was safe, lost no time in faintng away
IN the most approved style. Well, we
didn't sleep any that night, but at the first
streak Of daylight we gathered M our trans
and started down the mountain to the farm
house and told our story. They had heard
the yell Of the night before, and were
already making preparations to hunt the
brute.
I'VE refused pressing invitation 20 Join
the hunting party. We had enough of cats
and preferred TO stay where we were.
Toward the close OF the afternoon we heard
the report OF rifle several times and Just
at dusk We saw the men returning with
something stretched on a pole slung upon
the shoulders OF two of them.
1T was the cat which had pursued me
the night before, ana be was an ugly look
ing brute. lie was a full-gr0wn male with
a savage black face. One Of the men had
the tin pail IN his hand, which he had
picked up on the mountain. The milk was
still IN 1t with nice layer OF thick cream
on top"