Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-01-15
THE MOUNTAIN LION.
AN OLD HUNTER TELLS
HOW HE LOST HIS DOG.
Carried OF II Girl---A Tragedy
Witnessed While Too Far OH
20 Render Assistance.
New York Herald

the tfali out Oh hlSnCu'Ni
the papers don't seem to hear OF very |
often. They print heap 0 stun about
grizzly bars and rattlesnakes, but this
here critter I'm speaking Of is wussn
bar, and snakes rolled together.
"What animal DO you refer to-
asked. -
"What they calls the mountain hon.
sir. He haint no lion. Hes nail non
and half panther, with q blg sprinkle OF (
mineral cu.sedness throwed 10 to make T
him liver than Injun and ugller than
mad wolf. Cum around on the other
side Of this cavusc aud notice that claw 4
u.rk. Look 1T the scars on his rump
Them WAS made bya mountain hon, and
nj the same time he hlt tire" 20 the
bone Of nv right shoulder amt cia"ed .
most Of the clothes and hide OF n me.
II lest starts the sweat when think Of
it"
Coon. Pm interested.
GOT TIE DOC.
81 had some boss stock in valley
along the Hcllgate river, a hundred
miles 10 the south Of this, with a rarI.-
rer named Jim Hope. One night while
I was l,in' in the tent aud jan was
raa7iu' novel hv the fire outside our
dog began 10 GrowL he nadn got MS
crow ont afore somcthlu' cum ont OIL
the darkness with screech - RAISE yer
hair. III down on the ground between
Jim and the dog, and the next minute
both war gone. don't mean jim, hut
the dog and the scmethIn', and l can
tell Won that somcthin WAS a thumpIn
big mountain lion lie was AFTER that
dog and he got him, and he was thar
clus to Jim that he knocked ms hat OH
os lac switched his tail around. IL was
dun So quick that we couldn't realize
what had happened. jim picks mp his
lat and looks all around aud says
"'rom, did somethin' happen yst
now. or was asleep and dreamln' that
crittcr screechcd ont
"' Wher's the dog? says /.
burned if be haint gone !
80 What took him ?
"'Bust me if ] kin tell
prrrrY GOOD JUMP.
4" But we fggered it ont after a while,
and We didn't feel a bit easy over 1t.
We conld tel that be was n bold critter
TO almost Jump into the fire to seize the
doc. and If he was hangin' around the
nayborhood we'd hev to keep our eyes
peeled We planned to hev hunt for
| him next day, end soon arter breakfast
Tom went mp the river and down, both
on hossback and Lceled fur bizness. Az
about 10 O'Clock got into an old tran
| between the river md a chain o hills.
| The trail was rough and full OF turns
and ] war list wiudin around n mass OF
rocks and bushes when a wild screech
lifted me in INV stirrups and that burned
mountain hon lit on the hOssat my back.
Jim and me aiterward prospectod around
with a line, and We fiGgered that he
made a spring of twenty-five feet III the
clear.
"Tm telling Won, mister man, that
| a hundred lujuns, every one racln' tight
arter me ana yelHn' funny life, wouldn't
have upset me the way that critter did.
! 1t was all over Ia a minute. The boss
| iumped me outer the saddle and run of
and nv tumble seemed TO skeer the var
mint into maxim of into the bushes.
He worked mighty fast durin' the few
seconds he had. I've got ten claw
marks on my back and side and leg, and
the way he bit into my shoulder would
hev made We think he was uncommon
hungry fur breakfast.
ALUCKY SHOT.
"Were you able to return TO campo"
l inquired.
&" walked some and crawled some,
and finally got thar TO be laid up for a
month" he replied. owe thought the
boss would die, fur sure, but ne some
how pulled along. II was six or seven
months before the clawmarks on him
| healed up. and he won't never be the
boss he was before that.
CARRIED OFF BY LION.
OH tell We what l saw with my own
eyes down in Cold-Spring Valley, be-
| vond Emmettsburg, be continued, rs |
pressed him for another incident Thar
WIS party campin' out thar--a party
of about twenty men and women. l
cant list remember whar' they was from,
! but back IN the States sumwhar'. They
was huntn' and fshin' and heyin' hap
pv time, and had bin thar ten days
when | went up into the hills west of
'em to look fur an old claim / had got
! track Of
"Bimeby / cum ont on q spot whar |
could look down and see four or five
| Of the campers tishin' in q creek fur
trout. The highest ones to me was two
young gals. | could see 'em, plain as
day, though I guess they was a good two
miles off. l sot down on q stun 20 rest,
and waz kinder wonderin' if gals had any
luck in fishin', when | suddenly seen Il
sight which made my ha'r curl. II was
one o them mountain lions stalkin' the
gal highest to me. He'd crept out of
thicket, and was skulkin' ford jest like
you've seen a cat DO. He'd twist and
dodge and shelter himself behlud every
stone and bush, and she was stshIn
away and perhaps singin' to herself.
"And you were helpless
81 was. and you DON'T know what nm
awful feelin' it gin me. | fired my Win
chester as fast as | could pull trigger,
hopin' the reports might be heard down
thar and skeer the varmint off or bring
one of the men TO the rescue, but the
wind was agin me. also yelled at the
top Of my voice and waved my hat, hut
it was no good. Jest had to stand thar
and see that critter creepin' higher and
higher, and know that the gal hadn't a
chance in hundred. Mebbe. if she'd
hev turned her face, or started and walk
ed off, or dun sumthin' sort o sudden
like the lion would hev been skeered of,
but she didn't.
II saw the beast make two jumps
from behind a rock and seize her. !
don't think she even cried out, because
none of the rest of 'em heard a sound.
| watched and saw him drag the body
off into a thicket and then l started
down. You kin bet thar was an awful
time when l got to them and told them
what had seen. We went to the thicket
and routed out the lion and got the poor
gals body. lie hadn't started into eat 1t
yit, perhaps not being very hungry, but
he'd mighty nigh torn the head off in
draggin it along. He got away afore We