The Portland daily press., 1893-09-22

the walls, and the only relief to the large
blank spaces was the shining brass cruel
fix. It seemed to be looking at me while
l was looking about the rooms and stir
ring the fire, which was necessary be-
cause the place is high and the nights
are cold.
sit must have been about midnight
when [ blew out the candle and got into
bed. Oh, how cold the sheets were. 1t
made me feel as if was getting into
coffin. But it did not make much differ
ence, and waa soon doing off, but was
too tired to go to sleep at opce.
'As I lay there it seemedSto me l saw
a pink flame come from the candle and
rise up toward the ceiling, where it dis
appeared. Then another came, and they
kept coming, but thought l must be
very fatigued and worn out, and that
they were the result of my imagination.
Then some animal seemed to rush across
the fireplace. but when I looked all
saw was a pile of red embers and the cor
ners Of the room filled with dark, impen-
etrable shadows. I listened, but as no
sound struck my ear I thought I had
better give myself rest and turned my
face to the wall and went to sleep in an
instant.
81 may have slept several hours, and
it may have been only few minutes,
but I suddenly came to my senses and
found the room filled with q peculiar
red glare that seemed to come from ev-
erywhere at once. Then heard strange
sounds, as If there were people in the
rooms. But I couldn't see any, and /
might as well say that began to feel
very queer and reached for my revolvers,
but found that I had left them in my
saddle But had my knife. which I
took hold of and kept ready for any
emergency.
ssThe silence was unbroken for long
time, and then I heard one of the most
unearthly yells that ever struck my ears.
It seemed just outside of my door, so |
got up and peeped out. But all was
quiet, and the fountain was splashing in
the moonlight, and the water in the basin
was sparkling cheerfully. 1t did not
seem as if there was anything wrong,
but l determined to ask the landlord
about it and went across the court to
find him. 1t was very cold, and as !
called to him my teeth chartered dread
fully. No answer came to my call, so
went back to my room and put on moro
clothes.
ssThen walked all over the house. but
as I did not know where the landlords
room was of course couldn't find him.
81 had reached the front hall where I
entered the building and was debating
what to do when that unearthly howl
reached my ears again. This time it was
just in front Of the door, and opened it
as quick as could SO as to see what was
there.
ssBut it was the same as before. I
looked over the desert for miles on one
side, and on the other the view was
broken by the mountains, which came
to within short distance of the house.
Seeing nothing, stepped outside, my
knife in my hand. and looked around.
.sBefore could realize what was go
ing to happen l saw two enormous pan
theirs come from somewhere. They were
standing on their hind legs and growl-
ing ferociously.
ga moment later I was paralyzed
with fear and then turned to the door
so as to get inside and escape the mon
STEERS. But horror! The door had blown
shut and the latch had caught on the in
side, so there was no way to open it.
There may have been some string or
other arrangement, but I did not know
where to find it, so was at the mercy of
the animals.
s'There was nothing to do but fight, SO
I took a frmer grip on my knife and
waited for the attack, but felt that 1T was
certain death to me. The beasts were
the largest I ever saw, and they were
beside me in an instant. The largest
one made jump for me, and dealt it
a blow over the heart that I thought set
tied it, for it rolled over on the ground
and laid still. The other was frightened
for few minutes and hesitated about
attacking me, but now had hope, with
only one to fight.
s'How / finished the animal is more
than I can tell, as my memory is very
dull on that point. But he made rush
at me which had to dodge, and made
an attempt to get behind him. I had al
most succeeded and could have done my
work right there, but my foot slipped,
and I fell down, and before could get
to my feet the panther jumped on me.
But in some strange way he jumped for
my feet, and I got hold of his tail and
commenced gashing his hind legs with
my knife.
"For several minutes the air seemed
in a whirl, and was all mixed up with
my antagonist, but unable to get in a
telling cut. We fought and rolled over
on the ground until was covered with
wounds, but at last I saw my chance
and plunged my knife in the animals
stomach .and gave a downward rip. It
did the work enough to let me get up
and find the animals heart with the
steel.
81 looked at my two victims mo-
ment and then started to awaken the
landlord by pounding on the deor.