The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-12-12
DEACON AND THE cATAMouNTs.
An Episode of Itinerant Work in Western
Virginia.

Campbellite, exhorter and preacher, who
has travelled the mountains and forests
and wild glens of Mcdowell and Wyom-
ing counties in the southwestern part
of this state for nearly half century,
has in the course of that time had as
many adventures, escapes and hair
breadth experiences as any native of this
section.
A few days ago the deacon did very
foolish thing, which he had reason to
regret, as he says, in short meter" The
deacon was riding horseback, and as he
was in the act of crossing narrow
stream at the foot of Mijah mountain
he saw couple of catamount kittens
playing on the sward of the opposite
bank.
The little bob-tailed, short-eared fluffy
bunch of fur looked so innocent and
pretty as they rolled and tumbled over
each other, cutting and biting and
chasing, each other in play, that Dea.
Webster concluded to capture them alive
and take them with him to Andy
Wallace's about SIX or seven miles away.
designating, he quickly slipped upon
the kittens, but before he could seize
them one shot into hollow log and the
other one ran toward the woods. The
deacon easily caught the latter, which
he q carried back, but was severely
scratched and bitten on the hands before
he could get it into his saddle bags The
kitten which had taken refuge in the
hollow stuck like leech to its sides,
and it took an hour of hard work to
persuade it, with forked stick, to come
r,-s.x ~. Al
saddle-bag along with "a lot of tracts,
hymn books and other religious Iitera-
ture.
1t was growing late and the deacon
had six or seven miles to go through the
thick forest before he could9 reach
Wallace's-the nearest house-and before
he had ridden half that distanc the sun
began to disappear behind the distant
peaks. The deacon was riding along
slowly in a thoughtful mood when a
shrill scream behind and up the side of
the mountain reminded him that it was
not only growing dusk, but that there was
also rapidly approaching prospect of
a fight, if not couple of them. with
pursuing parents of the kidnapped kit
tens.
Dea. Webster is not only slayer in
long prayer and exhortation, but is also
as plucky as any man in this section,
and but for his cloth would be as fond of
good, square fight as the next man, and
he soon realized that the present occasion
was one in which prayer had to take a
back seat and mucle, grit and brains
must hustle for supremacy.
Dismounting, be cut heavy hickory
stick or cudgel about three feet in length
and had barely trimmed it into shape
when both catamounts sprang into the
narrow pathway few yards ahead. They
had scented the kittens aud were making
ready to even things with their abductor.
One of the catamounts-the male-a
tremendous fellow, even for that neck of
the woods, where catamounts grow
almost as large as panthers, sprang
squarely for the deacon's throat, but he
received a blow from the hickory on the
back which laid him out temporarily.
Before the dominic could recover his
guard, the female, with a scream, sprang
and caught him with its fore claws and
teeth by the shoulder of his jacket,
tearing the jacket into ribbons and leav-
ing half dozen long and deep cuts and
scratches on his shoulder and arms
Luckily the cat had partially missed her
calculation, as the dominic, swung about
with the blow given the big male,
brought his shoulder instead of his
throat where her claws had struck, or it
would have gone worse with him. Even
as it was, the wounds were terribly pain
full and they made the dominic utter a
few words which he candidly admitted
afterwards were rather unorthodox.
By this time the old male had re-
gained his feet and then the cats pre-
pared to spring at once. Seeing that the
affair was getting serious, the deacon
backed up against a tree and waited
the onslaught. He didn't have to wait
long, as the male, snarling and splitting
with rage, made spring at his throat,
while the female was creeping off to
| one side.as if to take him in the flank
This fact, doubtless, saved the deacon, as
it gave him time to receive tne biggest
one, which ne skilfully did by jumping
to the right and striking with his cudgel
as the cat landed against the tree. The
! blow knocked the brute senseless. The
| female just at that moment made fly
| ing leap, but another rapid movement
| caused her to miss and also to strike
| the base of the tree in front Of which
the deacon had stood. Before the cat
| could recover the now thoroughly mad
| preacher gave it one good blow on the
| ribs, but he slipped and fell full length
| by the side of the cat, which seized one
| of his legs with teeth and claws and
| began to rake his clothes into ribbons.
| Dea. Webster couldn't pull or kick him
self loose, and they rolled and tumbled,
| the deacon kicking and striking with
| his club, While the cat was rapidly
stripping him of clothes and hide with
! it's long, sharp claws and teeth. Lucky
lily the deacon was fortunate enough to
strike the animal a blow across the back
| with the hickory, which completely
disabled it. AS soon as the deacon could
pull himself together he ran to the male
which was again getting on It's feet, and
he did not cease mauling it until it he
| had broken half the bones in it's body.
| Both catamounts were now dead, but
the dominic was terribly scratched and
bitten and was SO nearly exhausted that
it was with great difficulty he succeeded
in remounting his horse, but finally he
succeeded, when he rode as fast as posi-
BILE under the painful condition of his
body and limbs until he reached the
home of Andy Wallace where he will
probably remain several days before he
will be able to travel.
He still keeps the young catamounts
but he admits that he's not hankering
for another job like the last one. "I'll
never catch any more eatamounts," said
he, as he tenderly replaced the bandages
1 I, ieI L.,