Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-07-26
A PANTHER.s SPRING.
An Exciting Scene Witnessed nv . w....-,
Hunter.

An Exciting Scene Witnessed by a wester,
Hunter.
rHty Ieet below us, as / step out on
mass OF rock and look down. is a hit of
valley with a silver stream runn;no
dow1lt from spring under nv feet
and drinking from this stream are seren
wlid horses OF the plains. They are the
reai HusIangs-swift. hardy and wary,
ana inolan and wolf have pursued them
IN vain An antelope light run with
them Tor couple of miles, but not fur.
ther. The Indians have ponies more
feet. but not with such endurance. Let
pursuit De attempted and one of the
mustangs, wild and untamable and
knowing no master, would strike a gal
lop which would not lag or be broken
for NIFTY miles. The seven belong to
the drove of fifty we saw two DAYS ago
and were probably separated during
the thunderstorm of yesterday. As I
watch them they turn away from the
stream, bite at each other in play. and
one begins to feed towards me. The
grass Is sweet and green. but he takes
nlte mere and there as he comes. as If
munger were almost satisfied. and
hnaliy reaches sapling growing al
most at the base of the cliff and begins
to rub against it.
Thirty feet below me is another int
ting mass of rock, entirely bare except
for single stunted bush. 1t is twenty
feet above the horse and the same dis
lance away. I have heard nothing
from the rocks and bushes below me
not the snap of a twig or the rustic OF
braneh-but suddenly an object at
tracts my eye. Fairly beneath me
panther creeps out of it's lair in the
rocks, and moves forward He looks
to the right and to the left. but not up
ward. Let me move hand or foot and
his ears would catch the sound He
has heard the horses and crept out to
Investigate. He is fair shot for me.
but the idea of firing on him does not
occur. AS he pulls himself slowly for
ward to peer over the edge OF the
rock his fur shines like velvet and
the play OF all his muscles can be seen.
His ears work rapidly and his tail
moves softly to and fro. When he
thrusts his nose over the edge and gets
sight of the horse below a sort of shiver
passes over him, and for thirty seconds
the tail is still. He is surprised. bu:
he soon rallies. His every action for
the next two minutes betrays his in
tentiOns- He measures the distance OF
the leap to an inch. He half rises tc
feel if he can get a good foothold on the
rock. He moves to the left to be en-
tirely clear of the bush. and when he
sinks down again 1 see that ne has
gathered his feet under him for tine
80;
lum of a clock, and / hear a gritting
sound as his sharp claws meet the sur
face of the rock.
The mustang stands quartering. and
has backed up little to rub his neck.
Only his head is now on the far side of
the tree. Never did victim offer a
fairer target. The panther's ears are
suddenly laid fat to his head, he ut
tiers a low. fierce snarl, and while / am
watching him with wide-open eyes he
disappears. He shot off the rock so
swiftly that my eyes could not follow
him. I did not see him in the air, but
/ saw him as he alighted on the horse.
The force of the spring threw the poor
animal down and rolled him over, but
re was up in a flash and the panther
on his back again. This time the saw
age beast was farther forward.
and as the horse reared up
and plunged around saw the panther
biting at the base of his neck and tear.
ing away at the shoulder and leg with
his hind claws. Now / raised my rife
to shoot. but the six other mustangs
came forward with rush. For thirty
seconds every animal seemed to be on
its hind feet and walking in a circle,
and all were snorting and neighing.
Then / noticed the panther on the
ground and heard him whining and
bowling like a dog in pain. He was
rolled over and kicked this way and
that. but he somehow managed to get
clear of the hoofs and limped into full
view. / had my rife ready and gave
him a shot that tumbled him over and
the sharp report sent the horses gal
looping out of the valley. The one who
had been assailed galloped off with
the rest, and so / figured that he could
not have been very severely hurt.
By-and-by I found way down the
cliff and inspected my prize. He must
have died within few minutes had 1
not shot him. Two of his legs were
broken. one ear bitten off. half his tail
gone. and he had brokn several ribs.
He had plainly seen the other horses
before his spring. but he had probabl
counted on their running away.-De-
troit Free Press