Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1894-08-02
A pANrHea,s SPRING.
An Exciting Scene witnessed by Western
Vuufar.


Hunter.
Fifty feet below us, as ! step out on
mass Of rock and look down, Is bit OF
valley with a silver stream running
down IL from spring under my feet,
and drinking from this stream are seven
wild horses Of the plains. They are the
real mustaugs-swift hardy and wary,
and Indian and wolf have pursued them
in vain An antelope might run with
them for a couple Of miles, but not fur
ther. The Indians have ponies more
feet but not with such endurance. Let
pursuit be attempted and one Of the
mustangs, wild and untamable and
knowing no master, would strike q gall
lop which would not lag or be broken
for fifty miles. The seven belong TO
the drove Of fifty we saw two days ago
and were probably separated during
the thunderstorm of yesterday. As /
watch them they turn away rom the
stream, bite at each other in play, and
one begins TO feed towards me. The
grass is sweet and green, but he takes
a bite here and there as he comes, as IL
hunger were almost satisfied, and
finally reaches sapling growing al
most nt the base Of the cliff and begins
TO rub against IL,
Thirty feet below me is another iut-
ting mass Of rock, entirely bare except
for a single stunted bush. II is twenty
feet above the horse and the same dis
tance away. | have heard nothing
from the rocks and bushes below me
not the snap Of a twig or the rustic Of
n branch-but suddenly an object at
tracts my eye. Fairly beneath me a
panther creeps out of its lair in the
rocks, and moves forward. lie looks
TO the right andto the left, but not up
ward. Let me move hand or foot and
his ears would catch the sound. JIe
has heard the horses and crept out TO
investigate lie Is fair shot for me,
but the idea of firblg on him does not
occur. As he pulls himself slowly for
ward 20 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. but
he soon rallies. His every action for
the next two minutes betrays his i'm
tentions. lie measures the distance Of
the leap TO an inch. lie half rises TO
feel IL he can get good foothold on the
rock. lie moves to the left to be en-
tirely clear of the bush, and when he
sinks down again / see that he has
gathered his feet under him for the
spring The tail moves like the pendu-
lrm Of a clock and l hear n gritting
sound as his sharp claws meet the sur
face Of the rock.
The mustang stands quartering, and
has backed up a little 10 rub his neck
Only his head Is now on the far side Of
the tree Never did victim offer a
fairer target. Tho panther's ears are
suddenly laid fiat 10 his head. he ut
tiers q low, fierce snarl, and while am
watching him with wide-open eyes he
disappears. lie shot off the rock so
swiftly that my eyes could not follow
him. / 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
he 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 az the shoulder and leg with
his hind claws Now / raised my rifle
70 shoot, but the SIX other mustangs
came forward with n rush. For thirty
seconds every animal seemed 10 BE on
It's hind feet and walking IN circle,
and all were snorting and neighing.
Then l 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 rifle ready and gave
him n 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 of with
the rest and so / figured that he could
not have been very severely hurt.
By-and-by / found n way down the
elifl and inspected my prize. He must
have died within a few minutes had /
not shot him. Two of his legs were
broken, one ear bitten off, half his tail
gone, and he had broln several ribs.
He had plainly seen the other horses
before his spring, but he had probably
counted on their running away,-De-
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