The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-09-17

time did not despise my money.
AS soon as we had arrived in the coun-
Try my guide FASTENED to tell everybody
| who was and why / had come and every
hoy made it his business to come and take
a look at me, as if l had been some curl
Gus captive animal.
new territory, at o'clock in the morning
took my kid up by the skin of his neck
and held him over my head so that his
voice might penetrate to a greater dis
but feebly, and with long intervals of ST
lence, Logan to look uneasily to my right
and and struggle Ig to break loose from the
4 turned my head in the direction in
which the, goat was looking and saw
shadow which gave the effect of a man
creeping forward until it was twenty-five
or thirty meters from me. l had never
before been in this country, which was as
uncivilizad as its inhabitants, and made
up nay mind that some Arab had taken a
| fancy to my arms and was coming to as
sassinate me to get possession of them.
affairs for him in case he should come
nearer.
But was mistaken; it was a panther
| approaching along the hillside creeping
horizontally and without cover to conceal
him, taking advantage of the undulations
and shadows of the soil. At the end of
certain pause, quicker than lightning, he
bounced on the goat 1t is impossible for
me to give you an idea OF his celerity-the
flight of the bird or of the arrow are
comparisons far too feeble: this was like
flash. There was no bounding, and
have still to answer the question whether
his feet touched the earth in passing.
He threw down the goat, allowed her to
get up again, and then holding her hind
quarters between his enormous paws, be-
gan to consider her without crushing her
head, as he usually does, to begin with.
He let her go, seized her again. and SEEM
ed to play with her as q cat plays with
mouse. He presented his side fully to
me, and | was waiting and holding my
breath till he should offer his head more
advantag eouslv to view. I trembled lest
my kid should betray me by cry or
moXeGisnt bpt my ,apnTeh en- Wa, WIS
that the mothers voice signifies danger to
the young one, and that when he is once
warned he keeps still whatever effort l
may make to arouse him.
A LUCKY ESCAPE
Tired of waiting, I aimed at the back of
shot was not yet dissipated when the
panther rolled past me, crushing a part
of my thicllet. but fortunately without
seeing me. He fell down to the bottom
of the ravine, roaring fearfully and puff
ing like a blacksnith's bellows. l
turned about, turning my back on the
expiring goat, to face the panther, which
could lear for good quarter of an
hour longer.
leave you to imagine the impatience
with which ! awaited the day. The
ARABS, WHO ndQ nSarQ me IRE, were DIS
much in haste as l to learn the result.
Twenty of them came for me, and all
went down into the ravine. which the
animal had watered with his blood; but
the place was so contracted and so diff
cult of access that they refused to go
forward and l, in spite of my eagerness.
was obliged to give up looking further.
We threw great quantity of stones into
the underground, but there was no move
ment in response. l was forced then to
return to Algiers, greatly disconnected to
have lost so fine an animal. [ gave the
affair over to my Arab, promising him
good reward if he would get possession
of my game.
fortnight later he brought me
member of my beast. 1t was a paw
armed with all its claws but partly
eaten by worms. With this I was
obliged to be content, and / still keep it
as a souvenir of one of the hunting ed
ventures in which I incurred the greet
est danger. If the beast had rolled
against me as he had done against my
thicket. he would have dragged me with
him to the bottom of the ravine, and I
should have been lost, for he still had
two paws free, and he lived more than a
quarter of an hour after 1 shot him. |
therefore made vow that in future [
would aim only at the head.