Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-02-02
A DANGEROUS ANIMAL.
Which Is Loose and often Disturbs Peace
 fnI Citizens.

Which Is Loose and often Disturbs Peaee-
 ful Citizens.
 The Star reporter was making q win ter tour of the geological garden the other day with q friend and as the two stood looking at the bear den the friend broke into an animal story.
 sI had an experience the other night, :" ,se said which 1 don't care to have repeated
 "A whale swallow you2" suggested the reporter
 Thank goodness, I'm no Jonah, he laughed.
 Possibly the bears rushed out of the wood and tore you to pieces? ?'
 .I.m somewhat of bald head" he said taking off his hat in evidence, but it wasn't bears"
 Then what was it?"
 HI tell you. l had had a good din- ner and after it had gone to my room to read for couple of hours. l had fixed myself in an easy chair close un- der a soft-lighted reading lamp, and for an hour had been boring over my book with great pleasure, when l began to have a queer feeling. 1 couldn't just explain it, but it was that kind of a feeling, you know, when you think somebody is in the room who oughtn' t to be there. l looked up and around, but saw nothing at first. In a min ute my eyes became accustomed to the shadows, and over in the far corner of the room I saw pair Of glittering, gleaming eyes.
 My first thought was that it was my Maltese tomcat, fine large fellow, but I saw in minute that it was some thing 40 times bigger than he was, and my impulse was to fire an inlIstand or paper weight at it, but l thought better of the impulse and concluded to wait for developments. Ihe fact is l felt kind of oyerpowered, don't you know, and l don't believe l could have mustered energy enough to have thrown anything at the brute. watched it, though, most intently, and in very short time it began to move and came out of the shadows toward me Then l thought it was St Bernard dog that had strayed in and been shut up in my room during the day.
 "As it came forward slowly, creep ing like eat, the dog delusion was dis pelled, and I was at q loss to determine what it was. But it kept creeping IT on me, and I simply sat watching il with a strange fascination. l thought of birds. charmed by snakes, and began to appreciate how the little fellows felt, for l tried to make some show o- resistance to the thing, but eoufdn'1 to save my life The strain on me Wa: fearful, for I could feel that, and wa' almost smothered by it. Still the brute kept creeping forward, and when it hae reached a point about six feet away from me I noticed it crouch low to tin rug, and I braced myself for what wa coming, because I knew that was tht preliminary to spring, and l was to b, the object on which the animal was t' light.
 My suppositions were entirely cor rect, and on the instant the brute ros like bird and dropped square on Tn, chest. l expected to be torn anu scratched all to pieces. but for som reason it did not bite or scratch, bu seemed to be smothering me. Suck ing my breath as the childrel say a eat does. Anyway, the shoel of the impact seemed to rous my dormant physical faculties, an' I began to struggle. l could scarce ly move at first, but the more effort made, the greater my strength seemet to be. and, finally, in my struggles up set the chair, and over we went on tn floor, with a jar that shook the whol house, and l awol1e."
 .Come off exclaimed the indig nant listener. "What the deuce di you tell me that kind of a yarn fol That was only nightmare"
 ''Yes," concluded the yarner, "the on dangerous animal everywhere common and still not mentioned in any natura history that l know of." -Washingtoi Star