The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1896-02-22

| Slute LOT any OeuSt 10 get at the mSal
except from two directions, in each OF
which would be a trap that the thief
must pass over in order to reach the
dead deer.
81 had properly set and concealed The
| lighter trap about Is feet to the rig BIT
of the bait, and was pressing down The
spring of the heavier one on the left
the very trap you're now looking at
when the pole / was using as lever
broke off and fell into it's half-opened
jaws, which, suddenly closed by the
released spring, caught my left ann,
just then bent at right angles, and
drove those terrible spikes through
muscles and tendons to the bone, caus-
ing such exquisite pain that tainted
away.
''Many hours must have passed be-
fore 1 came to, for when did so it was
dark. The nights are always chilly up
here, and now. in addition to the agony
of my wounds, began TO suffer from
cold. But all this was as nothing COM
pared with the horror felt at my fear
full position-lying ut full length on
the ground and held fast IN 100 pound
trap secured by strong chain and
staple to a sapling!
''On rejecting that some beast of
prey. probably a grizzly or cinnamon
bear, had eaten the bait from this same
trap not long before, felt convinced
that he would come back for more, and
that I, not the more conveniently
placed deer, would furnish his next
meal. half deiiriously wondered hc w
the brute would begin ON me; whether
he would take my head, leg or arm first.
/ even speculated as to how he would
enjoy such an unusual feast!
1.-THE horrors of that awful night are
utterly beyond my powers of descrjp-
ton. Minutes seemed hours, and hours
weeks. To my tortured fancy, The
swaying trees became monstrous wild
beasts, thirsting for my blood, and the
swapping of wind-swept twigs the
crunching of my bones. Yet, strange
to say, no unfriendly creature came
near me.
'When morning came, and the sun
had climbed high in a cloudless sky,
its fierce rays beat down upon me and
added to my sufferings that most in
tolerable one of ala raging thirst.
For a single draught of wafer from
the spring so near at hand and yet, to
ne, SO impossible of access, / would
have given all possessed in the world.
Slowly, oh, SO slowly, in my unutter-
able anguish, the day wore on, and
soon would close down on another night
of terror. In that lonely gulch, scores
of miles from any human habitaticn,
there was no hope of rescue. Why
prolong my agony? 1 determined 10
end it. Surely such. a resolve could
not be sinful, since, either from raven
GUS beasts or exhaustion, if not from
cold, l must inevitably perish before
next morning. My rifle stood against
a bush, which could reach by drag
ging the trap to the length of it's chain
in half circle, and this I did, but
tainted again from excessive pain as
L touched the gun.
"When l revived, the sun was low,
but my resolve was mistaken. There
were two cartridges in the rifles maya
zine. threw one up into the chamber,
and set the hammer at full cock.
would place the muzzle to my forehead,
pull the trigger with my moccasined
toe and so end my sufferings. Still 1 |
hesitated. First must pray that my
sin, If such it were, might be forgiven,
and that my son might never know
that had taken my own life.
while revolving this thought, 1 |
heard rustling in the brush at my |
back, and next moment big buck,
closely followed by the largest noun
tain lion, or puma, have ever seen,
iarted past me. The great cat sprang
1T the deer just as the latter leaped |
over and clear of the set trap, alghting
III the terrified creatures launches,
1ut could not maintain its hold The
powerful buck shook him off right on
op of the trap, and he was caught by
,ne of his hind legs.
"At this, the astonished brute
'creeched and yelled in frantic rage,
Is he thrashed around in his efforts to
'scape; but, like the one holding me,
he trap was chained to a tree. and,
'oon giving up, the cowardly beast
aid himself down, whining and moan
ng like a whipped cur.
"Admonished by my own sufferings,
ought, perhaps, to have pitied the I'M
ortunate creature and put him out
# misery by merciful rifie-shot. But,
ruel as it may seem, felt q sort of
omfort in having companion in mis-
ortune. This startling incident re-
tored my senses and banished all
thoughts of self-destruction. would
painfully await death, in whatever
hape it might come, and would pro-
'ng my life to the last possible mo-
lent.
wholly engrossed by his own tor
lres, the lion had not yet seen me, but
BON his sense of smell detected my Dres-