The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-06-24
MORE than 20 years ago l stayed for

MORE than 20 years ago | stayed for
lW several days at the house of Abner
Maxwell in Farmhill on the east slope Of
the Green mountains. Maxwell, then
80 years of age, was a prosperous farm
er. still living on the farm where he
was born.
Thrown over the back of a large
chair in the room in which l slept was
something scarcely to be looked for in
a Vermont farmhouse panther skin.
Spreading it upon the floor l could
trace in the outlines the shape of the
animal as it had appeared in life and l
noted that it had been of unusual size.
/ made up my mind that there must be
a story worth hearing about that pan
Their skin. and | was not disappointed.
Il have that skin by the best right in
the world said my host when | ques-
toned him. It's rising IS years since
] faced the beast that wore it, with only
Il pitchfork for a weapon, not half
mile from where we're sitting-a try
ing thing for a 15-Year-old boy to do,
or for full-grown man for that matter.
But I'm not claiming all the credit for
myself. My dog Lion stood the brunt
of the fight; it needed both of us to
save my little sister from the panther.
I'VE were living in the little I'M
painted farmhouse that stood where
this house stands-my mother and her
five children, my father being dead. So
there were six Of us; but | ought to add
another, our great dog. Lion. He was
an immense fellow, half hound and half
mastitf, and as brave and strong as he
was big. He was the protector OF our
household, and always went alongwith
the younger children in their Deriving
trips for in such excursions they might
at any time run across a bear or prowl-
ing wolf or a bob-cat spelling for fight
in the fall of the year I'm telling
about the farmers had been missing
sheep and calves from their back pas
lures. Suspicion at first fell on the old
man Briggs, who had been in jail once
for sheep-stealing, but this time they
couldn't fix the crime on him. Then
some of the sheep were found where
they had been dragged. half-eaten.
with their throats torn. Their carcasses
in every case were covered with dirt
and leaves. as if whatever il was that
did the killing had meant to hide them
1t did not seem to be the work of bears
or wolves, and the farmers were puz-
zled; but being sore over their losses
and feeling that the blame ought to be
put somewhere, they made up their
minds that a dog must have done the
mischief. There was no other dog in
Farmhill powerful enough to drag away
sheep or calf, so they decided that
the culprit must be Lion.
II knew what this would lead to: that
our dog, if he remained at FarmhiH,
would be shot or poisoned. The fact
that all our family knew that he was
innocent did not count when once the
suspicion was ctarted. SO | Lost no
time, but started afoot. with Lion. for
my Uncle Nathan's, at Gilead, rs sliles
away, returning alone the next day.
There was so.or bad feeling shown
toward our family when the neighnors
found that | had taken Lion away. for
my doing this made them feel surpr
than ever that the dog was guilty. But
he was beyond their reach and when
they found that the killing kept right
on, in his absence, they began to think
that he might be innocent after all.
when the weather got so cold that
the farmers took their stock up into the
barns, there was no more trouble. But
with the first SHOWS there came reports
of queer tracks seen around some Of the
barns and farmyards. The footprints
were like those of bob-cat in shape,
Int bigger Then folks began 10 say,