The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-13

and concluded that the animal had on
her return to her cubs nosed them be-
fore her and gone on down the center Of
the nearby creek.
1t was after the horses had been re-
covered and while the men were return
ing to camp that q fine deer was OBJ
served grazing upon hillside. The game
was distant, and q shot directed at It
by Silliman succeeded only in wounding
It; so, parting with Rouse, who agreed
to drive the horses into camp, Silliman
alone trailed the quarry in an effort to
secure 1t. A light snow had fallen during
the early morning, and the hunter had
no oln1culty In following the tracks. They
LED long way up a ravine and finally
turned over a hogs hack on the noun
tain, at which place Silliman dismount-
ed from his horse, tied 1t to tree, and
continued the pursuit on foot. Upon
reaching the top of the divide, the hun
ter saw, short distance down the slope
before him, a mound Of leaves which
had but recently been brushed together,
and on looking closely he perceived a
deer's leg sticking out from under the
pile. The thought occurred to him that
his deer was under the leaves. and he
began to wonder who or what had got
ten 1t and sought to conceal It, AS he
stood still silently meditating, he heard
sound as of scratching, suoh as might
be made by some animals claws upon
tree, and peering intentIy into the clus-
ter Of trees which rose above the pile,
he perceived an immense mountain lion
lying crouched upon g. limb, glazing at
him with fierce and merciless eyes; the
brute was in the attitude for springing,
and was waiting for the nearer approach
OF the man. meanwhile nerVously claWing
the bark with his nails
SAVED BY RIFLE BALL.
The safety of the hunter lay in his
rifle and the accuracy. of his aim, for he
was too near to the beast and the rise be-
hind him was too steep for him to re-
treat. Accordingly, therefore, drawing
careful sight at the animals head, he
pulled the trigger, and was gratifed and
relieved to see the beast tumble a few
feet from the tree. The shot, however,
was not moment too soon, for the lion
was in the act of springing when the
bullet took it. There was no doubt that
the lion had seen the doe coming down
the incline, and had quickly killed 1t.
Then, hearing noise in the direction of
| the advent of the prey it hurriedly COW
| cred the latter with leaves and took q
| position to await whatever was approach
| ing. Mr.. Silliman believes that his life
| was saved by his caution and by his paus-
| ing to wonder over the presence of the
deer's leg under the leaves.
Silliman did not reach camp without
! the deer packed upon the back Of his
horse, and the lions skin as a trophy
| of his mornings sport, the hunter struck
| out to join the balance of the party,
| continuing down the incline of the hog S
! back He had proceeded but a mile or
! more when he came upon one of the
parks or clearings in the timber which
! have described. The timber had been
! burned out of it, and the grass had
grown up among the charred stumps
| and now this was dry and nearly covered
! with snow. Grazing in this "deadening,"
as the mountaineers call it, were seven
| Of the finest deer which it had ever been
| his fortune to see. Pleased at such
| abundance of game, he was bearing
| down upon them when his attention was
| attracted by another circumstance. I'm
mediately ahead of him, and between him
and the deer lay great pine log, twenty
! feet perhaps, in length and three feet
in diameter; 1t lay just as 1t had fallen
when torn from the ground, with it's
mesh or tangle Of roots sticking up in
the air. Near the small end of this tree,
and moving steadily towards the roots,
was the panther form of a mountain
lion. He was crawling, concealed from
the largest and latest OF ,. the bucks,
which was eating grass on the opposite
side and close to the tumble of roots.
Interested in the situation, Stillman
stepped to the ground, and, watching,
awaited results. .<4
DEER KILLED BY A LION.
Softly the lion crept towards the deer,
out Of sight of it, jnearits yet not seeing
it, locating it apparently by sound until
when beside the bunch of roots, he
paused for a second, then, suddenly
bounding to the top of the log, in a
twinkle was upon the back of the deer,
had thrust his teeth into its throat and
hurled it to the ground. The deer
died apparently without a struggle, and
the lion seized it at about where the
neck joins the shoulder and turning it
| easily over his back, walked with it
| strongly and swiftly away.
| The appearance of the lion making his
| fatal pounce had frightened the other
| deer away, and all shots for Silliman
were spoiled. But he felt pleased that
the lion had killed the best of the game
for him, and, doubling not that the
! beast would not be able to bear SO great
a load for much of a distance-for the
| deer was apparently heavier than the
| lion-he led his horse down into the
| clearing and took up the trail of the
| lion The animal had disappeared had
gone; in fact, ere Silliman could get
! range upon it; so the man followed the
| tracks of the beast through the snow,
| leading his horse, and walking rapidly.
| In this manner he traversed over five
! miles, the animal seeming at all times
| Just a little ahead" There was no
| doubt Of the authenticity Of the trail,
for the feet of the deer dragged in the
snow, and occasionally the snow was
| stained with blood. But Silliman did
not come up with the lion, and aston
ished at the strength and endurance of
the beast he abandoned the quest and
| turned in the direction of where he
! thought might be the camp of his friends
| He did not find them, and he was
forced to pass the night alone, building
! his campfire and broiling deer steaks
over the Goals. Fearing a visit from
| bears or lions, he cut what meat he need
! ed for his breakfast from the carcass,
! carried the latter some distance from his
| fire and hung it upon a tree. In the
morning it was gone
Soon after daylight, however, Silliman
came upon his party. They had Been
| hunting, themselves, and had great
stories to tell him about the beasts that
| they had captured. But Silliman felt
| that he could offset any of their eXpe-
riences with his narrative of the lion
bearing off the deer, and how he had
| trailed it for miles and failed to find it.
At the conclusion of this story the whole
! party broke into a laugh, and, Sillman
I looking bewildered Bill Buchanan took
| him by the arm and led him to truss.
GETTING AWAY FROM a BEAR.
do you tank you could recognize thai