Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-09-05
The T ate of Magruder.
SoNas~eeNesuNNeeeOeN~
BY CLARENCE PULLEN.

'SThis is badpiece Of business. First
our dog killed, then our mule. What
next?" said my partner, Bill Magurdsr.
He and 1 stood looking ruefully at
our. pack-mule, Andy, lying dead on
the open grassy space in which our
cabin stood.
The mule had been feeding quietly
about his picket-pin, in. the morning,
when we started out to visit our traps,
and the picket-pin was driven beneath
the great sycamore in front of the
cabin. Now we had come back at
, night to find Andy killed, his throat
torn, his hauhchi partly deyouredi by
some beast of prey. Deep claw-marks
Were on his back and shoulders; his
z neck had been broken at its jolnture
with the spine by q terrible bite.
The loss, of the mule was a serious
one to us, Magruder and; l, an ex-army
Scout, had been with General Crook
in his campaign against. the Tonto
Apaches of Arizona, and so we had
found out the natural advantages of
the sheltered Tonto Basin with its ex-
tensive timber forests, numerous
streams and soft, equable climate.
Now that this vast valley was clear
of Apaches, Aiagruder and l had en-
tered it in September, built u perma-
nent camp on Tonto Creek near the foot
of the Mogollon mesa, and prepared.
3 to pass tine autumn and winter there,
hunting and trapping. ss5gs
In the middle, of October we hadicur
lines Of traps out and were getting
s fair amount, Of fur, when, our first
stroke. Of bad luck .eame-our. dog
& Hector, had been. carried away. He
4 had been useful in our hunting, and we
e had relied on him to give US timely
. notice of any person or dangerous
beast that should approach the camp.
Hectorss .disapp ppearance, had not
seemed nlyst terious. One dark night
he ran out OF the cabin with growl-
! the mule had prey gioasly been uneasy.
Haif waking. ] heard the dog bark
loudly. Then Islleaa gfowl deeper
tsand more aaragei than ranys dog could
give. }mingling with one Shrek and
strangled moan. from, Hector. SsEs
Magruder and ] jumped to our, feet
caught up our rifles, and threwkopenS
> the door. The mule was snorting and
stamping with fear at the end of his
picket-rope, but Of the dog there was
no sight or sound. We heard some
large, soft-footed animal bounding
away Fips the darkness in long leaps.
we made no doubt it was mountain
slion, although rain later in the night
blotted out all tracks. ~
"a week went by and here was our
mule killed probably by the same crea-
ture that killed Hector 1t couldnot bea
grizzly, for there were no tracks to be
sseen such as a BEARS great feet and
gprotruding claws would have made.
We decided that the mule ,istoo. had
- been killed by q. mountain-lion- lion,
of uncommon size, and strength, else
it could nos so. easily. have carried OF
large dog and killeda powerful mule:
"Hunt the varlnint down." I said,
in answer to Magruder, as we stood
= blythe dead mule. @"I'ni afraid I'VE
yean't do much at that without dogs
"Well. it is rather late to be going:
latter him now. He's got everything
we had to Iose-unless he comes for one
of, u.s. next time. sMy partner spoke
with serious hess so unusual in him
sthatI looked shard at him, and then he.
laughed the thing away and mentioned
nc, other foreboding.
That night we had made. our pre-
parations to receive the lion if he came
back to thesdead mule. We took turns
in watching, but no lion came. So we
. dragged the fostering carcass away:
from the camp the next day, and left
1t to the wolves and foxes.
Magurder, usually one Of the cheer.
lest and most indomitable of men, was
evidently greatly disheartsned by our
bad luck; and lie even proposed that
Z. we pull up stakes forthwith, and so
back to white settlements.
:: But I said, "We're here. Bill, and
we're doing well. We're :. trapping
!. lots of fur. and we can kill all the meat
we want to eat. 1t will be no more Of
: tramp to foot it'out to the settlements
next spring than to do it now. Let's
try it month OF two longer. anyway.
We can catch our furs when we go.
and come back for them afterward
with an outfit Of pack mules. Y,5E
"All right he said. Stay It is.' ~
AS the week wore on, Magruders de-
preston seemed to vanish, and he re-
sumed his old-time cheerfulness. But
one night in camp. just as was drop
,sping of to sleep, Magruder started and
said to me. "Do you hear-that sound?"
/ listened, Presently from some
where up the canyon side came a wall
ing, deep-throated cry, which was re-
peated at intervals. @ - s
eyes, hear it." l said. "It's a
mountain-lion-ifit it isn't an owl. Pity
we haven't, another mule for him to
chew up!' -
"Its different note from a lions
cry" said AIagurder. The beast
that's making that, sound is the one
that Killed our dog and mule.
Something has just come into mp
mind that the Apache scouts told me
once" lie continued. Its about ja-
guarss They said that these animals
!. sometimes, wander up sinto Arizona
from Sonora, and when they do th2y
Z always come to the Tonic Basin. The
/ 46fosests and climaterhere suit them, 4
ssnDp6se. The Iadians pre isuparsti.
3 sSz