The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-12-15
I sArnnk IN fear under my covering

/ I sArank IN fear under my GOVERN
Of snow. Some taint Of my pressnc
there was yet in the notch. for bot
the lions paused, at twenty steps or S,
and snaried angrily, with bristlin
backs and nervous twitching of thel
tails.
For a moment the two seemed to \
glaring straight at me- and l closed q
eyes In fearful suspense. waite
hardly breathing for some secOnt
then, hearing no more Of the couga
1 looked again, to find that they b
passed on and gone into their lair.
was but moment, however, befd
they reappeared, and this time t
blind male was with them. The thr y
passed together up the ridge beyond
There had been kill somewhere, an,
the blind lions mate and cub had COM
dutifully to conduct him to the feast
Under safer circumstances, SHOULD
have felt the keenest interest in thl
evidence of family devotion anon:
fierce beasts, and, with perfect oppor-
tunity, | should have hesitated to xii
either the dam or her CUB. As it was
l was to witness something very like
tragedy.
The lions had been gone 4 half-hour
perhaps, when l heard the booming
crack, crack OF rifle just over the
rock ridge in front Of me. l answered
the shots with halo as lusty as
could give, and hitched myself to a
more conspicuous posture against the
ledge. l shouted again and again, a
rather feeble wall, but loud enough to
be heard at a considerable distance.
Then, as if by magic. / was confront
ed by the three lions, which had slid
down an inward curve Of the rock ledge
upon my left. They came on in great
bounds te within fifteen or twenty
yards 0 my perch. There catching
sight Of me, the two foremost came to
a halt, and united their voices in men
ace. Ii was easy to be seen that some
thing exciting and unusual had hap
pened to the puma family. The blind
one, apparently cowed by his helpless
ness, skunk to his cavern, muttering
hoarsely as he ran. Despite their saw
age demonstrations, the dam and her
cub did not attack.
Some new fear seemed to possess
them. They whirled about repeatedly,
to guard against surprises. They flung
themselves upon the snow, and lashed
their tails excitedly.
l understood that some One-Curtis
)r Pete, doubtless-had been shooting
1T them. Perhaps for the first time
hey had heard the thunder Of a gun
md the kissing whine of bullets. 4
Then rifle cracked again, this time
lose Mt hand, and l saw the couga
lam fintten out upon the snow with
'ullet through her brain. The cul
'ounced about wildly. splitting and his
ing, until two or three more shots
we're fired, when It, too, dropped in its
racks, dead. Looking In the direction
# the firing, saw our Indian, Pete
for a way to descend the
edge.
While Pete was hunting for a path
he blind lion ran out of his lair, which
e must have considered unsafe
gainst the new foe. The beast showed
ftense excitement. He stopped over
he bodies Of his dead mate and cub
nd shifted at them in apparent grec,1
nxietN Then his tail dropped and his !
air shrank upon his skin. A great |
EAR seized him. Suddenly he uttered
TRANCE, whining lament, sprang to-
ard the canon cleft and leaped into |
s abyss.
Was it case Of suicide? 1t has al
'ays seemed so to me, and yet, in his |
ldden sense of loss, in his great fear
nd excitement, the creature may have
ad no other aim than mad flight, and
ay have gone to his death quite by |
,cident.
/ was as much overjoyed us Pete was
at our meeting. Before
oon the Indian had hung up deer on
le ridge, and when he returned to
It the meat he found three lions had
rn down the carcass. He fired and
Used, and as the lions ran he had
llowed, shooting at them as long as
ey were in sight.
BY making strenuous effort
und that l could stand on my feet,
1t l was not released from my shelf
It'll the Indian procured an axe and
idged the gulch with poles.-Youth's
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