The Afro-American advance., 1900-02-24
are not the most pleasant neighbors,


at the same instant, saw black mass
drop from the trees directly upon him.
A sharp cry of pain, low, fierce
growing, followed Immediately by the
noise of a scuffie, told me what had oe-
CURED. The wildcat had, after the man.
ner of HIS kind, dropped or leaped upon
Dan the moment he moved away from
the horse.
''IIelp-quick! He's killing mel"
shouted Dan.
And | sprang to his assistance as soon
as ! could secure my gun.
1t was almost impossible to distin-
guish the eombatants as they rolled
over and over on the ground in the dark
ness; and even had il been daylight,
could hardly have shot at the cat with
out injuring Dan.
l could see that the animal had
struck my chum between the shoulders,
and was tearing at his neck at the same
time that he used with cruel effect his
hind claws.
Cant you shoot him?" Dan asked. in
a choked voice. I'D rather be killed by
your bullet than in this manner
There was no time for hesitation. !
knew il was necessary 10 run some risk
of wounding Dan if would do anything
TO save him. and L acted at once.
Throwing away my gun as useless,
/ flung myself upon the combatants,
and it so chanced that just at that in
stant Dan was on top.
Lie firm, old fellow. | cried. as !
forced him down by the chest with all
my strength, and made half a dozen
lunges with my knife over his shoulder,
striking the cat every time, as l could
tell by the vicious snarling.
OF course, the animal used teeth and
claws desperately. and Dan could not
bear the pain many seconds.
Let me up" he cried
And / caught blindly at the cat as he
partially rolled over, succeeding in get
ting hold of the animals neck with my
left hand.
In this position, Dan on his knees,
struggling TO free himself from the
long, sharp claws, / thrust my knife
completely through the wildcats body
twice without striking vital part, and
then ii was that the animal released
Dan to devote all his attention to me.
Before | could shield my face, the eat
made a vicious lunge with all four claws,
laying open both my cheeks 10 the bone,
and | plying my knife until / could not
believe there was an inch of the crea-
iure's body that my weapon had not
penetrated.
Ii was when | was beginning TO fancy
l would be obliged TO give up the fight,
so weak was | growing from loss of
blood, that | heard deafening report,
saw a long line of flame directly before
my eyes, and instantly felt that the ami
mails struggles we're Ceasing.
dimly understood that Dan had shot
the cat, and after that consciousness
left me.
When / realized anything more, the
fire was burning brightly, and Dan was
tearing his shirt and mine into strips
to be used as bandages, the blood from
his wounds saturnting the cloth even as
he held it in his bands.
Until daylight we worked as best we
could, caring for each other, and then
came time when we both lay in half
conscious state.
But as the day wore on. our scattered
senses returned until we could estimate
the damage done, although we were so
weak that it was only after the most
severe eXertions that we could rise TO
our feet.
Dan had been badly bitten and
clawed about the back of the neck,
while my injuries were all about the
face, and | felt that had great cause
for thankfulness because my eyes had
not been touched.
We were as forlorn and ensanguined
a pair as could have been found in that
section OF the country, and not many
yards away lay the remains OF a mon
ster cat, with the upper part of its head
literally torn off.
Strange as il may seem, we never once
thought of our horse until We were
strong enough to start for the nearest
made the alarming discovery that the
animal was no longer IN the vicinity.
He had probably broken his halter
while we were fighting with the wildcat,
and we had so much with which to oc-
cupy our attention just then that we
had not heard him when he ran away.
Our plight was indeed serious. 1t
hardly seemed possible that we could
walk five minutes, and yet il was nee
essary that we should tramp ten miles.
I'VE mustn't sit here incoming over
it," Dan said. with a very feeble at
tempt TO look cheerful. "Our wounds
must be dressed, and we've got TO walk
back, so let's make the start"
We took from our traps a small
quantity Of provisions, one gun and two
blarkets-which made a pretty heavy
load for two young fellows in O II weak
condition-and set out.
That afternoon yye managed 10 walk
about FIVE miles, and then made camp
in a shallow cave or cavity in the bank
by the side Of the road.
IL was not until noon OF the next CAY
that We arrived at the first C1elIiBg.
where the good woman and h'r hus-
band rebandaged our wounds.
After remaining there two DAYS. eur
ing which time the farmer found aur
horse dozen miles away across the
country I'm a small settlement, we
started for home again. arriving in time
10 meet the other lows who had taken
Il. -.