Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-02-06

glance to be- the den Of some Wild ami
,na
vine. coming OUT Of his den with great
dignity. appeared the largest panther l
ever had seen. He stood shutting the air
and looking full al me. and when ! real
ICED how helpless | was things turned
dark. and ] xroancd in despair. II was
only a fair leap for the beast across the
ravine. and | expected him to make II at
once and ATTACK me. but as the minutes
passed away and h- still hesitatcd I be
gan To wonder oven his actions. He
urnpd TO the left and ~trotte,i along over
the ground a distance of about 20 feet
Then he wheeled and pass. Il the den by
about the same distance the ether way
When he had gone over this beat two OF
three times. ! discovered what was tn.
matter As he came toward me ] got u
clear view and saw thai he was ston.
blind There was a white film over eaci
eye. and he could moi, have seen a tree
in his path.
Or a sudden there was an alarm. The
snow was failing more thickly. but the
beast was go near that ! could catch his
every movement As the wind whiried
up the ravine il created an eddy. ant
from one of the circles OF this eddy be
got my scent. Stopping midway in his
promenade. be reared up and shifted the
air. with savage growls. and my heart
beat so hard that il seemed as II he
must surely hear il and follow the sound
until his hot breath was on my face.
Snif-snuH -growl. To the right. TO the
left. straight ahead. After a minute he
lost the scent. and then he stood stock
still and uttered continuous growls as he
waited to catch IL again. No. not like
a statue. His long tail swept the ground
in q half circle. and his ears worked
swiftly back and forth Blind death
waiting to rend and bite and tear and
kill.
There was something in the sound of
his low growing which chilled my blood.
a m a warning OF what was to
come. which forced me 10 shut my eyes
and utter a last prayer. Why does he
hesitate? What delay his spring? He
waited so long that ! argued il out that
his blindness reasoned against bis feroci-
ty. He had been blind for a year or two
perhaps. He had never left the cave
alone except to move up and down over
that one route. and he probably feared a
fall into the ravine il he ventured a
spring. But he finally made up his mind
to try IL IL the scent held. l could tell
that by his continuous growIs. by the
Ears laid fat back on his head. as you
have seen IL an angry cat: by the click Of
his ella WIS on the f!inty rock as he sought
a foothold far a spring. As he was on
he point of taking the leap the capri
cious breeze played him a tick He sud
denly lost the scent and walked slowly
down the shelf to pick il up again. per.
haps reasoning that ] had moved my Do
sition-
Ten feet to the right he got IL. and
with a fierce snarl be crouched and made
the leap.
Did the beast know the lay Of the
ground before losing his eyesieht or vas
it the subtle instinct given to the feline
tribef liz WAS a clear leap Of Is feet.
maybe a foot or two more Only at that
spot could he strike the shelf on which l
stood He rose in the air like a bird TAX
ing flight. described q graceful half curve
in the air and landed SO lightly that / felt
rather than heard him. He was ten feet
away from me. and he reared up and
snuffed at the air in every direction. Up
to that instant my broken rib had given
me no pain. All Of a sudden il seemed as
II knives were cutting into the flesh. and
| had to clinch my hands and shut mv
teeth hard to prevent q scream from
passing my lips But for the wind and
the snow the beast must have rot my
scent SO close 1t hand There was such
a swirl that he was at fault. and be did
not walk along the ledge. On the contra
~. after about two minutes he leaped
back across the ravine and disappeared
into his den Then. with many q eroan
and bali suppressed ejaculation. / drew
myself back until ! rested against the
cfi6- ] new that my ribs were broken
and that unless discovered By accident |
couid never leave that ledge alive. II
certainly had set in for . snowstorm. and |
it took only q few moments to hide me
from sight under the white mantle. This
was my salvation again.
As the pain made me half unconscious,
z fun grown female panther. followed BIZ