River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1900-02-22

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. 1
knew it was necessary to run some risk
of w%ounding Dan if | would do anything
to save him, and / acted at once.
Throwing away my gun as useless,
| flung myself upon the combatants,
and it $ o Glanced that just at that in
slant 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, l thrust my knife
completely through the wildcats body
twice without striking a vital part, and
then it was that the animal released
Dan to devote all his attention to me.
Before / could shield my face, the cat
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 ar inch of the crea-
lures body that my weapon had not
penetrated.
1t was when l was beginning to fancy
l would be obliged TO give up the fight,
so weak was L growing from loss of
blood, that | heard a deafening report,
saw a long line of flame directly before
my eyes, and instantly felt that the ami
mails struggles were 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 saturating the cloth even as
he held it in his hands.
Until daylight we worked as best we
could, caring for each other, and then
came a time when we both lay in a 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 hat 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 t~hankfulness 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 tori off.
Strange as it may seem, we never once
thought of our horse until we were
strong enough to start for the nearest
settlement and then it was Dan who
made the alarming discovery that the
animal vas 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 u attention just then that we
had not heard him when he ran away.
Dur plight was indeed serious. 1t
hardly seemed possible that we could
walk five minutes, and yet it was nee
essary hat 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
blankets-which made a pretty heavy
load for two young fellows in our weak
condition-and set out.
That afternoon we managed to walk
about five miles, and then made camp
in a shallow ave or cavity in the bank
by the side Of the road.
1t was not until noon of the next day
that we arrived at the first dwelling,
where the good woman and her hus-
band rebandaged u wounds.
After remaining there two days, dur
ing which time the farmer found our
horse a dozen miles away across the
country in a small settlement, we
started for home again, arriving in time
to meet the other fellows who had taken
part in the match.
Our side had won, even without our
assistance, but we didn't attend the
dinner or join in the ride; we were busy
with private matters, such as lint, lini-
ment and lotions.
Since her we have taken part in sew
eral shooting matches, but we have
never again made camp at night with
out keeping careful watch, even when
we felt quite certain that there were no
dangerous animals near.-Golden Days.