Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-09-05

tious about these beasts. They say
they are. always man-eaters." ---;
"All right; jaguar or lion, I'd like n
fair shot at him, II remarked, and set
tied myself again to my slumbers. But
before l went quite to sleep I heard
my partner moving restlessly in his
blankets and muttering:
He was in good spirits the next morn
ing when we started out to make the
round of our traps. 1t was one Of
those exquisite autumn days which, in
the higher levels of Arizona, open with
frost and are sunnysand warm atnoon.
We separated at the forks Of the creek,
Magurder taking the south and 1 the
north branch. ..
had the longer route, and I found
two minks and an otter to skin; so
when got back to the forks, near the
end Of the day, Magurder had bent
some twigs in the direction Of the
camp to show me that he had gone on
down the creek toward the camp. I
went on, following the route he had
taken. tsF,7
Presently, in place where the
ground was soft, came upon Magru-
ders tracks and something more. A
line of tracks followed Magruder's;
they resembled the tracks of a meun-
tain-lion, and the breadth and depth
of the. imprints showed the creature
to be of uncommon size. Step by step
it had crept along, cat-fashion,s until
it had crossed a marshy place. in two
or three enormous bounds, when it
!. had! resumed it's .stealthy gait.
{, ] had got to hard ground, where, the
tracks were faint, when, Is caught
sight t=of a. man IN Mexican costume
crossing the valley a short distance
ahead of me. Itswas Jose Bonifacio,
a Mexican Indian who had served as
scout aid trailer in Indian campaigns
with me; and he recognized me. a mo-.
toned for him to come to ME. and
showed hims sthes tracks . in the soft
ground. He examined them carefully
This manswas not to be easily fright
ened, fbut there was something like
fear in hi face as he spoke in his brok-
en- English. tE - -
"You so way" he said.s $50 way
from Tohto. No. leon make them
tracks. You know wliat?' His voice
lowered, and he put his hand on my
arm, looking around as if fearful Of
being overheard. ~ know that fellow
heap in Sonora. He Very bad. FL
diablo, we call him. He follow that.
man all day, nevS. touch him. When
dark come, he kill him. That man
your partner? You hurrys.'long find
him. Then you two stay together. Go
way" his voice sinking into a whis-
per- eco way. quick" 80.
"W'hat do you mean. Bonifacio"' L
asked, impressed by the, seriousness of
his manner. "Do you mean to tell me
that these. are not a mountain-lion's
tracks," 5.sz si,s::
The half-breed had the SsaEagcs
common superstition against 'pronoun-
cling tic name Of 5 creature that is
| greatly feared lest it overhead and
aveage the familiarity - Is 90
:aHe no leon.", he said leon kill
deer, calf, sheep-but the man he / ua
from. This fellow" here his voice fell
i2again to whisper "he kill man. You
! hurrv long. find Bill Then warning
| ly;again, Go way from oTonto! Go
quick" sE -
He started on his WAY over the hills.
Come down to the cabin and spend
the night" said; but the half-breed
shook his head. -.
The shadows of night were falling
as l. hurried down the. valley. After
what Bonifacio had said, I was natur-
ally anxious about Magruder, although
knew hc had plenty Of time to get
to the camp before dark. Moreover,
my partner was well-armed and little
likely to be caught off hrs guard by an
enemy, man or beast. 49,
I came into the open space before
the camp in the last light from The
western sky. Before me the syca-
more, with half it's leaves still upon it,
lowered above the shadow beneath its
| wide-spreading branches. The cabin
door was open, so Magruder had re-
| turned. But where was he? All! What
is that under the sycamore. lying out
stretched and still in the deepest
shadow? Certainly the form of man,
and he lay as lie the dead. So
cooked my rifle and looked around
me. Nothing Threatened from the
ground. I gazed into the tree, but
could detect there nothing unusual or
suspicious. Slowly I walked toward
the outstretched form until came to
the edge of the shadow beneath the
sycamore. @ - - - =.
There I paused at a slight sound
that came from among the branches
10 soft, brushing fiip-fip, fip-fip. 1t
came from great forlled sbrancll that
oyerhung the path. Now s.tnat my
attention was drawn to this limb.
thought it looked unusual near the
fork. There it seemed to be- much
thicker than elsewhere in>its. length;
but looking closely. i could see moth.
ing that indicated danger. HS'
''It is nothing" I said to myself, and
made another step forward.
ThenI saw lit! The formless thick
ness of the sboughGall at once shaped
itself to my. eyes in its true appearance
the bongh and the thing upon it.
saw two phCspilorescent spots, not
easily to be discerned among the vel
j low i1eavesI;I saw these were Sliving
eyes ina huge. 'catIike head resting