The Opelousas courier., 1900-09-22

next!" said my partner, Bill Magurder
He and l stood looking ruefully n
our pack-mule, Andy, lying dead Oh
the open grassy space In which oul
cabin stood.
The mule had been feeding quietly
about his picket-pin in the morning
when we started out to visit our traps
and the picket-pin was driven beneath
the great sycamore in front Of the
cabin. Now we had come back at
night to find Andy killed, his throat
torn, his haunch partly devoured by
some beast Of prey. Deep claw-marks
were On his back and shoulders; his
neck had been broken at its jointure
with the spine. by q terrible bite.
The loss of the mule vas a serious
one to us, Magruder and /, an ex-army
scout, had been with General Crook
In his campaign against the Tonic
Apaches of Arizona, and so we had
found out the natural advantages of
the sheltered Tonic Basin with its ex-
tensive timber forests, numerous
streams and soft, equable climate.
Now that this vast valley was clear
Of Apaches, Magruder and I had en-
tered it in September, built a perma-
nent campon Tonic Creek near the foot
Of the AIogollon mesa, and prepared
to pass the autumn and winter there,
hunting and trapping.
In the middle of October we had our
lines of traps out and were getting a
fair amount of fur, when our first
stroke of bad luck came-our dog,
Hector. had been carried away. He
had been useful in our hunting, and we
had relied on him to give us timely
notice OF any person or dangerous
beast that should approach the camp.
Hector's disappearance had not
seemed mysterious. One dark night
he a out Of the cabin with a growl-
the mule had previously been uneasy.
Half waking, 1 heard the dog bark
loudly. Then / heard a growl, deeper
and more savage than any dog could
give, mingling with one shrek and
strangled moan from Hector.
Magruder and l jumped to u feet,
caught up our rifles, and threw open
the door. The mule was snorting and
stamping with fear at the end of his
picket-rope, but of the dog there was
no sight or sound. We heard some
large, soft-footed animal bounding
away In the darkness in long leaps. |
We made no doubt it was a mountain
lion, although rain later in the night |
biotted out all tracks.
A week went by and here was our
mule killed probably by the same crea-
lure that killed Hector 1t could not be a
grizzly, for there were no tracks to be
seen such as a bears great feet and
p~rotruding claws would have made.
We decided that the mule, too, had
been killed by a mountain-lion- a lion
of uncommon size and strength, else
It could not so easily have carried off
. large dog and killed a powerful mule.
"Hunt the varmint DOWN. 1 said,
In answer to Magruder, as we stood
by the dead mule. "I'm afraid we
do much at that without dogs"
well, it is rather late to be going
after him now. He's got everything
had to l~ose-unless he comes for one
of us next time" My partner spoke
with seriousness SO unusual In him
| looked hard at him, and then he
laughed the thing away and mentioned
no other foreboding.
That night we had made u pre-
parations to receive the lion il he came
back to the dead mule. We took turns
N watching, but no lion came. So we
ragged the fostering carcass away
rom the camp the next day. and left
t to the wolves and foxes.
Magurder, usually one Of the cheer
est and most indomitable of men, was
evidently greatly disheartcned by our
luck; and he eve proposed that
pull up stakes forthwith, and go
back to white settlements.
But ! said, Were here, Bill. and .
doing well. We're trapping .
OTIS OF fur, and we can kill all the meat
We want to eat. 1t will be no more of .
tramp to foot it out to the settlements !
lext spring than to do it now. Let's :
ry it a month or two longer, anyway :
We can catch our furs when we %. :
md come back for them afterward
With an outfit Of pack-mules." !.
All right" he said. "Stay it Isl :
AS the week wore on. Magruder's de- :
seemed to vanish. and he re- :
his old-time c~heerfulness. But =
night in camp. just as / was drop !
ing on to sleep, Magruder started and J
aid to me DO you hear that soundY,
listened. Presently from some ).
There up the canyon side came a wall {
ng, d~eep-throated CRY, which was re- q
Gated at intervals. e
Yes, j hear it, I said. sIt-s D :
1ountain-lion-if it isn't an owl. PITY !
haven't another mule for him to :
hew up!' :
Its q different note from a lions b
said Magurder. ..The beast L
aafs making that sound is the ole
nar killed u dog and mule. n
Something has justseome into nv
that the Apache scouts told me n
he continued. .'It's about ia 4
uars. They said that these animals z
wander up into Arizona !,
ON sonora. and when they do, III ' ),
ways come TO the Tonic Basin. Ies il
rests and Innate here suit them, / !,
oppose. The Indiana are aapasas 1,