Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-11-28
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A Story Of Pioneer Life In
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taries Of the Parana, on whose opposite
shore the rank grass grew ten and
twelve feet high.
The house itself had a tropical char.
acter; 1t was Spanish With
q cool, shady yerRnda, long, low
front, painted walls and latticed win.
dows, q spacious court and q fat roof,
provided with parapet, which gave
the whole structure the appearance OF
a fort. Many acres of cultivated land
showed long lines of sugar cane and
tall trees laden with bananas, In sur.
prising contrast TO the dark, impene-
trable mass OF wild husband which In
the distance surrounded the settlement.
Sonora Diaz was one of the tropical
beauties OF whom Murillo dreamed.
II am going TO test your gallantry."
she said, coming out on the veranda
where | sat, 'by asking you TO help me
10 water my flowers, for with my lame
hand il Is not easy for me 10 lift the
heavy watering pot
Il am at your service, but allow me
am l wrong?-to remind you that you
promised 10 tell me the story of how
your hand was lamed."
Certainly. AS soon as the flowers
are watered we will have coffee on the
veranda, and you Will hear all about
IT,"
Accordingly | was shortly afterward
slipping coffee with the little Lolita,
my hosts only daughter and my pet
beside me- while her mother rolled q
cigarette, lighted 1t and began as fol.
lows:
When we came here this was a very
wild place. and we had TO endure
number OF pests. For instance, when
Lolita was n baby. my husband and
his men went off one morning TO work
as usual. and the child lay asleep on
a mat at the end Of the room. Sudden
ly | saw on the floor the skin of a
mouse, from which the whole body
had been sucked. as from an orange.
/ knew at once that snake must be
near, for they feed on mice and eat
them In this fashion, but, carefully as
looked about me, | could see no
me that II might be under the baby's
mat | snatched the child up and
placed her In safety. Then l lifted
softly q part of the mat and there II
was-the long, Shiny, green and gold
reptile coiled up and fast asleep. All,
how | jumped. l ran out into the
courtyard TO call for help. Luckily
our man, Jose, was there, and he kill
ed the reptile. But as we cleared
more acres the snakes left US to hide
themselves In the forest. / began to
hope our cares were ended. but they
were only just begun. Wild beasts
now first appeared on the scene.
One morning while we were at
breakfast one OF our herdsmen brought
the news that our cattle, which Craze
IN the tall grass on the other side of
the river, had been attacked by n
jaguar that had killed one OF the bulls.
The man who told us this had escaped
with his life, yet he would have scarce
" done so If he had not misled the
beast or had there not been n fat OK
there.
A week passed without n new alarm,
and we had come TO think less about
It, when suddenly three or four Indians
rushed in 10 tell us how great jaguar
had broken into their camp and killed
q woman and one Of their dogs.
When my husband heard the story.
he judged that II was the Same ami
nal that had attacked our bull. for the
Indians described it as a creature OF
singular color. far lighter than any
they had seen about there, so that they
Lamed II The White Death"
We all thought 1t high time TO do
something, and my husband called his
people together 10 90 "us and hu"t ih~
animal
remember that morning distinctly.
They weut away cheerfully enough, |
each rran with his gun and hunting
kn;.e, and Moro, our bloodhound, was
with them. My husband termed around
Just as he entered the wood and kissed
his hand to me. Then he and his com
panions vanished In the forest.
When | found myself with Lolita
alone in the house and thought of what !
might happen il they met that terrible
wild animal, such anxiety seized me
although ! never thought could be in
danger that | could not be cOntented
I'LL ! had locked every door in the
house. and then | seated myself in the
great sitting room, took Lolita on my
lap ani tried TO tell her n story.
Suddenly heard a scratching along
the roof, and then dull thud, as II
something heavy had fallen.
Anxious and nervous as | was, l
started up with cry, although | had
no preseutiment what II was.
The next moment heard just over
me sound which | could not mistake
"a long, passionate roar-a cry that |
had often heard from the woods at
night and never without feeling as II
my heart stood still. Tie thought rush
ed through my mind, "Oh. heaven. the
taguar"
| shall never forget that moment!
For n second ! was quite rigid and
helpless, ~ IL HE had departed, and
then a thought flashed upon ire. The
jaguar was not 10 be kept off ii he
penetrated here from the roof. for most
OF the inner doorways had only draper
les. In my dining room was Il great
wooden meal chest. nearly empty and
large enough 10 hold six or seven per-
spnS at once. ir Lolita and | could get
sUeTc. lnOuSut 1, we Az
] seized the child, ran with her into
the dining room and crept Into the
chest. Unfortunately Il had q spring
lock. so that was forced to hold the
lid open with my left hand 10 guard
against its locking and Immediately
stlh!ng US. But It had more than an
inch Of outer rim, which completely
hid my fingers.
II was not moment too soon. We
were scarcely hidden when heard the
great claws scratching along the floor,
and the hungry smiling OF the jaguar
showed me that he was IN search Of
food.
He came straight TO the chest and
paused Il moment, as If he feared a