The Banner-Democrat., 1901-01-05
The Blind Cougar.
:BY FRANKLIN wELLEs CALKINs.

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1t was good day for hunting
Two or three inches Of snow had fall
en-, and the air seemed soft and heavy
as 1t does before a storm. We deter
mined to utilize the favorable weathe
for the killing of our winter meat
Therefore, at about sunrise, my part
ner, Curtis, our Indian helper, Pet,
Debaw, and myself set out from oul
shack to make circuit of the nearer
hills.
In 1875 this rough Black Hills coun-
try abounded in big game-elk, deer
sheep, grizzlies, black bears and noun
tain-lions. On that November day
at one o'clock or little later, / had
killed and hung up four blacktails and
one cotton buck. Then, in close pur-
suit Of wounded doe among rough
tumble Of rock lodges, q serious acci-
dent befell me. Hot upon the trail, /
was pushing through an underground
Of cedar, when burst from cover upon
q precipitous slope and fell headlong.
/ dropped my gun upon the snow, and
grasped In vain at bush and boulder
to stay my downward flight. pitched
down an incline, rolled over and over,
and dropped off the rim of ledge
some fifteen or twenty feet In height.
For some time lay paralyzed, physi-
cally, by the shock Of my fall. My face
lay on the edge of a narrow shelf Of
rock and one of my arms overhung
1t. had no power to retire from this
perilous position. yet with curious
sense Of helpless Indifference / looked
down into black and dismal gully
which l knew well was the hidden
canon" as we had named it, of Spring
Greek.
1t was from twelve to twenty feet In
width, huge split between two
masses Of rock. 1t must have been
nearly one hundred feet to the bot
tom, and small stream leaped and
tumbled through the boulder-filled
channel.
So narrow was the cleft where l lay
that an active man could have leaped
1t at running jump. On the opposite
side was a mass Of rocks rounding off
to the left, and below this a rough,
narrow slope along the rim of the
notch.
"A poor place to look for deer" was
my thought, anu there was little likeil-
hood of my hunting companions finding
me soon, unless could send my shouts |
to their ears. But as yet had no
voice for shouting.
At the end of half an hour the paraly-
sis of my nerves had partially abated,
and l succeeded in rolling over and
gaining a reclining posture against the
ledge. In so doing, l discovered that
my right shoulder was dislocated, and
that probably two of my ribs were
cracked. l found that l was upon a
shelf Of rock some thirty feet In length.
and not more than seven or eight in
width.
Still nothing seemed to matter great
ly, and when presently a gust of wind
whirled by and great feathery flakes
began dropping spirally into the notch,
felt lethargic sense of indifference.
From this hazy condition was
reused by seeing great reddish-yel-
low beast come out of a cleft in the
rocks just across the narrow canon.
1t was a mountain lion" of great size.
and 1t paused upon the slope with up
lifted head and pricked ears, appar-
emily listening and looking away
toward the higher ground.
Now, for the first time since 1 had
fallen, felt thrill of fear. If the
big cat were hungry, how easily It
might leap the gully and devour me
where l lay! Most feverently l hoped
the creature might trot away beyond
the rocks.
But the lion turned its head and
seemed to be looking directly at me. 1t
walked deliberately down to the edgel
Of the cleft, and for an instant III
thought my time had come.
Still the animal showed no sign of
having seen me. On the contrary. it
turned Immediately to one side, and be-
gan trotting back and forth in 'front.'
Of its lair. 1t travelled over beat of
some forty yards or more, wheelingl
with precision at the same point In
each turn, and going over its path
each time with precisely the same
shuffling, gliding trot. 1t
thus passed and repassed within ten or
Twelve yards Of where I lay. And
now, with awakened faculties, I dis
that this big male lion was
blind, Instead Of the yellow green
balls with cruel slits there were two
prominent grayish-white disks under
It's half-closed lids.
1t was blind cougar out for exer-
else. Surely. with the notch between
us. there could bs little danger from
IBIS unfortunate beast! yasciuated,
'ussssA spt sesysttiag ny hslpIsss