The times., 1901-06-23
A MOUNTAIN EXPERIENCE
A Moonlight Stroll and Its I'M
pleasant Interruption.
How an Adirondack Lion Was kept
in Front of Its Intended Victim for
n Mile Along a Deserted Road.
The End of a Dangerous Brute.


Mile Along a Deserted Road.
The End of a Dangerous Brute.
''Vice President Roosevelt may go out OF
his way to meet the mountain lion II hs
wants to-" said a Government clerk at
the Corcoran a few days ago. There are
people constantly hunting for trouble who
rarely fail to find It. but l am not one OF
them. l am not looking for trouble. and
after the experience with mountain lion
l had recently 1 am more than ever will
ing to let the animal go his way in peace
as long as he will grant me the same
privilege.
About month ago 1 visited a friend
of mine in the Adirondack Mountains.
where ne nad gone for his health He had
been sent there by his family physician
on account of some lung trouble. He had
taken up his quarters at a farm house in
beautiful little valley among the noun
tains, where he was getting as much COM
fort and enjoyment as a consumptiye can
under the circumstances. We had known
each other since boyhood and, feeling the
need of a little recreation, took run
up there to spend a week OF so with my
friend. 1t was still sharp and cool there,
for the season is not as far advanced in
the Adirondack region as It Is here in
washington. but the weather was much
more enjoyable than it is here.
zone evening just after dinner con-
cluded 1 would take short stroll along
the mountain road while l enjoyed my
cigar Twilight is very short In this
mountain region. and il was not long
before darkness settled down upon me
and 1 found i Fiad strayed several miles
away from the farm house The moon
was by this time rising full and large In
the eastern horizon, and felt contented
and was enjoying my walk in the crisp,
cool air immensely. The moon soon rose
to height which lighted the surround
ing landscape sufficiently to enable me
to seen the roadway for a dozen yards
ahead, except where the black shadow
patches of intercepting pines stretched
across the path l do not believe / was
more than a mile from the house when
I was startled by a sound which made
my blood almost freeze in my veins, and
broke upon the deathlike stiffness Of the
mountain night in a thousand weird
echoes 1t was a scream, a cry-some-
thing human and something diabOlical all
in one. For a moment 1 stood still I
could not move . muscle. and to say that
1 was frightened does not begin to de-
scribe my sensations. 1 knew by in
savage cry of a mountain panther or
painter as the north woOdsmen call
them, and that the beast had seen me
and was on my trail l had no weapon
with which I could defend myself but a
small pocket knife, which would only
have been of service at close range and
then the chances Of i.s doing any harm
to the creature was extremely remote,
especially in the hands of a man as un-
skilled in such warfare as 1.
1T was necessary to do something. and
that ar euce. 1 searched around me for
club of some kind, with which to de-
feHd myself. I opened the one slender
blade of my knife and held the thing be-
tween my teeth Every stick l picked up
was decayed and broke in pieces every
time 1 struck it on the ground TO test its
strength. My faith, somehow, was pin
ned upon club. 1 felt l could put up
some kind of a fight with a club. but my
fright rapidly turned to terror as soon as
1 realized that nothing but dead tree
branches was to be had.
Then L thought Of stones. There were
plenty of them in the road and 1 filed
my pockets full of them, and threw them
ahead of me into the woods on each side
of the road. My mind was working like
a whirlwind, my heart beating faster and
faster every minute. until l began to
fairly pant for breath
Il thought of our old yellow cat at
home and took a hint from cat nature as
had often studied it, which stood me in
good stead in these awful moments and
firmly believe saved my life. 1 knew
that a cat never likes to face man and
will instinctively seek TO get behind him.
If then could keep the panther in front
of me, and not let him get behind, might
be able to frighten him off. L yelled con-
tinuously, and made all the noise and
racket 1 could Cats do not like noise.
| Their methods Of attack are stealthy and
in silence
Every now and then, I could see the
beast Ieaping across the road from one
| side to the other. As his tawny form
| reached through the air in the moonlight
! it seemed TO my terror-stricken imagina-
/ ton as if he stretched clear across the
/ roadway like a continuous streak of yei-
| low light. Fortunately for me kept him
. in front of me. If the brute had succeed
ed in getting to the rear of me, my cour-
! age what little l had left. would have
deserted me entirely, and 1 would have
been paralyzed with helpless terror.
Whenever reached a patch Of black
shadow my terror increased and my legs
almost seemed to WeISn . ton, Wnlle my
feet seemed to be glued to the ground L
wanted to run through the darkness. but
l could not How l got through that last
mile, with that brute near me; how every
sound added fresh fuel TO my terror, was
a long drawn out nightmare which to my
dying day I will never forget. 1t makes
me feel old to think of it.
when at last 1 reached the farm
house I s,lEaa helpless upon the floor and
became semf-conscious. / was aroused by
my friend shaking me and pouring water
on my face. 1t was some minutes before
was able to sit up and tell of my ex-
perience. I felt 1 was entitled to some
sort of sympathy, but instead I was
scored for my folly in going into The
woods alone at night without a gun or
weapon of any kind This was just the
sort of treatment 1 needed. for 1 became
a little piqued at the sIurs cast upon my
common sense. and l recovered shortly
my equanimity under the stress of the
verbal iogging I was getting.
at seemed, however, that the cries Of
the panther had been heard for several
nights, and neighbOring farmers had had
some lambs and young pigs stolen by the
brute. A hunting party was organized
the next day. of which / was not a mem
ber, and started at daylight to run the
beast down Meanwhile l remained in
doors all day. Never did four walls seem
so full of kindly interest as did that sim
pie farm house. 1t seem odd that a scene
OF such peaceful security could be so close