Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-09-18
THE MAN EATER


] looked at the tall Texan appre-
hensively.
aAre you certain r I asked.
T know 1t. / bad my suspicious
yesterday, and now there is no
douht OF It"
This was serious. The man eat
er was the largest and most fero-
cious bloodhound In Texas. Il was
hard enough to control him at any
time, but madi ! shuddered at the
thought.
My weeks visit at the Bolton
ranch had satisfied me that my host
really cared for only two things in
the world-his daughters and the
man eater.
@Where IL Miss Sallie?" I in
quired anxiously.
"0h, that's all right" replied Bnl-
tom carelessly. "Sallie took her
pony and went for ride an hour
ago, and the hound is safe enough.
/ took him by the collar just now
and locked him up where he won't
get at anybody. But it breaks me
up, old fellow. ] wouldn't lose him
for anything"
My interest began to weaken.
Miss Sallie was safe, and the dog
was locked up. What was a blood
hound to me? If the savage mon
ster died, SO much the better.
/ walked of to the stable. A
ride over the prairie was not to be
missed on such a morning, and
there would be a chance of riding
back with Sallie.
But l was doomed to disappoint-
mene. My horse was lame. It did
not take long to convince me that
somebody had been riding him the
night before.
Just then Pedro came in sight.
The ugly little Mexican gave start
when he saw me and looked away.
.You yellow rascalt" ] shouted.
'You had my horse last night"
mo, senor."
"You are lyingp
mo, by all the saints, senor."
''Then where were you at mid
nighti"
81 was attending to my business" I"
snapped Pedro.
He looked so viciously mean and
so impudent that / gave him light
cut with my whip and told him to
get out of my sight. He muttered
something and skunk off. There was
no other animal that cared to ride,
and / made up my mind to walk.
l had left the ranch several hun
dred yards behind me when / turned
and looked back. Even at that dis
tance could plainly recognize Pc
dro. He was walking around lit
tie cabin back of the kitchen and
was apparently peeping through the
cracks.
Looking at the man eater" 1
said to myself. cit is a good thing
the beast is locked up"
The bracing morning air and the
level prairie stretching out before
me for miles tempted me to take a
long walk. A long way of / could
see Q hill, the only one in all that
fiat country. Why not climb it and
see what was on the other side? Per-
haps Sallie was over there.
So / walked on with swinging
strides for a couple of miles.
Suddenly 1 came to a dead halt.
'That sounds like the man eaters
barkp i exclaimed. Again / heard
it and stopped a moment.
For an instant my muscles were
paralyzed. / was absolutely unable
to move.
A thousand horrible thoughts
rushed into my mind.
Ii this mad bloodhound was on
my track my case was hopeless. /
could not get back to the ranch.
There was not a tree in sight, and
the hill was still miles away.
What was to be done?
I summoned all my strength and
made run at the top of my speed.
l kept on as long as ! could and
then paused to rest and listen.
The man eater was coming my
way, but not much faster than i
could run.
/ resumed my fight. Would a
mad dog have his usual keen in
stinct about him? Would he pur-
sue the trail or become confused
and give it up?
These thoughts inspired me with
q faint hope. If the dogs slow
progress enabled me to reach the
hill, where there was timber, / could
climb q tree, or possibly he would
be missed, and his master would
ride In pursuit.
From one point where there was a
gentle rise In the prairie ] could
see In the distance q moving speck.
1t was the man eater steadily fol-
lowing my traill
Ny surmiss turned out to be part
" correct. The animal seemed to
be at fault. He would stop and run
back a few yards and branch of
aimlessly in every direction.
But this did not last long. After
a series of eccentric movements the
hound would get on my track again
and rush forward.
he wss gaining, and my chances
Of reaching the hin began to look
gloomy.
For the next fiftesn minutes 7