Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-22
THE PANTHER LET GO.
A Man Strangely Saved by the
Beasts Act When Near Death.


"You would like to know how came
by these marks, young man." said the
old hunter in answer to a question put
to him by one of the party as to how
he got so many scars on his face. I'm
order to tell you I will have to take
you with me some miles over long
road, then along a narrow trail that
leads off from the road into a dark
wood. These woods are on the side of
the tallest and widest Of the Black
Hills, in Wyoming, and are known to
hunters in that vicinity as one Of the
most dangerous places to hunt. This
is on account of the many cavities In
the rocks, which are huge boulders
scattered over the ground. These offer
excellent hiding places for large game,
which is plentiful there. In these cav
tiles the panthers and wildcats make
their lairs. They are undisturbed IN
this wild place except by the OCCASION
al hunter who has pluck to venture in
these parts. Well, I was one Of these.
l followed the trail all day and by
night had reached the shadow Of the
dark wood. There was faint moon In
the sky and by its light I could family
distinguish my surroundings. All
around me lay great black objects of
different shapes, which knew to be
boulders.
1.-THE silence was something awful,
and it seemed to me as I stood there In
the deserted spot that there could not
be sound in all the world. Not the
rustic of a leaf stirred the air, not the
chirp Of cricket, not the hum Of an
insect. It was awful. I stood there in
the midst Of it, fearful to awake an
echo. If the silence was grand the aw-
full wall that startled me was terrible.
It went out of the darkness somewhere
near me.
"It seemed to have sounded in my
ear 1t woke an echo that went sound
ing through the woods again and
again, then back once more to me.
There was no need for me to try to
see what it was. I knew it was a pan
ther. Was it behind me- in front Of
me or at my side? I could do nothing
but wait for another wall or hear it
stir. See, could not, the darkness
was so intense. I stood ready to fire
at the first chance. Like a thunderbolt
something leaped upon and overwhelm-
ed me. I felt the sharp claws sink into
my flesh. It's hot breath was upon my
cheek as it bore me to the ground. AL
ready it's teeth were sinking into my
side, and I felt the hot blood trickling
down. My arm got twisted under me
in the fall and 1 was powerless. The
great eyes, like Goals of fire, were star
ing me in the face.
MY strength was going and I could
feel myself growing more and more
helpless. I managed to wrench one
hand from under me and get my knife
The beast was crouching over me, and
1 made a wild pass at him. The knife
missed it's mark and glided helplessly
over it's hide. I did not have the
strength to strike. I raised my arm to
make another pass, but found I had
hardly enough strength to hold the
knife. The beast, with open jaws, made
a lunge at my arm. 1t caught my hand
and it's jaws closed over the blade of
the knife. With howl of pain the
beast jumped high in the air and roll
ed over and over on the ground. I was
free, and going over to my enemy saw
that the blade had entered the roof Of
the mouth and pierced the brain. The
beast was helpless. and lay groaning
until morning. I lay down and slept
with my head on the soft skin."-New
Orleans Times-Democrat.