Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1902-07-24
A LIFE GAZE.

|
war | was one of a party of men from
my town of Harrison and the adjoin
ing town Of Brldgton who went t
Cambria county, Pennsylvania, an
worked In the woods for the late Hon
orable Abraham A. Barker, congress
man from the Keystone state. Gu
camp was in a large tract Of PIN
woods where settlers and squatter
were few and far between.
An old hunter Calvin Trott, who's,
acquaintance l made, speaking Of thu
wild beasts Indigenous to that region
instanced the catamount, otherwise
known as the North America tiger, a!
the kind most to be feared, albeit 4
was rarely seen In those parts.
He said that a catamount's usua
trick was to watch for his prey from
ambush. up In tree, and when the
intended victim was sufficiently near
leap down upon It, fasten his teeth In
the neck. cutting the jugular vein,
and causing speedy death. But some
times this terror Of the forest would
he encountered on the ground; In
which event, II one was unarmed, the
only hope of escape lay In quietly fac
ing the animal, catching Its eye be.
fore it made a spring, and litreally
looking 1t out Of countenance
I little thought that I was to be af-
forded occasion to try what seemed to
me very doubtful expedient, to say
the least.
My job was ox-teamlng, and my
route was logging road, Of decid-
edly primitive klnd-slmply wide
pathway cut through unbroken woods,
too rough for carriage use, but an.
swe"ng for logging purposes.
1t was a bright day In early autumn
and was returning to camp. I had
halted the oxen to give them a short
rest, had sauntered some rods ahead
Of them, intending when they had suf-
flclently rested to order them to ad.
vance-a mandate they were sure to
obey. All at once, from behind a pine
shrub beside the road, not over six
PAGES from me. appeared the form Of
huge animal of the cat species,
which knew only too we'll was the
terrible catamount!
The animal at once crouched down
close to the earth, his face towards me,
while his tail begun that peculiar gen.
tie twitchlng movement which with
the cat kind forebodes mischief.
That |. like grandfather's clock,
stopped short, goes without saying.
To turn and run was my first impulse.
but | well knew this would be fatal
move. I was unarmed, and to advance
would only serve to abridge my prob
ably few moments Of existence.
What the hunter, Trott, had told me
mashed across my memory, and I re-
solved to try the llfe-or-death expert.
ment.
Now had known what 1t was to
face hostile cannon and rifles, but In
the excitement of battle one in
measure loses his consciousness of
danger, and besides. a battle is a lot
terry In which the number are not all
blanks, but In this case, alone
and unarmed as was, and in the
heart Of a great forest, far from hui
man help, to stand and face at close
range a pair of eyes which represent
ed what was more deadly than gun
was the most appalling posi-
ton ! was ever In. I trembled from
head to fort and I could feel the cold
sweat stat from my forehead, but I
nerved myself for the task, and at
once, with head slightly advanced, fix
cd my eyes directly on those Of the
catamount which evidently was ready
for the Hateful leap.
How long I thus stood I cannot say.
1t might have been Eve minutes, II
might have been ten minutes, but to
me 1t seemed at least half an hour. II
was dramatic tableau In real life
we two thus posed, his eyes rlyeted
On mine, my eyes rlveted on his, neith-
ar Of us for an instant removing our
gaze. Events In my past life, and
thoughts of the dear ones at home
whom I might never see again swept
through my brain In quick succession,
but the central idea that 1t was a game
Tor life, with the odds tremendously
against me, held me straight to the
line, and I faltered not.
And I was destined to win.
Presently the catamount rose to his
'ull height, gave low, dlsgruntled
yrowl, as he, for the first time, avert.
ID his head, then slowly walked Oh.
It a right angle, into the woods.
remained motionless except keep
ng my face turned towards my re.
foe. At the edge Of the
.hicket he halted and gave me what
proved to be the last look; seeing my
yaze still upon him, he gave a sec.
md snarl, and disappeared In the for.
Mt.
Yes, thank God! l was saved.
l silently returned to my team, and
Is noiselessly as possible resumed my
Quincy, which ended without further ,