Middletown transcript., 1903-01-10

neck, and l was being clawed
and bitten with savage energy;
the animal, whatever it was, was
clinging to my coat and using
tooth and nail like a veritable
fury.
It seemed small, but it's amaz-
ing ferocity terrified me, and I
clutched at it and tried to throw
it off. Lwas instantly bitten in
the hand, and it hung like a bur,
snarling in my ear; but I wrench
ed it loose and flung it to the
floor. A medley of yelps and
yowls told me that it had been
] ATTACKED by the terrier, but I
was making for the door in a
panic.
I did not stop till I was outside
he cabin, where Jack immed-
lately followed me, having been
worsted again. It was pitch
dark and raining harder than
ever. No sound proceeded from
the unlighted shanty. Blood
was trickling down my cheek,
and I washed my wounds, which
did not seem very serious, with
ruin water, and tried to decide
what sort of an animal this could
be, so small and so ferocious,
that had attacked me.
1t was much too small for
either a bay or a Canada lynx;
it had seemed not larger or
heavier than Jack himself, but
its savage energy of assault was
terrific. In spite of the demoral-
lied condition of my nerves, I
was determined to clear up the
mystery. Besides, I had either
to rid the shanty of its evador or
resign myself to pass the rest of
the night in the rain.
It was hard, nevertheless, to
muster courage to reenter that
dark cabin, but after some min
utes of hesitation and doubt |
did it, and reached the fireplace
without interruption, I threw
an armful Of the sapin upon the
hearth and lighted it with a
match; the resinous twigs blazed
up like straw and illumined the
room brilliantly.
There was no sign of the en-
emy, although of course I could
see little of the farther apart
ment. My courage revived at
the cheerful blaze, and I twisted
stout torch Of the dry boughs,
lighted it, and again approached
the point of danger, my cooked
gun in my right hand and the
flambeau in my left.
Irealized that the brute must |
have dropped upon me from the
high shelf above the doorway, |
and this time I poked about with
my gun barrel at arms length |
until I had satisfied myself that
there was no danger in that quar-
ter. Then I stepped just inside
the doorway, and Jack charged
in under cover Of the light.
The wailing snarl began again.
On the wide shelf directly op-
posite me crouched yellowish-
gray animal, which, to my as
tonished amusement, I recog-
nized at glance as a very huge
domestic cat. The domesticity, /
however, was rather a racial than
an individual characteristic, for
| never saw a livelier picture of
wild fury.
The fur stood on end all over
its body, making it appear twice
its real size; its ears twitched, it's
tail snapped viciously to and fro,
and it's eyes blazed green, while
from between its barred teeth ]
came that savage and rhythmic
war-cry. Its gaze was alter
nately directed at me and at
Jack, who started toward it, t
barking furiously, but taking !
good care to keep out of reach.
[ took in this surprising scene I
at the first glance, and at the !
second I perceived another cat, (
OF a pure Maltese gray, lying
apparently dead under the table
shelf. This must have been the
one I had shot, and beginning to :
realize that I had to deal with
whole family. I looked about