The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-01-22

general gathering, All the men OF
Chinkapin Ridge, and all the boy
big enough to use guns, came togethe
for rousing hunt. My uncle was fl
the party. and so was /. Every fel
low had tried to set the gun with the
biggest bore. And l remember thai
we were all Dragging about what ter
rife loads we had put in. Some had
rammed down two or three big balls
or slugs, and others enormous charges
Of buckshot. l was carrying a musket
loaded with nails.
1t wasn't long after noon when we
started out, and an hour or two later
we struck the trail, made in the snow
the night before. He printed the big
gest panther tracks ever laid eyes on.
Our party followed the trail round
and round over the country. BY and
! by we came to where the tiger had
| killed hog. From there the tracks
| led down into the woods, and through
the woods into a ravine, and up the
ravine to it's head, where they disap-
peared into q hole under some rocks.
Besides the tracks leading in there
were others leading out. But we felt
pretty sure that the tiger was in his
lair. The dogs wouldn't 60 near the
hole, and they didn't bark. But they
Kept their backs bristled and watched
the hole and growled. Somebody got
long stick and poked it III to the
hole; but he jumped back suddenly, for
a warning growl came from under the
rocks.
Now we knew that the tiger was at
home, and every man and boy of us
there were twelve or fifteen in all
cooked his gun and pointed at the hole.
We expected the tiger to come out,
and stood ready to make short work OF
him, but he didn't show himself; and
before we could devise any way to
stir him out, night came on.
Let's smoke him, boys" somebody
proposed. And while some of US stood
guard around the tigers den, the others
went to piling dead brush against the
hole. When there was a good sized
pile we set fire to it.
The snowy brush burned slowly and
smoked a great deal AS the fire be-
gan to crackle the tiger began to
growl, and when the smoke worked
into the hole be gcowled louder. My
uncle called out:
BE ready, boys! It's either come
through that brush pile or suffocate;
and he'll come through the brush pile"
We backed off several yards, and
every gun was aimed at the point
where the tiger was expected to APP
pear. 1t was dark by this time-pitch
dark everywhere except around the
fire. Fer time we could hear the
tiger growing under the rocks.
We waited and waited, but still he
didn't show himself The fire climbed
among the loosely piled brush until
the whole pile was ablaze Finally
somebody-Simpson, believe it was
spoke up:
Hes smothered to death, boys.
That's why we don't hear him any
more. No animal could live in that
hole with that fire in the mouth Of
it. He was so afraid OF the fire that
he would rather suffocate than come
through it."
After standing guard while longer
we all agreed that the tiger must be
dead. None Of us knew that there
was q little cave under those rocks
Now we closed up around the fire
and stood with our gunstocks on the
ground, warming ourselves. We felt
jolly over getting rid of our trouble
some, dangerous enemy, and were 60
ing to pull straws for the skin. In
fact, Simpson was arranging the
straws, when suddenly something hap
pened to the FIRE AS nearly as l can
describe it, that blazing brush heap
exploded!
There was roar behind it, and the
the panther's frightful form came
crashing through. AS the big, savage
brute burst out of the fire, he knocked
one man down, and two or three more
fell over one another trying to get
out of the way. l jumped back to
dodge the flying fire, and stumbled
over dog. '.ssf, ~,
The dog howled, and as tumbled
backward the hammer of my musket
struck something, and the old mus
ket exploded with a roar. The load
of nails went off through the woods,
but 1 thought l was killed.
The second leap carried the tiger
away from the fire, and another car
ried him into the darkness. About
this time the men recovered from the
panic and began to shoot; and they
kept banging away down the ravine.
The heavily loaded guns spurted fire