The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1905-08-25
GRANDPATHER'S
PANTHER STORY.
BY O. A. STEPHENS.

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Grandfather used 10 tell as the fol
lowing story of an adventure he had
with a panther when boy.
He never speaks of panther
though. Catamount is his name for
the creature; though sometimes,
when he is talking with any Of the old
hunters and trappers, they speak OF
it as the INDIAN devil" That was
the name the first settlers here gave
it, because the Indians used to have
such a dread of 1t. But it's all the
same thing. Catamount, Indian dew
H." cougar, and puma, all mean panth-
er, and a still more general name for
it in this country is the North Ameri'
can tiger.
suppose one reason why 1t has SO
many names rs because it differs in
color and size through different lati-
tudes of the continent. Along the
northern portions OF the United States
and in Canada it is Of maltese gray,
fading into white upon the under parts
of the body. But farther south the
fur takes sunny tint. growing tawny
in the Southern States. While still
farther down. in Mexico and South
America, 1t becomes spotted and mot
tied, like the tiger and leopard, and
the people here call 1t the jaguar. In
California they have named it "the
Californian lion" And up in Oregon
and Washington they have "a purple
panther" at least they say so.
sit was in the year 1872" as grand,
father tells it. 81 was nothing but a
boy at that time. and the country was
all new around here. My father had
moved up two years before, and had
got a clearing Of some fifty acres
made, and a frame house up. There
was but one family nearer than the
settlement in the lower part Of the
township, where the village is now.
Jeremy Edwards had come up the
year before father, and felled the
trees across the stream there, where
Edwardses live now.
"In 1872 was Jim Madison's war
with England. They didn't volunteer
then; troops had to be raised by
draft. Father and Edwards were
both drafted. well remember the
night they were summoned. Terrible
time among the homefolks! Mother
and Mrs. Edwards and the girls cried
all night. But there was no help for
1t. There was no such things as sub.
stitutes then. They had to go the
next morning. and leave us to take
care of ourselves the best we could
up here in the wilderness.
little Johnny Edwards-old Uncle
Jack, as they call him now-was just
about my age-let's see we were four,
teen then-and the men away, every
thing depended on US. Those were
tough times; we had something to do
tell you. But we used to change
works. as we called 1t, so as to be to
gether az much as we could. for II
was rather lonesome planting and
hoeing of in the stumpy.. sprouted
clearings. An! that was long. anxi-
GUS Summer. He was somewhere on
Lake Champlain. But the weeks
dragged by, and cold weather came
on.
1--WE were getting things fixed up
to pass the Winter as well as we
could, when one night about the first
Of November. Johnny came running
over to ask If we had seen anything
OF Brindle. the COW. 1t had been a
bright Indian Summer day, and they
had turned her out to browse, but
she hadn't come up as usual. and
was nowhere in sight 1t was already
dusk. but taking the old gun we start
ed together. and hunted both clear.
ings well over. Brindle was certain
ly not in the cleared land.
Have to give her up tonight,
Johnny" said /. "But I'll go with
you in the morning. She's lost in the
woods, or hedged up somewhere,
among windfalls. We heard the lu-
civees crying. and as we went back
along saw a bear digging ground-nuts
under a rock. Although these were
common enough sounds and sights
In those days. still we didn't care
to go of into the forest after dark.
"It showed during the night, sew
eral inches. But Johnny was over
early. Brindle hadn't come in. He
had brought his gun and taken Cub
along (Gub was Johnny's dog), and
we now started on for a thorough
hunt in the woods.
How quser everything looked that