The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-05-31

the continual wall Of the cubs had be-
come unendurable
"'Thad. why can't we throw them
outY | whispered, excitedly. If she
would lug them of and purr over them
while perhaps we could skip out of
this
1--WE couldn't get the pesky things
out!' Thad grumbled, disconsolately.
The old one would he right on top OF
us IL we moved the stone
"Our late experiences added point to
his objection. but as 1t was our only
chance of escape we decided to try 1t.
Drawing off our coats we crept into
the corner by the light of matches, and
not without some scratches and n good
deal of fuss, secured the kittens and
wrapped them in the stout honespun
jackets. Then in trepldntion we laid
the gun ready held the struggling
cub close to the crack, and when Thad
moved the barrier bundled it out and
we swung the stone into place again
The coat had no sooner touched the
ground than with spring from above
the panther was on it. rending and
shaking the garment with implacable
rage till out rolled the cub. and then
her perplexity was eomical to witness.
She was soon convinced that she had
really regained her offspring, however,
and after smelling and licking it she
laid hold of the loose skin on the back
of It's neck and moved proudly OF with
the young one dangling from her
| mouth
"Culckr whispered Thad. Throw
out the other one while we know where
| she is
IL did trunde it out. heels over head.
and then we fastened up the hole Sc
curely.
"'rhe youngster expressed his resent
ment at this summary election in an
IN tell mother whine that brought
the old one bounding back, She
grabbed him up in haste and lugged
him off. too, and then we waited.
For hours we sat there doing moth
| ing but fume and sputter at our predic-
anent Then. as everything was silent
in the woods round about we decided
TO reconnoiter for the enemy. Screw
ing our courage up as well as we could
we cautiously put out our heads, and
as nothing happened we crept forth
and peered about among the rocks.
mo panther was visible. and care
| fully removing our shoes we crawled
downward on our hands and knees,
keeping we'll out of sight from above.
Reaching the smoother ridges we con-
cluded to make dash for it. and down
we went expecting every second to
hear that hair-raislng scream behind.
over lodges and down the mount
alnsde we fed. We leaped from rock
| 10 rock. and bounded over fallen trees
ana hollows, never pausing once till
we pitched over the rail fence into our
pasture and knew that we were safe.
Feeling pretty shaky we struggled
on a little farther, and then feeble
halloo brought all the home folks out
to meet us-and perhaps we didn't
have n high old time of it for the rest
of that day! We were feasted and re-
joiced over like prodigal sons. and our
| appetites We're just right to take it all
! in.
Father and uncle had spent the pre-
vious night on the mountain. searching
for us. The following day we showed
them the den and recovered the gun
and our torn coats, but found no trace
of the panther or her cubs. she had
betaken herself TO parts unknown, and
never again as long MS we lived there
did Thad and l hear panther screech
round old Grantham's head."-Youth's
! Companion.