The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-31

4 magnificent male specimen. mount
ed ia the central case of the museum.
a crouching, crawling figure, so terri
bly, realistic that 1 had to school my
self to 60 past it at night without a
shiver.
you certainly saw that beast when
st was alive, professor" I remarked
n day, as we were rearranging some
of the smaller specimens in the case.
'"That's a study from life. Look at the
curve of his back! And those Shout
ders, I can almost see them work be-
meath the skim"
81 can see them work" the old pro-
fessor replied, pausing "A moment to
look at the beast; land I'm likely to.
as long as I can see anything he
added.
I Kept discreetly silent. and he went
on:
1T is a study from life. as you have
guessed, and the best mount, I think,
IN the collection, though the study was
made in Florida and the mounting done
here.
''That was a peculiarly vivid lesson
c had there, quite sufficient in 4 taxi
dermlcal way, for the rest of my life.
81 was collecting along the Indian
River, neal where Niece stands now,
taking specimens of everything, from
the largest alligators down. 1t was a
rich country there then, as crowded
with wild beasts as a menagerie.
Panthers were by nc means rare. and 1
had taken two when I came upon the
tracks, of this fellow in the sand along
1.-THE river.
"The print of his foot measured twice
that Of the specimens I had taken, and
my ambition was stirred. I wanted
that big panther-for the vary spot
where you see him now. But he was
as wary as he was big. I never could
get sight of him-perhaps because l
was afraid Of his getting sight of me
first.
81 trailed him up and down the river,
and finally found O beaten path that
L thought the big fellow used. running
In through the brake to a heavily TIM
hered crest. The grass about the end
of the path was so heavy and the run
way so hard-packed that no footprint
showed; but out along the river the
signs of his coming and going IN this
vicinity were so numerous that I de-
termined to risk my chances in the
path.
"The surest, quickest way to have
taken him, if this were the runway
of the beast, would have been to lie in
wait at some good place along the path
aud shoot him-provided, of course,
That the wind, the light and the aim
were all just right.
"But this was asking too much; be-
sides, I was constantly busy collecting,
and couldn't spare the time it might
take to wait. So I took the two big
bear traps that I had at camp. and set
them in the path, trusting that the
panther, in an absent-mindeG moment,
might walk into enc Of them.
: sit is seldom that a wild animal. es-
pecially a panther, has an absent
minded moment. Human beings are
much more liable to them, according
to my experience, though up to this
time I had not known it.
II selected a narrow, walled-in place
along the path, where the bushes were
80 thick on each side that the beast
would not be likely to leave the trail.
Here, too, was a sharp rise of ground
for about twenty feet.
cat the bottom of this I set one trap,
and twenty feet away, on the very
crown Of the ridge, I set the other.
He could hardly so up and down that
hill without stepping into one Of those
traps.
"But he did, even though I had o
eealed tho traps so skilfully that no eye
could easily have detected them. That
very night. a small manatee that I
had caught late in the afternoon was
dragged from near the tent and half
eaten in the bushes alongshore, the
marks in the sand telling plainly that
the thief was the big panther.
"a visit to the traps showed them
undisturbed. Perhaps the beast had
come out by some other path.
"To make sure, I Gxed four slender
sticks across the rpp,fso that nothing
could pass without brushing them
aside.
The next day I found the sticks
down. Something had been through
the path, and something large, too; but
the traps had not been touched.
Hoping that the creature might be-
come used 10 their presence, and so
grow careless, l left them several days
without changing. wherein I again
showed my ignorance Of wild animals.
1T was folly to imagine that 50 keen
a creature as 4 panther would walk
abroad in his sleep and catch himself.
Nevertheless, / went down the river
late one afternoon and into the path,
Intending 10 make q last attempt with
the bear traps.
THE II ut the crest Of the ridge I
sfoved down about five feet, replacing
fits former cover and all the surround
6ngs precisely as they Were, so that to
all appearances the trap was in its old
place. Then with infinite pains 1 hid
dt in the new spot, laying back upon it
every tiny leaf that l had stirred.
1T was as neat as nature; but so in
tent had l been upon the work that
had utterly forgotten about time, and
looked up to see the dusk falling rapid
~ The other trap still remained to be