The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1908-10-29

INTO the Qulvering leaves or the
bushes. He was worried lest
shadow should cover the panthers
when they came. If they came after
sunset, would they stand still long?
These thoughts were suddenly in.
terrupted. A kitten not three feet
long came down apparently from the
sky on the deer, growing and show
ing it's teeth. trying to look more
ferocious than playful. Wills jaw
dropped. The sticks covering the
deer were clawed aside. and in a mo-
ment the kitten was purring at the
bloody throat. A low bunch of alders
beyond the rock stirred, and the great
face of the mother beast rose slowly
as she stepped gently to the rock.
eying her kitten with short glances
and the swamp borders with longer
ones
Suddenly she growled low and
sharp, stiffening every muscle to the
one that showed her teeth. The air
currents, battling to the mink. had
warned her of DANGER The kitten
stopped mauling it's prey to lift its
head. The old one began TO crouch.
her claws curling the bushes three
feet away as she sunk into the roots
for good hold. That was spectacle
that stopped Wills breath, and drew
his hands into his fists, one of them
on the rubber bulb. A little click
overhead told him of a forgottensbut
faithful camera.
The cats heard it, too, and sprang
away into the swamp, f1uttering the
leaves and twigs like birds, leaving a
lad weak with excitement. wondering
that his hand should have closed at
the right moment, and hoping that
the plate would make a good mega
tive.
Never did the way home seem so
long to VIII as on that day. Toward
dusk he felt that behind him was a
silent, fierce-eyed creeper following
him." now on the right side, now to
the left, then so close behind that
claws seemed about to grip the back
of his neck. The breaking twigs un-
der his feet. the Tustling of leaves
over his head, the dread that was in
the air sent him on fast and faster.
Time and again he turned to face
nothing that he could see.
1t grew darker; the mountains cast
deeper shadows. Dusk settled down
relentlessly. Som athing cracked a
twig behind him-a veritable some
thing. Will turned and fired with his
revolver-once. twice, three times.
The echoes died away. A minute
passed, then another. From the
ridge over which he had come came
the panther's cry; again, muff1ed,
from the hollow beyond; then, loud
and clear, from the foot of the noun
tain, farther away each time. At
last far away, just over the top of
Ampersand Mountain farewell
scream.
A few rods farther on his trail was
Wills canvas boat. He carried it
from its hiding-place to the water Of
Loon Bay. launched it, and padded
to rock island, where he ate good
meal by fire, Then he started down
the lake, strong and vigorous once
more, singing songs that caused ISL
and camps to listen wondering.
On the next day, VIII developed
his plates one by one. Two or three
were blanks, but the panthers showed
up clear above the twigs and leaves.
He carried that plate, as soon as it
had died, to the Eagle Island camp,
and when he returned, the coveted
camera was his own.
Now with the old camera he plays;
with the new one he seeks on the
beechnut ridges for bears. AS for
the panthers, VIII Finch, of North
wood, eighty miles over the woods
from Saranac Lake, told me that he
saw their tracks at Moose River last
fall, four months after young Man
ning's adventure. - Youths Com
panion.