Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-04-29

camp-stool and my heavy douo1e-bar-
relied hunting rife carrying a steel
pointed ball of two and half ounces.
Ny men hurried away and left me
alone.
'Six hours l sat on that backless
stool, with my rifle on my knees, look
ing and listening. I had BACKED my
face and hands with charcoal, for
a leopard's eye is sharp, and | was
afraid he would see my white skin
through the darkness.
'There were plenty of noises round
me- Now and then elephants trumpet
ed in the distance. Not far away
could hear a drove of wild pigs grunt
ing and squealing. The jungle was
full of life. My watch was lonesome,
but not monotonous, for every min
ute was expecting the man-eater.
Shortly after midnight | drowsed
little. Then a sense offs danger
brought me wide awake. A breath
less dread had settled over the jungle.
1 strained my ears and eyes. A low,
rasping purr broke the stiffness; and
there, close to the ground. not twenty
feet off, glared two fiery eyes, like
brightly burning pieces Of charcoal.
cit was the man-eater; | felt sure
of that / lifted my rife, pointed 1t
straight as could at the blazing
eyes, and pulled the trigger. l was
shaking with nervousness, so l
missed.
nnQqrfhIV
scream. The eyes rose suddenly, and
shot toward me through the black
ness. A tremendous shock on the
side OF the cage set the steel rods
rafting and threw me backward off
my stool. A paw shot between the
bars and grazed my shoulder; a hot
breath burned my cheek.
"Bracing myself on my knees,
pushed my gun forward till It's muz-
gle almost touched the glazing balls,
and fired again.
ga frightful roar broke suddenly
into a coughing and choking. There
was death-scuffle, succeeded by a
long-drawn moan; then stiffness.
Mpongwe had been revenged.
Triumph thrilled me. had seen
my quarry only by the gun-fash, but
felt sure it was the animal l was af-
ter. Poking my rifle-muzzle out into
the blackness, 1 touched soft, limp
body The leopard was unquestion-
ably dead.
"Not knowing what other night.
providers might be abroad, l dared
not leave the cage until morning.
Though my men had probably heard
my gun, knew they would not come
to look me up until after daybreak.
So I made myself as comfortable as
1 could and waited for the light to
come.
Hours passed. Gradually the sky
frightened over the eastern forest,
and soon I could dimly discern the
shoulders of the big beast, not four
feet from the cage. Before long it
was light enough for me to see that
my second bullet had taken him right
between the eyes. I gazed on him
with relief and eXultation.
1.-The tropical day came quickly.
There was no reason for further de-
lay. Besides, 1 was eager to get
the exact measurements of the leop-
ard, which was the largest / had ever
seen. My hand shook with nervous
ness as / pushed the key between
the bars and fumbled at the Yale lock,
which was ON the outside. The hole
was small and hard to find. Growing
impatient, | made too sudden a dab;
the thin bit of steel twisted out of
my fingers, clinked on a stone, and
rebounded to the ground, three or
four feet away.
''I began to fish for it with my
-muzzle, but my efforts only prod
ded it deeper into the earth. I had
to confess at last that l was as Sc
curely Gagged as any of my monkeys.
1t was annoying and ridiculous, too.
"a twig cracked. / seized my gun.
Out bounded leopard fully as large
as the one I had killed. With not
even a look at me, it leaped away
down the glade before I could insert
a fresh cartridge A trumpeting, and
the thud of heavy feet; an elephant
burst out and numbered by. Then
chattering troop Of monkeys swung
themselves along from branch to
branch. All appeared to be fleeing
from some unseen foe.
Suddenly came soft rustling, like
the distant hiss Of a snake. l cock
ed my rifle. The noise grew louder.
What was this mysterious thing that
had caused such a panic among the
| jungle-dwellers?
Something stirred on the ground
not ten feet away, and line of
small dark objects ,crept rapidly into
the glade. For few seconds look
ed curiously; then thought made
me tremble with horror. Here was
something against which my power
full rife was useless as a spear OF
grass.
''It was, a column Of bashikouay,
or great bull ants, the most dreaded