The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-06-02

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you would call pugnacious looking.
He was big and fat, too, or at least
he appeared so; but those who had
had occasion to feel the grip of his
fingers said that the plump flesh was
made of corded steel; and no one in
our little South African school cared
to pick quarrel with him.
He was a good-natured young
giant, though, and rarely did we ever
see him in passion; but then, as the
saying goes, he saw blood. One of
those times was when he fought the
leopard
There were four of us, all stout,
.country-bred youths of English or
Dutch parentage, Pet Joubert, David
:Saalfield, John Gebers and myself,
out for a Saturday holiday, bird
shooting in the bush on Swartz Kop, a
broad, fiat-topped hill five miles from
town. No one Of us carried gun;
for, in the first place, we could not
afford it, and in the second, there was
vastly more sport for us and more
chance for The birds in using sling
shots.
None of your factory-made elastics
buttoned on a cast-iron prong were
these; but thick, tough, genuine rub
Der in round red or gray cords the
asize of a lead-pencil, which we bought
by the foot for ninepence, cut into
halves, equipped with leather thongs
and a pouch big enough to hold
-acorns and fastened to stout
wooden prong on which was carved
In little notches the record of the
game killed.
We were after rock-pigeon that
afternoon, among the squat mimosa
shrubs on the undulating hilltop,
which was nothing more than huge
sblock of granite with precipices on
all sides except the one toward the
school, where steep, although con-
tinuous, slope led to the summit. III
the excitement of the chase we wan
dered over the two square miles OF
etable-land, until on the side farthest
from town, we entered the thickest
part of the bush and became sep
sarated
Still, we kept fairly close together,
sfor when Pet shouted we all heard
him; but we all mistook 1t for the
cry he usually made after a success
full shot, and we paid no further at
stention to him. 1t was only when
John Gebers happened to stumble on
shin, about ten minutes later, and
raised continued cutlery that we
discovered anything out of the or
binary.
David and I found John, with a
kbloody nose, sparring with wild,
MISUNDERSTANDING man, whom, all
itatters and gore, we hardly recog-
nized as Piet Joubert
"Vy not you comes ven calls!" he
sroared, and made furiously at us.
Finally, by united opposition, we
managed to pound him into tame
ness and nationality, so that he was
able, in his quaint Dutch dialect, to
stell us of his experience.
| cannot begin to do justice to that
phraseology and the characteristic
gestures that accompanied 1t; but
perhaps it will prove almost as in
steresting if I tell the story in plain.
straightforward English.
bare, stony spot near the brow OF the
hill in order to get within firing dis
ttance Of three brown birds in shrub,
when, suddenly and without the
slightest warning, one of those small
South African leopards, now so rare
among the colonies, and yet all the
more dangerous because of their in
creased wariness and stealth, APP
peared, climbing over the edge of the
cliff.
The surprise was mutual, for a
fresh breeze blowing in over the hill,
had prevented the animal from catch
ing the human scent 1t drew back
at first, showing its teeth and splitting
as any cat will do when cornered.
But it was evidently misled by the
appearance of human being crawl
ing on all fours, or maddened by hun
ger; for instead Of retreating whence
it came, 1t made ready, ali at once.
for an attack.
Pet understood the sudden, men
acing fiattening of the 1.-the body on
the bare rock, and countered with
swift snap of his already loaded sling.
He never knew where he hit the
beast. but the effect was astounding.
With hideous snarl, like the tear
Ing of canvas, 1t came swift as bull
let at him. His sling was lost, his
bent arms we're thrown against his
sides, and there was the chunky,
warm body of the animal right
against his chest before he could
wink
He had risen to his knees to make
the shot. and the impetus of the at
tack threw him back upon his hams;
but with tremendous effort he was
able to keep himself from going.oyer
completely on his back The beast
was ripping the shirt off him with
horrid digs of its claws, while its
tense. swapping jaws shot hot breath
into his face and sought his jugular
vein. Just in time he caught it's
shoulders with both hands, and by.
sheer force Of will and muscle kept
the head away from him.
Then it was that he remembered
us and called for help; for he found
that he had strength enough to keep
the animal, for Sew seconds, at
least, from his throat, and thought
that he could hold out until we came.
But the muscular strain mnet hava