Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-06-04

III tne sduu, leu TlSht dWag to"ai 10
the river. which on either side is bor-
dered for a quarter of a mile or SO
with "wait-a-bit" thorns and under
brush. After going a mile or more my
dog showed special eagerness, and
pulled up at a tree, the bark of which
was all scored by the claws Of leop-
ards and was evidently used by them
continually for stretching their talons.
A lot OF porcupine quills also lay
around. showing that the leopard had
recently made a meal. of which l was
glad. for l thought l should be more
likely to fnd him lazy and lying up.
and hence easier to manage. A little
further on came to kloof or ravine,
which l had to descend and ascend.
Attacked by the Savage Beast.
Before l reached the top. the dog
well as | could, over the loose stones.
for I did not want to lose my only
remaining dog. He. however. came
yelpipS back. just as ! gained the top
of the bank. and at the same time
caught sight OF the leopard. which was
making across the open for q patch
Of thorns q couple OF hundred yards
distant. was somewhat out OF
breath from scrambling over the un-
even ground. but. taking as careful
aim rs l could. fired. ! knew l had
hit him all right. even II he had not
stopped and bitten Mt the wound. but
the shot was too far back rs well as
too low. At the same instant he
caught sight Of me. whilst ]. not relish.
Ing his looks. hastily pushed In m.
other cartridge. I had not my trusty
Winchester" then. or the leopard
would not have served me as he did.
The weapon I was using was a con.
verted Enfield carbine. which. though
q splendid shooter. only took one shell
and required Gaping. ! could not get
the cap on before he was upon me.
and over we both went In n heap-l
undermost. He got my left arm be-
tween his teeth. and could feel his
fangs crunching. but I seized my long
hunting knife. and managed to get 1t
under his chin and gave a frantic
cash which almost cut his head OF.
In the meantime my dog had re-
gained his composure: since he had
seen two of his comrades fattened
out by lcopards he had often turned
tail. but he was very useful In track.
ing them. ! had rolled the skin up
and was Just about starting back for
camp. when the dog again attracted
my attention, acting rs though he had
picked up n fresh scent: and although
I felt pretty sick. still I could not re-
sist the temptation and followed him.
first Of all hanging up the skin on q
thorn bush. The dog held on and !
followed rs well as I could for per.
haps another mile. fortunately along
the wooded ground the best part Of
the tine. so that was shaded to some
extent from the burning sunbeams
which under ordinary circumstances
would have caused me no inconven-
ience. but now almost prostrated me.
I doubtless had lost considerably more
blood than I imagined. but the sudden
renewed barking OF the dog put new
life into me and I hurried on The
leopard had hurried on to some rocky
ground. where he had evidently 10
Gated himself. As he would not prob
ably leave his stronghold for any dog.
I sat down and rested a while. I also
and arranged things as well as could.
SO that no repetition of the last con.
trctemps" should occur. The dog
was working at a crevice In the rocks
in which had calculated the leopard
was ensconced. and I cautiously ap.
preached to investigate. I could. how
ever. neither hear nor see anything at
first, but after n while. as my eye
sight got accustomed to the gloom. I
made out two balls of fire. They
might have been one yard. they might
have been so yards away. ! could not
tell-that did not signify-and taking
steady aim between them. let go.
The report was SO deafening that !
could not have heard any other sound
had there been one, but the eyes"
had gone out when the smoke cleared
away and all was still. After waiting
n while. cut limb or two as straight
as I could find, and splicing them into
one long one. pushed the pole up into
the recesses of the aperture. and with
drawing It. after twisting It around
against some soft substance. found.
sure enough. leopard's fur on the end.
I now felt no hesitation about going
in. though this was more easily said
than done. ! could with difficulty
squeeze myself through the narrow
opening. and to do SO caused me ex.
pain. Once through, how
ever. I had more room. and soon
reached my quarry. which I got at
last into the daylight. not a little glad
to be out of the business so well. |
then had to skin her-a female. and
doubtless mate to the one had killed !,
in the morning. Then returning to |
where had left the other skin I made |
tracks for the wagon.
BY permission of I.onrmans, Green q |
Co, New York.