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Show T.T0 f.IULS OF SERVE. TIlLTi SLFW A WILDCAT. Pueblo, Col , Nov. 25 The ad-ventureof ad-ventureof Ca rie and Maude Latnes daughters of one of the tutntantijil farmers of the lioli Creek country, a few miles from Pueblo, la told of with much prafce for the plucky Rlrls. Ihtyare Illinois girls, and have been here but about a year Their father's ranch Is in a valley among the foot lillK and is almost surrounded by bluffjand fir-covereil promontories elopitjg back from the creek. The two (jirls aged about 20 ami 23, were left alone lat week br ren Kin of the court tension, and took cuargt. of the tucb during their father's abtnci. This was nothing new to them, and they wtnt on niththe work as usual. The first morning after the departure of their father. liowever,they were horrified to find Uiat one of the finest horux in the corral had been killed during the night, and great tracks showed that some ulld beat had cummlUed tliedeed. .. Tint night they sat up art of the night, but without feeing anything In the morning, however, there was another horm killed, and the remainder re-mainder of the herd lnacondllioo borderiug on Insanity. Dtttrrulned to sift the matter to the button, they locked up the haute, aud tnk,-ingriflt tnk,-ingriflt s and plenty of aiumunltiuii, Utou heavy boots, an I t-t-irted t( track the ttrange depredator down They followed the fiKitprinbt to tlii foothills, and thcu up a diagonal path into a glen covered with a thick growth of (line. Thecauyon had iirocipItou-slt.es and aiLHrro Kind covtred path along the stream u blch cour-ed down the centiH. It was hard to tra -e the fuoUteein, and caulioui-ly they fullotrcd the trail until they were several hundred feet above the level of the creek and of the ranch Tht. traiks led (o an open space flanked by high nails or red ruck, aud suddenly dRtppeared. In vain they tried to dUcuver anopeniuij somewiiere. At last the elder of the plucky hunters climbed the wall nnd stood twenty feet above her&ls ter. Thereon a level plat the saw a rircular hole leading iutolhe rocks and appnrtntly into n den. ISuth examined tlieapjicrtureand deelded that they had found tbe home of tLepronier. Itut as he t hooir? and what kin 1 of a creature might theyYlnd it to be? The question puzzled them for some time, tut, finally. Canieundertook-tOfolvetbe diOlculty ty throHiiigaiarge rock into the enve. It went rebounding down for some feet, and then there came an ominous sound that made With thegirls turn pale with alarm. It was uot tbe growl of a bear; It nasabloood-curdlingand inhuman shriek that resembled nothing- they had ever before heard For some time they debated, as to the course liest to iursue. Onowos fi I covering up the entrance to the deiiand starving the irearore ta death, but it was by no mntns eer tal ii that another eutram-e did. not exist. Then it was proposed to file iifto the hole at random and trust to luck to hit the mark lint all these propositions were, abandoned, and they determined to "punch up the animals" an I see what would result trusting to their rifles to protect them in case they were attacked tliem-elves. V long wle was fouud and stuck carefully through the .aperture into the den. Both girls bad a hold on It, and they were prepared to drop it and seize their loaded aud cocked rifles the moment any thing showed in the gloom beneath. Maude had brought witli her a lariat thrown around her th6u!der, cowboy fashion, Shiuking, tierhaps, it would come lrindj, a.-, indeed, the le-tthern thong often doe In mcuti-taiiu-ut districts. "Let ui tie the lariat on," said she to her si-te r. ' What for? We t!o not want to lose it, too." Well, there may I a necessity for pulling the pule out again, and Iiesnles we do uot know how deep the hole is." The logic eeme-d good, and Carrie acquiesced. The lariat was atta'hed to the pole, and they commeuced to loweraway. Down It went to the full length of the iee-e ef w ood, and then three or four feet of lariat was (aid out, lieu suddenly that same horrible shriek resounded, aud the frit the pole seized by some stroi g W er bent ith. They braced them H-lve-i on the edge of the aperture and held on Whatever the creature was it hid good te-elh and was evidently pull lug its liest to ,et the loleaiid lariat away from its prosecutors. "shall we let go?" asked one of the lair hunter", anxiously. "Not muih," was tlio reply. "We have Ills teeth set ou the wood. and probably he won't let go. We'll pull him out. This startling reposition was easier made than carried out, as, in ite of their be-st efforts, they were unable to stir the lariat one foot In their dlrtctlon. "I'll tell you what to do," said Carrie, "make a jiulley." "Hut Iioh?" wa the reply. "There is a tree almost above ui lut the Lirriit oter a limb aud pull tbe creature ouL" This looked feasible, and while oue held the line taut the other threw tiie remainder of the rojx. over the limb and brought it down ou the other side. "ow," said the ge.ieraliimo of the uew stralet! J , "y ou get me the rifle nml we'll see what we can do " There was some dauber of falling down the Uitl, but they did not think of that, and both put their weights on the IatiaL It moved. The limb of the fir u as hare and smooth and no frietiou was taken into account to hinder thtlr strength having its utmost force. Inch by lueli they lowered their slue of the thong, an J inch by itie.Ii the npjier end of the le trotruued throiig the aperture, screaming, clawing, and howling they heard theirgameattroachiug, and their excitement grew until they could baldly raise the heavy weight. Hut they continued, anil, I when it was seen thut they were almost at the end ol their labor, Maude, the heavier, was Itft to pull, while Carrie seized the rifle. Holding it ioinleUnt the hole she waited for the next lift. It came, aud suddenly a stri'ied, cat-like head a jieared In view. The te-elh were emlddenl in the lle, while the most terrific anger aud determination showed iu the ferocious fero-cious feature. Without a moment's hesitation site fired at the near mark,und, with another wild shriek, the animal let go Its hold and fell, clutching and clawing, to the bottom bot-tom "Down with the pole! I hit him," she called, aud in a moment the bait was again at the bottom of the den aud had been seized by the maddened e nature. Aj,aln they pulled it up, but its cries were weaker, and when it reached the top the- pulled it entirely out before firing. The second bill went crash lug through its skull, and it fell to the earth dazed for a moment. Par tiall) reviving, It made a bap fur its caitors, but Maude was ready with the other ntle, aud auolner ball liid the animal out deiid at their feet. They were uot satisfied to leave it, aud, ringing up a rude carriage, dragged it dowu the cait- on an J liotue. It w s found to be a catamount, or wil Icat, of the largest dimeusiouH magnificently striped uud with pc-r-leet fur. The ol t hunters of Pueblo ilecl'rvd it the most handsome specimen speci-men of the kind they had ever seen. The creature is soiuewlmt rare iu Hie foothill region, beiuj mostly found iu the. interior mountain sections sec-tions The eye teeth ere ery long, and almost like tusks W hen the ulu was seized, as was seeu aterward, the teeth sauk into, and thu catamount was probably unable to let yj. It Is, moreover, characteristic charac-teristic of it to I old fast to a uy tiling seize-d with Its jans or teeth. The fact that no more horses were lost I roved that the animal had been the deprrdttor of the ranch, and was able to kill a borse.CZoAe Democrat. |
