| Show aff THE E WELCOME UiN VISITOR wall I 1 yes that was A a painter pant cr I 1 said old teb tab pointing to d a nondescript look bookins ii affair of a muddy hue lAue much frayed at the e edges and with the hair well worn off in spots doxa dont look much th that atway way do bit but cousee me nd callino calline have raised seven children one after aluther an uther nd ind they all Wall waller ered cd ba on that hide lettin letti n alone of usein hit for a bed kivert liver aver every fur twenty year conic come nex Jano wary t old teb was a grizzled wiry hunter of the blue ridge mountains whose long rifle anti and co coonskin 0 anskin pouch were better known in the wilds of buncombe county coulty ip those days than the features of far more celebrated men ills his cabin niashia ansia mere shell ot of halt half a dirt floor and its roof licud hall down by stones and poles in ili summerie sum merit was airy ar or wet in winter smoky and wd cold dried venison hung from the grimy joists foists lean hounds slept in ili the aslies ashes of the fireplace and 1911 the outer walls the skins ekins of foxes coons and groundhogs were stretched out to dry in ili odorous prof prolusion ills his wile wife a lank sallow woman clad in it a dirty homespun was gr brittin grit ittin tn roaslia ro asin aslin years on art a home made tin grater for their daily supply of wit several ragged clay eating children squat i ted led about vacantly observing vill the youngest boy suad its thumb upon upon the panther skin and teb himself avas was cutting some bamo greased wads for hi his s long iong rifle Pan banters nowadays is ez as hens bens teeth he continued but t that varmint t war my f fus us one 4 tho I 1 ive knocked over a many a ono onoE sence ence 11 so tel teb repeated the oft told talo taie that hunters delight in fit and without following his peculiar idiom we will give the su substance of ohi atiq in our own in words several iveral Si years before his marriage he be had lived in this same cabin with his mother and sister one bitter winters night lie and ills his sister were left alone their mother having pone gone down to the little store at lashers cashers La gap to do some trading she wits was not expected back before morning tel wits ans then a 11 lid lad ot of A 16 and mag some two years liis ills junior it bad had been a bad winter there was no mast in the woods and wild an animals as well as tame were famishing bear had been seen down in ili the caves and the melancholy bowl of the wolves had bad been heard at night far f fron born their usual haunts it wis was said that a n large panther had bad caught a yearling close by old ahu man ferrys ferlys Fer rys cow pen and many were the injunctions laid on oil tel teb and mag by their mother as to remaining I 1 in afie after r dark so that night they brought in tile the yellow cur dog for company barred the door built h rousing fire of oak and pine knots and felt quite cozy despine the cold draught pouring in ili through the halt chinked logs figs or the sail sad whistle of the night ivind down the arge where alere ler creek i oared and ami toiled u un ll 11 its course down to chii river below I 1 nut but its as the fire died th they cy chit went to bed to keep warm and teb was just dropping into it a doze when ile he heard beard the house cil at t mewing cewin g to be let in then i 1 ill plaintive cry floated down the ho li ollow that seemed not unlike that of a child I 1 in ll 11 distress winding up lip however w with ith a prolonged snarl the cat redoubled doub I 1 ed iti it entreaties and scratched flintily Ins ILIN tily at the door tb rose 1 ng wl ith ill bold cold and vague agile apprehension all and slipping tile wooden bar let the poor creature in the cry was again raised nearer by entering the open door with att startling distinctness there was a ferocious ring about its con clouding echo that caused teb to slain to and rebar the door with precipitate eagerness ills his precaution was timely for in rin a minute human footsteps were audible without then time auie fierce breath ings at ilia alio wilis walls and boid at last a heavy berated scratching hing sound while the du that had it at first raised liis his bristles with wilh low brow Is now slunk under the bed ed with an all j ignominious n a whine it i realized tile danger that menaced them and teb with rising fears thought of t the to wildest tile jalcs of savage beasts ho he had ever dver heard awl and wished vainly lf fily tor for it a r rifle F ehni 1 what is ili lift 11 telf whispered 1 gred slag mag who bad waked d u up PAi mcra or I 1 enebe eabe be bears absil I 1 I 1 teb tab m a though tile yard rord was thronged liron thron ged with them 1 I v had pap 11 fl I 1 old rilo tile the animal after at tile tho door aloft ly circlio round the cabin the th mbiad fire aai burned I 1 i wa v and ali dreb Teb fearful of t lie astren ill of th 1 logs gs crouched near the bed where mag lam ay shivering with apprehension I 1 ahe I 1 I 1 minutes pissed passed and as there cuine no llo sign more alarming e lie e roused bed by an e ex X dozed rou ufa but v gently gentl aur W wa ivich a 1 11 t er who said from 1 liis his ills sl al ti oli oh teb I 1 sallied jal air a off tile the allver er teb stuck a pine splinter in ili the embers and as it blazed up lip advanced toward the bed mag ans i its on the side farthest f from rom the wall vall and by the flaming light they sawa huge yellow paw thrust between a wider chink 0 of the tha loss los with its claws buried in the ragged quilt though ale alarmed at till an unknown danger a glimpse of its exact nature nerved the youth ile he looked about hastily tor for u aw weapon capon the family tamely spinning wheel still insull stood where the that mother only the day before had spun the fillin 11 of somo some jeans she intended to weave biar adly knowing what ho he did did teb pulled out the long iong head post wit with h its trans transverse velse spindle attached and raising it brought attili A hi all his strength the sharp steel point pierced through the creatures le lagand aind into inin the log beneath with a snarl of ra rage ovad old pain it strove to withdraw its toot foot but the upper log casebi catching aig tile the head posa pos prevented it tab saw ilia iiii opportunity and seizing a hammer that lay in ili a crick crack he drove with frantic strokes the ilia spindle deep aown into the log w I 1 at every blow the beast without growl growled grow lel I 1 and whined alter tay mag with id clasped cli i sped hands flerin derin gly watched her brother until the she saw that buiu ae aie brute brnic could not release itself when she burst into tears exclaiming ilow how kin kill geuns sleep teb nd ind that leg a brickin nd ind hit hilt to the kiver too but she lid did sleep nevertheless notwithstanding stand hig the dolorous whines i and intermittent growls that kept teb w wido awake thereafter and keenly alive to the peculiar peril of their situation the dog remained cowed and silent morning at length came and teb arming himself with the ax went out to view his imprisoned foe lie ile found as he be ex cs pecked it i large panther clinging to the side of the I 1 ouse the logs of of which were scarred by its claws in futile efforts effort to release itself it was still furious though much I 1 wearied and its eyes were with yellowish ferme ile he dared not approach close ellou enough h to use the ax so ferocious was its aspect andson violent its lunges junges at the sight of himi taking mag and the dogs they till all trudged through the snow some two miles to old man mail terrys cabin he was absent but along a long mountain rifle bull hung over the door loading it carefully teh teb started back alone and on arriving found his panther still there ile he rested his gun gull ou on the garden palings halings pa lings sighted carefully aud and fired at its head it lunged fearfully emitting a fierce scream but so nervous was the young man mail that two more shots shot were required to kill it when his mother arrived an hour later teb was quietly skinning ills his victim in while bile the bloody spindle with the tho battered head post attached was conspicuously stuck in the outside wall over liis his head Af after terone one comprehensive glance lioun mound 1 this thia important adjunct to lier her much valued spinning wheel heel met her eye ar ana 1 her first words were characteristic of the petty solicitudes solicit udes antl and contempt of darger danger which ir the poverty and isolation of 0 a tain etain life encourages even in women good lorill lord what lori ye been a doin teb ter that broach aid spindle et hit bernt fur far thet painter ez mout bev fetched the roan heifer ez drove down the gap id jest war var yo ye plum out fui fu pc pe of that wheel at all and 1 gentlemen old teb eyeing afre affectionately shewell the well worn hide on which his offspring still rolled she a woman ez meant jest what she said shed liev hev put tile the wood onto me shore ef e I 1 beant a bed that pal riter ter show fe for r IV what hat id done se sherely would and he shook his hi head beat ruminatively atlanta constitution |
