| Show locked locked 1 in lonely cabin alvith WILD CATAMOUNT worker in hi battle baltic with the Fie fiercest member of 0 all cat fam family i lly that backward step came caime near being fatal to elitife Jach jackson jacdson son for as lie fie moved the giant cat launched itself with a scream straight into his fuce face uy by WILLIAM HORNE HE swamp THE is a wild awe inspiring region like a world of its own it stretches from far up in georgia down and into the state of florida nearly a thousand square miles of wi wildness edness and tropical beauty giant situ lons rians abound plentifully in the shallow waters and Us ile basking on banks ot of silt throughout the region and the dim game trails are still the haunts of 0 deer and bear and timber wolves foxes and coons possums otter beaver and many species of the cat family but the meanest of all members of the feline tribe that prowl the fastness of the swamp Is the catamount he Is not so voracious or fugn pugnacious a as his celoso brother the panther but he Is nevertheless a killer and scarcely a day that passes ho he falls to take his gruesome toll he grows to enormous lengths catamounts Cat amounts that measured eight teet feet from nose to tip of tall tail and that balanced the scales at pounds have been killed in this swamp As a rule the catamount is vicious and quarrelsome sometimes killing f tor or the sheer love of killing and although generally very much afraid of man he has had been known to attack without warning and kill a lone native with his savage ripping claws and terrible teeth catamount Is bloodthirsty many natives of the swamp carry hideous scars in mute testimony of the bloodthirsty blood thirsty nature of this giant killer of the South lands little known jungle rute rufe jackson a turpentine worker who lives alone in a one room cabin of cypress slabs well within the swamp limits probably knows more about the nasty temper berand and fighting prowess of the oke catamount tha than n any living native he carries deep scars on both upper arms and across his chest and a livid mark down his cheek from his forehead to his chin from the raking talons of one of tle the murderous felines and he recalls vividly the details of the hand to hand enciu encounter riter that came near costing him his life lonely Li havens at different points inthe swamp the turpentine crews have small one room cabins for the convenience of workers when they are are caught away from their homes at nightfall these line cabins as they are called are equipped merely with a crude bunk a small wood stove and a few cooking utensils and when a man knows he will be too tar far away from his home hoine at dark to conveniently return tor for the night he ha takes with him a small f supply of uncooked food and prepares it it at the line cabin at the end ot of the day rufe bute jackson was caught several miles from his home one evening rt at nightfall I 1 he had with him a small email supply of bacon meal and coffee and with first dark made his way alone to the nearest cabin half a mile distant on his arrival there he found the cabin door open but this did not surprise him for men were wera careless and he had found the same thing many nights before so he crossed the small clearing taking with him a small tin trough filled with raw resin aar apr applied lied a match and placed the improvised flambeau just outside the doorway so he would have sual lent light to prepare the evening meal mosquitoes aroused with first dark came down in s and this smoking torch to drive them off race face to face with cat dut but he never prepared the evening meal for he had no mure than swung the sack of uncooked food from his shoulder ns as lie ho crossed the floor ot of the tiny cabin toward the stove than there como camo to his carsa car a low ominous snarl from the doorway behind him ile ho swirled about and peered int into 0 the deep shadows where thu the flickering light failed to touch but saw nothing ile ho walked toward the door with tho the intention of bringing tho the dancing light inside but as ho he neared the open door the growl came again this time it was deadlier and nearer lie ho swung the door halt half shut and looked behind it in the corner of the room lie he froze at what lie he saw scarcely five feet away crouched a long dark form green breen eyes glower glowed front from the darkness upon his foice face ho had no ho weapon except a keen edged hunting knife lie ho always carried in his sheath nt at his belt ills hand sought its hilt hill and without taking his eyes from those gleaming arbs orbs 01 bs behind the door ho he slowly drew it and stepped backward but that chaji backward step st L p came near b cing behig fatal for rute rufe jackson for as lie ho moved the giant cat launched its itself elf with a scream straight up into his face joc locked ked with death rule rufe jackson scream screamed eol too and as he awad fell backward hard against the ov open en door it slammed violently and the crude wooden latch clicked in place and held it shut then the catapulting body crashed full into his chest and with a cry on his lips he was carried backward to the floor ile threw up iiii his arms to ward oft off those clawing talons and raking fangs the cats claws sank deep into his forearms and ripped them to the bone madly savagely he thrashed out with feet and flailing lai ling arms and with low snarling gasps the big cat raked hm him mercilessly with terrible claws clas he felt hot blood run down his neck from a loni long deep gash 9 1 sh across his face and he fie felt the th needle sharp claws lay his chest wide open one of his arms encircled the tawny attackers rippling shoulders shoulder sj and now he thought tor for the llast tim time e of the keen knife in his clenched bloody fist in desperation he struck out at the heaving side he felt the point sink deep lie he drew it out and with sobs on nis ls lips drove it in III again and again and again blade holds balanced balance the big cat screamed in id agony and raked its rear feet up tip and down in terrific ter rifle jerks that would have disemboweled disembowel ed rute rufe jackson had he not swerved his lithe body aside and once again lie ho drove home the long knife this time the great claw that had been clutching him like a 0 giant hand on one ripped shoulder jerked away and there came a shrill trembling agonizing cry from tho the open mouth there so close to his face in the dark it died away to a gurgling moan and ho he felt the heavy body go limp and slide to the floor door beside him for a long time after the cat had died from the final thrust through its savage heart rufo jackson lay there gasping for breath and dizzy and sick from the pain and loss of blood finally he managed to crawl to the door open it and pull himself erect and stagger of oft through the trees to the house of a friend four miles distant rufus cant remember how he managed those four miles through the thick swamp but he ollo and the surgical skill of his friend learned during years of life in the great swamp swaine although crude saved him from certain death he will always carry deep scars scarf of that encounter with one of the swamps worst denizens 0 bell syndicate service |
