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Show FOOLED" THE""PANf HER ' UNCLE BILL OBJECTED TO FURNISHING! FUR-NISHING! HER MEAL. Old Frontiersman Naturally Delight Relating to Hie Grandchildren How Narrowly He Escaped From Hideous Death. Undo Bill Joyco lives down In southwestern Missouri, on tho edgo of tho Ozark country. Hd has lived there, a great many years, for ho Is an old man now, nnd ho Is full of entertaining entertain-ing reminiscence of tho days when, that corner of tho stato was still almost al-most a wilderness. Among tho stories ho lovo3 to tell tho open-mouthed children of a moro sheltered generation genera-tion Is this account of a Ilvsly ndven-turo ndven-turo with tho animal that all old frontiersmen used to call a "painter." Undo Uill will begin: Ono day In tho summer of 1857, I shouldorcd my rlflo nnd started for a day's hunt. I was bound for a small pralrlo somo flvo or six miles from homo. After hunting for deer a spell without seeing a sign, I turned Into a small grovo of walnut, oak and mulberry mul-berry to hunt for squirrels. I got n good many of them during tho morning. morn-ing. Onco or twlco I stopped to listen to a queer nolso that 1 could hardly hear, It was so far away. It was a long, quavering cry that died away gradually. " ut It camo no ncaror, and finally stopped altogether. When It camo noon, I went to a spring I know of nnd ate tho lunch that I had brought with mo. Then I thought I would go on to tho pralrlo and hunt for wild bees that was really real-ly what I had In mind when I started. Dut I felt sleepy, and thought I would tako a nap first, and so I stretched myself In a shady placo and foil asloop. I woke a little later to find myself covered with leaves and email brush. I was puzzled euro enough, for I couldn't think what could have covered cov-ered mo up, but I decided to find out First I got a dead log about six feet long, laid It whero I had slept, and covered it with leaves and brush. I looked to c:o whether my gun was loaded, and then I hid In a clump of bushes somo twenty or twenty-flvo ynrds away. After about twenty minutes min-utes I heard .. nolso. I peered out of tho bushes, and saw a largo Bhe-panther Bhe-panther coming through tho trees, followed by a quartor-grown cub. Sho circled round thi mound of leaves a couplo of times; tho cub followed ovory action of Its mother. Aftor tho second round, tho old panther crouched as if for a spring. Sho crouched lower and lower, and kept drawing her feet closer together. Sho kopt her eyes fastened on tho mound of leave, all tho time, and swayed her tall from sldo to Bldo with a slow, regular motion. When sho had gathered her fcot as closo togothor us sho could, she sprang for tho pllo of leaves. Sho landed In tho very middle of tho pile, and gavo several long, wicked rakes with her hind feet. Then she began to fmoll and scratch in t'ao leaves. It didn't tako her long to find out that thero was nothing but an old log; there, and sho stopped scratching and began to look about. I thought that now wns the tlmo to scttlo matters. I was a Uttlo t hor loft and behind hor; I caught a sight just at the baso of her car, and fired. Sho gavo ono loap and a 3hrlll scream, and then lay still. After making suro that sho was dead, I looked for tho cub. It was sitting nenr by on tho sldo of a leaning lean-ing troo, spitting nnd snarling angrily. I soon put nn end to that with a rlflo ball. I never knew a man so well huntod as I was without being hurt. Sho probably took mo for dead, and covere'd mo to kcop other animals from finding mo whllo sho went after her cub. Youth's Companion. |