“The savage creatures maintained their relative positions, eyeing one another for several minutes.  Then the panther gave a tremendous leap, and grappled the bear.  It was a frightful contest:  each animal uttering the most piercing cries, biting, hugging, and tearing one another as they rolled over and over in the dust.

“It was evident to the Indian that this fearful struggle could last but a short time; and soon the animals, as if by mutual agreement, separated, and, moving a short distance from one another, lay down and began to lick their wounds.

“While thus engaged, the panther became by some means, aware of Cadette’s presence.  As though angry at such an interruption, he turned, and, with a fierce growl, sprang towards him, instead of the bear.

“Unexpected as was the movement, it did not find the Indian unprepared.  Planting the handle of his spear firmly in the earth, he so adroitly held it that the panther alighted upon its sharp iron head, which passed directly through the creature’s heart; not, however, before the maddened animal had dealt Cadette the blow that crushed his face, and inflicted a wound the scar of which, had so terribly disfigured him for life.

“As soon as the Indian recovered from the effect of the blow, he succeeded in withdrawing his spear from the carcass of the panther, and went in search of the bear, who had retreated to some distance, and was engaged in licking the wounds he had received in his encounter with the panther.

“Cadette at once attacked the creature so vigorously with his spear, that he soon succeeded in killing him; and, although suffering great pain, managed to remove the skin from both animals; and, taking them upon his back, bore them in triumph to the rancheria, more than twenty miles distant, as trophies of his prowess in the chase.”

After thanking Mr. Mastin for a very pleasant evening, we all retired, and were soon asleep, nor did we awake the next morning until the sun was far up in the heavens.

Breakfast over, we bid our guest a hearty farewell; and, with good wishes for our safe arrival upon the Pacific Coast, he left us to pursue our journey still further into the Apache country.

It was after we were comfortably seated about our camp-fire, in the evening, that I bethought myself that we had not as yet, heard Hal’s story of his capture and adventures with the Apaches.  So I called him, with the request he would narrate what had befallen him, from the time he left our camp at Dead-Man’s Hole until his release by us in the Sacramento Mountains.

Hal, who had evidently been expecting the invitation for some time, at once seated himself, and, with Jerry, Ned and myself as listeners, commenced as follows:—­

“When Anastacio and I started for Fort Davis, we hadn’t been on the road fifteen minutes, before five Indians set upon us, from a thicket by the road side.

“They followed up the attack so briskly, that before we had time to think, they had our revolvers, and our hands tied behind us.  They then took our horses and mounted us upon two of their own.  We travelled over the roughest, hardest country I ever saw in my life, until daybreak, when they stopped at a spring to water.