CHAPTER XX

DICK’S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER

“I’ve always noticed, Ned, that when everything looks simple and easy, it is a good time to expect trouble.”

“Not this time, Dick.”

But it was this time, and that night Ned had his last care-free sleep for weeks.

“How long shall we camp here?” asked Dick.

“Better stay here for a week or two.  We can hunt in the woods back of us and explore all these bays.  This may be the last fresh water we will find on the trip, so we don’t want to leave it till we are ready to pull straight through to Myers.”

In the morning the boys started across the woods on the bank of the stream, hoping to find a buck on the prairie beyond them.  When they reached the prairie they saw three deer near its farther end, about half a mile away.  They went back in the woods and started to work their way around the prairie to its farther end where the deer were.  It took them some hours to get where the deer had been, only to find that they had gone.  They saw them again on a smaller prairie and once more tried to get near the creatures by creeping through the woods.  When the hunters were as near the game as they could go without getting out of cover the animals were yet a hundred and fifty yards distant.  One of them was a fine buck and Ned watched it, rifle in hand, for many minutes, hoping it would come nearer.  As the deer fed they sometimes came nearer and his hopes rose, only to sink into his boots when they turned away.  At last he gave up waiting for a better chance and fired.  The buck threw up his head, looked around for a moment and trotted quietly away, entirely unharmed, followed by the other deer.

“It isn’t our day, Dick,” said Ned, ruefully, as he watched the disappearing animals.

“Here goes for something to eat, anyhow,” replied Dick, as he dropped a curlew that was flying over them.  After broiling and eating the bird, together with some hoe-cake which they had in their pockets, the boys resumed their hunt for deer.  They saw several more during the afternoon, but ill luck followed them and they finally set out for camp empty-handed.

As the boys were passing through a thick clump of trees on the bank of the river, about two hundred yards from their camp, Ned was suddenly held back by a clutch on his shoulder, and turning his head, saw Dick’s face upturned and his eyes fixed on the large branch of a big tree just before them.  As Ned looked upward he saw the form of a huge panther, or mountain lion, crouching upon the limb and apparently about to spring upon him.  The animal was within ten feet, every muscle was tense, his long tail was waving slowly and Ned stood motionless, charmed by the living beauty of the beast, until he heard Dick’s whisper in his ear: 

“Shoot, Ned!”

The hypnotic spell was broken and Ned slowly raised his rifle to his shoulder, while the panther crouched lower and waved his tail more quickly.  In another second it might be too late, and once more Dick whispered: