Part 30 (1/2)
The beast was also subh they can swi to the surface to get air Then it let out another scream of pain, while the bullet wound in its side dyed the brook red
As the panther ca captain tried to do the sa he encountered was the beast's fierce claws, and he received a deep and painful scratch in his left shoulder Then he went down again, and tried to come up further down the stream But unfortunately the panther moved in the same direction
In the e of the brook
They realized their captain's peril, and as soon as the panther showed itself two of the the beast in the back and the other landing a bullet in the panther's neck
The fury of the ani around it lashed the water of the brook into a perfect foam Then it leaped for the opposite shore, and ain it was gone
When Captain Moore regained the surface of the brook willing hands helped him out
”Hurt?” questioned Peck anxiously
”A little--on the shoulder,” was the ansith a gasp ”Where is the beast?”
”Got away in yonder bushes, sir That's a nasty dig You had better let me bind it up”
”Carwell, how are you?”
”The beast nipped roan ”By George, but he was an ugly one!”
”That's right,” put in another soldier ”You can be thankful you wasn't chewed up”
A brief search revealed the fact that the panther had left the vicinity, and then the others set to work to bind up the wounds the captain and Carwell had sustained
”We had betterofficer, when the hurts had been attended to ”If there are Indians or desperadoes around they must certainly have heard those shots, and they will be wondering what they loo itself over the hills to the eastward They had now gained a rise of ground froht have been seen But the young captain's glass was gone--confiscated, as already told, by those who had first attacked hi officer ”We don't want to walk into any trap”
Less than a mile was covered, when Peck, who had been sent out in advance, came back and called for silence
”Some Indians are ahead,” he said
”How many of them?” questioned Captain Moore
”Not less than a dozen or fifteen, captain I counted eleven, and heard so that I couldn't see”
”Where are they?”
”Down behind where the brook flows over those sawtooth rocks We were out there fishi+ng last summer”
”I know the spot youin particular I overheard one say to another that he expected White Ox along before sundown”
”They uard of the tribe, then,” returned the young officer thoughtfully ”Did any of them see you?”