Part 24 (1/2)
”The cougar now appeared co cautiously about hi one of its forks, he gathered hi down upon the back of his victim His claere buried in her neck at the first dash; and his long body covered hers--his hind-legs and tail warping around her The frightened aniled to free herself Both rolled over on the ground--the peccary all the while gnashi+ng her jaws, and continuing to send forth her strange sharp cries, until the woods echoed again Even the young ones ran around,upon the earth, now springing up again, snapping their little jaws, and iht in silence Since the first wild scream, not a sound had escaped him; but from that moment his claws never relaxed their hold; and we could see that with his teeth he was silently tearing the throat of his victi--only a few le, and lay upon her side--still in the embrace of her terrible adversary--who had now torn open the veins of the neck, and was, silently and cat-like, lapping the warm blood
”With all the hostility which we felt for the cowardly cougar, we did not deem it prudent to interfere We knew that he would serve us just as he was doing the peccary, if he only knew that ere so convenient to hi to move even a lile had brought both him and his victim nearer to our tree I could have shot hi in the enjoyment of his redsuch a muscular and powerful animal with a rifle bullet; and I resolved to let him finish his feast, and take himself off if he would, without any hindrance on our part
”We were not allowed much time to think about it; for the coe voices reached our ears, co from the woods, apparently on all sides of us They had reached the ears of the cougar, too; for the fierce brute started suddenly to his legs, and stood listening, and, as we thought, so around him and down at the fresh-killed ani a resolution, he buried his teeth in the throat of the dead peccary; and, swinging the carcass over his long back, co
”He had made only a few steps, when the noises that had been all this tie of the underwood; and, the nextWe saw at a glance they were peccaries There were twenty or thirty in all They had been summoned by the cries of the one that had been killed They ca sirants as they ran
”They had got between the cougar and trees, before he could reach the latter; and, in fact, they were upon hi of an eye They for bristles erected, their gnashi+ng jaws, and shrill notes, they presented athat his retreat was cut off--at least, so long as he carried the carcass--flung off his burden, and leaped upon the foreround with his huge paws He had not time to turn himself, however, when several others fastened on him from behind; and we could see the red fur fly frole in earnest For a short while the cougar kept his antagonists at bay-- striking theth the whole herd closed upon hi fro to h them and escape; but the peccaries, as active as hi hi jaice or three ti into the air--as if to leap beyond the circle of his antagonists--but at the same time several of these were also seen to rear upward, and intercept hith, by a desperate effort, he succeeded in clearing hi to escape
What was our horror, on perceiving that he ran directly for the tree upon which ere standing!
”With a feeling akin to despair, I cockedit to bear upon his body, he had passed up the tree like a flash; and lay crouching not twenty feet above our heads, and glaring down at us! So close had he been in passing, that his claws brushed my arm, and I could feel his warm breath upon my face! The peccaries had followed to the foot of the tree, and there stopped--being unable to cli upward Others tore the bark with their teeth; and all of them uttered their shrill screams of fury and disappointment
”For some moments, Frank and I stood terror struck We knew not as best to be done There, above, was the terrible cougar, his eyes glaring like balls of fire at ourselves, ithin reach of a single spring! We knew not the ain, was an enemy, equally terrible, in the peccaries They would have torn us to pieces in an instant, had we atteround No wonder, then, ere terrified at the dilemma in which ere so suddenly placed No wonder it was soh to act
”At length, however, I bethought ar was certainly the worse We were safe fro as we remained upon the tree, while ere at the o where ould I resolved, therefore, to direct ies toward the destruction of the latter
”All this tiar had remained where he had first perched himself in an upper fork of the tree He would, no doubt, have attacked us sooner had he not dreaded the peccaries below; but he feared that by springing at us he st them; and this kept him for the moment quiet I knew very well, however, that as soon as the animals at the foot of the tree should take their departure, our fate would be sealed
”My coht with him only his bow and arrows These had been left at the foot of the tree, and were already crunched in pieces by the peccaries I put him behind ar in case I should only succeed in wounding the latter, and it ently as possible, so as not to startle the
”As soon as I was ready, I brought up reat caution I steadied myself on the liar--which was the only part of hier The smoke for a while blinded me, and I could not tell the effects ofnoise--as of soh the leaves and branches--then a dull sound as of the saainst the earth--and the next instant louder screa the peccaries I looked below I saw the red body of the cougar struggling in their , for in a few led by their long fierce tusks”
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
BESIEGED IN A TREE
”I now believed that ere safe Both Frank and I experienced that happiness which men feel who have been suddenly snatched froht ill soon disperse and go off into the woods, now that their enemy has been destroyed' To our consternation, however, we soon found that ere lutted their vengeance upon the cougar, they again surrounded the tree, looking fiercely up at us, tearing the bark as before, and uttering their wild cries It was evident they were detere way to thank us for delivering over to them their enemy!
”We were upon the lower branches, and they could see us distinctly We her, but that would have served no purpose, as they could not reach us where ere They could only destroy us by keeping us in the tree, until we er or thirst; and from what I had heard of the nature of these aniht do this
”At first I was deter that after a while their fury ht subside, and they would disperse Frank and I, therefore, cliher; and concealed ourselves, as well as we could, in the thick tufts of thethus for above two hours,that it was all to no purpose--for the peccaries, although they had become more quiet, still formed a dense circle around the tree, and appeared detere So, no doubt, to take it as coolly and easily as possible--but not one had as yet left the spot
”I grew impatient I knew that our people would be uneasy about our long absence I feared, ht co on foot and not able to cliht fall victith to try what effect a shot or two st the lower Each ti as nearly as I could for its heart I fired five times, and at every shot one of the peccaries was seen to bite the dust; but the rest, instead of being frightened by the fearful havoc I wastherunting ainst the trunk with their hoofed feet, as though they would climb up it
”As I returned to load my rifle for the sixth time, I found to my consternation that I had but one bullet left! This I ra the peccaries, and another of theround But all to no purpose was this slaughter--the aniardless of death
”I knew of no other method to drive them away, and I now returned to the upper branches where I had left my companion, and sat down beside him
We could do no ht call off our strange besiegers Although we could hear theainst the trunk of the tree,paid the in the hand of Providence to deliver us