THE FLORIDA PANTHER. 



45 



bushes were dripping with dew, and an energetic but somewhat 

 dissipated chuck- will's-widow was whistHng away with much fervor. 

 A moment later and a crow cawed from the top of a small pine, and 

 then the full avian orchestra commenced in earnest, and the belated 

 chuck-will's-widow was heard no more. 



The dogs, eager to find a trail, were running in and out of the 

 thick bushes, occasionally starting off on the trail of a deer or wild- 

 cat, upon which they were immediately called back by Davis. 



Soon the sun rose, and then the bird music gradually ceased, 

 although the bluebirds piped away alone for some time, occasionally 

 assisted by a crow. At times the dogs would strike a trail on hard 

 ground where we could see nothing. We would then have to call 

 them in and " slow trail " it until we came to a place where the 

 ground was soft enough to enable us to see the tracks. 



Usually it proved to be a deer, sometimes a cat, but we were 

 not after deer and cats, except of a larger kind, so the dogs were 

 called off and we kept on. Panther tracks two or three days old 

 were not uncommon, but no " fresh" ones were found, and I began 

 to think we should have to give it up and return to camp. Once or 

 twice the dogs sniffed along the top of a fallen tree, and our spirits 

 immediately rose, as we knew that in all probability the animal that 

 walked there was either a cat or a panther, but in every instance a 

 further investigation proved it to have been the former. 



At times each of us would take a hound and hunt in different 

 directions, meeting later at some point agreed upon, and then again 

 we would hunt all the dogs together. In this way we covered a great 

 deal of ground. 



At last " Cleve" started off on an apparently fresh trail and was 

 immediately followed by the other dogs. Davis called him back 

 and made him go slowly until he came to a piece of soft sand where 

 the trail was plain and clear, and which this time proved to be that 

 of a large panther, and was evidently quite " fresh." At this time 

 I was not with them, so Davis and Gale started on to follow the 

 animal alone. The dogs "jumped" him within a mile of where 

 they struck the trail, and the animal ran for perhaps a quarter of a 



