76 THE ADIRONDACK. 



brought him. Finding in his long stretches through 

 the wood, where the timber is so thick you can- 

 not see an animal more than fifteen rods, that a 

 heavy rifle was a useless burden, he had a pistol made 

 about eleven inches in Length, stocked like a rifle, 

 which,^with his hunting knife and dog, became his 

 only companions. I had him with me several days as 

 a guide, for he knows better than any other man the 

 mysteries of this wilderness, though there are vast 

 tracts even he would not venture to traverse. Moose, 

 deer, bears, panthers, wolves, and wild cats, have by 

 turns, made his acquaintance, and some of his en- 

 counters would honor old Daniel Boone himself. 

 Once he came suddenly upon a panther that lay 

 crouched for a spring within a single bound of him. 

 He had nothing but his gun and knife with him, 

 while the glaring eyes and gathered form of the furi- 

 ous animal at his feet, told him that a moment's 

 delay, a miss, or a false cap, would bring them locked 

 in each other's embrace, and in a death-struggle. 

 But without alarm or over-haste, he brought his riflo 

 to bear upon the creature's head, and fired just as he 

 was sallying back for the spring. The ball entered 

 the brain, and with one wild bound his life departed, 



