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, occasionalh^ 

 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 daj^s 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 



