THE PANTHER. 
159 
his pockets, in order to throw it to its mo¬ 
ther; but the little wretch stuck to the lining 
* with teeth and claws so tightly that he could 
not get it out, while every tug produced a 
fresh squall, which irritated the mother to 
frenzy. He could not get off his coat with¬ 
out a dangerous delay: so the only thing to 
be done was to put spurs to his horse and 
endeavour to escape by flight. The pan¬ 
ther gained upon him, however; and, had 
his journey been prolonged, the issue would 
have been more than doubtful. But, just 
as his horse was beginning to flag, he came 
to the edge of the woods and within sight 
of the house where he expected to lodge. 
Three or four large dogs rushed out, bark¬ 
ing at the noise they made; and the poor 
mother, seeing the case was hopeless, turned 
and sullenly retreated to the woods.” 
“Poor thing!” said two or three of the 
girls. 
“ I wonder what he did with the young 
panther?” added Sidney. “I should think 
he would have been careful how he picked 
up any more kittens.” 
“ The story goes on to say that he carried 
the animal home and reared it. But, as I 
