Old settler stories . happy were weThe night w^e sat under The juniper tree. i AN ADVENTURE ON THE ROAD 59 She was singing this for the twentieth timein her clear voice, when suddenly Old Bessstood stock-still. She snorted, and refusedto go another step. Mary Ellen lookedaround in amazement to see what hadstartled her faithful old friend. To herterror, she saw on a branch of a near-by oak,a great panther, ready to spring at her. Shebeat the horse frantically with her heels andhands then, and tried to make Old Bess run,but the animal only stood still, eyeing thepanther. The lithe creature in th
Old settler stories . happy were weThe night w^e sat under The juniper tree. i AN ADVENTURE ON THE ROAD 59 She was singing this for the twentieth timein her clear voice, when suddenly Old Bessstood stock-still. She snorted, and refusedto go another step. Mary Ellen lookedaround in amazement to see what hadstartled her faithful old friend. To herterror, she saw on a branch of a near-by oak,a great panther, ready to spring at her. Shebeat the horse frantically with her heels andhands then, and tried to make Old Bess run,but the animal only stood still, eyeing thepanther. The lithe creature in the tree could waitno longer for his prey, and sprang. Heleaped right at the childs head, and his clawscaught in the black bonnet. As Alary Ellenhad not obeyed her mother and tied thestrings under her chin, the bonnet and thepanther went to the ground. The girlscreamed, and the frightened horse plungedmadly forward ; soon they were fleeing likethe wind down the trail which led to the jollymiller. 6o OLD SETTLER STORIES. On the Branch of an Oak was a Great Panther Ready to Spring at Her. AN ADVENTURE ON THE ROAD 6i With cheeks of chalk and long hair flying,she at last galloped up to the humming she fell in a heap from the horses back,as the dusty miller and his daughter ran outto find the cause of the flying hoofs. At first,when she told her tale, her friends were in-clined to disbelieve her, as no panther hadbeen seen in that-portion of the country foryears. As Mary Ellen repeated her story,now with loud sobs, the miller grew left the mill in charge of his women folk,and, calling his three brawny sons, they setout on the trail over which Mary Ellen hadcome. There they found the torn sunbonnet,but of the panther there was not a sign,though they hunted long. Alary Ellen did not go home that night, forshe was too upset by her unexpected adven-ture. The next day the millers oldest sonrode back with her, carrying the corn spite of all her terror and her f
Size: 1269px × 1970px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectfrontierandpioneerli
