lled, stealing along, very probably on the
same errand as we were,--hoping to pounce upon one of the females of the
herd, could he catch his prey unprepared. He is bound to be cautious,
however, how he attacks a buck, for the elk can do battle with his horns
and hoofs, and might disable even the savage panther.

Uncle Jeff saw the brute as soon as I did, and turning round, he made a
sign to me to aim at the panther the moment he should fire at the elk.
In the meantime, the panther was so intent on reaching his expected prey
that he was not likely to observe us. As may be supposed, I kept a
watchful eye on the wild beast, for he might possibly become aware of
our presence; and if so, might content himself with a human being for
his supper instead of venison, and I had no fancy to give him an
opportunity of selection.

It was very exciting having both the panther and deer before us.
Frequently Uncle Jeff stopped, fearful of being discovered by the elk;
while the panther, for the same reason, did likewise. Thus the savage
beast would creep on and on, crouching down and concealing himself from
view. He so far interfered with our sport, that we could have the
chance of killing only two deer instead of three; for I was to reserve
my fire for his benefit, and I ardently hoped I should not miss. I
tried to make Manley understand that it would be prudent in him not to
fire until he saw whether my bullet took effect, but I could not be
certain what he would do.

Our progress was now slower than ever. Several times the deer had
looked up, apparently suspecting that danger was near; but still Uncle
Jeff advanced, in a stooping posture, unwilling to stir even the
smallest twig for fear of alarming the wary herd. I moved on more
rapidly; the panther was now not more than twenty yards from us, and
would in a few seconds make his deadly spring.

Suddenly Uncle Jeff stopped, raised his rifle to his shoulder, and
fired. The panther at that moment was rising, about to dash forward
from the brushwood. I pulled the trigger; at the same instant Manley
fired--he had aimed at the deer--and as the smoke cleared away I saw the
panther fall back on the ground.

The deer were now in full flight, so I followed Uncle Jeff and Manley in
the direction the herd were taking towards the north end of the valley.
What means they had of escape we could not tell; we hoped that, shut in
by the mountain, we might again get near enough to have ano