Black Panther

“ His horse was a magnificent coal black, far larger than the ordinary Indian pony, and he stood with his neck arched as if he were proud of his owner. The Indian's gaze and manner were haughty and defiant. It was obvious to every one, and a low murmur ran among the men of the train. Phil recognized the warrior instantly. It was Black Panther, no longer the sodden haunter of the levee in the white man's town, but a great chief on his native plains. Phil looked at Middleton, who nodded.
"Yes," he said, "I know him. He has, of course, been watching us, and knows every mile of our march. ”

“ If he fired and hit, the cat would fall and there would be a knife-and-claw encounter—in a box canyon, with no escape for him and no adequate weapon to defend himself. That cat could strike with a blow that would tear every rib out of his body, and he would come with the quickness of lightning. Elementary caution told Sid to wait until the men came up with their rifles. They had the Black Panther at bay, now.
[134] Meanwhile the Black Panther, with a single hissing snarl at Sid below, had reached the pueblo ledge and darted into his cave of refuge. ”

“ Looks good, Sid. The less Niltci and I move around the better. I ought to be fairly well healed in a week, and the splints you put on the Indian boy will let him get about if you make him a pair of crutches. We’ll make out! As for the Black Panther skin, it would be a wonderful trophy, but you couldn’t ship it out of Arizona without the game warden examining it, and then word of it would get back to the Indians. For Hinchman’s sake the only thing to do is to abolish it. ”

“ Black Panther told them. "We know that the Mohawks were close to our village. Dancing Owl saw them. He says those Mohawks went up the river. Perhaps they will come back. We must keep a sharp watch. I believe they are trying to fool us. Perhaps they are scouts. Perhaps there is a big war party hiding in the woods. Perhaps the scouts made those fires to draw our warriors up the river. Then it would be easy for the war party to get into the camp. We must be cautious."
His words raised the suspicions of his tribesmen. They believed he had guessed the plans of their foes. ”

“ We know where the Black Panther hangs out, which the Major doesn’t. He and Big John can run him with the hounds, while Scotty and I climb up by the lariat into Lost Canyon and wait there until he comes. There must be a kiva or underground secret society cave somewhere in that pueblo. We’ll drop the carcass down there, so it will disappear forever. Then Major Hinchman can fix up some sort of a yarn that will take with the Indians, and the whole affair will blow over if the Black Panther don’t come any more. ”

“ It seemed impossible that a man could shoot so fast and so true as those bullets came that were crashing into the Black Panther’s skull. Then Scotty’s .405 went off, close at hand, with a stunning report, and everything was obliterated in a cloud of smoke. ”

“ Yet the tribes pressed in with uncommon courage, charging like white men, while their great chiefs Timmendiquas, Red Eagle, [Pg 293] Black Panther, Moluntha, Captain Pipe and the others led them on. They rushed directly into the faces of the borderers, leaping forward in hundreds, shouting the war whoop and now and then cutting down a foe. The darkness was still heavy and close, but it was lit up by the incessant flashes of the rifles. The smoke from the firing, with no breeze to drive it away, hung low in a dense bank that stung the mouths and nostrils of the combatants. ”

“ As the qcali finished, a group of young braves stepped forward and bound Niltci so that he faced to the east. Then a fork was secured about his head, the purpose evidently being for someone to hold it so that the poor youth would have to face the desert sun until its torture forced him to tell something or invent a confession if he had none.
The whites looked at one another significantly. “Well, boys—we must be getting back to camp,” said the Colonel. “Neyani, the white men think that your son is innocent. There is some other reason for the Black Panther. ”

“ I will lead you to our brothers."
"This will be a big fight," cried Black Panther, the famous war chief. "If the Mohawks kill our brothers, we will go to the Mohawk village and kill many people. I am your chief. I will lead you."
His words filled the warriors with enthusiasm. They began to dance and sing their war songs. Then they hurried to the river. A few moments later a fleet of canoes moved swiftly away into the twilight. A great war party of Delawares had gone to the aid of their tribesmen. ”

“ Ruler! Pep! Bourbon! This way!” yelled up Sid, waving his arm to them in the direction the cougar had gone. The dogs belled together in unison, then, and started weaving along the brink. Ruler ran out on another pinnacle and struck hot scent, where the Black Panther had only recently [135] landed from his jump. He rolled off a barking-treed call and the pups squeaked and rushed over to smell it, too.
“Hi! Hi!—This way, Scotty! Hyar they are—over by the canyon! Wahoo!” resounded Big John’s voice far off through the timber. ”

“ The great brown hound stood on the opposite rim. Silently he had come out of the forest; silent and perplexed, he sniffed the air, testing its scents. As they watched, his body suddenly stiffened and his tail went straight as a poker. His ears laid back and his teeth bared, and then a volleying bark rang out across the canyon. Ruler pawed the ground in his excitement—then he suddenly ceased and ran along the rim, a houndy growl, whimpering with eagerness, coming from him.
“That settles it!” said Scotty, rising energetically. “He saw the Black Panther, Sid! His eyes are sharper than ours. ”

“ He seemed urging Niltci to confess, but the boy shook his head, his eyes piteous with injured innocence, his face looking at them terrified over the fearful predicament into which the superstition of the Black Panther had brought him.
“What does he say, Neyani?” demanded Colonel Colvin. “The white men do not understand this at all!”
Neyani shrugged his shoulders. He was through with his renegade son, it was quite evident. His interest was merely that for some criminal.
“Perhaps a man in the desert lies dead because of him; perhaps some girl she lives dishonored by him. Who knows? ”

“ I believe they went the other way."
"Well, my friends, I cannot tell what to make of it," acknowledged Black Panther. "Only a foolish person makes a big fire to tell his enemies where to find him. The Mohawks are not foolish. They are as sly as Woakus, the fox. I cannot tell why they made those big fires. It is mysterious. I believe something bad will come of it. Come, Sky Dog, you are a great Medicine Person, perhaps you can tell us about it."
Sky Dog, the aged Delaware Medicine Man, rose to his feet in obedience to the command of his chief. ”

“ The Delawares waited calmly at their posts, each man grimly determined to avenge the long list of tribesmen who had died at the hands of those fierce and implacable foes. The signals soon ceased, and then for a long time all was still. The Delawares waited in trying suspense. A little group of warriors huddled behind each barricade, and between them, at the edge of the camp, were others to close the gaps. Black Panther and the war-leaders moved back and forth between them. ”

“ Our enemies must die. If I do not help you my people will surely kill you. You are a young man. I believe you are a brave warrior. It would be foolish to throw away your life. I will tell you how you may keep it. You must help me kill the great chief Black Panther. He is——"
"Stop!" Spotted Deer cried, furiously. "I have closed my ears. You speak the tongue of my people, but you talk like a Shawnee. The Shawnees are afraid of our great chief, Black Panther. It is good. They run to their lodges when they hear his voice. You wish to kill him but you are afraid. ”

“ More than one stalwart warrior lowered his eyes in shame as Black Panther challenged him. Then as no one spoke, the chief continued.
“You have heard that the Mohawks are coming to fight us. Well, what will you do about it? Do you feel like running away? I do not believe it. You say that Standing Wolf has mysterious power over us. Well, I will tell you that he has lost it. ”

“ THE VALLEY OF THE CLIFF DWELLERS THE older men went inside to Major Hinchman’s big living room where, over some Mexican stogies, they discussed Neyani and his Black Panther and gossiped over old Army days. Sid and Scotty went out to help Big John with the horses and hounds and then explored the ranch patio. It was all as Spanish as old Mexico. Heavy and age-worn oak furniture—the real Mission—stone metates for grinding corn, great red ollas or porous jars for cooling water by evaporation, striped serapes and Navaho blankets, Apache and Pima baskets ”

“ When Sa'-zada the Keeper had gathered all his comrades in front of Chita's cage for the evening of the Bird talk, Magh clambered up on her usual perch, Hathi's head, expostulating against the folly of throwing the meeting open to such gabblers.
"Never mind," remarked Black Panther, "it's the great talkers that are thought most of here, I see. We, who have accomplished much, having earned an honest living, but are not over ready with the tongue, amount to but little." ”

“ Cyril said he was the great chief Squirrel, of the Moning Congo tribe, and, seeing that Jane was sucking her thumb and could evidently think of no name for herself, he added, 'This great warrior is Wild Cat - Pussy Ferox we call it in this land - leader of the vast Phiteezi tribe.'
And thou, valorous Redskin?' Golden Eagle inquired suddenly of Robert, who, taken unawares, could only reply that he was Bobs, leader of the Cape Mounted Police.
'And now,' said Black Panther, 'our tribes, if we just whistle them up, will far outnumber your puny forces; so resistance is useless. ”

“ It tells us to turn back, and it may have been fired by Black Panther himself, late Knight of the Levee and of Strong Drink."
"Will we turn back?" asked Phil somewhat anxiously.
Bill Breakstone laughed scornfully.
"Do you think a crowd like ours would turn back for a sign?" he asked. "Why, Phil, that arrow, if it is meant as a threat, is the very thing to draw them on. It would make them anxious to go ahead and meet those who say they must stop. If they were not that kind of men, they wouldn't be here." ”

“ Neither leopard nor panther often ventures to assail man. When attacked by him, they seek at first to make their escape, and only turn at bay when escape is impossible. In Java, and some other of the great Indian islands, there exists a black panther, which has gained, it is difficult to say how, the reputation of extraordinary ferocity and daring. Sometimes, in the world of man, great reputations are built upon equally slight foundations. ”

“ I now found that I had thousands of friends, whether attracted by my fancy horses or not, and that I was the idol of my proud parents. The mother of Black Panther always lived with my father, and if both survive, I presume she does to this day. I gave him the child when it was quite young, to adopt as his son, in obedience to his reiterated solicitations.
↑ It is a curious fact that in such matters of disguise or art, what strikes a white man as horrible, seems to an Indian to be simply picturesque and interesting.—C. G. Leland. ”

“ Well, we'd jest struck our bit of luck, and were
wild as raving men,
When who should stray to our camp one day,
but Black Panther, the Cheyenne;
Drest like a Christian, all a-grin, the old one
joins our band,
And though the rest look'd black as sin, he
shakes me by the hand.
Now, the poor old cuss had been good to us,
and I knew that he was true,—
I'd have trusted him with life and limb as soon
as I*d trust you;
For tho' his wit was gone a bit, and he drank
like any fish,
His heart was kind, he was well inclined, as
even a white could wish. ”

“ If we fail in a kill, do we go long hungered, turning from everything else until we have slain the one that has escaped us? But there was the fat Sahib, who had not gone back with the others, but was still searching to kill me, Black Panther. Surely that was not what they call shikar (sport) , but a matter of hate he had laid up against me."
"You should have taken his beatings," declared Hathi, "even as I have, more times than there are tusks to your paws; phrut, phrut! it has always been that way with us Jungle Dwellers. ”

“ It appears to be demonstrated, however, that the veritable Panther is not found in Africa, but only in India, Japan, and the neighboring islands, such as Java, Sumatra, &c. The island of Java possesses a variety which is completely black. This is the famous Black Panther, the terror of Java and Sumatra.
The Panther ascends trees with agility, into which it pursues Monkeys and other climbing animals. It is a ferocious and untamable animal, and inhabits only the wildest forests. No Carnivore, not even the Tiger, is more unconquerable, and its pursuit is proportionably dangerous. ”

“ A little damp straw thrust between the bars and lighted soon makes the lair uncomfortable, and then ensues a scene. Eyes gleam, and teeth gnash from obscure corners, and presently, with a bound and a yell, the powerful beast dashes through the opening into the case, and is secured. It may be easily understood that any little clumsiness or mistake at the critical moment might lead to the case being overturned in the rush, or improperly closed. Then, with a tiger or black panther worked to the highest pitch of frenzy by the fire and smoke, some lively adventures would probably take place. ”