Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1876 — Tale of a Jaguar. [ARTICLE]

Tale of a Jaguar.

l was spending a few days with the well-known Senor Del Rio, in Paraguay, on his beautiful estate. I was sitting, in the morning after breakfast, on the veranda, festooned with the moet luxuriant vines, with Donna Estella, his wife, my charming hostess, when I then noticed that her left hand wss much maimed, and could not repress an inquiry how this could have happened. Site at once complied, and proceeded to tell me how it was. I “Yon must know,” she said, “that when we first came to this place it was far different from what it is now. It was quite a new neighborhood. Everything was wild and rough. For a long time, however, we were not molested by the wild beasts of the forest. “There came a day, however, when news was brought that a jaguar had fallen upon a flock of cattle and. killed one of them. The next morning my husband equipped himself for a hunt, and taking Peter, our cook and factotum, and the herdsman with him, set off in pursuit oi the marauder, determined, he said, to kill him before he returned. “ I had often been left alone before, but never had my husband been on an expedition oi this kind into the wild forest, and 1 confess I felt somewhat anxious and lonely when I found myself with no companion but my baby. “ But I had -plenty to do, and a couple of hours soon passed. Suddenly 1 was startled by hearing a loud noise on the low roof, as of something springing upon it. 1 cannot tell how it was, but I felt by intuition quite certain that it was the jaguar. “ What was I to do ? I had no means of defense. The windows and doors of the house were all open. Whither could I take refuge? The only place I could think of was a large, empty wooden chest, which stood in an adjoining room. “ 1 hastened with my baby ana jumped into it, keeping my hand under the lid, so that it should not go down tight, but leave us some air to breathe. I was not a moment too soon. I could hear the animal in the room we had just left, rushing about as if in search of us, and furious with disappointment. “ Presently he scented us, and rushed into the room where we were. He tried to raise the lid of the chest, but it was too heavy for him. He went out several times, but straightway came back. _ ‘f He seemed to be puzzling bow be could get at us. At last he jumped up on the top of the chest, and his weight crushed my hand and made me utter a fearful shriek. I heard an answering shout outside, and knew nothing more that happened. “ I learned afterward that my husband and his men had followed the track of the jaguar, and traced it directly to the house. They were dreadfully alarmed, and as they approached the house, they heard my shriek, and that did not much tend to reassure them. On reaching the window, they were at first afraid to fire for fear of killing us, but, not seeing us, they dispatched the jaguar with a single shot. “ Then the crying of the baby informed them where we had taken refuge. As for me, I was in a dead faint, and it was some hours before I fully recovered my senses, and then I became conscious of a fearful pain in my hand. I shall always keep that chest, though it is no ornament.”— Youth's Companion.