A VERY STRANGE HAPPENING.

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19893, 23 May 1936, Page 20 (Supplement)

A VERY STRANGE HAPPENING.

Cnncluded.)

"Hauler—the boast! In almost hrmnltru that horrihlr- mushy \\hifl‘. Perhaps ww‘d hrtirr got lmrk' now; we‘w got llw.‘ I'uir—nlzed logs, and lieh‘ i'i jolly sit-k ill lhr smull. Darling] nngnl. you don‘t like leopards, do you?“ i “They don’t atluck people." asserted Sandy with emphasis, ” only dcrr.“ “You hrt lhvy‘d knorl; down anything it" lhry \\’rrr hungry rut-ugh," ansurrcd Holly, "I wouldn't lik’llf‘ild on our lwhmius’ itsrlt, and you liet Itch Mum-.\. 'l‘xw rould kill him—pci‘iltlpn Ulll‘ \\uuld." A 5 ”10} “mil hut-k, ltnh liurl'yiny._r in flnr hiyltn liu- l\\n girls dismissed the. arrixul ol' ilu- midi-r. til'tlllii'li lhc )'EllO\\'->litiili‘ll Ilt'llli might nut pro-l pose to injuru- lhu'ui, hr was no: pit-a-soul. conipun), li_\ no menus at \\'elroluc neighbour! .\‘ur “a: tin! ilu‘ rind of him. Sparks \\n.\ drspcmlrl) rustle» nil the e\enin::. running from room ti) room and bul'lxing cxciivtlh, ”t! \\.ls I very sporting dug. and. Betty ho—liaved. would tackle must lhlnus, from an elephant du\\n\\ut‘da: illdci‘d the Howilons were ufruld he might limo u try It 3 Tie buluusu if one munu his way. In this rusr lhore mm rvusouJ for that. leopard must be sulllt'\\lli‘l'(‘ sround the premises; that horrible scent ol musk came on thu air In it IO" of intangible \\‘uy—li t‘illll'g. “film the \‘ehet (lurk of the night] Ihut down. Betty .uid Sandy. uul till! he veranda. suddenly uutit-ed illr sul'tll - vai't close at hand \\itli grruivr Itrength, and Sparks buundrd ulll from Ms mat inside to glue tum-:uu with futons anger. “I sayl“ exclaimed llrliy. gripping her friend‘s urui. "look!“ and thou, across the light from lln- big \\lu-iums. a patchy yrllo“ shupc slrrultml. \\llll the sinuous rush of :i wry My: t'lll. Low to the ground. silt‘nl, llihilp'it'tll‘lllfl - lntu the hint-kilo» of the Siltlllu\\>'. tinpiuiu lln\\i.~.uu .\ui-l lhc leopard \\:i.~ prulmhl} uhlv—u'ud huuur) 3 Their prr} is .m .. I'ulo thv wild drrr, hul \\h--u lhr) lw-Jiu In not old and run—uul I'.i!t'l| .111 tlllllllfll as swirl, they au'n iurliurd lu hr in wuil l‘ur rnsirr prvy :unuiul hluuuu lmliiluliullfi. smut-Hunt: \wult Illu' u mll‘. l‘ur Instance. or it hill'l'll. He said hi: \\ouhl niultr Ll lmilll ui‘ .\hm-tinx this lu-ule us soon as lillshillit‘—OHC didn’t want them ulJOl't llu' lilm‘t‘. Fur t\\u or lhrrr days they thought di'Hlll llm lrupurd u Aloud deal. Didn't arr it uur'u. hut sonielinu‘s remarked that muslvliltc odour ml the wind. The far: is that Betty‘s plun for drawim: wood “as succeeding-r beyond ex—pm‘lulinn. and, her molht-r julning in \\iih I’lllllllald‘lll. lhr)‘ lln'rr gnu: up prt-lty \\rll all the cool lime ihl‘rr was to ~p.u'r .\‘umll \\ond \\ns also rol-lt-rIwL tlml lulu iii: filiggols. and litaiglzml :iqug h) lit-h. \\'liu lieliured \\rll .l.\‘ u l‘lllt‘ \\hvu lirlly led him 50 ”iv \\Ullll lilll‘ urt‘“ t'ur lllt.‘ l‘uulit‘s tul rut lulu usul-In t‘illllllh‘. lltv mullkl'ysi lnukml uu \\ilh rurlnsity :llhl jumped‘ hum lmur‘h lu imugh. «\\inuing‘ .lusl| i.» ~l|u\\ .-i‘l‘. and everybody forgot ..lmut llu- h-upurd, \\hirh had not been <llut .l.‘ (Liplnln llowison haul lu gm to K uni} nu lullsuinss for :\ t'r\\ duys‘ l".\ri'y our ul‘ lhusr joyous, husy u...“ .~iu.-.- l:.-H_\‘ cumv houw. Huh), theill: i'm] mm. llml slumu hrr morr lif-l'u-tu-u. \l illif’liilfii iln- iu llu‘ morn—ing .\ll" \\.is luilkrd, and main in thi‘ . .il'lrx'uimuz in lhr du)‘ .\hr gram-ll iul ht‘l‘ pzl-ltl-irk. .ilui tiiulil in .l l‘llil‘ .\llr si-rul iu hur .\hwl. \l-u'mu'vr. tho pad—--11-ll'|\ lay .ll'Ulillll ill" lutw nl' lhf‘ \\muiril knull \\hrrvmu >loml lit‘tly's “\\u lilllr linuxr. \\'.-11. Ihrrv mim- .i \rT'y lowly flay .\hnn ,‘dw lluxxmuu \\u.‘ going nut to |l.l\' l-‘mus. and rirupust-d that ilw l\\ u _-u~l~ slmuhl .2» “ill: hrr. Sandy agreed \\ith pimuurr. hut Bully. utter due rv'vnsltlrr.tlmu. suid she did not think .\hf would 3;”; one reason being that liuby “as growing more and more lmur and affectionate, and her mis-‘ ll't‘ss did not Mail to interrupt the! .trternonu milking: for a time at least. Nutty said she “as sure the row 9»? pnrtcu her and looked forward to the. mllkings. and it sh“ missed one lluhyl uuuld be so disappointed. Reason number two was that Sparks had run_ .i thorn into his foot and would not at. . low anyone to pnultlt-o him but Betty: “r lit-r parents—vim dliupproved of the ounllvs. and Men .\ppu. thr dlgnltlrd l'uildhlst butler. was not the right pprson to wall. on a dog of» his >lnnd~l IRE. in Sparks‘s opinion. 2 That was thn‘ situation. and Doll)“ mu not the least wnrriod over tho mum-r; so {and was she or those tnur— . i'nntwt friPnris that. it is a question: whrthc‘r she did not. prefer staying ntl homo. '; "Look hare, nets." said her mother'll at tho hour of starting. “do anything! ,\.-u M». of course. but I'd sooner you 5 .|;.| nut no into the wood with Reli.‘ \\r'x.‘ uni 21 hi»: pl!» of loss. and that will» mmhl still he prowling .ihout. \\.- min-m sewn him. but they are u ~lil‘l‘.li(‘ly petal-tout. and you haven't rwn Rot Sparks to bark him 01?." ut-uy promised without hesitation. She had not planned woog collecting;

By E. E. Cowper.

on the contrary. she was going to have some private plum-lire with the no“ camera that. bank had brought t‘rum Kandy—some Views of the tsarden and house as a surprise. For that reason she did her photoigruphs tit-st, just. a few, and then. tearing them in her dark cupboard, went utT happily with the milk pnil. ‘ There was one odd episode: Sparks did not want her lu go. llc whimpered innit \\'hinod, sat up in his basket and invited a great dual of symputhy—ur something! obvious-l;~ he did not want hrr to so. Naturally the girl thought he wanted a lilllr tuss~dngs (losssu she told him tn pull himsvlt‘ logrlher and 1w :1 man. But. Sparks—\\'lmlhrr in his effort “In he a man“ or his desire for company. \\‘llu shall say—jumped out 01' his basket and tried to come with her on throc h-y's. "Poor Iamln!“ said hotly. as she Ilt‘lrd him hack and kissed the top of his satiny head. .\t'tut- that she shut. the windows to Ilu: veranda, but she could hear him crying as she went off with hrr pail. Ruhr \\n-s impalivnt hon-must: the milking \\’ns a little (ll‘lll)‘l‘d. She “mum-d“ nurr or [\\ln'c. and stood qulxillj: Itt\\:ll'ti’ t‘lu‘ ltott»l.‘. She \\us a big pmwrtui ruw \\tlh splvnlid hurnu rsllttt‘p and branching. As it hnppnnv'tl .slu- was not ill the best of trinpr‘rs llu-sr days. lv'rnusv her t'dlf had lu'vll suld just. ltcturc Betty rmuc lurk- ’l'hnt tutu haw litl't'n lhc roa« sun \\hy .shr adopted hrr )‘nung tnls—trrss try lit-kin; hor whenever she ('llllltl. and showing pluinly thu uttection .shr had as a young row. Proh—tthly it “as that; in any ruse, and howowr Inspirml. this l'velim." un Huh)": purl madt: Hit the ditt‘erunrc between lit'v nml dvath this afternoon. tit-m; st-t her little stool in place. [ll'l'sh‘t‘l' “(‘l' head in ifi anrlenl sut‘l t‘t‘lt hat against the mw's silky hidL', and pt'm‘t‘t'tll‘tl lu llL'l‘ job. But llnliy would not stand still: she swung; hrr ht-ztd, stamped. and sud—(truly made a rrslless plunge that tn‘at‘l)‘ knocked tlm pail (H'L'l'. llutly tried to suullm her. and after Derhaps u mlnutv of this stood up and turnrd to law :1 \‘ol‘3‘ startling sight. Urnurhrd with raised back" and slowly swinging tail. exactly like a hlg rat. \\'utrhlng a bird hop‘ was the leopard. lie was some yards away. but, edging nrarer with curious con—tractions ut’ tlw whule powerful body. lie was not looking at the cow but at Betty; prolrahly he thought she was a ralt‘. crouched there against the big cow‘s side. Betty saw she could not reach the house wlthout passing the brute—and she had no weapon. She glanced round and saw her hut; she must get therr and wait. The leopard edged nearer. his 11th head low, his tnilv lashing: angrily. \\'ith a sudden impulsr the girl hurled the milk mill at him; it. felt with a .lantl'llng rattle, and the great. yellow brute winced and half turned. his round ears flattened. Betty ran for her llt‘e. Then the loop—ard started to run close to the ground just like. a cat. Betty checked one instant and threw the milking-stool with all her fnrt‘P: it rolled and hounded: thr- lmpard stared at it and swerved towards the cow. Ruby harkvd aside. stamping and swinuinz hm- hmul \\lth impatient. twi—lowing noisos very different from hor usual sloopy “mans." Betty lmltpd up thn knoll into her hut and slammed thv «lunr. then she rushed in a limp» halo and luokm‘l out to are what was happenhm 'l‘hu lmxparrl was not. in Slzht. It had Rmtt‘. ’Thr‘ row was stamping angrily. tossing: her head and lashing

2% The horrible trouble was—where" was tho leopard 1’ “city had not been able in those seconds at llight to sect which way it had gone. The dues—i tion was—had it. tied back to the Jungle. frightened by the row, or was It. somewhere near, waiting"! 1!. was it. ghastly position and so ditllcuit to Amow \\'iitti to do! I-l’ she . waited. making no noise. there was it chaure that she might see It again and decide on the best course. 1 She wuited. it seemed hours, but was in reality about half an hour. The only thing the girl had to watch or Judge the situation by was. the cow. and it was not easy to go by her behaviour, because she was unhappy und uncomfortable in any case. She ate grass in u tllt‘ul manner, standing with little inumtir‘ut. stamps. and makinlz t'relt‘ul moo» ui intervals. Presently she mowd nearer the knoll and stood staring. but did not seem frightened. Betty called to her and she listened. There was the nail in the grass, and the stool: it. seemed ridiculous to be afraid now—besides, poor liuby! This girl was of the fearless kind: she had moreover been brought up to regard leopards as smelly thing: of the jungle that did not. attack human beings—true up to :1 point. of course, fine opened the door. ran (town the knoll. and netted the distressed cow. Then she [lil'kf‘ll up her stool and nail and prorcoded to the lung—delayed job. .‘\ll went well for two or three min—utes; Betty was absorbed. ’l‘hon quite suddenly, she found herself rolled over with stool and nail as the row jumped sideways. and for some minutes so dazed that the whole wild scene appeared to be a dream. thouttll through it all she realised how des—perate had been her own danger and how narrow her escape! Scrambling to her feet. Betty grabbed the milking—stool and ran for the knoll; then. held by curiosity. she checked and stood gazing at an amazing spectacle, namely a battle royal between furious Ruby and the leopard, which had, in all probability, been hiding under the but watching the cow. only to attack once more as it saw the girl crouched by the cow's side. Ruby defended Betty just as shel would have done her calf; perhaps in some odd way she assoriated it all with the calf she had just lost and missed. She blew fury from her wide nostrils, and her wild eyes were red with raxe. Again and again she swung her head like a. scythe, piercing the clawing yr-Ilow brute and trampling with her sharp rloyen hoofs. The leopard was hard to kill as a eat. but presently he lay torn and flattened on the «round. while Ruby retreated uneasily, her panting sides showing how tense had been the hattir‘. She was bitten and terribly torn by Ines"- rr-urling rlaws. and for half an hour F‘ttv forum all else while she ran for water and disinfectant, washed ‘ the wounds. milked the row, and finally made her cmntortablo in her quiet shed. - 1 Then she wont indoors. fN‘ling the least bit shaky. to tell the truth. for it was, really and truly. a very strange happening—the strangest he knew of,[ said her father afterwards. (The End).