His human shape they scantly too might brook,
For it their enemy had ever been;
But bigot man to probe the conscience sought,
And scathed his brother for his secret thought.
LIII.
Oft he recruited now the sinking blaze—
His stock of fuel seemed too scant to last;
Yet, in the terror of the glittering rays,
Was now the anchor of his safety cast;
With utmost reach the boscage did he raze,
Or clipt the branches overhead that past;
And still the burning pyre at times would raise,
Or hurl the firebrand at the monster's gaze.
LIV.
At length the groups a panic seemed to seize,
And soon he knew the terrifying cause;
For swelling slow beneath the arching trees,
Trilled the long whine the dreadful panther draws;
A sound that might the boldest bosom freeze;
'Twas followed by a drear and awful pause;
Naught marred the silence save the murmuring breeze,
And the far storm, like roar of distant seas.
LV.
Of all the dangerous monsters of the wood,
None did the hunter dread like panther dire,
For man and beast he fearlessly pursued;—
Whilst others shunned, he was allured by fire;
And Williams knew how perilous his mood,
And braced his nerves to battle with his ire;
Beside the rising blaze he firmly stood,
And every avenue of danger viewed.
