There is, however, nothing, perhaps, so surprising in this science, as that it makes us acquainted with methods, by which we can survey those bright fields on which it is employed, and apply our own familiar measures to the paths which are there traced, and to the bodies that trace them; that we can estimate the form, and dimensions, and inequalities, of objects so immense, and so far removed from the little scene of our labors. What would be the astonishment of an inhabitant of one of those bodies, of Jupiter, for instance, to find that, by means of instruments of a few feet in length, and certain figures and characters, still smaller, all of our own invention, we had succeeded in determining the magnitude and weight of this great planet, the length of its days and nights, and the variety of its seasons,-that we had watched the motions of its moons, calculated their eclipses, and applied them to important domestic purposes? What would be our astonishment to learn that an insect, one of those, for instance, which serve sometimes to illuminate the waters of the ocean, though confined by the exercise of its proper organs, and locomotive powers, to the sphere of a few inches, had, by artificial aids of its own contriving, been able to extend its sphere of observation to the huge monsters that move about it ; that it had even attempted, not altogether without success, to fathom the depth of the abyss, in which it occupies so insignificant a place, and to number the beings it contains? LESSON CLXX. Escape from a Panther.-COOPER. ELIZABETH TEMPLE and Louisa had gained the summit of the mountain, where they left the highway, and pursued their course, under the shade of the stately trees that crowned the eminence. The day was becoming warm; and the girls plunged more deeply into the forest, as they found its invigorating coolness agreeably contrasted to the excessive heat they had experienced in their ascent. The conversation, LASS BOOK. ape, so surprising in th inted with methods, y ■ fields on which it is enar measures to the pati e bodies that trace them d dimensions, and inequal so far removed from de nt of an inhabitant of or of its proper organs, XX. cr.-COOPER. had gained the summit the highway, and pur of the stately trees that and was becoming warm; the forest, as they found ontrasted to the excessive scent. The conversation, YOUNG LADIES' CLASS BOOK. as if by mutual consent, was entirely change incidents and scenes of their walk; and ever every shrub or flower, called forth some simple admiration. In this manner they proceeded along the precipice, catching occasional glimpses of the or pausing to listen to the rattling of wheels a of hammers, that rose from the valley, to ming men with the scenes of nature, when Eliza startled, and exclaimed-" Listen! there are child on this mountain! Is there a clearing can some little one have strayed from its paren "Such things frequently happen," returned us follow the sounds; it may be a wanderer, s hill." Urged by this consideration, the females pu mournful sounds, that proceeded from the for and impatient steps. More than once the ar was on the point of announcing that she sa when Louisa caught her by the arm, and, I them, cried-"Look at the dog!" The advanced age of Brave had long befor of his activity; and when his companions st the scenery, or to add to their bouquets, the ma his huge frame on the ground, and await the with his eyes closed, and a listlessness in his corded with the character of a protector. But by this cry from Louisa, Miss Temple turne dog with his eyes keenly set on some distant o bent near the ground, and his hair actually body, either through fright or anger. It was the latter; for he was growling in a low key, a showing his teeth, in a manner that would hav mistress, had she not so well known his good "Brave!" she said, "be quiet, Brave! wha fellow ?" At the sounds of her voice, the rage of the of being at all diminished, was very sensibly i stalked in front of the ladies, and seated hims of his mistress, growling louder than before, a 32 * giving vent to his ire by a short, surly barking. "What does he see?" said Elizabeth; "there must be some animal in sight." Hearing no answer from her companion, Miss Temple turned her head, and beheld Louisa, standing with her face whitened to the color of death, and her finger pointing upward, with a sort of flickering, convulsed motion. The quick eye of Elizabeth glanced in the direction indicated by her friend, where she saw the fierce front and glaring eyes of a female panther, fixed on them in horrid malignity, and threatening instant destruction. "Let us fly!" exclaimed Elizabeth, grasping the arm of Louisa, whose form yielded like melting snow, and sunk lifeless to the earth. There was not a single feeling in the temperament of Elizabeth Temple, that could prompt her to desert a companion in such an extremity; and she fell on her knees, by the side of the inanimate Louisa, tearing from the person of her friend, with an instinctive readiness, such parts of her dress as might obstruct her respiration, and encouraging their only safeguard, the dog, at the same time, by the sounds of her voice. "Courage, Brave!" she cried-her own tones beginning to tremble" courage, courage, good Brave!" A quarter-grown cub, that had hitherto been unseen, now appeared, dropping from the branches of a sapling, that grew under the shade of the beech which held its dam. This ignorant but vicious creature approached near to the dog, imitating the actions and sounds of its parent, but exhibiting a strange mixture of the playfulness of a kitten with the ferocity of its race. Standing on its hind legs, it would rend the bark of a tree with its fore paws, and play all the antics of a cat, for a moment; and then, by lashing itself with its tail, growling, and scratching the earth, it would attempt the manifestations of anger that rendered its parent so terrific. All this time, Brave stood firm and undaunted, his short tail erect, his body drawn backward on its haunches, and his eyes following the movements of both dam and cub. At every gambol played by the latter, it approached nigher to the dog, the growling of the three becoming more horrid at each moment, until the younger beast, overleaping its intended bound, fell directly before the mastiff. There was a moment of fearful cries and struggles; but they ended almost as soon as commenced, by the cub appearing in the air, hurled from the jaws of Brave, with a violence that sent it against a tree so forcibly as to render it completely senseless. Elizabeth witnessed the short struggle, and her blood was warming with the triumph of the dog, when she saw the form of the old panther in the air, springing twenty feet from the branch of the beech to the back of the mastiff. No words of ours can describe the fury of the conflict that followed. It was a confused struggle on the dried leaves, accompanied by loud and terrible cries, barks and growls. Miss Temple continued, on her knees, bending over the form of Louisa, her eyes fixed on the animals, with an interest so horrid, and yet so intense, that she almost forgot her own stake in the result. So rapid and vigorous were the bounds of the inhabitant of the forest, that its active frame seemed constantly in the air, while the dog nobly faced his foe, at each successive leap. When the panther lighted on the shoulders of the mastiff, which was its constant aim, old Brave, though torn with her talons, and stained with his own blood, that already flowed from a dozen wounds, would shake off his furious foe, like a feather, and, rearing on his hind legs, rush to the fray again, with his jaws distended, and a dauntless eye. But age, and his pampered life, greatly disqualified the noble mastiff for such a struggle. In every thing but courage, he was only the vestige of what he had once been. A higher bound than ever raised the wary and furious beast far beyond the reach of the dog-who was making a desperate, but fruitless dash at her—from which she alighted, in a favorable position, on the back of her aged foe. For a single moment, only, could the panther remain there, the great strength of the dog returning with a convulsive effort. But Elizabeth saw, as Brave fastened his teeth in the side of his enemy, that the collar of brass around his neck, which had been glittering throughout the fray, was of the color of blood, and, directly, that his frame was sinking to the earth, where it soon lay prostrate and helpless. Several mighty efforts of the wild-cat to extricate herself from the jaws of the dog, followed; but they were fruitless, until the mastiff turned on his back, his lips collapsed, and his teeth loosened; when the short convulsions and stillness that succeeded, announced the death of poor Brave. Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the beast. There is said to be something in the front of the image of the Maker, that daunts the hearts of the inferior beings of nis creation; and it would seem that some such power, in the present instance, suspended the threatened blow. The eyes of the monster and the kneeling maiden met, for an instant, when the former stooped to examine her fallen foe; next to scent her luckless cub. From the latter examination it turned, however, with its eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail lashing its sides furiously, and its claws projecting for inches from its broad feet. Miss Temple did not, or could not, move. Her hands were clasped in the attitude of prayer; but her eyes were still drawn to her terrible enemy; her cheeks were blanched to the whiteness of marble, and her lips were slightly separated with horror. The moment seemed now to have arrived for the fatal termination; and the beautiful figure of Elizabeth was bowing meekly to the stroke, when a rustling of leaves from behind seemed rather to mock the organs, than to meet her ears. "Hist! hist!" said a low voice; "stoop lower, gall; your bunnet hides the creater's head." It was rather the yielding of nature, than a compliance with this unexpected order, that caused the head of our heroine to sink on her bosom; when she heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of the bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was rolling over on the earth, biting its own flesh, and tearing the twigs and branches within its reach. At the next instant, the form of the Leather-stocking rushed by her; and he called aloud-" Come in, Hector; come in, you old fool; 'tis a hard-lived animal, and may jump ag'in." Natty maintained his position in front of the maidens, most fearlessly, notwithstanding the violent bounds and threatening aspect of the wounded panther, which gave several indications of returning strength and ferocity, until his |