The Winslow mail., 1898-12-17
THERE had been for days a great
Gra n, tho fOract nm fovvord Onion

THERE had been for days a great
fire in the forest up toward Onion
Peak and a strong wind was driving it
SO far toward the settlement On the Up
per Nehalem that some of the people
watched it with fear. But to Jered
Ames it was bringing a small harvest Of
silver, for he was a guide as well as
freighter on the river, and fire on the
Oregon heights meant game on the low
er, accessible levels. Jered had taken
two parties of hunters up the river all
ready. To-day he was away with the
third, and on his return he must de-
liver three pigs sent to him for settler
named Keegan.
Usually Jercd's young wife did not
fret at being left alone with the year
old baby, but row the heat and smoke
oppressed her Imagination, and made
her think of the end of the world, ard
set her wishing for some Eeighbor to
talk with. The baby, too, was i'll at ease
in the sultry, smoke-scented air, and
cried fretfully as she tried to rock it to
sleep after her early supper.
From her seat, which was under q
pine behind the cabin, the little woman
could see long stretch up the path en-
which he must return from his boat,
but she could not see his boathOuse nor
the river. 1t was possible that he might
come home that evening, and her heart
was sore with longing to see his tall
form striding toward her. 1t was pcs
sible, too. that somebody, some messen-
ger or hunter, might come up the path
to engage him as guide or freighter, and
she watched the path lest some stran-
ger should take her by surprise.
While she rocked the little one and
sang toit, lettingit lieunhugged onher
lap that it might be the cooler, its cry
ing ceased, and it seemed about to sleep
with its face turned from her. But sud
denly it shrieked as if from some in
atinctive alarm, and turned to her,
clutching with its feeble little hands
and burying it's face in her lap. The
mother, wondering what had affrighted
the child, stared down the path, and
there saw moving thing which in
stantly disappeared.
ga dog" she thought. "Somebody's
dog-its owner is coming for Jered.
Whoever it is will have to stay all night,
for it's too late now to go back 10 the
settlement. l must hurry in-the man
will want supper"
1t struck her, after little while, that
she ought to have heard the footstep or
voice CT knock Of the stranger, and she
turned from her tiny looking glass to-
ward the door of the bedroom, beyond
which was the open door of the kitchen
There stood a full-grown cougar, or
mountain lion!
She recognized the beast at the first
glance, although she had never seen one
before, and in that one dazed glance she
wondered if all wild beasts were so
gaunt and rusty looking.
In the next instant the wild shrek
of her baby reused her to action and
she threw her shoulder against the
door just as the rusty, tawny, long
body crouched, The latch snapped
down; then the door shook as if from one
blow of a heavy, wadded mallet, and
the thin partition Of upright boards
ratified and creaked. The little woman
stccd in mortal terror and the baby,
which had instinctively ceased to cry,
pressed it's head to her bosom and
clutched with trembling hands.
For an instant the partition seemed
likely to be pushed down; then the
mother heard the fierce sweep Of wild
claws across the boards and then
there was a great crash in the
kitchen. Nothing but q fall OF
crockery could account for such
noises. and Mrs. Ames knew that her
plates ard cups and saucers, her pre-
serve dishes, her admired glass pitcher,
ard probably her treasured siTup jug,
with the German silver top, had all tun-
bled at once from the shelves fastened
TO the partition. In an instant she was
as angry as if Jered had upset her cher
ished things; her courage came back in
full force, and she pulled open the door
recllessIy to scold at the cougar.
He had been frightened badly a.
ready; he had leaped like frightened
eat out Of the kitchen at a bound, but
he had not leaped out of the house.
He had gore the other way. His head
/ had been toward an open interior door
when the precious crockery fell, and his
| leap had sent him into the front room, -
where he stood surprised, alarmed,
| awaiting something dreadful.
As angry Mrs. Ames, her baby fright
| encd into silence by the ncise, opened
the bedroom door, she saw in the ktch-
en- looking glass the reflection Of the
| cougar in the front room cyeing her,
! and she screamed at it with such shrill-
ness that the scared beast shranl into
the dark space between the "chest OF
drawers" and the north corner. The
small woman understood instantly that
the cougar was frightened, and in the
same instsIt, slipping forward boldly
she shut the door of the front room
with Il slam.
The ether door and the windows OF
! that room were all closed, and now Mrs
I AElcs felt that she was mistress of the
situation. The cougar seemed to feel
so, too; while she listened and peeped at
the keyhole the wild creature shufIled
around uneasily inside.
Eyes, you can snoop around in there
knocking my things ever" said Mrs
Ames aloud, and vengefully, "but when
| Jered comes home he will teach you tc
snoop,"
She pazed about aft the relies of he,