The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1900-08-01

neXt?" said my partner, Bill Magurder.
He and | stood looking ruefully mt
our pack-mulc. Andy, lying dead on
the open grassy space in which our
cabin stood.
The mule had been feeding quietly
about his pickct-pin in the morning.
when we started out tovislt our traps,
and the picket-pin was driven beneath
the great sycamore in front of the
cabin. Now we had come back at
night to find Andy killed, his throat
torn, his haunch partly dcvoured by
some beast of prey. Deep claw-marks
were on his back and shoulders; his
neck had been broken at Its jointure
with the spine by terrible bite.
The loss of the mule was a serious
one to us, Magruder and |, an ex-army
scout, had been with General Crook
in his campaign against the Tonic
Apaches of Arizona, and SO we had
found out the natural advantages of
the sheltered Tonic Basin with its ex-
tensive timber forests, numerous
streams and soft, equable climate.
Now that this vast valley was clear
of Apaches, Magruder and had en-
tered it in September, built n perma-
nent campon Tonto Creek near the foot
of the Mogollon mesa, and prepared
to pass the autumn and winter there,
hunting and trapping.
In the middle of October we had our
r,f ftaY ~ n
fair amount of fur, when our first
stroke of bad luck came-our dog
Hector, had been carried away. He
had been useful in our hunting, and we
had relied on him to give us timely
notice of any person or dangerous
beast that should approach the camp.
Hector's disappearance had not
seemed mysterious. One dark night
he ran out of the cabin with n growl-
the mule had previously been uneasy.
Half waking, heard the dog bark
loudly. Then l heard growl, deeper
and more savage than any dog could
give, mingllng with one shrek and
strangled moan from Hector.
Magruder and Jumped to our feet,
caught up our rifles, and threw open
the door. The mule was snorting and
stamping with fear at the end of his
picket-rope, but Of the dog there was
no sight or sound. We heard some
large, soft-footed animal bounding
away in the darkness in long leaps.
We made no doubt it was n mountain
nj in LOT In M nil 0h
blotted out all tracks.
A week went by and here was our
mule killed probably by the same crea-
ture that killed Hector 1t could not be a
grizzly, for there were no tracks to be
seen such as a bears great feet and
protruding claws would have made.
We decided that the mule, too, had
been killed by mountain-lion- lion
of uncommon size and strength, else
1t could not so easily have carried off
q large dog and killed n powerful mule.
"Hunt the yarmint DOWN. l said,
In answer to Magruder, as we stood
by the dead mule. I'm afraid we
can't do much at that without dogs"
"Well, it is rather late to b, going
after him now. He's got everything
we had to lose--unless he comes for one
of us next time" My partner spoke
with seriousness so unusual I'm him
that Looked hard at him. and then he
laughed the thing away and mentioned
no other foreboding.
That night we had made our pre-
| 30, /,
back to the dead mule. We took turns
In watching, but no lion came. So we
dragged the fostering carcass away
from the camp the next day, and left
It to the wolves and foxes.
Magurder, usually one Of the cheer
lest and most indomitable of men, was
evidently greatly disheartened by ouI
bad luck; and he even proposed that
we pull up stakes forthwith, and &c
back to white settlements.
But said, "We're here, Bill, and
we're doing well. We're trapping
lots of fur. and we can kill all the meat
we want to eat 1t will be no more OF
tramp to foot 1t out to the settlements
next spring than to do it now. Let's
try it month or two longer, anyway
We can catch our furs when We go
and come back for them afterward
with an outfit Of pack-mules."
"All right" he said. "Stay II is"
AS the week wore on, Magruder's de
preston seemed to vanish, and he re
| n hts x.ld oh nrft n,.,
one night in camp, just as was drop
ping Off to sleep, Magruder started and
said to me, "Do you hear that soundT
! listened Presently from some
where up the canyon side came wall
ing. deep-throated cry, which was re
peated at intervals.
"Yes. hear it." said. ITS a
momtaip-lion---if It isn't an owl. Pity