Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1907-03-08
fsarlessIy. indiferently, for perhaps

| linen they vanished, with more pat
ter OF light footsteps; and as they dis.
appeared, wandering puff of night
air brought to the colts nostrils
musky scent which he knew II war
the smell of red fox, such as he hac
seen once prowling round his owners
barnyard. This smell, from it's asso.
Citations, was comforting rather thar
otherwise, and he would have beer
| glad if the fox had stayed near. Fol
some time now there was stiffness all
about the big rock, the owls kill and
the passing Of the fox having put all
the small wild creatures on theiI
guard.
Little by little the colt was begin.
ming to get used to the situation
He was even beginning to relax the
tense vigilance of his watching, when
suddenly his heart gave {. leap and
then seemed to stand still. lust
about ten PAGES behind him he SAW
a pair OF pale, strengthening eyes.
round, and set wider apart than Il -ose
of the fox, slowly floating toward
him. At the same time his nostrils
caught a scent which was absolutely
unknown to him and peculiarly ter
rifying
AS these two dreadful eyes drew
near, the colts muscles grew tense.
Then he distinguished a shadowy.
crouching form behind the eyes; and
he gathered his launches under him
for desperate defense.
But the big lynx was wary. This
long-legged creature who stood thus
with his back to him and eyed him
with watchful, sidelong glances was
something he did not understand.
Before he came within range of the
! colts heels he swerved to one side
and stole round at safe distance, in
vestigating. He was astonished, and
at first discounted, to find that
whichever way he circled, the I'M
known animal under the rock per.
sisted in keeping his back to him.
For perhaps half an hour, with oc-
casional intervals of motionless
cTouching, he kept up this slow cir
cling, unable to allay his suspicious.
Then, apparently making up his mind
that the unknown was not a danger
Gus adversary, or perhaps in some
subtle way detecting his youth, he
crept closer. He crept so close, in
deed, that he felt emboldened to
spring; and he was just about to do
so.
Just at this moment, luckily just
the right moment, the colt let loose
the catapult of his strong launches.
His hoofs struck the lynx fairly in the
face, and hurled him backward
against a neighboring tree.
Half-stunned, his wind knocked
out of him, the big cat picked himself
up with sharp splitting and snarling,
and skunk behind the tree. Then
he turned tail and ran away, thor
oughly beaten. The strange animal
had fashion in fighting which he did
not know how to cope with; and he
had no spirit left for further lessons.
After this the night wore on with
out great event, although there were
frequent alarms which kept the colts
nerves ceaselessly on the rack. Now
it was the faint, almost imperceptible
sound of hunting weasel; now it
was the erratic scurrying of the
wood-mice; now it was the loud but
muffled humping of hare, aston
ished at this long-limbed intruder
upon the wilderness domains.
The colt was accustomed to sleep
ing well through the night, and this
protracted vigil upon his feet-for
he was afraid to lie exhausted
him. When the first spectral gray
of dawn began to work its magic
through the forest his legs were
trembling so that he could hardly
stand.
When the first pink rays crept in
beneath the rock he sank down and
lay for half an hour, not sleeping,
but resting. Then he got up and re-
sumed his homeward journey, very
hungry, but too desperate with chill
and inconsistencies to stop and eat
He had Travelled perhaps a mile
when he caught the sound of heavy,
careless footsteps, and stopped Star
ing anxiously through the trees, he
saw a woodsman striding along the
trail, with an ak over his shoulder.
At sight of one of these beings that
stood to him for protection and kind
ly guidance and shelter, his terror
and loneliness all slipped away. He
gave shrill, loud whinny of delight,
galloped forward with much crashing
of underbrush, and snuggled a coax
ing muzzle under the arm of the as
tonished woodsman.-Youth's Com
panion.