Charlevoix county herald., 1920-12-10
CHAPTER u.

IL
But they caught HIS scent and scat
tered before he could get up to them.
He met Wool, granting through the
underbrush. and he punctiliously, but
with wretched spirit. left the trail. A
fight with Wool the bear was one of
the most unpleasant experiences that
could be imagined. He had a pair of
strong arms of which one embrace of
a cougars body meant death in one
long shrek Of pain. or course they
! didn't fight often. They had entirely
opposite interests. The bear was a
berry-eater and hOney-grubber. and
I the cougar cared too much for his own
life and beauty to tackle Wool in a
hunting way.
A fawn leaped from the thicket in
front Of him. startled by his sound IN
the thicket. The truth was. Whisper
foot had made a wholly unjustified
misstep on dry twig, just at the
crucial moment. Perhaps IL was the
fault OF Wool, whose presence had
driven Whisperfoot from the trail,
and perhaps because old age and stiff
ness was coming upon him. But
neither of these facts appeased his
anger. He could scarcely suppress a
snarl Of fury and disappointment.
He continued along the ridge, still
stealing, still alert, but his anger In
creasing with every moment. The fact
that he had to leave the trail again to
permit still another animal to pass,
and a particularly Insignificant one
too, didn't make him feel any better.
This animal had q number Of curious
stripes along his back, and usually did
nothing more desperate than steal
eggs and eat bird fledglings. Whisper
foot could have crushed him with one
bite, but this was one thing that the.
great cat as long as he lived, would
never try to do. He got out Of the
way politely when Stripe-back was
still quarter of mile away; which
was quite a compliment to the little
animals ability to introduce himself
Stripe-back was Familiarity known as
skunk.
Shortly after ten. the mountain lion
had remarkably fine chance at a
buck. The direction of the wind, the
trees, the thickets and the light were
all In his favor. II was old Blacktail.
wallowing in the salt lick; and Whis-
perfoot's heart bounded when he de.
tected him. No human hunter could
have laid his plans with greater care
He had to cut up the side of the ridge,
mindful Of the wind. Then there was
long dense thicket In which ne
might approach within Atty feet of
the lick, still with the wind In his
face. Just beside the lick was another
deep thicket, from which he could
make his leap.
His body lowered. The tail dashed
back and forth, and now 1t had begun
to have a slight vertical motion that
frontiersmen have learned to watch
for. He placed every paw with con-
summate grace, and few sets of hui
man nerves have sufficient control
over leg muscles to move with such
astonishing patience. He scarcely
seemed to move at all.
But when scarcely ten feet re-
NAMED to stalk, a sudden sound
pricked through the darkness. 1t came
from afar, but 1t was no less terrible.
II was really two sounds, so close to-
gether that they sounded as one.
Neither Blacktail nor Whisperfoot
had any decisions about them. They
recognized them at once, in strange
ways under the skin that no man may
describe, as the far-off reports Of a
rifle. Just today Blacktail had seen
his doe fall bleeding when this same
sound, only louder, spoke from a
covert from which Bert Cranston had
poached her-and he left the lick In
one bound.
Terrified though he was by the rifle
shot. still Whisperfoot sprang. But
the distance was too far. His out
stretched paw hummed down four
feet behind Blacktails flank. Then
forgetting everything but his anger
and disappointment. the great cougar
opened his mouth and howled.
The long night was almost done
when he got sight Of further game.
Once flock Of grouse exploded with
a roar of wings from a thicket; but
they had been Weakened by the flrst
whisper of dawn In the wind, and he
really had no chance at them. Soon
after this. the moon set.
The larger creatures Of the forest |
are almost as helpless In absolute
darkness as human beings. 1t is very
well to talk Of seeing In the dark, but
from the nature Of things, even verti-
cal pupils may only respond to light. |
No owl or bat can see In absolute
darkness. 1t became increasingly like
ly that Whisperfoot would have to re-
tire to his lair without any meal |
whatever.
But still he remained, hoping |
against hope. After q futile fifteen |
minutes Of watching a trail, he heard |
a doe feeding on hillside. It's foot |
fall was not so heavy as the sturdy |
tramp Of buck, and besides, the |
bucks would be higher on the ridges
this time Of Morning He hs0ap n CON.