The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-12-09
whIsperfoot. that great coward.


whIsperfoot. that great coward.
cane out OF his brush-covert when the
moon rose. II was not his usual rising
tims. Ordinarily he found his best
hunting in the eerie light of the twi-
light hour; but for certain reasons,
his knowledge of which would be ex-
tremely difficult to explain, he let this
time go by in slumber. WhisperfoOt
had slept almost since dawn. 1t is a
significant quality in the felnes that
they simply cannot keep in condition
without hours and hours of sleep. In
this matter of sleeping, they are in
direct contrast TO the wolves, who
seemingly never sleep at all. unless it
is with one eye open, and in still
greater contrast to the king Of all
beasts, the elephant. who is said TO
slumber less per night than that great
5 electrical wizard whom all men know
and praise
The great cat came out yawning. as
graceful thing as treads upon the
earth. He was almost. nine feet long
from the tip of his nose to the end of
his tail. and he weighed as much as
many full-grown man. He stood and
yawned insolently. for all the forest
world to see. He rather hoped that
the chipmunk, staring with beady eyes
from his doorway, did see him. He
would just as soon that Woof's little
son. the bear cub, should see him too.
But he wasn't so particular about
Woof himself. or the wolf pack whose
song had just wakened him. And
above all things. he wanted to keep
out of the sight Of men.
For when all thugs are said and
done. there were few bigger towards
in the whole wilderness world than
Whisperfoot. good many people
think that Graycoat the coyote
could take lessons from him in this
respect. But others. knowing how a
hunter is brought In occasionally with
almost all human resemblance gone
from him because cougar charged in
his death agony. think this is unfair
to the larger animal. And 1t Is true
that full!grown cougar will some
times attack horned cattle. something
that no American animal cares to do
unless he wants good fight on his
paws and Of which the very thought
would throw Graycoat into a spasm;
and there have been even stranger
stories, II one could quite believe
them. "A certain measure of respect
must be extended to any animal that
will hunt the great bull elk. for to
miss the stroke and get caught be-
meath the churning. flashing, slashing,
rakor-edged front hoofs In simply
death, painful and without delay. But
the difficulty lies in the fact that these
things are not done in the ordinary,
rational blood Of hunting. What an
animal does In Its death agony. or to
protect its young, what great game 1t
follows in the starving times Of win
ter, can be put to neither Its debit
nor its credit. A coyote will charge
when mad. A raccoon will put up
wicked fight when cornered. hen
will peck at the hand that rObs her
nest. When hunting was fairly good,
Whisperfoot avoided the elk and steer
almost as punctiliously as he avoided
men, which is saying very much In
deed; and any kind Of terrier could
usually drive him straight up tree.
But he did like to pretend to be
very great and terrible among the
smaller forest creatures. And he was
Fear itself to the deer. A human
hunter who would kill two deer a
week for fifty-two weeks would be
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