Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1921-06-11
CHAPTER IV-Continued.


mad placed It In the corner of the
room. and FASTENED TO the corral. The
mare whlckered plaintively when he
took her from her food.
When Snowbird first heard the step
IN the thickets beside her, she halted
bravely and held her lantern high. She
understood at last. The very extremity
Of the beams found a reflection in two
very curious circles of greenish fire:
fire that was old upon the world be-
N fore man ever rubbed two sticks to-
getber to strike q flame. OF course
the dim rays lad simply been reflect
ed on the eyes of some great beast of
prey.
She identified 1t at once. Only the
eyes Of the felines with vertical pu-
pills, have this Identical greenish glare.
The eyes of the wolves glow in the
darkness. but the circles are usually
bright points. OF course 1t was a cOu-
gar.
She didn't cry out again. Realizing
at last the reality of her peril, her
long training in the mountains came
to her aid. That did not mean she
was not truly and terribly afraid. The
beast was hunting her. She couldn't
doubt this fact. Curiosity might make
q lion follow her but II would never
beget such a wild light of madness In
his eyes as this she had Just seen. She
# simply clamped down all her moral
strength on her rising hysteria and
looked her situation in the face Her
hand flew instinctively to her side,
and the pistol leaped in the lantern
light.
But the eyes had already binked
out before she could raise the weapon.
She shot twice. The echoes roared
back, unbellevably loud in the silence.
and then abruptly died; and the only
sound was a rustling of leaves as the
cougar crouched. She sObbed once,
then hurried on.
She was afraid to listen at first She
wanted to believe that her pistol fire
would brighten the animal from her
trail She knew. under ordinary con-
dIdons, that it would. If he still fol-
lowed, it could mean but one thing
that some unheard-Of incident had oc-
cured to destroy his fear of men. 1t
would mean that he had knowingly set
upon her trail and was hunting her
with all the age-old remOrseIessness
that is the code of the mountains.
For q little while all was silence.
Then ont of the hush the thickets sud-
stl duYiv pvoshoh an6 "a
site side Of the trail. She fired blind
ig into the thicket. Then she caught
herself with a sob. But two shells
remained in her pistol. and they must
be saved for the test.
WhisperfoOt the cougar, remember
ine the lessons of his youth, turned
from the trail when he had first heard
3 Saowhird's step. He had crouched
2 and let her pass. She was walking
into the wind; and as she was at the
closest point a message had blown
back to him.
The hair went straight on his shoul-
ders and along his spine. His blood,
running cold an instant before from
fear made a great leap in his veins.
A picture came in his dark mind: the
chase for a deer when the moon had
set the stir OF a living thing that
tfuie twigs in the thickets. and the
leap he had made. There had been
Blood that night-the wildness and the
madness and the exultaton of the kill.
q course there had been terror first.
paf The terror had soon departed and
49, f,,sv.
IN the Tickets. 1t was the same game
INA Taa' walked his trail in front-game
mat died easily and yet, in a vague
way he did not understand. the
nsf|ast game Of all. 1t was living
H--' 10 tear with talon and fang.
AT his trairing. all the instincts i'm
'9ed In him by a thousand generations
q cougars who knew this greatest
near we're simply oblterated by the
>ahsea violence Of his hunting-mad-
ness He had tasted this blood once,
aa2 u could never he forgotten. The
1aHa ieaped in his eyes. And then he
Began the stalk.
cougar, trying to creep silently
III KS game, does not move quickly II
M >'eaIS, as serpent steals
.'--h the grass. Whisperfoot stalked
3 a q period of FIVE minutes. to learn
1+' The prey was farther away from
Mn nj every step.
ia '7otted forward until he came
nd again he stalked. Again he
i .-'.a after few minutes of silent
1- through the thickets. that he
.r't distance. Evidently this
lId not feed slowly. ike the
Il was to he chase. then.
he troited within one hundred
'Ae girl.
@ tines more he tried To stalk
ne finally gave It up altogether.
was like the porcnpine-
70 he chased down and taken.
'he case Of all animals that
S r game by overtaking IT.
rs - longer any occasion for
entity. The thing TO do was to