Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1921-11-04

describe. as the far.ofr reports OF a
rife. Just today Blacktail had seer
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 lich in
one bound.
Terrified though he was by ,he rifle
shot. still Whisperfoot sprang. Bnr
the distance vas too far. His out
stretched paw hummed down four
feet behind BlacktaiPs flank. Then
forgetting everything hut his anger
and disappointment. the great cougar
opened his mouth and howlcd.
The long night was almost done
when he got sight of further anne.
Once 4 flock of grouse exploded with
II roar of wings from a thicket: but
they had beer wakened by the first
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
we'll 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 W~hisperfoot would have to re-
tire to his lair without any meal
whatever.
But still he remained. hoping
against hope. After n futile fifteen
minutes of watching a trail. he heard
a doe feeding on a hillside. Its foot
fall was not SO heavy as the sturdy
tramp of a buck. and besides, the
bucks would be higher on the ridges
this time of morning. lie began a eau
tiOuS advance toward it.
For the first fifty yards the hunt
was in his favor. He came up wind.
and the brush made a perfect cover.
But the doe unfortunately was stand
ing a full twenty yards farther, In an
open glade. Under ordinary circum-
stances, WhisperfoOt would not have
made an attack. A cougar can run
swiftly, but a deer is light itself. The
big cat would have preferred to linger,
Il mOtiOnlesS thing in the thickets,
hoping some other member of the deer
herd to which the doe must have be-
lOnged would come into his ambush.
But the hunt was late, and Whisper
foot was very, very angry. Too many
times this night he had missed his
kill. In desperation, he leaped from
the thicket and charged the deer.
In spite of the p%reponderant odds
against him, the charge was almost a
success. He went fully half the dis
lance between them before the deer
perceived him. Then she leaped.
There seemed to be no interlude OF
time between the instant hat she be
held the dim, tawny figure in the air
and that in which her long legs pushed
out in a spring. But she didn't lear
straight ahead. She knew enough OF
the cougars to know that the great
cat would certainly aim for her head
n neck In the same way that a duck
hunter leads a fast-tlying duck-hop
ing to intercept her leap. Even rs he,
feet left the ground she seemed II
whirl in the air. and the deadly talons
whipped down in vain. Then. cutting
back in front. she raced down wind.
1t Is usually the most unmitigated
folly for a cougar TO chase Il deer
against which he has missed his
stroke; and 1t is also quite fatal to his
dignity. And whoever doubts for q
minute that the larger creatures have
no dignity, and that it is not very deal
to them, simply knows nothing ahonr
the ways of animals. They cling II
1t to the death. But tonight one'dis
appointment after another had II
bled, as the rains crumble leaves. tn,
last vestige of Whisperfoot's self-con
troll. Snarling in fury, he bounde,
after the doe.
She was lost to sight at nee IL
the darkness. but for fully thirty Yard
he raced in her pursuit. If he hat
stopped to think, it would have beer
one of the really great surprises o
his life to hear the sudden. unmis
taxable stir and movement of n large
living creature not fifteen feet distan
In the thicket.
He didn't stop to think at all. II,
didn't puzzle on the extreme unlikeli
hood Of a doe hating in her flight iron
a cougar. It Is doubtful whether. II
the thickets. he had any perception
Of the creature other than Its move
ments. He was running down wind
so It is certain that he didn't smell I,
II he saw 1t ut all, it was just az
shadow. sufficiently large to be tina
of n deer. 1t vas moving, crawling a
Wool the bear sometimes crawled
seemingly to get out of his path. An,
Whisperfoot leaped straight at it.
1t was a perfect shot. He lande'
high on its shoulders. His head lashe'
down, and the white teeth closed. Al
the long life of his race he had know
that pungent essence that flowed fortf
His senses perceived it. n messag
shot along his nerves to his brain. An,
then he opened his mouth in a high
far-carrying squeal of utter, abjec
terror.
He sprang Q full fifteen feet bacl
, into the thickets; then crouched. TIL
hair stood still at his shoulders hi