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

the shotgun that still stood where he
mad placed It In the corner of the
room. and FASTENED to the corral. The
mare whickered plaintiyely when he
took her from her food.
When Snowbird first heard the step
N On the thickets beside her, she halted
bravely and held her lantern high She
understood at last. The very extremity
N the beams found a reflection in two
n very curious circles of greenish fire:
ire that was old upon the world be-
fore man ever rubbed two sticks to-
getber to strike a flame. OF course
the dim rays lad simply been reflect
ed on the eyes of some great beast of
prey.
She identified It at once Only the
ewes 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 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
a lion follow her, but It 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 blinked
out before she could raise the weapon.
8 She shot twice. The echoes roared
back, unbellevably loud in the silence,
aud 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 frighten the animal from her
trail She knew. under ordinary con-
dit0ns, 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 ne had knowingly set
M upon her trail and was hunting her
@ with all the age-old remorselessness
that is the code of the mountains.
For q little while all was silence.
Then ont Of the hush the thickets sud
denly crashed and shook on the oppO-
site side Of the trail She fired blind
herself with a sob. But two shells
remained in her pistol, aud they must
be saved for the test.
WhsperfoOt the cougar, remember
inc the lessons of his youth turned
from the trail when he had first heard
Snowhird's step. He had crouched
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 shout
der7 and along his spine. His blood,
-.+..''t't- NOAN iAiSAdlA bNtbAC nun
fear made a great leap in his veins.
a picture came in his dark mind: the
chase for q deer when the moon had
set the stir Of a living thing that
broke twigs in the thickets, and the
lean he had made There had been
blood. that night-the wildness and the
madness and the exultati0n of the kiln
OF course there had been terror first.
bnf The terror had soon departed and
left something lying warm and still
In tie Tickets. It was the same game
faat walked his trail in front-game
& mat died easily and yet, in a vague
~ way he did not understand, the
nah'est game Of all. It was living
ues1 10 tear with talon and fang.
AT hls trairing all the instincts i'm
hhea To him by a thousand generations
q cougars who knew this greatest
ie3- we're simply obliterated by the
sudden violence Of his hunting-mad-
ness He had tasted this blood once,
ana Y could never be forgotten. The
na7a leaped I'm his eyes. And then he
began The stalk.
a cougar, trying to creep silently
Oh .s5 game, does not move quickly. It
s"nT steals. as a serpent steals
-a--h the grass. Whisperfoot stalked
period of five minutes. to learn
-#' Il prey was farther away from
Of ever. step.
'i- 'rotted forward until he came
nd again he stalked. Again he
III after a few minutes Of silent
through the thickets. that he
.ast distance. Evidently this
I'D not feed slowly. like the
Il was 10 be chase. then.
1e trotted within one hundred
Ire girl.
times more he tried to stalk
finally gave II up altogether.
was like the porcupine-
- he chased down and taken.
e case Of all animals that
zane by overtaking IT,
n 1nger an. occasion for
The thing to Do was to