Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1921-03-31

He Knew He Had Not Missed.
entirely 10 forget II was q motion
that no man could pretend. And he
knew he had not missed.
Tie waited I'LL he saw the form OF
hissrrcmy rock down, face haIf-buried
IN the pine needles. II never even oc-
cured to him % approach to see n he
had made a clean XIII. He had held
on the breast and he had world Of
confidence 10 his great shocking big.
gnme rife. Besides The rifle fire might
attract some hunter In the hills: aud
there would be time IN the morning
10 return TO the body and make Ger.
tain little investigations that be had
10 mind And running back down the
trnll. he missed the sight Of lilldrelh
dragging his wounded body. Ike an
injured hare. into the shelter Of the
thlckets
whlsperfoot, that great coward.
came out OF his brush-coycrt when the
moon rose. II vas not his usual rising
time Ordinarily he found his best
hunting In the eorie Hight Of the twi.
light hour: but for certain reasons
hts knowledge % which would be ex.
tremely difficult 10 explain, be let this
time so By In slsmhcrs Whlsperfoot
had slef,t almost since dawn. II - a
significant quality IN the fcllnes that
they simply cannot keep IN condition
without hours and hours Of sleep. In
this matter Of sleeping, they ARE In
direct contrast "a the wolves. who
eeemingly never sleep az all, unless u
il With enc eye open, and IN stili
greater contrast 20 the King q all
beasts, the elephant. who IL said "a
slumbcr less PER night than that great
electrical wizard whom MI men know
and praise.
The great cnt cnmc ont ynVulng. IS
graceful a thing as treads upon the
earth lid was almost nine feet long
from tho up Of hts more to the end Of
his tail. and be weighed a. much ns
many q fullgrown man. lie stood and
yawnsd lnsolenily. for al the forest
world 20 see. lie rather hoped that
The ehlpmunk. staring with bcndg eyes
from his doorway, DID see him. lie
would Just as soon that WoOrs little
son the bear cub. should 500 him too
But be wasn't 70 particular about
Wool himself. or The wolf pnck whose
song hna just Yakened him. And
above al things be wanted 10 keep
out Of the sight 81 men.
For when all thugs are eald and
done. there were few bigger towards
IN the whole wilderness world than
Whlsperfooi a good many people
think that Grnycont tho coyote
could take lessons from him In this
respect. But others, knowing how
hunter "a brought IN occasionally with
almost at human resemblance gone
from him because n cougar charged IN
his death agony. think this Is unfair
10 the larger animal. And II Is true
that fuitrrown cougar win some
times nttack horned cattle. something
that no American animal cares to DO
unless no wants good fght on his
paws and OF which the very thought
would throw Gruyeont into a spasm;
and there have been even stranger
stories. n one could quite believe
them. A certain measure of respect
must be extended to any animal that
will hunt the great bull elk, for 20
miss the stroke and get caught be.
meath the churnlng. lashing, slashing
razor.edged front hoofs Is simply
death. painful and without deiny. 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 20
protect rs young, what great game Il
follows IN the starving times OF win
Ter, can be put 10 neither lts debit
nor It's credit A coyote VIII charge
when mad, A raecoon win put up n
wicked nght when cornered, A hen
viii peck Mt the hand that r0bs her
nest, When hunting was fairly good,
WhIsperfoot avoided the elk and steer
almost as punctliously 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 XIII two deer
week for ffty-two weeks would be
called n much uglIer name than poach-
err; but yet this had been whisper
foot's record, on and or, ever since
his second yenr. Many great buck
wore the senr of the full stroke-aft-
err which Whisperfoot had lost his
hold. Many fawn had crouched
painting with terror In the thickets ai
Just tawny Hight on the gnaried limb
Of n pine. Many n doe would grow
great-eyed and terrified at just HIS
strange. pungent smell on the wind.
He yawned again, and his fangs
looked white and abnormally large in
the moonlight. His great, green eyes
we're stlll ciouded and dangerous
from sleep. Then he begun to steal
up the ridge toward HIS hunting
grounds. II was a curious thing that
he walked straight in the face of the
soft wind that came down from the
snow fields. and yet there Ssnsn't a
weathercoek TO be seen anywhere. And
neither Ind the chipmunk seen him
wet a paw and hold II up, after the
nrtnrovnd fashion nj h0ldlnp ~. 4 fin.