The daily Alaskan., 1922-03-21
CHAPTER IL

20..fN| .N |.. foot encountered h.s frs, herd of deer Phi rI.v caught his ~nrnr and Scar tered before nn r.vr# ror m 70 them Uc mel Wnnr grarr.n- rNrourh the nrHo~nrusn anH na nrr~Hfor>Iy hur with v-r-rnrH sm.r.. 'arr rrr -~a1. A f-n, with wu.r rna nrar was one of rrc most urr.a-rrr uNwnr.rurn> rhar could h. ma-.raH r1a had pair of srrune arms .r un.' arn on'rare of rou.ar.~ body rramr H.a,h In one long snrfrE or noi0. 0f rourso They didn't fight u-.m They had entirely opposite interests. Tho n.ur was a brrry-rar.r amf a lonng.-rHrmnr and rhr cougar rarnH rra nn.' For his own fife and h.au.y to tackle Woot m huu'fn- way
 A rnwn r.mred nom rrn .h.nEot in from pf hrw sfar.'-1 ng nj, anarH In the rht.srl THa ss..l Was. Nh-s0er- foot had made a wholly umu>,.rrd mfssreu on fry rwf-. inst ur rhc crucial mn-anL pr~Haus So wHs 'He fault Of Wuuf. vlH-r presence had driven Wh.~ru~r.u from ray trHU- ruI perhaps Ur.gu-a o.t age and suN- ness wvs rowu- upon nm. Hut neither oG those facts ar-"sed his anger. De run.a scarcely sunmru~s a snarI of rn-v ar1 disappointment
 He continued g.u- ..a r.u-c. ~''l' stealing. >rm arr. ln. his w-er In- crcaS'ng wGrh every mn.n-r I.u fact that he had Co 'rsra ,rr raI again 10 permit S.fH armfnr sr.wal tn pass. and a particularly .u-'-.ar"ut one foo. d.dnF uaEr Um r..' any Letter. This animal lad a number of curious stripes along his hack. and usually did nothing more desperate than steal eggs and cat bird 1cH-'ugs. Whisper foot could have crushed him with one bite. but this was onr thing that thc great cat as long as he lived. would never rry To 3u. Ilr -ur ont of the way politely when Srr.ro-Nack was still a quarter of mile away: which was quite cwnufwau. to rne little animals ability To tnrrrfucc himself. Srrfpe-huck was ramU.arly known as a skunk.
 Shortly after ion. inc mountain lion had remarkably ane chance at a buck. The direction of The wind. the trees. the thfetars and -he light were all in his favor IL WAS old EIacEtaiL wullowtnc in rhn sn1r lick; and Wh.s- pcrfoot's heart houu1od when he de. tected him No human hunter could hnve laiI his plans with greater care. He had to cut un the side of the ridge, mindful of the wind. Then there was a long dense th.cEcc in which he might approach within fifty feet of the lick. st.u with the wind in his face. Just beside the lick was another deep thfrI,pt, from which he could make his leap.
 His body lowered. Tie taiI Iashed hack and forth. and now it had begun to have a slight vertical motion that frontiersmcD have learned to watch for He placed every paw with con- summate grace. and few sets 0f hu- man nerves have sufficient control over leg muscles 10 move with such astonishing patience He scarcely seemed to move 0t 0l
 But when scarcely ten feet re- mafned to stalk. a sudden sound prickcd through the darkness. It came from arar but tt was no less terrible It was really two sounds, so close to- gether that they sounded as one. Neither Rlacttai nor WhisperfoOt bad any deIu>i0ns about them. They recognized them at once. in strange ways under the skin that no man may describe as the rar-off reports Of rifle. Just today B'acktau hnd seen his doe fall bleeding when this same sound, only louder. spoke from a covert from which Bert Cransf5n had poachcd her-and he left the lick in one bound.
 Terrified though he w0s by the rifle shot. still Whisperfoot spr0ng. But the distance was too far. His out stretched paw hrwmpd down four I.t-..r Tar..r.t.r1H.. n...7. Tvf..v,