THE WEST SHORE
141
Slowly and wearily the time drags on. At first visions
of a life and death struggle with a wounded puma keep
the young herder in a painful state of anxiety. Every
time a sheep sneezes he holds his breath in suspense,
thinking the animal is coming. But hour after hour
goes by, and still the sheep remain quiet, still the dog
sleeps on. Finally Jack finds himself getting drowsier
and drowsier. Once, twice, his head drops, and he brings
himself up with a jerk, the second time nearly lotting go
his revolver. Just as he is going off for the third time
he is roused by the ominous, unmistaknble rimh of terri
fied Bheep, and the dog starts up with a smothered growl.
Now oomes a fresh anxiety. Will the lion profor a live
sheep, even with the trouble of catching it, to a problem
atical dead one? Jack gets horribly anxious, and curse
his own thoughtlessness in an emphatic and earnest man
ner. But he cannot bear to give up this chance until the
last moment He listens intently; the stamping of the
'sored sheep gets fainter, and the tinkling of the bells
sounds terribly far away.
Jack is just about to throw open the door and rush
after them, when his attention is drawn to the behavior
of his dog. Her smothered growl has changed to a long
drawn whine that expresses holpless terror, if any sound
from a dog ever did so. He hesitates, with his hand on
the lock of the door. Possibly the puma ha scontod the
dead sheep and is close around, after all
" HistI What is that? Something brushing past the
door? Yes, there it is again! No mistake altout it, it
must be the lion." Trembling with excitoment, he slowly
and cautiously turns the handle. Lap, lap it is lickin
up the blood. Now for it! Throwing the door wide
open with one hand, he fires in the direction of the enemy
with the other. There is a hiss like that of a gigantic
cat, and dead silence.
With a quick impulse of self-preservation, Jack shuts
himself into the hut again, though with small chance of
warding off the danger in that way, for the creature oonM
batter the slight framework of wotxl in with a blow of it
paw. When will it come? Could he have killed it at
the first shot? He must have hit it, the distance was so
short For a minute or two Jack remains quiet, listening;
but soon the suspense becomes intolerable. He looses
and unmuzzles the dog, which, to his surprise, trots quite
comfortably up to the door, wishing to be let out again.
Jack throws it open, standing ready for the onslaught of
the wounded animal. But none comes. Skip walks out,
snuffing about uneasily, it is true, but otherwise showing
no particular agitation. Jack begins now to have a dim
suspicion thnt he has made a fool of himself; that the
mountain lion has a charmed life, and that " Lis last
chance" has failed.
There is nothing to be done but to comfort himself
with the idea, however, that the animal has been thor
oughly scared and perhaps wounded; anyhow will not
pester him again. At any rate, it will cause uo more
annoyance to-night; so, after hunting up the sheep, who
have composed themselves to rust some thre hundred
yartUt off, our herder at last turns in.
His calculations do not, however, turn out oorrect
With a pertinaoity truly diatolical this puma still prowls
about on every dark night, and drives poor Jaok into a
state between callousness and dospair. But all things
oome to an end in time, and after three weeks of this
work he has his rovonge. All day, before the night in
question, the air has leon fearfully oppressive, and by
sundown heavy thunder clouds begin to gather, and by
the timo Bupor is over and the sheep are bedded down
it is pretty evident that thore la going to be a terrible
storm.
Everything is perfectly still; the darkness can 1m
almost folt Suddenly the sky is lit up by a brilliant
flash of lightning that lasts for nearly half a minute.
Casting his eye in the direction of the sheep, Jack sees
something that makes him dive into the house and buckle
on his pistol, in spite of the great drops of rain that are
beginning to fall. Only fifty yards from the sheep is the
veritable mountain lion, aeon now for the first time. If
only a flash as bright as the last will oome before the rain
pours down! The sheep have also seen their enemy and
oome crowding up toward camp, baaing as if for promo
tion, oollocting, in their terror, about the man and dog,
and even taking refuge in the dug-out Another minute
goes by; with his pistol hold in lioth hands, to insure a
oertain aim, the young herder waits for the second flash
of lightning. It oomes. Twenty yards away now, stand
ing erect and looking Jack afterward declared " as
big as a hipopotamus," is the puma.
"Crack" goea the revolver, and simultaneously witn
the report down oomes the rain in torrents, and all fur
ther sound is drowned by the terrific pal of thunder fol
lowing the lightning. Jack loaa back Into the hut, and
kicking out the intruding sheep, locks himself in, waiting
until the storm sulmi.les, and feeling instinotivoly that
this time he has not missed his mark.
The rain, however, comes down in steady pour that
promises to continue all night, so Jack rolls himself in
his blankets and leaves all further research till morning.
At daylight ho turns out, expecting to find that the sheep
had taken their dopartme to happier lands, aa they nsu
ally do when they are left to their own devices and it is
particularly neoessary for them to remain at home. This
time, however, his feara are not realizad-they having
merely adjourned to the lee side of the hill.
Next he investigates tho place where he fondly hopes
he hail slain his troublesome enemy the night Iwfore.
There is no puma, that is quite oertain; but on approach
ing the apt there are uumistakahle signs of an. animal
having struggled in great agony. The grass i torn op
by the root in many place, and in three little hollows
there are three little pool of blood. Evidently the puma
has boon hard hit; but how it contrived to take itself off
and creep away to it don probably at least mile away
are problems not destined to Ih solve! For weeks
afterward Jack hunts in every poasiblo and iuiNwibU
direction for the Ixidy, but never discovers it However,
the game is played out. From tha tlwu forth h is not
again annoyed by uiouuUiu lions.