THE TILLAMOOK HEA D LIG H T THURSDAY. DECEMBER g ^. I I ways under the skin tnat no man miry I natr stood etlll at nis anouiaera. uib Tnrther up the hill, ÉM ffnTF only to —a emu at tne end or his wTTikftTis. The little, breathless night sounds describe, as the far-off reports of a ' claws were bared; he was prepared stand still, and in an instant the man 1 In the brush around him seemed to rifle. Just today Blacktail had seen to fight to the death. He didn't nnder- would come in sight. thicket«. ' madden him. They made a song to his doe fall bleeding when this same 1 stand. He only knew ti e worst single He took one step Into the him. a strange, wild melody that even sound, only louder, spoke from a terror of hls life. It was not a doe prepared to conceal himself If It be- I such frontiersmen as Pan and Len­ covert from which Bert Cranston had that he had attacked In the darkness, came necessary. Then he waited. Soon nox could not experience. A thousand poached her—and he left the lick tn It was not Urson the porcupine, or the man stepped out on the trail. A NEW TRAIN even Woof. It was that Imperial mas- smells brushed down to him on the one bound. Even at the distance of one hundred to Terrified though he was by the rifle ter of all things, man hlmself. Un- yards, Pan t.ad no difficulty whatever wind, more potent than any wine or i But knowing, he had attacked Landy Hil ­ shot, still Whisperfoot sprang, He began to tremble all over tn recognising him. He could not lust, with rapture and excitement. But un­ the distance was too far. His out- dreth, lying wounded from Cranston's mlstuke this tall, dark form, the soiled, like Cranston’s trembling, no wilder- stretched paw hummed down four bullet beside the trail. Word of the slouchy clothes, the rough hair, the “The Shasta” is an all standard sleeping ness ear was keen enough to hear the feet behind Blacktali’s flank. Then arson ring would never reach the set- Intent dark features. It was a man forgetting everything but his anger I tlements, after all. about his own age. his own ’ height, . cat came out yawning, as leaves rustling beneath him. ■car train without EXCESS FARE And as for Whisperfoot—the terror and disappointment, the great cougar graceful a thing as treads upon the Leaver Portland at 4:00 P. M. that choked hls heart with blood be- opened hfs mouth and howled. earth. He was almost nine feet long CHAPTER II. Arrives San Francisco 10:00 P. M. following evening j gan to wear off in a little while. The The long night was almost done from the tip of his nose to the end of I man lay so still •n the thickets. Be- his tall, and he weighed as much as Shortlv after nine o’clock, Whisper- when he got sight of further game. muuy a full-grown man. He stood and foot encountered hl» first herd of deer. Once a flock of grouse exploded with sides, there wns a strange, wild smell yawned Insolently, for all the forest But they caught his scent and scat­ a roar of wings from a thicket; but In the air. Whisperfoot's stroke had / to world to see. He rather hoped that tered before he could get up to them. they had been wakened by the first gone home so true there had not even SAN FRANCISCO AND LOS ANGELES the chipmunk, staring with heady eyes He met Woof, grunting through the whisper of dawn In the wind, and he been a fight. The darkness began to from his doorway, did see him. He underbrush, and he punctiliously, but really had no chance at them. Soon lift around him, and a strange exulta­ All Shasta Route trains handle through standard sleeping cars tion, a rapture unknown before in all would just as soon that Woof's little with wretched spirit, left the trail. A after this, the moon set. Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland to San Francisco son, the bear cub, should see him too. tight with Woof the bear wns one of The larger creatures of the forest hls hunting, began to creep Into hls Through standard sleeping car to Los Angeles But he wasn’t so particular about the most unpleasant experiences that are almost as helpless in absolute wild blood. Then, ns a shadow steals, Leaves Portland at 8:40 A. M he went creeping back to hls dead. Woof himself, or the wolf pack whose could bo Imagined. He had a pair of darkness as human belugs. It Is very • Arrives Los Angeles 8:15 A. M. second morning •••••••• song had just wakened hl ng And strong arms of which one embrace of well to tnlk of seeing In the dark, but Dan Falling had been studying na­ WINTER EXCURSION TICKETS above all things, he wanted to keep a cougar's body meant death In one from the nature of things, even verti­ long shriek of pain. Of course they cal pupils may only respond to light. ture on the high ridges; and he went out of the sight of men. are on sale to For when all thlugs are said and didn't fight often. They had entirely No owl or bat can see In absolute home by a bnck trail that led to old Southern California Bald mountain. The trail was just done, there were few bigger cowards opposite Interests. The bear was a darkness. It became Increasingly like­ California’s bright ar.d warm sunsl.lne will help you take on a new in the whole wilderness world than berry-enter and a honey-grubber, and ly that Whisperfoot would have to re­ 1» narrow serpent In the brush; and lease of life. Spend the wintry days besides summery seas; on Whisperfoot A good many people the cougar cared too much for his own tire to his lair without any meal It had not been made by gangs of sporty golf courses or well kept tennis courts: motor over splendid laborers, working with shovels and think that Graycoat the coyote life and beauty to tackle Woof In a whatever. highways; these and many other outdoor pleasuras await you in But still he remained, hoping nicks. Possibly half a dozen white could t; ke lessons from 1dm iu this hunting way. Sunny California. men. In all. had ever walked along It. A fnwn lenped from the thicket In ngalnst hope. After a futile fifteen respect. But others, knowing how a FREE on request "California for the Tourist.” a new hnnter Is brought in occasionally with front of him, startled by hls sound In minutes of watching a trail, he heard It was just the path of the wild crea­ booklet graphically describing the different resorts. almost ail human resemblance gone the thicket. The truth was, Whisper­ a doe feeding on a hillside. Its foot- tures. worn down by hoof and paw Inquire of local agent for fare.-', routes. sleeping car reservations from him because a cougar charged In foot hud made a wholly unjustified •all was not so heavy as the sturdy and cushion since the young days of and train service, or write his death agony, think this is unfair misstep on a dry twig, just at the tramp of a buck, and besides, the the world. It was a roundabout trail home, to the lar-qr ajltmij. .And It Is t ,-ue bucks would be higher on the ridges crucial moment. Perhaps it wns the this time of morning. He began a cau­ but yet it had Its advantages. It took umi a iu -groou cougar wm >i»ur- fault of Woof, whose presence had Idm within two miles of Snowbird's tious ndvance toward It. tlmes attm c horned cattle, something driven Whfsperfoot from the trail, lookout station, and at this hour of JOHN M. SCOTT. For the first fifty yards the hunt erican animal cares to do that no Ai and perhaps beentme old age and stiff­ General Passenger Agerl, Portland, Oregon was In his favor. He came’up wind. lay he had been particularly fortunate unless he rants a good fight on ids ness was coming upon him. But In finding her at a certain spring on paws and f which the very thought nellher of these facts appeased his It was rather a sin­ I the mountain side. would thro v Graycoat Into a spasm; anger. He could scarcely suppress a gular coincidence. Along about four and there have been even stranger snarl of fury and disappointment. he would usually find himself wander­ stories. If one could quite believe He continued along the ridge, still ing tip that way. Strangely enough, them, A <-ertafn measure of respect stealing, still alert, but hfs anger In­ at the same time. It was true that must be t ¿tended to any animal thnt Dan Saw His Purpose she had an Irresistible impulse to go will hunt tiih sm.t b'.'" e’k for tz> creasing with every moment. The fact thnt he bad to leav. the trail again to down and sit In the green ferns beside «■■■»• .„ i - okc and get caugn: ««-> weighing full.v twenty pounds permit still another animal to pass, the same spring. They always seemed more, and the dark, narrow eyes could neathT' e churning, lashing, slashing and a particularly insignificant one to be surprised to see one another. In belong to no one but Bert Cranston. razor-edged front hoofs Is simply reality, either of them would have He carried Ills rifle loosely in Ills arms. death painful and without delay. But too. didn’t make him feel any better. been considerably more surprised had the difficulty lies In the fact that these This animal had a number of curious He stopped at the forks in the trail the other fulled to put In an appear­ and looked carefully In nil directions. things are not done in the ordinary, stripes along his back, and usually dhl nothing more desperate than steal ance. And always they find long talks, rational blood of hunting. What an Pun had every reason to think that as the afternoon drew to twilight. animal does In its death agony, or to eggs and ent bird fledglings. Whisper­ THE WISE FARMER CULTIVATES IES. BANKING “But I don't think you ought to wait Cranston would see him at first glam e. protect Its young, what great game it foot could have crushed him with one bite, I at this was one thing that the •idy one clump of Ihicket sheltered so late before starting home." the girl CONNECTION Cnllnws In the «t^rvljie.tlmey of v'tr-. would always say. “You’re not a lorn. But because Dan had learned ter, can be put to neither Its debit great cut. as Just as he sows his seed mjnth before he exp i ts a har­ human hawk, and It Is easier to get .die lesson of standing still, because nor Its credit. A coyote will charge never try to way poll tel v lost than you think.” his olive-drab sporting clothes bleuded vest,so should the farmer establish h s banking connection:’ When mad. A raccoon will put up a still a quarter of :: wile away; which And this solicitude. Dan rightly fig­ softly with the colored leaves, Crnns- wicked fight when cornered. A hen in udance of his needs for co-operation. ured, was .■} good sign. There was ton did not detect him. lie turned will peck at the hand that robs her was quite a compliment to the little The First National bank is always ready to lend busin animal's ability to Introduce himself. only one objection to it. It resulted and strode on down rhe trail. nest. When hunting was fairly good, Stripe-back was far "'nrly known as like support to legitimate endeavor. in tin nnml-tnkble Inference that she He didn't move- quite like a man Whisperfoot avoided the elk and s ' i ,a considered him to take care with innocent purposes, □'here was almost as punctiliously as be avo I ' a skunk. I DIRECTORS. Shortly nfter ten. tl i > mountain lion of hltnself -and was the last something stealthy, something sinister men. which Is saying very mncli it.1 C .1 El’« Alli’S . had >1 r< e chance at a mrkabl.v I thing on earth in his stride, and the way he .ept e wanted hr deed: and any kind of terrier conic n,i. l .’. mi buck. T ■e direction . the wind, the to think. He 1 ood Iter well such a sharp lookout in all directions. W. J. KIKCHEKS, usually drive him straight t . 11 tree trees. the thickets mu’ the light were enough to know tier standard Yet he never glanced to the trail for But he did like to preti. I :•< very great and terrible among the ali in ills favor. It v. a old Blacktail, were the standards of the luoimtains. deer trucks, us he would have done had he been hunting. Without even smaller forest creatures. And he was wallowing in the salt lick; and Wills- valuing strength am) self-reliance waiting to meditate on the matter. Fear Itself to the deer. A human perfoot’s hea rt bounded when he de­ above all tilings. He didn't stop to tected him. No human hunter could Dan started to shadow him. hunter who would kill two d" r > question why. every day. he trod so TILLAMOOK. ' OREGON Before one hundred yards had been week for fifty-two weeks would he have laid his plan.' with greater care, many weary miles to be with her. traversed, he could better understand called a much uglier name than poach­ IIe had to cut up th; ide of the ridge. She was as natural as a fawn; ami mindful of the wind, Then there was the joy the cougar takes in his hunt­ er; but yet this had been Whisper many times she hm] quite tnki en aw< y a long dense thicket In which ho ing. It was the same process—a cau­ foot’s record, on and off, ever since his breath It liter- And once she did might approach within fifty feet of A Full Twenty Yards Farther. his second year. Many a great buck ally. He didn’t think that so long in tious, silent advance in the trull of | prey. He had to walk with the same wore the scar of tne full stroke—aft­ the lick, still with the wind in his I deatl h st tired him h” would ever l e er which Wldsperf.’Ot had lost his face. Just beside the lick was .mother and the brush made a perfect cover able to on-get that experience, It was caution, he had to take advantage of But the doe unfortunately was stand­ the thickets. He began to feel a curi- hold. Many a fawn had crouched deep thicket, from which he could ing a full twenty yards farther, in tin her birthday and knowing of it n ; ous excitement. make his leap. panting with terror In the thickets at time ■ hi’ liad nrrantr <’d for the delivery open glade. Under ordinary circum ­ His body lowered. The tall Cranston sedmed to be moving more just a tnwny light on the gnarled limb stances. Whisperfoot would not have of a certain package, dear to a girli-It carefully now. examining the brush of a pine. Many n doe would grow hack and forth, and now It had begun at her fat iter ’ s house. !' irt. father's In the made «an attack. A cougar can run along the trail. Now and then he grent-eyed ami terrified nt just his I to have a slight vertical motion that tr.vstlng hour be I; I. >d id co;; come o trudging frontiersmen have learned to watch swiftly, hut a.deer is Tight Itself. Th» strange, pungent smell <> b the wind. over the bills with It. and few expert- glanced up,at the tree tops. And all at once he stopped and knelt in the Fie yawned again, and his fangs for. lb- placed every paw with con­ big cat would have preferred to linger, < lie - 1 lit ' l.id ever yielded such summate grace, and few sets of hu­ a motionless thing in the thickets, dry shrubbery. looked white and abnormally large In unmitigated pleasure as the sight of the moonlight Ills great, green eyes man nerves have sufficient control hoping some other member of the deer her. glowing white and red, as she took At first all that Dan could see was were stlli clouded and languorous over leg muscles to move with such herd to which the doe must have I’e- off Its wrapping paper. It was a jolly the glitter of a knife blade. Crans­ from sleep. Thon lie began to steal I astonishing patience, longed would come into his ambush. old gift, ho recollected—and when she ton seemed to he whittling a piece of up the ridge toward bls hunting seemed to move nt all. But the hunt was late, and Whisper­ had seen it. she fairly leaped at him. dead pine into fine shavings. Now grounds. It was a curious thing that But when scarcely ten feet re­ font was very. very angry. Too many Her warm, round arms around his he was gathering pine needles and he walked straight In the face of the mnlned to stalk, a sudden sound times this night n'ght he lie had missed his neck, and the softest, loveliest lips in small twigs, making a little pile of soft wind that camo down from the pricked through the darkness. It came kill. In desperation. he leaped from t the world pressed his. But in those them. And then, just as Cranston sn