THE MURDEROUS CAT 205 



Grimly the boy picked up the dead cat, with the 

 nestling still in its teeth, and put it on the branch 

 close beside the nest. Then, slightly adjusting 

 the focus of his camera, he took a picture of the 

 murdering cat, with its victim in its jaws. If he 

 were going to be beaten for killing the beast, at 

 least he would try to excuse himself by showing 

 the justice of the action. 



*' Bull's fair, anyhow," he said, in an effort to 

 console himself. 



For a couple of days, Shan said nothing about 

 the occurrence, but, from the books and pamphlets 

 which had been sent him, he gathered every scrap 

 of information he could find which showed the cat 

 to be an enemy of birds. No student, cramming 

 for honors at an examination, ever read more in- 

 tently than Shan during those two days. 



At last, desiring to get the issue over and done 

 with, the boy snapped another couple of pictures, 

 in order to fill up his roll of film, developed and 

 printed them. That evening, after supper, he took 

 the photo of the slain cat, and laid it on the table in 

 front of his uncle without a word. 



The pot-hunter looked at it closely. He was 

 as quick an observer as he was slow of speech. At 

 first glance he recognized the cat, but he waited 



