294 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



be content without revenge. Shan was a little 

 afraid that Ned Thompson might shoot him from 

 behind a tree, some dark night, when he was re- 

 turning from the Feather Man's cabin to his o^\^l. 

 He was partly assured, however, by the thought 

 that while that country is easy to hide in, it is dif- 

 ficult to escape from, and Thompson would not 

 deliberately come down to be shot. 



These cats, however — that would be a revenge. 



"He's just mean enough to do it," said Shan, 

 and continued on his way to the yellow house 

 among the chestnuts. He was sure that the ani- 

 mals must have been thrown into the enclosure, 

 for no feline could climb the upper part of that 

 fence, too swaying and pliable for a cat's weight 

 or his claws. 



In the three years that had passed since Bull's 

 death, Shan had grown into a sturdy young fellow. 

 He had studied hard under the Feather Man and 

 had worked hard, besides. The duck farm had 

 proved a success, though, as his adviser had 

 warned him, he was only just beginning to see a 

 sign of his profits. Living with him in his cabin, 

 now, also, was an old fisherman too crippled with 

 malaria and rheumatism to be able to look after 

 a boat or draw nets, but who, none the less, was 



