The Cougar 



motion, as I immediately discovered ; for, with 

 a combined screech and growl, that lion 

 wheeled in my direction, and made for me 

 with big jumps that were not exactly of 

 lightning rapidity, but were ground-covering 

 enough to create discomfort in the object of 

 his wrath. 



My bronco, meanwhile, was jumping all over 

 the ground, and I realized I could not hold 

 him and make sure of my aim. To swing 

 myself into the saddle and make away would 

 have been simple, but I knew enough of the 

 cougar to know that if I retreated, he, in his 

 fury, would be sure to follow ; and on that 

 mountain side, with its fallen timber and rough 

 going, I should have little chance in a race 

 with him. I had no revolver to meet him in 

 the saddle at short range, and a knife was not 

 to my liking for any purpose, so far as an 

 infuriated cougar was concerned, except for 

 skinning him, once I had put sufficient lead 

 into his carcass to quiet his nerves. There 

 was nothing for me to do but fight it out on 

 foot ; therefore I dropped the bridle rein and 

 turned the bronco loose (thinking he would 

 run his fright off in a short distance), and gave 

 myself up to the business of the moment, 



243 



