The Cougar 



presume the beast had been trailing me all the 

 time, though, after its second visitation, I kept 

 a sharp lookout without discovering it, but 

 evidently it had kept track of my movements. 



I had no proof of its being the same animal, 

 of course, but I was pretty well persuaded of 

 its identity, and I became thoroughly con- 

 vinced that this particular cougar had grown 

 weary of waiting for its supper, and was about 

 to begin its meal without even the courtesy of 

 *'by your leave." The uncanny feature of the 

 experience was that not a sound revealed its 

 approach on any occasion, and I had no inti- 

 mation of its call until it dropped directly in 

 my path. I leaned against a friendly tree and 

 thought pretty hard, watching the animal most 

 intently to see that it did not advance. It 

 stood there as still as death, so far as I could 

 distinguish, not moving even its head, and the 

 steady glare of its eyes turned full upon me. 



I made up my mind that, if the animal was 

 going to feast on me that evening, I would 

 disarrange its digestion, if possible. My short- 

 handled prospecting pick was the nearest ap- 

 proach I had to a weapon, and, summoning all 

 my ancient baseball skill, and feeling very care- 

 fully all around me to see that there were no 



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