Kitty 



left him a clear path. The next fling of the lariat 

 caused the cougar angrily to shake her head. Again 

 Jones sent the noose flying. She pulled it off her 

 back and bit it savagely. 



Though very much excited, I tried hard to keep 

 sharp, keen faculties alert so as not to miss a single 

 detail of the thrilling scene. But I must have failed, 

 for all of a sudden I saw how Jones was standing in 

 the tree, something I had not before appreciated. 

 He had one hand hold, which he could not use while 

 recoiling the lasso, and his feet rested upon a pre 

 cariously frail-appearing, dead snag. He made 

 eleven casts of the lasso, all of which bothered Kitty, 

 but did not catch her. The twelfth caught her front 

 paw. Jones jerked so quickly and hard that he 

 almost lost his balance, and he pulled the noose off. 

 Patiently he recoiled the lasso. 



&quot; That s what I want. If I can get her front 

 paw she s ours. My idea is to pull her off the limb, 

 let her hang there, and then lasso her hind legs.&quot; 



Another cast, the unlucky thirteenth, settled the 

 loop perfectly round her neck. She chewed on the 

 rope with her front teeth and appeared to have diffi 

 culty in holding it. 



&quot; Easy ! Easy ! Ooze thet rope ! Easy ! &quot; yelled 

 the cowboy. 



Cautiously Jones took up the slack and slowly 



299 



