Kitty 



the saddle. Kitty leaped out to the extent of her 

 chain, and fairly exploded in a frightful cat-spit. 



Lawson had stated some time before that he was 

 afraid of cougars, which was a weakness he need 

 not have divulged in view of what happened. The 

 horse plunged, throwing him ten feet, and snorting 

 in terror, stampeded with the rest of the bunch and 

 disappeared among the pines. 



&quot; Why the hell didn t you tell a feller? &quot; reproach- 

 fully growled the Arizonian. Frank and Jim held 

 each other upright, and the rest of us gave way to 

 as hearty if not as violent mirth. 



We had a gay supper, during which Kitty sat by 

 her pine and watched our every movement. 



&quot; We ll rest up for a day or two,&quot; said Jones. 

 Things have commenced to come our way. If I m 

 not mistaken we ll bring an old Tom alive into camp. 

 But it would never do for us to get a big Tom in the 

 fix we had Kitty to-day. You see, I wanted to lasso 

 her front paw, pull her off the limb, tie my end of 

 the lasso to the tree, and while she hung I d go down 

 and rope her hind paws. It all went wrong to-day, 

 and was as tough a job as I ever handled.&quot; 



Not until late next morning did Lawson corral all 

 the horses. That day we lounged in camp mending 

 broken bridles, saddles, stirrups, lassoes, boots, trou 

 sers, leggins, shirts and even broken skins. 



307 



