l88 ADVENTURES OF DR. ALLEN. 



rolled her fiery eyes, uttering low guttural growls, until 

 death came to her release. Fearing she might be "playing 

 'possum," I hurled my knife at her with all my force. Yes, 

 she was certainly dead! Still my hair would stand on end 

 and my teeth chatter, as I stepped down from my retreat, 

 grasped my gun, and put another ball into her, just to make 

 assurance doubly sure. 



The spark of life was not quite extinct, but she strug- 

 gled only for a moment. Tired and somewhat ruffled in tem- 

 per, I sat down to take in the situation. The earth was torn 

 up in several places, and the grass, but an hour ago so green 

 and beautiful, was dyed with blood. After indulging in a 

 long reverie. I looked around for one of the cubs that was 

 missing, and found it dead in a thicket with an ugly hole 

 through its back. 



The sun was casting its last rays upon the mountain 

 sides when I started for camp, worn out with the recent 

 battle. Being anxious to reach camp before darkness should 

 overtake me,, I decided to follow the creek, though it led me 

 through brush and over logs, and necessitated my wading its 

 waters, which were very swift. Passing through a deep cut 

 in the creek bottom, fenced in by high smooth walls, I caught 

 sight of a large pair of elk's antlers on my right. Upon 

 making a closer examination, I found thirteen pairs of ant- 

 lers, besides other bones all within a short distance, and the 

 animals had evidently been killed recently, for flesh still 

 clung to the bones. 



At this point there was a deep recess in the rocky wall, 

 forming a cave about sixty feet in width by twelve in length. 

 There was a wide entrance at the farther end, running into 

 the mountain, large enough to admit any animal. While not- 

 ing the appearance of this cave, which I termed in my mind 

 the cave of death, or the home of beasts of prey, a little clod 



