24 A BOOK-LOVER S HOLIDAYS 



to slide over the edge of the cliff and fall a thou 

 sand feet sheer. 



It was a long way down the slope, with its 

 jungle of dwarf oak and locust, and the climb 

 back, with the skin and flesh of the cougar, 

 would be heart-breaking. So, as there was a 

 break in the cliff line above, Uncle Jim suggested 

 to Archie to try to lead down our riding animals 

 while he, Uncle Jim, skinned the cougar. By the 

 time the skin was off, Archie turned up with our 

 two horses and Uncle Jim s mule an animal 

 which galloped as freely as a horse. Then the 

 skin and flesh were packed behind his and 

 Uncle Jim s saddles, and we started to lead 

 the three animals up the steep, nearly sheer 

 mountainside. We had our hands full. The 

 horses and mule could barely make it. Fi 

 nally the saddles of both the laden animals 

 slipped, and Archie s horse in his fright nearly 

 went over the cliff it was a favorite horse of 

 his, a black horse from the plains below, with 

 good blood in it, but less at home climbing 

 cliffs than were the mountain horses. On that 

 slope anything that started rolling never stopped 

 unless it went against one of the rare pine or 

 piny on trees. The horse plunged and reared; 

 Archie clung to its head for dear life, trying to 

 prevent it from turning down-hill, while Uncle 



