26 A BOOK-LOVER S HOLIDAYS 



husky bay as he kept his solitary vigil at the 

 foot of the tree. Archie insisted that I should 

 shoot, and thrust the rifle into my hand as we 

 galloped down the incline. The cougar, a 

 young and active female, leaped out of the 

 tree and rushed off at a gait that for a moment 

 left both dogs behind; and after her we tore 

 at full speed through the woods and over rocks 

 and logs. A few hundred yards farther on her 

 bolt was shot, and the dogs, and we also, were 

 at her heels. She went up a pine which had no 

 branches for the lower thirty or forty feet. It 

 was interesting to see her climb. Her two fore 

 paws were placed on each side of the stem, and 

 her hind paws against it, all the cla\vs digging 

 into the wood ; her body was held as clear of the 

 tree as if she had been walking on the ground, 

 the legs being straight, and she walked or ran 

 up the perpendicular stem w^ith as much day 

 light between her body and the trunk as there 

 was between her body and the earth when she 

 was on the ground. As she faced us among the 

 branches I could only get a clear shot into her 

 chest where the neck joins the shoulder; down 

 she came, but on the ground she jumped to her 

 feet, ran fifty yards with the dogs at her heels, 

 turned to bay in some fallen timber, and dropped 

 dead. 



