In Cowboy Land 291 



legs." Bauman laughed at this, but his part- 

 ner insisted that he was right, and upon again 

 examining the tracks with a torch, they cer- 

 tainly did seem to be made by but two paws, 

 or feet. However, it was too dark to make 

 sure. After discussing whether the footprints 

 could possibly be those of a human being, 

 and coming to the conclusion that they could 

 not be, the two men rolled up in their blank- 

 ets, and went to sleep under the lean-to. 



At midnight Bauman was awakened by some 

 noise, and sat up in his blankets. As he did 

 so his nostrils were struck by a strong, wild- 

 beast odor, and he caught the loom of a 

 great body in the darkness at the mouth of 

 the lean-to. 



Grasping his rifle, he fired at the vague, 

 threatening shadow, but must have missed, 

 for immediately afterward he heard the 

 smashing of the underwood as the thing, 

 whatever it was, rushed off into the impene- 

 trable blackness of the forest and the night. 



After this the two men slept but little, sit- 

 ting up by the rekindled fire, but they heard 

 nothing more. In the morning they started 

 out to look at the few traps they had set the 

 previous evening and to put out new ones. 

 By an unspoken agreement they kept to- 



