THE THEFT 239 



death is naturally associated with blood. It 

 is possible, moreover, that there was nothing 

 so very strange to them in the fact that the 

 man should wish to carry off their cubs alive. 

 What was so precious to themselves might 

 very well be precious to others also. Mother 

 birds, and mother quadrupeds as well, have 

 been known, not infrequently, to steal each 

 other's young. If, then, the panthers 

 imagined that their kidnapped little ones 

 were still alive, the furious quest on which 

 they now set forth had a double object 

 vengeance and rescue. 



They ran one behind the other, the female 

 leading, and they went as noiselessly as blown 

 feathers, for all their bulk. From time to 

 time, being but short-winded runners, and 

 accustomed rather to brief and violent than 

 to long-continued effort, they would pause 

 for breath, sniffing at the trail as it grew 

 rapidly fresher, and seeming to take counsel 

 together. Their pursuit at length grew more 

 stealthy, as they approached the further side 

 of the timbered valley, and realized that 

 their enemy could not now be very far ahead. 



The two panthers knew all that it con- 

 cerned them to know about the man, except 

 his object in robbing them of their little 

 ones. They had often watched him, followed 



