250 NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN 



that so shy a beast as the panther would 

 take covert thus within the very stronghold 

 of the foe. At sight of the shattered win- 

 dow he fell into a rage, and when he found 

 the cubs gone, he exhausted ingenuity in 

 consigning to every torment the man who had 

 tempted him into speculating in panther 

 cubs. Storming noisily, he hunted every- 

 where, except behind the barn. For a time 

 his wife sat composedly on the wood-pile, 

 and cheered him with pointed backwoods 

 sarcasms. At last, however, the two went 

 away over the ridge, to recover the skin of 

 the other panther before it should be spoiled 

 by foxes. During their absence the mother 

 got both cubs safely carried off to a hollow 

 tree some five miles further along the ridge. 

 That night, while the man and the woman 

 slept, with boards nailed over their window, 

 she bore them far away from the perilous 

 neighbourhood. By difficult paths, and 

 across two turbulent streams, she removed 

 them into the recesses of the neighbouring 

 county, a barren and difficult region, where the 

 wanderings of the man were little likely to 

 lead him. 



