THE EAINY SEASON 99 



yon, since the danger of being struck is greater on 

 high points. Halfway down the slope I spied a pile 

 of outcropping rocks just ahead. It looked like a 

 good shelter, the more so as on closer inspection a 

 cave appeared. The mouth was about three feet 

 high and just wide enough to squeeze through. The 

 storm was close at hand, so without more ado I 

 dropped on hands and knees and began to crawl into 

 the opening. Almost at once I stopped at a slight 

 movement within, and looked up into a pair of the 

 brightest, greenest, most fearsome eyes imaginable. 



It could not have been more than ten seconds after- 

 ward before I found myself perched in a small oak, 

 some five feet from the ground, with no recollection 

 of how I got there. A female mountain lion, her tail 

 waving gently to and fro, crouched close to the 

 ground a short distance away. 



I had sometimes fondly imagined a meeting of this 

 sort, but the details in those adventures did not cor- 

 respond in the slightest degree to the present cir- 

 cumstances. I reflected, as I drew my automatic 

 from its holster, that facts do not invariably follow 

 the course of mental excursions. 



And at just this interesting moment I recalled 

 with a sinking sensation that I had all but emptied 

 my gun at a squirrel only a short time before. I 

 was not sure whether there were any cartridges left 

 in the magazine. 



The ensuing brief pause was one of the most un- 

 comfortable periods I have ever spent. Fortunately 



