WITH THE COUGAR HOUNDS 9 



the pack ran to the sound; but not a dog paid any heed 

 to Jimmie or Bruno. Yet both ultimately became first- 

 class hounds. 



The fighting dogs always trotted at the heels of the 

 horses, which had become entirely accustomed to them, 

 and made no objection when they literally rubbed against 

 their heels. The fighters never left us until we came to 

 where we could hear the hounds " barking treed," or 

 with their quarry at bay. Then they tore in a straight 

 line to the sound. They were the ones who were expected 

 to do the seizing and take the punishment, though the 

 minute they actually had hold of the cougar, the hounds 

 all piled on too, and did their share of the killing; but 

 the seizers fought the head while the hounds generally 

 took hold behind. All of them, fighters and hounds alike, 

 were exceedingly good-natured and affectionate with 

 their human friends, though short-tempered to a degree 

 with one another. The best of the fighters was old Turk, 

 who was by blood half hound and half " Siberian blood- 

 hound." Both his father and his mother were half-breeds 

 of the same strains, and both were famous fighters. 

 Once, when Goff had wounded an enormous gray wolf 

 in the hind leg, the father had overtaken it and fought 

 it to a standstill. The two dogs together were an over- 

 match for any wolf. Turk had had a sister who was as 

 good as he was; but she had been killed the year before 

 by a cougar which bit her through the skull; accidents 

 being, of course, frequent in the pack, for a big cougar 

 is an even more formidable opponent to dogs than a 

 wolf. Turk's head and body were seamed with scars. 



