WITH THE COUGAR HOUNDS 67 



knocked completely out of the fight by a single blow. 

 The cougar was too big for the dogs to master, even crip- 

 pled as he was; but when I came up close Turk ran in 

 and got the great beast by one ear, stretching out the cou- 

 gar's head, while he kept his own forelegs tucked way 

 back so that the cougar could not get hold of them. This 

 gave me my chance and I drove the knife home, leaping 

 back before the creature could get round at me. Boxer 

 did not come up for half an hour, working out every inch 

 of the trail for himself, and croaking away at short in- 

 tervals, while Nellie trotted calmly beside him. Even 

 when he saw us skinning the cougar he would not hurry 

 nor take a short cut, but followed the scent to where the 

 cougar had gone up the tree, and from the tree down to 

 where we were; then he meditatively bit the carcass, 

 strolled off, and lay down, satisfied. 



It was a very large cougar, fat and heavy, and the men 

 at the ranch believed it was the same one which had at 

 intervals haunted the place for two or three years, kill- 

 ing on one occasion a milch cow, on another a steer, and 

 on yet another a big work horse. Goff stated that he had 

 on two or three occasions killed cougars that were quite 

 as long, and he believed even an inch or two longer, but 

 that he had never seen one as large or as heavy. Its 

 weight was 227 pounds, and as it lay stretched out it 

 looked like a small African lioness. It would be im- 

 possible to wish a better ending to a hunt. 



The next day Goff and I cantered thirty miles into 

 Meeker, and my holiday was over. 



