34 SUMMER 



now he was past the place where he could skulk 

 back without our seeing him, into the open plain. 



Even yet all depended upon our getting so close 

 to him that the dogs could keep him constantly in 

 sight. The crumbling ledges at the end of the point 

 were full of holes and crevices into which the beast 

 could dodge. 



We were not close enough, however. With one 

 of us watching the coyote, should he happen to run, 

 Harris turned the bronco slowly round until the 

 glass end of the box in the back of the buckboard 

 was pointing directly at the creature. There was a 

 scramble of feet inside the box. The dogs had sighted 

 the beast. Then Harris started as if to drive away, 

 the coyote watching us all the time. 



Instead of driving off, he made a circle, and com- 

 ing back slowly toward the coyote, gained the top 

 of a little knoll. Had the coyote seen the dogs in 

 the box, he would have vanished instantly; but the 

 box interested and puzzled him. 



He stood looking with all his eyes as the proces- 

 sion turned, and once more the glass end of the box 

 was pointed directly toward him. The dogs evidently 

 knew what was expected of them. They were silent, 

 but ready. Suddenly, without stopping the pony, 

 Harris pulled open the glass door, and yelled, " Go ! " 



And go they did. I never saw hundred-yard run- 

 ners leap from the mark as those two hounds leaped 

 from that box. The coyote, in his astonishment, act- 



