98 Wilderness Ways. 



me more effectively. Then I put out my bait, a 

 good two hours before the time of Old Whitehead's 

 earliest appearance, and crawled into my den to wait. 



I had barely settled comfortably into my place, 

 wondering how long human patience could endure 

 the sting of insects and the hot close air without 

 moving or stirring a leaf, when the heavy silken rustle 

 sounded close at hand, and I heard the grip of his 

 talons on the log. There he stood, at arm's length, 

 turning his head uneasily, the light glinting on his 

 white crest, the fierce, untamed flash in his bright eye. 

 Never before had he seemed so big-, so strong, so 

 splendid; my heart jumped at the thought of him 

 as our national emblem. I am glad still to have seen 

 that emblem once, and felt the thrill of it. 



But I had little time to think, for Cheplahgan was 

 restless. Some instinct seemed to warn him of a 

 danger that he could not see. The moment his head 

 was turned away, I stretched out my arm. Scarcely 

 a leaf moved with the motion, yet he whirled like a 

 flash and crouched to spring, his eyes glaring straight 

 into mine with an intensity that I could scarce endure. 

 Perhaps I was mistaken, but in that swift instant the 

 hard glare in his eyes seemed to soften with fear, 

 as he recognized me as the one thing in the wilder- 

 ness that dared to hunt him, the king. My hand 



