THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 185 



wood and Buck Thompson, patriarchs who must 

 have been all of fourteen years old, were planning 

 to visit these woods. Four of us little chaps tagged 

 along until it was too late to send us back. We 

 found that the perils of the place had not been over- 

 stated. In a dark thicket Boots showed us wolf- 

 tracks. At least he said they were, and he ought 

 to have known, for he had read "Frank in the 

 Woods," "The Gorilla-Hunters," and other standard 

 authorities on such subjects. Farther on we heard a 

 squalling note, which Buck at once recognized as 

 the scream of a panther. Boots confirmed his 

 diagnosis, and showed the reckless bravery of his 

 nature by laughing so heartily at our scared faces 

 that he had to lean against a tree for some time 

 before he could go on. In later years I have heard 

 the same note made by a blue jay, a curious coinci- 

 dence which should have the attention of some of our 

 prominent naturalists. 



Finally, we came to a little clearing with a vast 

 oak-tree in the centre. As we neared it, suddenly 

 Buck gave a yell and pointed overhead. There on a 

 hollow dead limb crouched a strange beast. It was 

 gray in color, with a black-masked face, and was 

 ten times larger than any gray squirrel, the wildest 

 animal which we had met personally. There was a 

 hasty and whispered consultation between the two 

 leaders, after which Buck announced that the stran- 

 ger was none other than a Canada lynx, according to 

 him an animal of almost supernatural ferocity and 

 cunning. Furthermore, he stated that he, assisted 



