THE LION PLAYS SOFT PEDAL 105 



scout, to keep out of sight, has endurance, usu- 

 ally procures food by stealth, is easily frightened 

 and stampeded, and is not ferocious. 



The tracks of another lion kept me active 

 and entertained for about fifty hours. I came 

 upon the tracks in a canon where he had cap- 

 tured a grouse. Climbing out of the canon the 

 lion walked along the top of a ridge that led 

 toward the summit of the Range. Near timber- 

 line another lion track crossed. On examination, 

 these cross tracks and those I was following 

 proved to be of the same lion. Had these cross 

 tracks been made before or after the ones I was 

 following ? I could not be certain, but concluded 

 to follow the cross tracks down the slope. 



At one place the lion had either played with 

 a porcupine or had worried him. The tracks 

 showed that he slapped at porky, ran rings 

 around him, leaped over him, and had a lively 

 time all the way across an opening which the 

 porky was crossing. 



Leaving the porky the lion made his way 

 down a willowy gulch, keeping out of sight, and 

 headed straight for the canon in which I had 

 discovered his tracks. 



I followed the up-going tracks to where I had 

 left them at timberline. After half a mile these 

 swerved sharply to the right. The lion had 

 slipped up close to the edge of a cliff from which 





