156 



THE DESERT 



Fitness for 

 attack and 



Thevnld 

 cat. 



The spring 

 of the cat. 



doing or the avoiding of death. Because the 

 wild cat cannot afford to miss his quarry, there- 

 fore is he made a something that seldom does 

 miss. 



The description of the lion as " a jaw on four 

 paws " will fit the wild cat very well only he 

 is a jaw on two paws. The hind legs are in- 

 significant compared with the front ones, and 

 the body back of the shoulders is lean, lank, 

 slight, but withal muscular and sinewy. The 

 head is bushy, heavy, and square, the neck and 

 shoulders are massive, the forelegs and paws so 

 large that they look to belong to some other an- 

 imal. The ears are small yet sensitive enough 

 to catch the least noise, the nose is acute, the 

 eyes are like great mirrors, the teeth like points 

 of steel. In fact the whole animal is little more 

 than a machine for dragging down and devour- 

 ing prey. That and the protection of his breed 

 are his only missions on earth. He is the same 

 creeping, snarling beast that one finds in the 

 mountains of California, but the desert animal 

 is larger and stronger. He sneaks upon a band 

 of qnail or a rabbit with greater caution, and 

 when he springs and strikes it is with greater 

 certainty. The enormous paws pin the game to 

 the earth, and the sharp teeth cut through like 



