92 STORTING ADVENTURES 



ing home some fresh meat from town. "When the animal made 

 the leap it knocked the man back in the cart, but before 

 it could do any more harm than to claw him severely, he 

 tumbled out on the road at the tail-board, while his horses 

 bounded away at full speed, carrying 1 the assailant with them. 

 They say the man was so frightened that he stayed in the road 

 all night, with his nose stuck in the dust ; and on being 

 rallied about his courage the next day, he nonchalantly replied 

 that he was not going- to take any chances, and he would 

 rather lie in the dust than in the stomach of a cougar. 



The first time I had the pleasure of killing- one of these fierce 

 cats was when I was stopping at a rancher's cabin near the foot 

 of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a few days. While sleeping 

 soundly one night, after a hard day's hunting, I was startled 

 suddenly by the barking- of dogs, the cackling of fowls, and 

 the squealing of pigs. Supposing that some Indians or horse 

 thieves were making a raid on the house, I jumped out of bed 

 and dressed as rapidly as possible, but before that simple opera- 

 tion was finished, the clamour outside had ceased, except an 

 occasional cackle. 



The host next appeared on the scene armed with a rifle, and 

 giving me a loaded shot-gun, we went into the yard to see 

 what the matter was. A momentary investigation revealed 

 the condition of affairs, for near the corner of the yard we 

 found the dead body of a magnificent dog, of which the owner 

 was very proud, on account of his peculiar intelligence and 

 affectionate disposition. He was a cross between a Newfound- 

 land and a mastiff, and inherited the good qualities of both 

 parents, being brave, kind, and faithful. His ribs were broken, 

 and the abdomen was so much torn away, that the viscera pro- 

 truded. "A painter did that," was the host's laconic expression ; 

 and after a long pause, as if trying to overcome his feelings, 

 he vehemently asserted that he would have the cougar's hide 

 before he was twenty-four hours older, or know why. A 

 further examination proved that the brute had carried away a 

 young pig about four months old, and had escaped by leaping 

 a two-rail fence with it. There were several other dogs in the 

 yard besides the one slain, but none had the courage, apparently, 



