8 4 A SPORTING PARADISE 



timidity, who stood before him blocking the 

 way, and whom he had stopped with his c Hoo- 

 wuff! * before he should get too near ? That 

 was his question, plainly enough. 



u There was no snarl or growl, no savageness 

 in his expression ; only intense wonder and 

 questioning in the look which fastened upon 

 my face and seemed to bore its way through, 

 to find out just what I was thinking. 



<c I met his eyes squarely with mine, and held 

 them, which was, perhaps, the most sensible 

 thing I could have done, though it was all 

 unconscious on my part. In the brief moment 

 that followed I did a lot of thinking. 



u There was no escape, up or down ; I must 

 go on or turn back. If I jumped forward with 

 a yell, as I had done before under different cir- 

 cumstances, would he not rush at me savagely, 

 as all wild creatures do when cornered ? No, 

 the time for that had passed with the first 

 instant of our meeting. The bluff would now 

 be too apparent; it must be done without 

 hesitation, or not at all. If I turned back, he 

 would follow me to the end of the ledge, 

 growing bolder as he came on ; and beyond 

 that it was dangerous walking, where he had all 



