436 BIG GAME OF NuKTII AMERICA. 



to pieces by the boys' knives. He was a little over two feet 

 in length, and weighed twenty-eight pounds. 



A certain ranchman's hen-roost having been sadly 

 depleted by the inroads of some nocturnal visitor for sev- 

 eral weeks, his Teutonic blood at last became aroused, and 

 he declared that the varmint that had been so unlawfully 

 depriving him of his chickens had to go — and that suddenly. 

 The ranchman had noticed sundry large and cat-like tracks 

 around the roost every morning, and decided that the 

 poacher was a Lynx. Knowing the habits and resorts of 

 the varmint thoroughly, Hank sat up several nights in suc- 

 cession, with his old musket heavily loaded with pow^der 

 and coarse shot; but in vain. The Lynx failed to appear 

 while the owner of the poultry was on guard. . Weary with 

 his vigils, Hank turned in at dark the next night, leaving 

 his hens unprotected. On the following morning a fresh 

 trail was discovered, and another hen was missing. Hank 

 was thoroughly disgusted, and vowed that he would not 

 sleep again till the marauder had been sunmiarily dealt 

 with. Calling in several of his neighbors, who also had 

 suffered by the depredations of the rascal, a solemn pow- 

 wow and council of war w^as held; it being ultimately 

 decided that the entire outlit encamp on his trail till 

 death, most cruel and violent, should be meted out to him. 



Several good hunting-dogs being mustered, the outfit 

 took up the fresh trail, near Hank' s hen-house. A slight 

 flurry of snow had lately fallen, which aided their designs 

 materially. The dogs were taken to the tracks, and after 

 snuffing around suspiciously, the leader took up the trail, 

 and the entire pack followed. They struck up a musical 

 shout, each dog in his own individual key; some loud, some 

 sharp, some deep, but each doing his or her best. The dogs 

 were eagerly followed by the relentless and blood-thirsty 

 poultry-owners. 



They crossed the young orchard, plunged into the thick 

 timber on the other side, making for the upland and green 

 timber, where the dogs apparently lost the trail; but the 



