THE LIFE AND DEATH OF LUOY 118 
been so hungry that twice she had attempted to 
raid a hen yard, being driven off by dogs both 
times. Now she suddenly started up from her 
first sleep, ears pricked up, white teeth just show- 
ing, yellow-green eyes intense. Her action 
roused the kittens, who also started up. On soft 
feet the mother cat went to the entrance of the 
den, the kittens following. 
Something was coming down the precipice 
above. It swished through the bushes like a 
deer, and a second later they all caught the deer 
smell, though, of course, by comparison ‘with a 
dog or fox, their powers of smell were slight. 
But it was evidently a small deer, from the sound 
it made. Even at that, the kittens were surprised 
to see their mother sneak one paw out, then an- 
other paw out, till she glided almost like a snake 
up over the top of the boulder above the den, and 
from that to another, and so to another, till she 
was crouched directly over the deer trail down 
the mountain. She had never hunted a deer be- 
fore, and the kittens knew it was because she 
dreaded those terribly sharp hoofs, and the 
sharper horns of the buck. 
