128 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
led up another thirty feet to the top of the preci- 
Pice. Lucy got into this crevice, and with the 
help of the frozen moss and mould lodged in it, 
worked her way to the top. There she crouched 
a moment, looking over the rim with her yellow- 
green eyes at the dogs below, and then slipped 
quietly and easily into the forest. 
When the hunters came, they found the dogs 
still baying the tree. But there was no wildcat 
in the branches. After a while, they worked 
around to the top of the cliff, and found out how 
she escaped. But it was too late to put the dogs 
on the trail again. They were a dozen miles 
from home, with a mountain between. 
After that, Lucy was a famous character. 
Being a famous character has its penalties, 
especially when you’ve one toe missing and no- 
body can mistake your tracks. It was that miss- 
ing toe which betrayed to Solon Littleton the fact 
that it was Lucy who came into his chicken yard 
and killed two of his pet Rhode Island Reds. 
That was in February, after two weeks of tremen- 
dous cold and heavy snow. Lucy was desper- 
ately hungry. Solon had a dog, too, but the dog 
