78 BOBBY LYNX OF ROUND-TOP 
could climb back up and catch him! 
Whimpering,—his legs that he had be¬ 
lieved so stout and sturdy, wobbling un¬ 
der him, he half-ran, half-crawled to the 
small hole at the rear of the cave. Pain¬ 
fully he wriggled through it to drop, safe 
at last, like a little dead cat, on the soft, 
friendly leaves! 
It was very nearly the end of Bobby! 
His paws that had so proudly clawed 
their mark on the Hollow Spruce, were 
now bloody and swollen and his left 
fore-leg had been so badly torn that the 
bones showed right through the mangled 
skin. Bobby’s eyes were fast swelling 
shut, while the blood dripped from the 
torn and slashed grey coat. Poor Bobby 
knew that he was a badly hurt little cat, 
but he did not know that, young as he 
was, he had almost killed the other 
lynx,—the largest and wisest old lynx on 
the mountains! Frightened as he was. 
