sides were nearly fifteen feet in height. They even overhung in
places, but this I did not then know. I was in no mind to trust
myself in the deep gully, where the catamount might drop upon me
before I could scramble out upon the other side.

I walked into an open space, and took my stand close to a birch
that grew on the very edge of the bank. For thirty feet there was
no good cover for the catamount; so, armed and determined, I waited
his action.

The animal skirted the bushes about me, as if examining the ground,
and to my disappointment, began to come upon me along the edge of
the ravine. This gave him the best cover before his charge, and at
the same time assured him that the momentum of his rush would not
carry him tumbling into the gully. Always keeping too well
concealed for a good mark, he crept up behind a fallen tree, on the
near side of which a little bush grew, and flattened himself there,
watching me, I felt sure, and waiting, in the hope that he might
catch me off my guard.

I cannot describe how stealthy and noiseless and altogether perfect
his maneuvering was. Although the trees that grew about were all
small and the bushes bare, and although the white snow gave no
background for concealment, he covered himself so perfectly at one
time, and slipped in and out of sight so quickly at another, that
although I stood with revolver pointed and cocked, I could find no
opportunity for a shot.

As he circled for position he came ever nearer, and I could see at
one time the round head, with its short, pointed ears; at another