worried till it was torn up, and each that got a piece ran to one side
alone and silently proceeded to eat, seizing his portion in his jaws
when another came near, and growling his tiny growl as he showed the
brownish whites of his eyes in his effort to watch the intruder. Those
that got the softer parts to feed on were well fed. But the three that
did not turned all then energies on the frame of the Gobbler, and over
that there waged a battle royal. This way and that they tugged and
tussled, getting off occasional scraps, but really hindering each other
feeding, till Tito glided in and deftly cut the Turkey into three or
four, when each dashed off with a prize, over which he sat and chewed
and smacked his lips and jammed his head down sideways to bring the
backmost teeth to bear, while the baby runt scrambled into the home den,
carrying in triumph his share--the Gobbler's grotesque head and neck.




X.


Jake felt that he had been grievously wronged, indeed ruined, by that
Coyote that stole his Turkeys. He vowed he would skin them alive when he
found the pups, and took pleasure in thinking about how he would do it.
His attempt to follow Saddleback by trailing was a failure, and all his
searching for the den was useless, but he had come prepared for any
emergency. In case he found the den he had brought a pick and shovel; in
case he did not he had brought a living white Hen.

The Hen he now took to a broad open place near where he had seen
Saddle-back, and there he tethered her to a stick of wood that she could