its mouth a large Rabbit. The Coyote leaped just at the same moment that
Jake fired his revolver, and the Dog broke into a fierce yelling and
dashed off in pursuit, while Jake blazed and blazed away, without
effect, and wondered why the Coyote should still hang on to that Rabbit
as she ran for her life with the Dog yelling at her heels. Jake followed
as far as he could and fired at each chance, but scored no hit. So when
they had vanished among the buttes he left the Dog to follow or come
back as he pleased, while he returned to the den, which, of course, was
plain enough now. Jake knew that the pups were there yet. Had he not
seen the mother bringing a Rabbit for them?

So he set to work with pick and shovel all the rest of that day. There
were plenty of signs that the den had inhabitants, and, duly encouraged,
he dug on, and after several hours of the hardest work he had ever done,
he came to the end of the den--_only to find it empty_. After cursing
his luck at the first shock of disgust, he put on his strong leather
glove and groped about in the nest. He felt something firm and drew it
out. It was the head and neck of his own Turkey Gobbler, and that was
all he got for his pains.




XIV.

Tito had not been idle during the time that the enemy was Horse-hunting.
Whatever Saddleback might have done, Tito would live in no fool's
paradise. Having finished the new den, she trotted back to the little
valley of feathers, and the first young one that came to meet her at the
door of this home was a broad-headed one much like herself. She seized