ff.

Oh boy, that made me think of something, but you can bet there wasn't any
time to stop and think then. I guess I felt as nervous as William Tell when
he was going to shoot the apple off his son's head. Only I had the chop in
my hand instead of a bow and arrow. Oh, didn't I watch that open space and
take a good aim I My heart was just pounding and my wrist hurt, because my
pulse was going so fast. Because, Suppose I should miss? _I'd_ be the third
chop, I knew that. I just couldn't throw the chop for fear I'd miss.

You can see for yourself that was the only chance I had. All of a sudden I
happened to think about tearing the chop in half and that would give me
two chances. But if one of the pieces landed inside maybe it wouldn't be
big enough to keep him busy two or three seconds. So I decided to take a
good careful aim and throw the whole chop. If it went in, all right; maybe
I'd have time enough. If it didn't--

All of a sudden, I heard the animal give a kind of a hissing growl and I
just closed one eye and braced myself against the tree and took a good,
long, careful aim and threw the chop.

It struck the edge of the door and felt outside the little stone house.
Almost before I saw where it landed, the animal had it.

I just crouched there in that tree shuddering and waiting for what would
happen next. First, I thought I'd take a chance and drop down and run.
Then I decided I wouldn't. I didn't exactly _decide_. I stayed where I
was, because I was too scared to move. I didn't even dare to climb higher
for fear the animal would hear me and give a spring. I could even feel my
teeth chattering.

CHAPTER IX

AWFUL STICKY

Now that it was too late, I could see that if I had only landed that meat
inside the house, it would have been easy to get away. And the animal would
have been a prisoner, too, because he could never have got out of that
house. The windows were boarded on the inside and the door was good and
heavy. But what was the good of thinking about that when it was too late?

I have to admit that for about half a minute I wasn't a good scout. I was
just scared and excited and I didn't do anything. Then I saw the animal
prowling around the tree and looking up and heard him making that noise.
Oh boy, it was terrible!

Then, _bang,_ just like that, I remembered about him wiping the leaf off
his paw by rubbing it on his face. It was lucky for me he did that, because
it put into my head something I h