ks as if in search of roots.
Presently he lay down to enjoy at his ease the repast he had thus
procured. Instinctively I raised my rifle to my shoulder, when my
companion made a sign.

"Don't fire," he said; "for should the Indians be in the neighbourhood,
the sound will attract them towards us."

"But the boar will escape, and we shall lose the pork, which will be so
acceptable in camp," I remarked.

"Better to lose the pork than be scalped," answered the Dominie, though
he gazed at the boar with a wistful eye.

We were still undecided what to do, when we caught sight of another
large animal creeping along from an opposite direction towards the boar.
So stealthily did it advance, that the boar appeared to be unconscious
of its approach.

The newcomer was the creature commonly known among the western settlers
as the "painter," but more properly called the puma or American lion.
It is a powerful animal with a tawny hide, larger than the largest dog,
and more like a tiger than a lion. It will seldom attack man, unless it
can take him at a disadvantage, and if boldly met will run off rather
than fight. When pressed by hunger, however, it is very savage, and
with its sharp claws and teeth proves a formidable antagonist. It was
not likely to attack us while expecting to enjoy a feast of pork. We
were both afraid of speaking, lest we should attract its attention, and
the boar, being alarmed, might effect its escape.

On crept the "painter" in the attitude of a cat about to seize some
helpless bird. The moment it came within a few paces it made a
tremendous spring and alighted with its four paws on the body of the
boar. Whether or not the latter had seen it coming out of the corner of
one of its eyes I could not tell, but as the "painter" made its bound,
it rose to its feet and with its sharp tusks inflicted a severe wound in
the breast of its antagonist. A fearful struggle now commenced between
the two animals, the "painter" endeavouring to seize the neck of the
boar with its teeth, while the boar drove its tusks again and again into
the breast and shoulders of the puma, giving vent, at the same time, to
its rage and fear in angry grunts, shrieks, and squeaks, sufficient to
attract the attention of any hungry redskins, who would guess what was
going forward, within a mile of us. Still, in spite of the wounds it
had received, there was every probability that the puma, from its
greater agility, would gain the vi