y his talents.

Proud as a general with an ample and obedient following, he dashed
ahead, carrying fresh dismay among the deer, if one might judge from the
noise. Then he found some new smell of excitement, and voiced the new
thrill in a new sound, one not unmixed with fear. At length his barking
was far away to the west in a rocky part of the woods. Whatever the
prey, it was treed, for the voice kept one place.

The hunters followed quickly and found the dog yapping furiously under
a thick cedar. The first thought was of porcupine; but a nearer view
showed the game to be a huge panther on the ground, not greatly excited,
disdaining to climb, and taking little notice of the dog, except to
curl his nose and utter a hissing kind of snarl when the latter came too
near.

But the arrival of the hunters gave a new colour to the picture. The
panther raised his head, then sprang up a large tree and ensconced
himself on a fork, while the valorous Skookum reared against the trunk,
threatening loudly to come up and tear him to pieces.

This was a rare find and a noble chance to conserve their stock of deer,
so the hunters went around the tree seeking for a fair shot. But
every point of view had some serious obstacle. It seemed as though the
branches had been told off to guard the panther's vitals, for a big one
always stood in the bullet's way.

After vainly going around, Quonab said to Rolf: "Hit him with something,
so he'll move."

Rolf always was a good shot with stones, but he found none to throw.
Near where they stood, however, was an unfreezing spring, and the soggy
snow on it was easily packed into a hard, heavy snowball. Rolf threw it
straight, swift, and by good luck it hit the panther square on the nose
and startled him so that he sprang right out of the tree and flopped
into the snow.

Skookum was on him at once, but got a slap on the ear that changed
his music, and the panther bounded away out of sight with the valiant
Skookum ten feet behind, whooping and yelling like mad.

It was annoyance rather than fear that made that panther take to a low
tree while Skookum boxed the compass, and made a beaten dog path all
around him. The hunters approached very carefully now, making little
sound and keeping out of sight. The panther was wholly engrossed with
observing the astonishing impudence of that dog, when Quonab came
quietly up, leaned his rifle against a tree and fired. The smoke cleared
to show the panther on h