he would unquestionably be
attacked. And there was a lithe suppleness in the manner that the
movement of the muscles rippled over the skin that was alarmingly
suggestive of ferocity. Wilbur did not like the looks of it at all. On
the other hand, he had not the slightest intention of going back to the
camp without water. He had come for water, and he would carry water
back, he thought to himself, if a regiment of bob-cats was in the way.

The old fable that a wild beast cannot stand the gaze of the human eye
recurred to Wilbur's remembrance, and he stood at the edge of the
clearing regarding the cat fixedly. But the snarls only grew the louder.
Wilbur was frightened, and he knew it, and what was more, he felt the
cat knew it with that intuition the wild animals have for recognizing
danger or the absence of danger. She made another effort to drag away
the rabbit, but failing in that, with an angry yowl, with quick jerks
and rending of her powerful jaws began to try to force the rabbit free
from the entangling root, which done, she could carry it into the forest
to devour at leisure. The ease with which those claws and teeth rent
asunder the yielding flesh was an instructive sight for Wilbur, but the
fact that the wild-cat should dare to go on striving to free her prey
instead of slinking away in fright made the boy angry. Besides, he had
come for that water.

Wilbur decided to advance into the clearing anyway, and then, if the
creature did not stir, he would be so near that he couldn't miss her
with the revolver. As he grew angrier his fear began to leave him. He
took the pot in his left hand, putting the long stick under his arm,
and, drawing his six-shooter, advanced on the cat. He came forward
slowly, but without hesitation. At his second step forward the wild-cat
raised her head, but instead of springing at him, as Wilbur half feared,
she retreated into the woods, leaving her prey, snarling as she went.
Wilbur went boldly forward to the spring, and, thinking that he would
see no more of the cat, put away his revolver.

Having secured the water, and as he turned to go, however, the boy felt
a sudden impulse to look up. He had not heard a sound, and yet, on a low
branch a few feet above his head, crouched the wild-cat, her eyes
glaring yellow in the waning light. Once again he felt the temptation to
shoot her, but resisted it, through his fear of only wounding the
creature and thus bringing her full fury upon him.