The stars were growing dim, and a faint light was dawning in the east,
when, at last, Jimmy Claxton's slumbers were disturbed and he opened his
sleepy eyes.
There was a confusion of sounds filling his ears, a snapping and
snarling and growling that frightened and bewildered him. It was several
moments before he could remember where he was or why he was there, lying
on the ground beneath the open sky.
But his brain cleared presently, and he sprang to his feet and looked
about him. Where was his friend and companion of the previous day? Where
were the horses he had himself so carefully picketed the evening before?
And what was that snarling, fighting mass just visible in the dawning
light but a few rods distant?
Jimmy found himself very much awake about this time, for it had flashed
upon him that at least a score of prairie-wolves were there before him
and that the yelping that had awakened him came from their throats.
He involuntarily opened his mouth to call out for Mr. Highton, but the
thought came quickly into his mind that a sound from him might draw the
attention of the pack to himself, and this restrained him.
He wondered where Mr. Highton could be, and what it was that the wolves
were fighting over and feasting upon. A terrible fear took possession of
him. Had the creatures killed Mr. Highton while he lay sleeping, and
were they now devouring him?
He dared not venture nearer to investigate. He was afraid to move at all
lest the beasts should hear him. But, after a little hesitation, he
resolved to try to get away to the opposite side of the ravine and there
conceal himself until the pack dispersed.
Jimmy moved cautiously away, but had not gone far when, turning to look
back, he saw half a dozen of the wolves coming toward him at a gallop.
He knew that he could not outrun them, and, looking about for any
possible refuge, he saw, not far away, projecting ten or fifteen feet
above the surface of the ravine, the scraggy branches of a tree, which
overhung the depths beneath it.
With his best speed the boy dashed forward, and, scrambling down the
sides of the gorge until he reached the spot in which the tree was
rooted, he began to climb up its bent and twisted trunk.
The tree was but a small one, and its upper branches were hardly strong
enough to bear his weight, but he climbed upward until they swayed and
bent, and threatened to snap beneath him; then, grasping the largest of
them, one in each hand, and resting his feet on the best support he
could find for them, Jimmy braced himself and awaited his pursuers.
They soon came up, and leaped and howled and snarled about the tree, but
they could not reach their wished-for prey; and, after awhile, they
seemed to realize that they were losing their share--and a slender one
it must have been, or they would never have deserted it--of the feast
being enjoyed by their fellows, and trotted back, to renew their fight
over poor Cottontail's bones.
Jimmy breathed freer for a few minutes after their departure, but his
situation was anything but comfortable or agreeable. It was a strain
upon his muscles to maintain his position, and there was constant danger
that the limbs he was supporting himself by would break and tumble him
to the bottom of the ravine. And yet he dared not descend to the ground,
because, the wolves might attack or pursue him at any moment. The day
grew brighter and the sun appeared, and still Jimmy clung to his
swaying, uncertain support, until it seemed to him that he _must_
descend and give relief to his aching arms and feet.
But he knew that a race between himself and the wolves upon the open
prairie would be a hopeless one for him; for, emboldened as the
naturally cowardly creatures always were by numbers, they would never
give up the chase until they had run him down.
Thus two long hours passed, and meantime a painful consciousness grew
upon him that his usual morning meal was lacking. He thought, with
longing, of the delicious, mealy, baked potatoes and corn-fritters, with
their respective accompaniments of cream-gravy and fresh butter, that
had probably adorned Lottie's breakfast-table, and wondered if, when
released from his very unpleasant predicament, he would have strength
enough remaining to enable him to make his way to the ranch, ten miles
further on, according to Mr. Highton, where he could procure something
to fill the "aching void" that was making him more and more
uncomfortable.
At length, to his great joy, the sounds of fighting and snarling grew
less and less, and although he was unable to see from his station the
place where the pack had congregated, Jimmy felt sure that they had
dispersed, and, wearied and cramped, he ventured to descend to the
ground.
He stole cautiously out of the ravine to reconnoitre, and found his
surmise correct. There was not a wolf to be seen. They had stolen away
through the tall grass to their abiding-places, and the prairie showed
no sign of any living creature save himself.
After waiting a short time to make sure that they were really gone,
Jimmy ran forward to discover what it was that they had been feasting
upon. As he neared the spot, he uttered a cry of dismay. The tall grass
had hidden the object until he was within a few yards of it, but now he
saw that it had been his pony. The bones were not yet picked clean,
although more than half of the carcass was eaten, and Jimmy wondered, as
he rushed forward, that the voracious beasts had left a morsel
undevoured. But he did not wonder long; for a low, peculiar sound,
seeming to rise from the earth at his very feet, startled him, and he
saw, stretched upon the ground like a great cat, not six yards away, an
animal the like of which he had never seen before. But he had heard of
the lions which sometimes came down from the mountainous and broken
country farther west, and knew that this creature must be one of them.
He understood then what had driven the wolves away, and wished himself
safely back in his tree-top. The lion lashed its tail and partly rose
from its position on the ground, but it subsided again as Jimmy stood
stock-still, with eyes of horror fixed upon it. The probabilities are
that it was satiated with food, and only wished to guard the prey it had
already secured from further molestation. However that may be, it made
no other movement than to lift its head and swish its tail, as if in
warning, and Jimmy backed slowly away as long as he could endure the
strain of moving slowly; and then, when he felt that he _must_ run, he
turned and flew over the ground with the speed of a deer until he was
forced to stop from sheer exhaustion.