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17 - Last of the Plainsmen by Zane Grey · Last of the Plainsmen

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Kitty. It seemed my eyelids had scarcely touched when Jones
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: exasperating yet stimulating yell aroused me. Day was breaking. The
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: moon and stars shone with wan luster, a white, snowy
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: frost silvered the forest. Old Mose had curled close beside me,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and now he gazed at me reproachfully and shivered. Lawson
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: came hustling in with the horses. Jim busied himself around
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: the campfire. My fingers nearly froze while I saddled my horse.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: At five o'clock, we were trotting up the slope of Buckskin,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: bound for this section of ruined rim wall, where we
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: had encountered the convention of cougars. Hoping to save time,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: we took a short cut and were soon crossing deep ravines.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: The sunrise coloring the purple curtain of cloud over the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: canyon was too much for me, and I lagged on
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: a high ridge to watch it, thus falling behind my
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: more practical companions. Afar off Wahoo brought me to a
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: realization of the day's stern duty, and I heard Satan
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: forward on the trail. Came suddenly upon our leader leading
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: his horse through the scrub pinion on the edge of
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the canyon, and I knew at once something had happened,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: for he was closely scrutinizing the ground. I declare, this
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: beats me all hollow, began Jones. We might be hunting
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: rabbits instead of the wildest animals on the continent. We
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: jumped a bunch of lions in this clump of pinion.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: There must have been at least four. I thought we'd
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: run upon an old lioness with cubs, but all the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: trails were made by full grown lions. Mose took one
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: north along the rim, same as the other day, but
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the lion got away quick. Frank saw one lion. Wallace
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: is following Sounder down into the first hollow. Jam has
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: gone over the rim wall. After dawn, there you are
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: four lions playing tag in broad daylight on top of
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: this wall. I'm inclined to believe Clark didn't exaggerate, but
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Kun found a luck. The hounds are split again. They're
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: doing the best, of course, and it's up to us
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: to stay up with them. I'm afraid we'll lose some
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: of them. Hello, I hear a signal that's from Wallace.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Woh wohoo. There he is coming out of the hollow.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: The tall Californian reached this presently, with Sounder beside him.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: He reported that the hound had chased the lion into
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: an impassable break and then joined Frank on a jutting
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: crag of the canyon wall. Woa, yelled Jones. There was
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: no answer except the echo, and it rolled up out
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: of the chasm with strange hollow mockery. Don took a
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: cougar down this slide, said Frank. I saw the brute
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and Don was making him hump ah there, listen to that.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: From the green and yellow depths came the faint yelp
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: of a hound. That's down. That's Don, cried Jones. He's
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: hot on something. Where's Sounder here? Sunder by George. There
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: he goes down the side. Hear him. He's opened up.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Hi aye aye. The deep full bay of the hound
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: came ringing on the clear air. Wallace, you go down, Frank,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and I will climb out on that pointed crag. Gray,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: you stay here, then we'll have the slide between us.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Listen and watch from my promontory. I watched Wallace go
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: down with his gigantic strides, sending the rocks rolling and cracking.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: And then I saw Jones and Frank crawl out to
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: the end of a crumbling ruin of yellow wall, which
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: threatened to go splintering and thundering down into the Abyss.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: I thought, as I listened to the penetrating voice of
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: the hound, that nowhere on Earth could there be a
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: grander scene for wild action wild life. My position afforded
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: a commanding view over one hundred miles of the noblest
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: and most sublime work of nature. The rim Wall where
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: I stood sheered down a thousand feet to meet a
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: long wood slope, which cut abruptly off into another giant precipice.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: A second long slope descended and jumped off into what
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: seemed the grave of the world. Most striking in that
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: vast void were the long, irregular points of rim Wall,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: protruding into the Grand Canyon. From points supplime to pink
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: cliffs of Utah. There were twelve of these colossal capes
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: miles apart, some sharp, some round, some blunt, all ragged
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: and bold. The great chasm in the middle was full
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: of purple smoke. It seemed a mighty sepulcher from which
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: misty fumes rolled upward. The turrets, maces, domes, parapets, escarpments
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: of yellow and red rock gave the appearance of an
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: architectural work of giant hands. The wonderful river of silt,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the blood red, mystic, and sullen real colorretdo lay hidden
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: except in one place, far away, where it glimmered vainly.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Thousands of colors were blended before my rapt gaze. Yellow
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: predominated as the walls and cranks ordered it over the
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: lower cliffs and tables. Red glared in the sunlight. Green
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: softened these two, and then purple and violet, gray, blue,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: and the darker hues shaded away into dim and distinct obscurity.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Excited yells from my companions. On the other crag recalled
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: me to the living aspect of the scene. Jones was
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: leaning far down in a niche at, seeming great hazard
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: of life, yelling with all the power of his strong lungs.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Frank stood still further out on a crack point that
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: made me tremble, and his yell reinforced Jones's. From far below,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: rolled up a chorus of thrilling bays and yelps, and
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Jim's call faint but distant on the wonderfully thin air,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: with its unmistakable note of warning. Then on the slide
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I saw a lion headed for the rim wall and
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: climbing fast. I added my exultant cry to the medley
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: and stretched my arms wide to that innumerable void, the
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: glorified for a moment full to the brim of the
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: tingling joy of existence. I did not consider how painful
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: it must have been to the toiling lion. It was
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: only the spell of wild environment, of perilous yellow crags
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of thin, dry air, voices of man and dog, of
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: the stinging expectation of sharp action of life. I watched
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: the lion growing bigger and bigger, saw Dawnton Sounder run
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: from the pinion into the open slide, and heard their
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: impetuous burst of wild yelps as they saw their game.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Then Jones's clarion yell made me bound for my horse.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: I reached him, was about to mount when Mose came
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: trotting towards me, God the old Gladdie. When he heard
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the chorus from below, he plunged like a mad bull,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: with both arms round him. I held on. I vowed
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: never to let him get down. That slide. He howled
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and tore, but I held on my big black horse,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: with ears laid back, stood like a rock. I heard
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: the pattering of little sliding rocks below, stealthy padded footsteps,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and hard panting breath, almost like coughs. Then a lion
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: passed out of the slide not twenty feet away. He
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: saw us and sprang into the pinion scrub with the
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: leap of a scared deer. Samson himself could no longer
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: have held mose away. He darted with his sharp, angry bark.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I flung myself upon Satan and rode out to see
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Jones ahead and Frank flashing through the green on the
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: white horse at the end of the pinion thicket. Satan
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: overhauled Jones's bay and we entered the open forest together.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: We saw Frank glinting across the dark pines. Ay Ay,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: yelled the colonel. No need was there to whip or
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: spur these magnificent horses. They were fresh, The course was
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: open and smooth as a racetrack, and the impelling chorus
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: of the hounds was at full blast. I gave Satan
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: a loose rein, and he stayed neck and neck with
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: the bay. There was not a log, nor stone, nor
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: a gully. The hollows grew wider and shallower as we
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: raced along, and presently disappeared altogether. The lion was running
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: straight from the canyon, and the certainty that he must
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: sooner or later take to a tree brought from me
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: a yell of irresistible wild joy. Aye aye aye, answered Jones.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: The whipping wind, with its pine scented fragrance, warm as
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: the breath of summer, was intoxicating as wine. The huge pines,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: too kingly for close communication with their kind, made white
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: arches under which the horses stretched out long and low
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: with supple, springly powerful strides. Frank'shall round, clear as a bell.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: We saw him curve to the right, and took his
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: yell as a signal for us to cut across. Then
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: we began to close in on him, and to hear
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: more distinctly the baying of the hounds. Aye aye aye
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: aye ball Jones and his great trumpet voice rolled down
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: the forest glades. Aye aye aye aye, I screeched in
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: a wild recognition of the spirit of the moment. Fast
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: as they were flying, the bay in the black restounded
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: to our cries and quickened, strained, and lengthened under us,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: till the tree sped by in blurs there plainly inside
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Ahead ran the hounds, dawn leading sounder next, and mows
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: not fifty yards behind a desperately running lion. There are
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: all satisfying moments of life that chased through the open
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: forest under the stately pines, with the wild, tawny corry
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: in plain sight, and the glad, staccato yelps of the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: hounds filling my ears and swelling my heart, with the
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: splendid action of my horse carrying me on the wings
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: of the wind. Was glorious answer and fullness to the
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: call and hunger of a hunter's blood. But as such
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: moments must be, they were brief. The lion leaped gracefully
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: into the air, flintering the bark from a pine fifteen
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: feet up, and crouched on a limb. The hounds tore
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: madly round the tree. Full grown female, said Jones calmly,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: as we dismounted, And she's ours. We'll call her Kitty.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Kitty was a beautiful creature, long, slender, glossy, with white
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: belly and black tipped ears and tail. She did not
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: resemble the heavy, grim faced brute that always hung in
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: the air of my dreams. A low, brooding, menacing murnermer
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: that was not a snarl nor a growl came from her.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: She watched the dogs with Brightston, never so much as
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: looked at us. The dogs were worth attention, even from us,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: who certainly did not need to regard them from her
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: personally hostile point of view. Dawn stood straight up, with
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: his fore paws beating the air. He walked on his
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: hind legs like the trained dog in the circus. He
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: yelped continuously, as if it agonized him to see the
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: lion safe out of his reach. Saunder had lost his identity.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Joy had unhinged his mind and had made him a
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: dog of double personality. He had always been unsociable with me,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: never responding to my attempts to caress him, But now
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: he leaped into my arms and licked my face. He
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: had always hated Jones till that moment, when he raised
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: his paws to his master's breast, and perhaps more remarkable,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: time and time again he sprang up at Satan's nose
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: rather to bite him or kiss him. I could not
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: tell then Old Mose, he of Grand Canyon fame, made
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: the delirious antics of his canine fellows look cheap. There
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: was a small dead pine that had fallen against a
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: drooping branch of the tree. Kitty had taken refuge in
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and up this narrow ladder. Mose began to climb. He
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: was fifteen feet up, and Kitty had begun to shift uneasily.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: When Joan saw him, her, you wild coonchieser, get on that,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: come down, Come down. But Jones might have been in
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the bottom of the canyon for all Mo's heard or cared.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Jones removed his coat, carefully coiled his lassu, and began
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: to go hand and knee up the leaning pine. Here
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: done blasting it down, yelled Jones, and he kicked Mose off.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: The persistent howl returned and followed Jones to a height
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: of twenty feet, where he again was thrust off. Hold him,
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: won't you, called Jones. None, me, said Frank, I'm looking
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: out for myself. Same here, I cried, with a camera
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: in one hand and a rifle in the other. Let
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Moe's climb if he likes climb. He did to be
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: kicked off again, but he went back. It was the
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: way he had. Jones at last recognized either his own
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: waste of time or Moses's greatness, for he desisted, allowing
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: the hound to keep close after him. The cougar, becoming uneasy,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: stood up, reached for another limb, climbed out upon it, and,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: peering down, spat hissingly at Jones, but he kept steadily
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: on with most close Alley's heels. I snapped a camera
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: on them when Kitty was not more than fifteen feet
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: above them. As Jones reached the snag which upheld the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: leaning tree, she ran out on her branch and leaped
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: into an adjoining pine. It was a good long jump,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: and the weight of the animal bent the limb alarmingly.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Jones backed down and laboriously began to climb the other tree.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: As there were no branches low down, he had to
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: hug the trunk with arms and legs. As the boy climbs,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: his lassu hampered his progress. When the slow ascent was
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: accomplished up to the first branch, Kitty lit back into
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: her first perch. Strange to say, Jones did not grumble.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: None of his characteristic impatient manifested itself here. I supposed
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: with him all the exasperating weights and vexatious obstacles were
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: little things preliminary to the real work to which he
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: had now come. He was calm and deliberate, and slid
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: down the pine, walked back to the leaning tree, and,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: while resting a moment, shook his lasso at Kitty. This
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: action fitted him somehow, it was so compatible with his
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: grim assurance to me and to Frank also for that matter.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: It was all new and startling, and we were as
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: excited as the dog's. We kept continuously moving about. Frank
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: mounted and I afoot to get good views of the cougar.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: When she crouched as if to leap, it was almost
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: impossible to remain under the tree, and we kept moving.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Once more. Jones crept up on hands and knees mose
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: walked the slanting pine like a rope performer. Kitty began
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: to grow restless. This time she showed both anger and impatience,
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: but did not yet appear frightened. She growled low and deep,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: opened her mouth, and hissed and swung her tufted tail
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: faster and faster. Look Out, look out, look out, Jones,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: yelled Frank, warningly. Joe Jones who had reached the trunk
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: of the tree, halted and slipped round it, placing between
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: him and Kitty. She had advanced on her limb a
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: few feet above Jones and threateningly hung over. Jones backed
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: down a little till she crossed to another branch. Then
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: he resumed his former position. What Blow called he hardly
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: any doubt was there as to how we watched. Frank
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: and I were all eyes except very high and throbbing hearts.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: When Jones thrish the lassu at Kitty, we both yelled.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: She ran out on the branch and jumped. This time
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: she fell short of her point, clutched a dead snag,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: which broke, letting her through a bushy branch, from where
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: she hung head downward for a second. She swung free, then,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: reaching toward the tree, caught it with front paws, ran
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: down like a squirrel, and leaped off. When thirty feet
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: from the ground. The action was as rapid as it
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: was astonishing, Like a yellow rubber ball. She bounded up
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and fled, with the yelping hounds at her heels. The
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: chase was short. At the end of a hundred yards,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Mose caught up with her and nipped her. She whirled
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: with savage suddenness and lunged at Moe's but he cunningly
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: eluded the vicious pause. Then she sought safety in another pine. Frank,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: who was as quick as the hounds, almost rode them
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: down in his eagerness. While Jones descended from his perch,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: I led the two horses down the forest. This time
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: the cougar was well out on a low spreading branch.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Jones conceived the idea of raising the loop of his
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: lassu on a long pole, but as no pole of
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: sufficient length could be found, he tried from the back
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: of his horse. The bay walked forward well enough, when, however,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: he got under the beast and heard her growl, he
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: reared and almost through Jones. Frank's horse could not be
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: persuaded to go near the tree. Satan evinced no fear
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: of the cougar, and without flinching, carried Jones directly beneath
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: the limb and stood with ears back and four legs stiff.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Look at that, look at that, cried Jones, as the
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: wary cougar pawed the loop aside three successive times. Did
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Jones have the last suit just ready to drop over
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: her neck when she flashed a yellow pall and knocked
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: the noose awry. Then she leapt far out over the
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: waiting dog, struck the ground with a light sharp thud,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: and began to run with the speed of a deer.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Frank's cowboy torying now stood us in good stead. He
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: was off like a shot and turned the cougar from
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: the direction of the canyon. Jones lost not a moment
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: in pursuit, and I left with Jones badly frightened. Bay
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: got going in time to see the race, but not
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: to assist. For several hundred yards. Kitty made his hounds
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: appear slow. Dawn, being swiftest, gained on her steadily toward
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: the close of the dash, and presently was running under
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: her upraised tail. On the next jump he nipped her,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: She turned and sent him reeling. Saunder came flying up
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: to bitek and at the same moment fierce old Mose
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: closed in on her. The next instant, a struggling mass
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: whirled on the ground. Jones and Frank, yelling like demons,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: almost rode over it. The Cooker broke from her assailants, and,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: dashing away, lipped on the first tree. It was a
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: half dead pine with short snags low down and a
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: big branch extending out over a vine. I thinkling older now,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: said Jones. The tree proved to be a most difficult
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: one to climb. Jones made several ineffectual attempts before he
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: reached the first limb, which broke, giving him a hard fall.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: This calmed me enough to make me take notice of
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Jones's condition. He was wet with sweat and covered with
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: a black pitch from the pines. His shirt was slit
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: down the arm, and there was blood on his temple
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: and his hand. The next attempt began by placing a
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: good sized log against a tree, and proved to be
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: the necessary help. Jones got hold of the second limb
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: and pulled himself up. As he kept on, Kitty crouched
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: low as if to spring upon him again. Frank and
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: I sent warning calls to him, but he paid no
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: attention to us or to the cougar, and continued to climb.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: This worried Kitty as much as it did us. She
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: began to move on the snags, stepping from one to
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: another every moment, snarling at Jones, and then she crawled
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: up the big branch evidently took her eye. She tried
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: several times to climb up to it, but small snags
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: close together made her distrustful. She walked uneasily out upon
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: two limbs, and as they bent with her weight, she
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: hurried back twice. She did this, each time looking up,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: showing her desire to leap to the big branch. Her
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: distress became plainly evident. A child could have seen that
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: she feared she would fall at length. In desperation, she
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: spat at Jones, then ran out and leaped. She all
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: but missed the branch, but succeeded in holding two and
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: swinging to safety. Then she turned to her tormentor and
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: gave utterance to most savage sounds. As she did not
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: intimidate her pursuer. She retreated out on the branch, which
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: sloped down at a deep angle, and crouched on a
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: network of small limbs. When Jones had worked up a
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: little further, he commanded a splendid position for his operations.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Kitty was somewhat below him, in a desirable place, yet
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: the branch she was on joined the tree considerably above
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: his head. Jones cast his lasso, it caught on a snag.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Throw after throw he made with like result, he recoiled
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: and recast nineteen times to my count. When Frank made
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: a suggestion, rope those dead snags and break them off.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: This practical eye did Jones soon carried out, which left
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: him a clear path. The next fling of the lariat
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: caused the cougar angrily to shake her head again. Jones
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: sent the noose flying. She pulled it off her back
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: and bit it savagely. Though very much excited, I tried
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: hard to keep sharp keen faculties alert so as not
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: to miss a single detail of the thrilling scene. But
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: I must have failed, for all of a sudden I
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: saw how Jones was standing in the tree, something I
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: had not before appreciated. He had one hand hold which
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: he could not use while recoiling the lasso, and his
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: feet rested upon a precariously frail, appearing dead snag. He
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: made eleven casts of the lasso, all of which bothered
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Kitty but did not catch her. The twelfth caught her
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: front paw. Jones jerked so quickly and hard that he
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: almost lost his balance, and he pulled the noose off patiently.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: He recoiled the LASO that's what I want if I
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: can get her front paw, she's ours. My idea is
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: to pull her off the limb, let her hang there,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: and then lassu her hang legs. Another cast, the unlikely thirteenth,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: settled the loop perfectly round her neck. She chute on
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the rope with her front teeth and appeared to have
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: difficulty in holding it. Easy. Easy, oo's that rope, easy,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: yelled the cowboy. Cautiously, Jones took up the slack and
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: slowly tightened the noose, then with a quick jerk, fastened
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: it close around her neck. We heralded this achievement with
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: yells of triumph that made the forest ring. Triumph was
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: short lived. Jones had hardly moved when the cougar shot
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: straight out into the air. The lasso caught on a branch,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: hauling her up short and there she hung in midair, writhing, struggling,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: and giving utterance to sounds terribly human. For several seconds
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: she swung slowly descending, in which frenzied time I, with
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: ruling passion uppermost endeavored to snap a picture of her.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: The unintelligible commands Jones was yelling to Frank and me
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: ceased suddenly with a sharp crack. Of breaking wood. Then crash,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Jones fell out of the tree. The lassu streaked up,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: ran over the limb, while the cougar dropped hellmell into
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: the bunch of waiting howling dogs. The next few moments
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: it was impossible for me to distinguish what actually transpired.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: A great flutter of leaves whirled round, a swiftly changing
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: ball of brown and black and yellow, from which came
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: a fiendish clamor. Then I saw Jones plunge down the
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: ravine and bounce here and there in mad efforts to
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: catch the whipping laso. He was roaring in a way
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: that made all his former yells merely whispers. Starting to run,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I tripped on a route, fell prone on my face
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: into the ravine, and rolled over and over until I
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: brought up with a bump against a rock. What a
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: tableau riveted my gaze. It staggered me, so I did
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: not think of my camera. I stood transfixed, not fifteen
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: feet from the cougar. She sat on her haunches, with
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: body well drawn back by the taut lassu, to which
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Jones held tightly. Dawn was standing up with her upheld
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: by the hook claws in her head the cougar had
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: her paws outstretched, her mouth open wide, showing long, cruel
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: white fangs. She was trying to pull the head of
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: the dog to her. Don held back with all his power,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: and so did Jones. Mose and Saunder were tussling round
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: her body. Suddenly both ears of the dog pulled out,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: slit into ribbons. Don had never uttered a sound, and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: once free, he made at her again with open jaws.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: One blow sent him reeling and stunned. Then began again
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: that rustling whirl. Beat off the dogs, Beat off the dogs,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: roared Jones. She'll kill them, She'll kill them. Frank and
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I seized clubs and ran in upon the confused furry mass,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: forgetful of peril to ourselves. In the wild conjugation of
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: such a savage moment, the minds of men reverted wholly
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: to primitive instincts. We swung our clubs and yelled. We
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: fought all over the bottom of the ravine, crashing through
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: the brushes, over logs and stones. I actually felt the
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: soft fur of the cougar at one fleeting instant. The
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: dogs had the strength born of insane fighting spirit. At
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: last we pulled them to where Don lay half stunned,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: and with an arm tight round each I held them
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: while Frank turned to help Jones. The disheveled Jones, bloody,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: grim as death, his heavy jaw locked, stood holding to
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: the lazo. The cougar, her side shaking with short quick pants,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: crouched low on the ground with eyes of purple fire.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: For God's sake, get a half hitch on that sapling,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: cried the cowboy. His quick grasp of the situation averted
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: the tragedy. Jones was nearly exhausted. Even as he was
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: beyond thinking for himself or giving up, the cougar sprang
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: a yellow, frightful flash even as she was in the air.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Jones took a quick step to one side and dodged
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: as he threw his lass around to the sapling. She
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: missed him, but one alarmingly outstretched praw gazed his shoulder.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: A twist of Jones's big hand fastened the lasso, and
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Kitty was a prisoner. While she fought, roll twisted, bounded,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: world wreathed and with hissings, snarling fury, Jones sat mopping
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: the sweat and blood from his face. Kitty's efforts were futile.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: She began to weaken from the choking. Jones took another
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: rope and tightening a noose round her back paws, which
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: he lassued. As she rolled over, he stretched her out,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: She began to contract her supple body gave a savage,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: convulsive spring which pulled Jones flat on the ground. Then
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: the terrible wrestling started again. The lasso slipped over her
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: back paws, she leaped the whole length of the other lasso.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: Jones caught it and fastened it more securely, but this
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: precaution proved unnecessary, for she suddenly sank down, either exhausted
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: or choked, and gasped with her tongue hanging out. Frank
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: slipped the second noose over her back paws, and Jones
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: did likewise with the third lasso over her right front paws.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: These lassos Jones tied to different saplings. Nah, you're a
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: good kitty, said Jones. Kneeling by her, he took a
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: pair of clippers from his hip pocket, and grasping up
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: in his powerful fist, he calmly clipped the points of
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: the dangerous claws. This done, he called to me to
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: get the collar and chain that were tied to his saddle.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: I procured them and hurried back. Then the old buffalo
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: hunter loosened a lasso which was round her neck, and
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: as soon as she could move her head, he teased
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: her to bite a club. She broke two good sticks
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: with her sharp teeth, but the third, being solid, did
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: not break. While she was chewing it, Jornes forced her
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: head back and placed his heavy knee on the club.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: In a twinkling, he had strapped the collar round her neck.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: The chain made fast to the sapling. After removing the
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: club from her mouth, he placed his knee on her neck,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: and while her head was in this helpless position, he
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: dexteriously slipped a loop of thick copper wire over her nose,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: pushed it back, and twisted it tight. Following this, all
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: done with speed and precision, he took from his pocket
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: a piece of steel rod, perhaps one quarter of an
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: inch thick and five inches long. He pushed this between
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Kitty's jaws, just back of her great white fangs and
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: in front of the copper wire. She had been shorn
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: of her sharp weapons. She was muzzled, bound, helpless, and
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: object pity. Lastly, Jones removed the three lasses. Kitty slowly
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: gathered her lissome body in a ball and lay panting
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: with the same brave wildfire in her eyes. Jones stroked
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: her black tipped ears and ran his hand down her
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: glossy fur. All the time he had kept up a
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: low monotone, talking to her in the strange language he
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: used toward animals. Then he rose to his feet. We'll
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: go back to camp now and get a pack, saddle
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: and horse, he said. She'll be safe here. We'll rope
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: her again, tire her up, throw her over pack saddle,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: and take her to camp. To my utter bewilderment, the
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: hounds suddenly commenced fighting among themselves. Of all the vicious,
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: bloody dog fights I ever saw, that was the worst.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I began to belabor them with a club, and Frank
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: sprang to my assistance. Beating had no apparent effect. We
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: broke a dozen sticks, and then Frank grappled with Mose
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: and I was sounder. Don kept on fighting either one
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: till Jones secured him. Then we all took a rest,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: panting and weary. What's in mean? I jaculated, appealing to Jones. Jealous,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: that's all, jealous over the lion. We all remained seated,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: men and hounds of sweaty, dirty, bloody, ragged group. I
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: discovered I was sorry for Kitty. I forgot all the
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: carcasses of deer and horses, the brutality of this species
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: of cat, and even forgot the grim, snarling yellow devil
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that had leaped at me. Kitty was beautiful and helpless,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: how brave she was to No sign of fears shone
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: in her wonderful eyes, only hate, defiance, watchfulness. On the
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: ride back to camp, Jones expressed himself, thus, oh happy
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: I am that I can keep this lion and the
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: others we are going to capture from my own. When
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: I was in the Yellowstone Park, I did not get
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: to keep one of the aim many I captured. The
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: military officials took them from me. When we reached camp,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Lawson was absent, but fortunately Old Baldy browsed near at
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: hand and was easily caught. Frank said he would rather
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: take Old Baldy for the cougar than any other horse
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: we had. Leaving me in camp, he and Jones rode
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: off to fetch Kitty. About five o'clock, they came trotting
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: up through the forest with Jim, who had fallen in
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: with them on the way. Old Baldy had remained true
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: to his fame. Nothing, not even a cougar, bothered him. Kitty,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: evidently no worse for her experience, was chained to a
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: pine tree about fifty feet from the camp fire. Wallace
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: came riding wearily in, and when he saw the captive
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: he greeted us with an exultant yell. He got there
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: just in time to see the first special features of
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Kitty's captivity. The hounds surrounded her and could not be
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: called off. We had to beat them, whereupon the six
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: jealous canines fell to fighting among themselves, and fought so
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: savagely as to be deaf to our cries and insensible
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: to blows. They had been torn apart and chained. About
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: six o'clock, Lawson loped in with the horses. Of course,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: he did not know we had a cougar, and no
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: one seemed interested enough to inform him. Perhaps only Frank
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: and I thought of it. But I saw Mary snap
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: in Frank's eyes and kept silence. Kidney had hidden behind
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: the pine tree, lost and astride Jim's packards. A crotchety
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: animal reined in just the breast of the tree and
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: leisurely threw his leg over the saddle. Kitty leaped out
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: to the extent of her chain and fairly exploded in
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: a frightful cat'spit. Lawson had stated some time before that
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: he was afraid of cougar's which was a weakness he
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: need not have divulged in view of what happened. The
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: horse plunged, drawing him ten feet and snorting in terror,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: stampeded with the rest of the bunch, and disappeared among
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: the pines. Why the hell didn't you tell? A feller
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: reproachfully growled the Arizona. Frank and Jim held each other upright,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: and the rest of us gave way to his hearty,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: if not as violent mirth. We had a gay supper,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: during which Kitty sat by her pine and watched our
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: every movement. We'll rest up for a day or two,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: said Jones. Things have commenced to come our way. If
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, we'll bring an old Tom alive into camp.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: But it would never do for us to get a
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: big tom in the fix we had Kitty today. You see,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: I wanted lass who a front paw pullrotholimb time I
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: into the lasso to a tree, and while she hung,
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: I'd go down and rolle her hind paws. It all
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: went wrong today and was a tough job as I
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: ever handled. Not until late next morning did lars and
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: corral all the horses. That next day we lounged in camp,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: mending broken saddle, bridles, stirrups, lassoes, boots, trousers, leggings, shirts,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: and even broken chins. During this time I found Kitty
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: a most interesting study. She reminded me of an enormous
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: yellow kitten. She did not appear wild or untamed until approached.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Then she slowly sank down, laid back her ears, opened
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: her mouth, and hissed and spat at the same time,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: throwing both paws out viciously. Kitty may have rested, but
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: did not sleep. At times she fought her chain, tuggling
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: and straining at it and trying to bite it through
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: everything in reach she clawed, particularly the bark of the tree.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Once she tried to hang herself by leaping over a
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: low limb. When any one walked by her, she crouched low,
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: evidently imagining herself unseen. If one was walked towards her
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: or looked at her, she did not crouch. At other times, noticeably,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: when no one was near, she would roll on her
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: back and extend all four paws in the air. Her
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: actions were beautiful, soft, noiseless, quick and subtle. The day
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: passed as all days, passing camp swiftly and pleasantly, and
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: twilight stole down upon us round the ruddy fire. The
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: wind roared in the pines and lulled to repose the
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Loathsome friendly coyote barked. The bells on the hobble horses
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: jingled sweetly. The great watch stars blinked out of the blue.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: The red glow of the burning logs lighted up Jones's calm,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: cold face, traquill, unarmable and peaceful, it seemed. Yet beneath
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: the peace, I thought I saw a suggestion of wild restraint,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: of mystery of unslaked life. Strangely enough, his next word
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: confirmed my last thought. For forty years, I've had an
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: ambition to get possession of an island in the Pacific,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: somewhere between Vancouver and Alaska, and go to Siberi and
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: capture a lot of Russian sables. I'd put them on
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: the island and cross them with our silver foxes. I'm
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: going to try it next year, if I can find
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: the time. The ruling passion and character determined our lives.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Jones was sixty three years old, yet the thing that
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: had ruled and absorbed his mind was still as strong
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: as a longing for freedom in Kitty's wild heart. Hours
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: after I had crawled into my sleeping bag, in the
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: silence of night, I heard her working to get free.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: In darkness, she was most active, restless, intense. I heard
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: the clink of her chain, the crack of her teeth,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: the scrape of her claws. How tireless she was. I
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: recalled the wistful light in her eyes that saw no
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: doubt far beyond the campfire, to the yellow crags, to
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: the great downland slopes, to freedom. I slipped my elbow
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: out of the bag and raised myself. Dark shadows were
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: hovering under the pines. I saw Kitty's eyes gleam like sparks,
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: and I seemed to see in the hate, the fear
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: of the terror he had, of the clanging that bound her.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: I shivered, perhaps from the cold night wind which bowned
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: through the pines. I saw the stars glittering, pale and
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: far off, and under their wan light, the still set
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: face of Jones and blanketed forms of my other companions.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: The last thing I remembered before dropping into dreamless slumber
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: was hearing a bell tinkle in the forest, which I
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: recognized as one I had placed on Satan end of
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen.