needed help.

CHAPTER XXV

GUARD'S PRISONER

At the sound of Guard's voice, regardless of caution, and waiting only
to raise the hammer of the rifle that I held ready in my hand, I ran
forward. Guard evidently had his eyes on me, although I could not see
him; his yelps ceased for an instant to break forth with redoubled
energy as I came within sight of him. He was standing over a heap of
rubbish, into which he was glaring with vindictive watchfulness, but
with one alert ear bent in my direction and the tip of his bushy tail
quivered in joyful recognition as I advanced toward him. Before
reaching him, however, I had found my bearings, as the hunters say,
and knew the locality. Still, the place had an unfamiliar air. It was
a minute or two before I saw the cause of this; then I missed the one
thing that particularly designated the spot, setting it apart to that
extent from many similar places. I had not seen the lonely, secluded
little park more than two or three times in all the years that we had
lived so near it, but whenever I had seen it, hitherto, a hunter's
shack, long abandoned, had stood on the farther edge of the opening.
It had always seemed on the verge of falling, and, as I neared Guard,
I saw that this was the thing that had happened: the cabin had
collapsed, and, more than that, Guard had run something to earth under
it.

The dog's excited yelping, now that relief was at hand, was
ear-splitting, but his vigilant watch did not for an instant relax.

"What is it, Guard--have you got a wildcat in there?" I panted,
breathlessly, halting beside him. "Well; you just wait, now; we're
going to get him this time!" So speaking, I cautiously trained the
muzzle of the rifle on the spot that his vigilant eyes never left off
watching. Then I cast a hasty glance around. If half the wildcat
stories that I had been hearing of late were true, it would be well
to have some place of retreat to fall back upon, in case the cat,
proving obdurate, should decline to die easily. Fortunately, as I
thought, there was a large pine tree close at hand; it was, indeed,
immensely large. I could no more have swarmed up that scaly trunk, had
I flown to it for protection, than I could have spread out a pair of
wings and flown to its topmost branches. In my excitement, I never
thought of that, nor of the equally unpleasant fact that wildcats are
expert climbers. Sure that the refuge at hand would suit, I dropped on
one knee, trai