lue, the boys hurried on through the woods and up the side of the
mountain. Shep cautioned the others to move as silently as possible,
so hardly a word was said.

It was almost noon when they came to a flat spot, where there was
something of a clearing. Here there was a spring and a pool, and a
fallen tree lay across both.

"Wait!" whispered the doctor's son. "I think I see something!"

The others halted, and Shep advanced with increased caution, bringing
his camera to the front as he did so.

The next instant he saw a sight that filled him with interest and
pleasure. On the fallen tree spanning the pool rested two wildcats,
mates, facing each other. Both had their eyes closed and were
evidently asleep.

He motioned for the others to come up, and in a few seconds all
were ready to take pictures. The background was perfect, and
they felt this would be one of the finest subjects yet obtained.

Hardly daring to breathe, one after another of the boys clicked
the shutter of his camera and the negatives were taken. Then
they swung their cameras back and brought forward their shotguns.

As they did this one of the wildcats suddenly opened its eyes
and looked around. On the instant it let out a cry of rage and
its back commenced to bristle. Then the other wildcat leaped
from the tree to the ground and crouched as if for a spring.

"Fire!" came the command from the doctor's son, but this was not
necessary, for both Snap and Whopper blazed away as quickly as
they could. The wildcat on the tree was hit and fell over into
the pool with a loud splash. The other wildcat made a leap for
Snap and hit him in the shoulder.

"Shoot him! shoot him!" yelled Snap in terror, and did what he
could to keep the beast from reaching his breast and throat.

"Can't shoot---might hit you!" answered the doctor's son, but
then he came up on the side and blazed away at close quarters,
hitting the wildcat in the left hind leg. This caused the animal
to drop to the ground, where it twisted and turned so quickly
that the eyes of the young hunters could scarcely follow it.

The other wildcat had by this time climbed out of the pool. It
gave itself a vigorous shake and turned as if to limp away. But
then it espied its mate and stopped, as if calculating on what
to do next.

"Shoot 'em!" sang out Whopper, and discharged his gun a second
time. He hit the second wildcat in the back, but the wounds were
not serious and the beast st