if, in alarm. "A wounded wildcat is no beast to
play with."

Scarcely had he uttered the words when the wildcat gave another snarl of
rage. Then the tail of the beast began to quiver, and suddenly, with a
cry, it leaped down from the tree, striking the ground directly in front
of the surprised boys.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MEETING ON THE ROAD

That the wildcat was in a savage mood and prepared to fight to a finish,
there could be no doubt. Evidently the wounded paw had made the beast
more savage than usual, and hardly had it struck the ground than it
tried to make a leap forward at Jack.

"Look out, Jack!"

"He means to claw you to death!"

Bang! went Spouter's gun, but he did not dare to take too close an aim
for fear of hitting Jack, and as a consequence the charge of shot merely
damaged the wildcat's tail.

It must not be thought that the oldest Rover was slow in moving. Had
this been true, the wildcat would undoubtedly have fastened its claws
and its teeth into the youth and done serious damage. As the animal came
forward, the young captain leaped to one side and the wildcat landed in
the snow, facing the others who had come up.

"Shoot him! Shoot him!" came from Fred excitedly.

"Plug him quick!" added Andy.

None of those who had followed Jack and Spouter were armed, so the fight
rested entirely upon the shoulders of that pair. Circling around so as
to avoid the others, Jack pulled the trigger and fired. The wildcat
began flipping and flopping on the snow, badly wounded. Then Spouter
discharged his firearm once more, and after this the creature lay quiet
where it dropped.

"Is--is he dead?" questioned Fred, who was the first to speak. The
youngest Rover was very much excited, and with good cause.

"Wait! Don't go forward!" ordered Jack, as he stepped back a few paces.
"He may be playing possum. Anyway, we had better load our guns first,"
he added to Spouter.

This advice to load immediately after discharging a weapon was one which
had been well drilled into the cadets, and so now the pair lost no time
in putting new charges into their weapons. Then they approached with
caution, and Jack turned the wildcat over with the barrel of the gun,
keeping his hand meanwhile on the trigger ready for action.

But the beast was quite dead, the charges from the two guns having gone
completely through its body.

"What are you going to do with the carcass?" questioned Randy, after all
had made an inspecti