ing that we brought
snowshoes, and plenty of extra blankets along."

"I hope we don't see anything more of that catamount," replied Brick. "I
suppose there are plenty of them in the woods, though."

"A good many," assented Hamp. "But they don't often trouble hunters.
This fellow was extra savage. He must have been hungry."

"They've been known to follow men for days and weeks in bitter
weather," said Jerry.

The conversation shifted to another topic, and the boys trudged on for
half an hour. Then Brick suddenly gave a sharp cry, and pointed to a
spot on the shore, some fifty yards distant.

"I saw the catamount over there," he declared. "It was a big,
yellowish-gray animal, and it slipped past that rock into the bushes."

"Sure?" asked Hamp, anxiously.

"Dead sure."

The boys looked and listened. They were about moving on, when a long,
thick-set animal stole out of the forest, and crouched by the edge of
the ice. It wailed in a mournful tone, and crept a little nearer. It was
as large a catamount as the two Maine lads had ever seen.

"There's a chance," exclaimed Jerry. "Come on. We'll try to get within
easy shooting distance of the brute. Three of us can't well miss."

The boys abandoned the sled, and advanced toward shore, with loaded
rifles. But before they had taken a dozen steps the catamount turned
tail, and vanished in the timber.

"No use," muttered Hamp. "That's a crafty fellow, and he's not going to
give us any advantage. He'll stick to us like a leech, though, and some
time, when we are off our guard----"

A significant pause ended the sentence.

"What are we going to do about it?" asked Brick. "This knocks all the
fun in the head. We won't dare go to sleep at nights."

"We've got to get rid of the brute," replied Jerry, "and I think I know
how to do it. What do you say to cutting straight across the lake, and
making our camp on the other side? I don't believe the catamount will
follow us over miles of open snow and ice."

This suggestion was warmly approved. They headed due west toward the
faintly visible forest on the further shore of the lake, a distance of
ten or twelve miles.

To keep off the intense cold they ran along on a dog trot. The sleds
trailed easily behind them over the patches of crisp snow and glassy
ice.

Two hours later the western shore of Moosehead Lake loomed clearly
before the young voyagers. They were not half a mile away. They could
look right into the dense fore