or had come to his
nostrils. It did not come from the tree. Nor was it pleasant.
Instead, it told him of something hostile and powerful. He was
big and strong himself, but this that came was bigger and
stronger. The growl that had risen in his throat stopped at his
teeth. A chill ran down his backbone and the hair upon it stood
up. The great wolf was afraid, and he knew he was afraid.

"Look!" whispered Albert in rising excitement. "The wolf, too,
is stealing away! He is scared by something!"

"And good cause he has to be scared," said Dick. "See what's
coming!"

A great tawny beast stood for a moment at the edge of the
clearing. He was crouched low against the ground, but his body
was long and powerful, with massive shoulders and fore arms. His
eyes were yellow in the moonlight, and they stared straight at
the Annex. The big wolf took one hasty frightened look and then
fled silently in the other direction. He knew now that the
treasures of the Annex were not for him.

"It's a cougar," whispered Dick, "and it must be the king of them
all. Did you ever see such a whopper?"

The cougar came farther into the clearing. He was of great size,
but he was a cat--a huge cat, but a cat, nevertheless--and like
a cat he acted. He dragged his body along the earth, and his
eyes, now yellow, now green, in the moonlight, were swung
suspiciously from side to side. He felt all that the wolf had
felt, but he was even more cunning and his approach was slower.
It was his habit to spring when close enough, but he saw nothing
to spring at except a tree trunk, and so he still crept forward
on noiseless pads.

"Now, what will Mr. Cougar do?" asked Albert.

"Just what the others have done," replied Dick. "He will scratch
and bite harder because he is bigger and stronger, but we've
fixed our Annex for just such attacks. It will keep him out."

Dick was right. The cougar or mountain lion behaved exactly as
the others had done. He tore at the door, then he circled the
tree two or three times, hunting in vain for an opening. Every
vein in him was swollen with rage, and the yellowish-green eyes
flared with anger.

"He'd be an ugly creature to meet just now," whispered Dick.
"He's so mad that I believe he'd attack an elephant."

"He's certainly in no good humor," replied Dick. "But look, Al!
See his tail drop between his legs! Now what under the moon is
about to happen?"

Albert, surcharged with interest and ex