There was a scratching and rattling of claws and an ugly-looking brute poked up a round, catlike head and stared at him with eyes that shone very unpleasantly in the moonlight.
Jack Diamond was not a person to scare easily, even though he was unarmed.
Another head appeared close by the first; then the two big cats crawled out on the ground, and sat erect like dogs, looking hard at him.
They were right in the path he desired to take.
“If I had a gun, I’d have the hide of one of you for your impudence!” he thought, returning their look with interest. “It would make a pretty rug, too.”
As he studied them, the knowledge came to him that they were the ferocious lynx called by the French Canadians loo-sevee—loup-cervier. There was a silky fringe on the tips of their ears, and they had heavy coats, sharp claws and cruel teeth.
Having decided that they were loup-cerviers, and believing that he had tumbled into their den, where were possibly some young, the Virginian, courageous as he was, lost much of his desire to fight.
He began to retreat, thinking to make a circuit and pass them.
“We’ll have fun with you in the morning!” he muttered. “There’s never any close season against loup-cerviers.”