“No; have you?”
“Nope. First time I’ve been without it in a long while,” and the old miner looked at the place where his big revolver always hung in its leather holster.
“Same here,” added Nestor. “We were foolish to come away without them, but it was so hot to pack ’em over the desert, and I didn’t think anything would happen.”
“Me neither,” agreed Tod. “That critter must have been passing, and smelled the meat tins. It concluded it liked the airship, and it’s making itself to home,” for the beast was leaping about from deck to deck, passing through the cabin and engine room as if it belonged there.
“Can’t we do anything to get rid of him?” asked Jerry. “He may keep us out here all night.”
“Have any of you boys got a gun?” asked Nestor.
None of them had, though they each had a rifle and revolver in the airship.
“Maybe we can scare him away,” suggested Bob, who was getting anxious on account of the food he had left in the kitchen.
“Mountain lions don’t scare very well,” commented Tod. “At least, that’s been my experience with them.”
“Maybe the professor has a weapon,” suggested Jim, after a pause, during which they had drawn a little closer to the airship. The lion seemed to resent their approach, for it kept bounding back and forth on the side of the craft nearest the adventurers, snarling and lashing its lean, tawny sides with its tail.