"A wildcat! Great Cæsar! We don't want to run into any such beast as that, Dave."
"Did you see a wildcat? Where is it?" demanded Roger, quickly, as he, too, reached Dave's side.
"It went off in that direction," answered Dave, pointing with the barrel of his rifle. "See! There it is!"
As Dave uttered the last words, Roger and Phil saw a small, tawny-colored body creep out of some distant bushes and make a leap onto a flat rock. The beast was indeed a wildcat, and as it came from cover it swung around for a brief instant to gaze savagely at the boys. Then it crouched low, preparatory to making a leap to another rock higher up.
Crack! It was Dave's rifle that rang out. And following the report the wildcat was seen to leap into the air and then fall back on the rock, where it whirled over and over several times.
"You hit it, Dave!" yelled Phil and Roger, simultaneously.
"What did you shoot at?" called out Ben, as he came plunging forward, followed by Luke and Shadow.
"A wildcat! See, there it is on the rocks!" cried Roger.
"A wildcat! I didn't know there were any left around here," returned Ben, and then he added, quickly: "There it goes! You didn't kill it after all, Dave."
As Ben spoke, the wildcat gave another whirl on the rock, and then slipped off through the bushes out of sight of the boys.