Running Fox discharged his arrow. They heard it strike, and then a terrifying scream rang through the night. A moment later a long dark form crouched before them. They heard the tail swishing rapidly among the ferns, and read a warning in the flashing eyes.
“Do something!” cried Running Fox, as he prepared another arrow.
Spotted Deer had hesitated an instant too long, and as he released his bow-string the panther sprang. It missed him by less than a bow-length, and disappeared into the night. They heard it coughing and snarling, and thrashing about in the ferns. Then it suddenly became quiet.
“It is dead,” said Spotted Deer.
“Perhaps,” replied Running Fox. “Quenischquney is very cute, we must be careful.”
They watched anxiously, but the eyes failed to appear. Then, as the silence continued, Running Fox began to grow uneasy. He feared that the panther might have sneaked away, and the possibility made him reckless.
“I do not like this,” he told Spotted Deer. “Perhaps, as you say, Quenischquney is dead. But perhaps he has sneaked away. That would be very bad. I must follow him and kill him. Yes, I must take his claws, and wear them as the mysterious Medicine Creatures told me to do. If I do not obey them something bad may happen to us. Now I am going over there to find out if Quenischquney is dead.”
“That is a very dangerous thing to do,” protested Spotted Deer.
“Well, I cannot help it,” replied Running Fox. “I must not let Quenischquney get away.”
“I will go with you,” proposed Spotted Deer.