Twenty feet down, Puma saw a small stunted tree
But it was of no avail. He still lacked sufficient force to carry him to the other side. He stretched one fore-paw far out, hoping to grasp the edge, and it did touch the rock, but it only scratched and scraped it.
When he found himself falling downward, he thrust out the other fore-leg and clawed at the steep side of the cliff. But there was nothing for him to hold to. The rocks were so hard that his claws could get no purchase.
Down he went another yard. The edge of the cliff was over his head, and fifty feet below was the hard bottom of the ravine. A fall there would surely dash out his brains and break every bone in his body.
Twenty feet down, doubling, whirling and screaming, Puma saw a small stunted tree growing from a cleft in the side. He made one mighty lunge for this, and caught it. He landed with a thud against it, and clung to its branches for dear life. He was so shaken by the fall that for a moment he could do nothing but blink and gasp. The tree had scratched him in a dozen places, and the hard rocks bruised and hurt his body. One paw was bleeding, and the other was so sore that he held it up in the air.
Over his head, some twenty feet, was the top of the cliff, with its sides so steep that no Puma could hope to crawl up them. Below was the bottom which seemed equally difficult to reach. Opposite, looking down at him, were Timber and his family.
“What a lucky fall for you, Puma,” jeered Timber. “And what a poor jump! White Tail and Young Black Buck cleared it easily, and you couldn’t cross it! Now, braggart, what are you going to do to get out? You can hang there and rot before I’ll help you! Ho! Ho! You call my tribe cowards! Then I call you and yours dirty braggarts! You couldn’t—”
A rumbling growl at Timber’s left caused him to turn suddenly. Puma’s mate was facing him, with her eyes spitting fire, and her great right claw raised to strike.
“Son of a coward,” she thundered, “how dare you speak that way to one of my family! Puma may be caught down there, but you have me to reckon with!”
Timber immediately saw his mistake. He had forgotten Mrs. Puma, who was almost as ferocious as Puma. She was smaller, but fully as quick and lithe. Timber’s manners immediately changed, and he became as meek and fawning as he was before threatening and defiant.