This was answered from within the cave by a chorus of mewings and squeals from the cubs. The sound of her young appeared to drive the lioness to fury. She leaped full at the nearest Indian, and landed on the haunches of his terrified pony.
One of the others snatched a rifle from his saddle and fired at the animal, but before he could aim properly the male cougar had attacked him, and the bullet went wild. Evidently the lions thought the Indians were responsible for keeping them from their cubs.
The rifle was an old, single-barrelled one, and having fired the one shot the Indian had no chance to reload. But as the bullet sang by her, the lioness had relaxed her hold on the terrified pony’s haunches and slipped to the ground to face this new antagonist. Ralph gazed on with fascinated horror. The scene was unreal, fantastic almost. The three Indians, an instant before bent on thievery, were now fighting for their lives against two creatures urged to fury by the most powerful motive known to the animal kingdom—the love of their young.
“Cheysoyo tamya!” cried the one with the eagle feather, and, urging their ponies to mad flight, the Indians made off at top speed. The lions made two or three bounds after them, but then stopped to listen to the appealing cries of the cubs inside the cave.
They were a badly embarrassed pair of felines. Evidently the manner in which the cave had been sealed up during their absence was a mystery to them. They walked about in front of it sniffing, growling and lashing their tails like gigantic cats in a rage. Dangerous as his position was, Ralph could not but admire the restless grace of the tawny creatures with their smooth, yellowish coats and great green savage eyes.
Suddenly, and without any particular reason that Ralph could see, although they had undoubtedly smelled him, the two cougars came bounding toward the alder thicket into which he had crouched back when first they appeared. Ralph’s heart almost stopped beating as they came. He looked toward the cave despairingly.
As he gazed he saw Jim’s rugged face appear in the crack above the rock. The mountaineer took in the scene instantly, and, although he could not see Ralph, he called to him.
“Come on the rock, boy! I’ll hold them back.”
Ralph saw the muzzle of Jim’s rifle gleam in the afternoon sun as he thrust it through the crack and sighted with his keen eyes along the barrel.
Instantly his mind was made up as to what he would do. As the lions dived into the alders not far from him he dashed out and made for the rock. In the meantime the tethered ponies were plunging and rearing as if they would break their ropes. But the lions paid no attention to them. Apparently they were only seeking those who had invaded their den.