“You can test that easy enough,” he was informed; “just take a step or two forward, and see what happens; but don’t be too rash, Steve. 69 You’ll need all your good looks when you get back to Chester again. I’d hate to see the map of Ireland across your face in red scratches. Besides, there’s always danger of blood poisoning setting in when a wild animal has scratched you, especially one that is carnivorous by nature. Go slow now.”
The experiment met with an immediate success, for there broke forth a fresh series of explosive snarls even more ferocious than any that had gone before. Steve drew up in a hurry, evidently under the impression that he was in danger of being made the object of an attack.
“Yes, she’s there still, Jack!” he exclaimed, just as though there could be any doubt of such a thing.
“I saw her move, in the bargain,” his companion went on to say. “She has kept on a line with us all the while, and still bars the way.”
“This is simply disgusting,” fretted Steve.
“It’s something that can’t very well be helped,” Jack told him: “and so what’s the use of feeling bad about it. There are other days coming, when we may be able to pass along here without being balked by a mother cat with kittens. You know the old saying, ‘what can’t be cured must be endured,’ so we’ll have to make the best of it.”
“Does that mean we’re at the end of our rope for today, Jack?”
“Seems that way, Steve; the cat rules the roost this time, apparently.”