The Boy Hunters

by Mayne Reid

It appeared not, however; for, after a few circlings around the patch, he was seen to dash boldly in.

For some time nothing could be seen of either lynx or ’possum. The patch covered only a few yards of the prairie, but it was a regular “brake,” with vines, briars, and thistles, thickly interwoven and canopied with leaves. Neither uttered any noise; but the motion of the leaves, and of the brambles at different points, told that a hot pursuit was going on underneath—the pursued no doubt baffling the pursuer, by her body being much smaller and better adapted for squeezing through narrow places.

For some minutes this curious chase was kept up. Then the ’possum glided out into the open ground, to the astonishment of all still carrying the hare in her mouth. She made directly for the tree, and proceeded to climb it, grasping the trunk with her fore-arms, like a human being. Her taking to the tree also excited surprise, as it was a small one—not over thirty feet high—and the young hunters knew that the lynx could climb as well as she.

The latter now came out of the bramble; and with one bound sprang to the foot of the pecan. He did not follow up immediately, but stopped a moment to breathe himself, evidently exulting—as he knew he could easily climb after, and feeling satisfied that he now had his game safe and secure.

“Treed at last, old mother ’possum!” soliloquised he, although not aloud. “I’ll get you now, an’ if I don’t give you a good woppin’ for the trouble you’ve put me to—see if I don’t! I wouldn’t eat ye, nohow—you ain’t sweet enough for that—but I’ll eat that hare, an’ I’ll chastise you for using it so!”

And with this determination he galloped up the pecan, his claws rattling against the bark.

By this time the opossum had got near the top of the tree, and out upon one of the branches that grew horizontally. Along this the lynx followed; and had arrived almost within reach of the object of his pursuit, when the opossum, suddenly lapping the branch with her tail, let herself down to the limb below! The lynx appeared for a moment as if about to spring after; but the limb was a slender one, and he was not sure that he might be able to grasp it. He, therefore, turned back, evidently chagrined; and, descending by the main trunk, ran out upon the branch now occupied by the opossum. The latter, as before, again let herself down to another limb; and then, without waiting for her pursuer, to another still lower, until she hung on the very lowermost branch of the tree!

The boys thought she was about to drop to the ground, and endeavour to escape to the woods. That, however, was not her intention, for she knew the lynx would soon overtake her if she made the attempt. She had got into the safest situation possible, under the circumstances, and she seemed to know it. She therefore continued to hang on the lowest limb of the pecan—so near its extremity, that the branch bent under her weight. It would not have carried another ’possum—much less the heavier body of a lynx; and the latter, with the “eye of a lynx,” saw that at a glance.

Mortified as he was, however, he was determined to satisfy himself by a trial. He first crawled out upon the limb, proceeding with great caution as far as he dared venture; and then with outstretched claw endeavoured to reach the rings of her tail, thinking he might scratch them off. In this he was not successful. He could barely touch the tail with his toes; and he might just as well have tried to open the claws of an eagle. He next mounted the brands above, thinking this would bring him nearer; but he soon discovered his mistake. Again he ran out upon the limb where the opossum hung, and looked for a moment as if determined to spring down upon her, and carry her along with him to the earth; but the distance deterred him, and after a while he skulked back and squatted himself in a fork of the tree.

He did not rest long before a new thought, seemed to strike him. The ’possum was not so very high above the ground; perhaps he could spring up and seize her by the nose? It was at all events easy to make the trial. And with this intention he descended to the foot of the tree, and ran out to the spot over which she was hanging. But she was higher than he had calculated; and, like the fox with the grapes, after a few leaps he gave it up. He was resolved, however, to make her stand a siege; and, thinking he would be as comfortable where he was, he did not return to the tree, but sat down upon the grass, keeping his eyes fixed upon his antagonist.