The horses nodded their heads, as though agreeing with all he had said; the bells tinkled and the sled runners crunched over the snow. Prince did not feel so much like “cavorting,” as Tim called it, and followed the sled at a sober gait. The woods were very silent. Not a bird winged its way across their path, and all the rabbits seemed to have hidden themselves. The little girl began to nod and her eyes blinked.
Suddenly, on the branch of a tree that overhung the road they were following, Carolyn May saw a grey, furry body hugging close to the limb.
“Oh! what’s that?” she gasped, scarcely loud enough for Tim to hear.
At one end of the grey body a round, catlike head was thrust out over the branch—the eyes yellow and glaring, the pointed ears erect.
“Oh, what a big cat!” Carolyn May cried, louder now. “See there!”
Tim, the hackman, turned in startled haste. At her cry the animal on the limb gathered its legs under it, arched its back, and uttered a startling screech.
“Oh, dear me!” murmured Carolyn May, “he’s seen Prince.”
This was probably the case, for the creature repeated its yowl, just like an enraged tom-cat, only much louder than even old Jimmy could squall. Tim yelled to the horses and bent forward to lash them with the slack of the reins.
They leaped ahead, but not soon enough to carry the loaded sled out from under the limb. Prince, who had uttered a challenging growl, danced around the trunk of the tree. The huge cat leaped!
“Oh, my! Oh, my!” shrieked Carolyn May.