Felix was not addicted to the smoking habit, which probably was a good thing, as he lacked the robust figure of his western cousin. But Tom did certainly seem to suck a great deal of consolation from that little pipe of his, and the other boy had no objection to the fumes, indeed, the fragrant odor of the tonca bean, which was mixed with Tom's tobacco rather pleased his senses.
After he had finished that one pipe, Tom arose, and picking up his knife, said he would step out to attend to the dead cat.
"If I can't get the right light, why, I might hang the old boy up from the limb of a tree until morning," he said; "only that's likely to fetch others of the breed yowling around tonight. But I'll see."
A full moon had arisen after sunset, and while the trees kept much of her light from reaching the ground, still it was far from dark. Tom, however, was particular with respect to how he took off any pelt, and decided that it had better wait until morning. He stood outside there quite a little while, until Felix came to the door to ascertain what he was doing.
"Not taking time to bother with the hide tonight, then?" he asked, as he discovered the dead cat swinging about six feet from the ground, having been fastened there with a stout cord.
"Changed my mind, and concluded it would make a better job in daylight," answered the other. "But I was standing here, listening to something that ought to make you feel happy."
"What was that?" asked Felix, his curiosity of course aroused.
"I heard a 'woof woof' over there that told me a bear was passing by, and had got a whiff of human presence here," Tom went on to say, chuckling in his usual way.
"And do you think it could be a grizzly?" demanded Felix, thrilled with the very thought of such a thing.
"Oh! well, I never shot a grizzly, myself, and in fact only hunted for the breed once; so my ear isn't educated enough to tell the difference between the sounds made by a cinnamon, and his black cousin; but then, a bear means game, one way or the other; and that suits us both. Besides, bear steak ain't so very bad, even if it is tough generally. We'll look up that gentleman tomorrow, Felix, just as sure as anything."