It was indeed that precisely.
They all kept together, as they waded through the snow to a spot about twenty rods into the woods, from which they could see old Ponto bounding hither and thither around the trunk of a tall maple-tree that stood by itself in the middle of an open space in the forest.
"No other tree handy for him to jump into," said Vosh. "There he is!"
"Where?" asked aunt Judith.
"See him? Up there on that big lower limb!"
"It's a good forty feet from the ground," said the deacon. "Come on, boys.—All the rest stay here."
"O Pen!" said Susie, "I do believe I'm afraid. Will he jump?"
"They'll shoot him down, and then Ponto'll grab him."
"He'd make short work of one dog, if he once got at him," said Corry. "Too much for Ponto."
There was little doubt of that, for it was a wildcat of the very largest size; not so dangerous an animal as a panther, but a terribly hard scratcher, and apt to require a great deal of killing.