Then Bob, staking everything on sudden action, jumped to his feet, throwing the rock he held with all his force toward the huge cat and brandishing his stick wildly above his head.
The other boys followed suit, yelling like wild Indians and advancing fiercely upon their foe. It was a wild thing to do and there was only one chance in a hundred that the ruse would work. If the cat, infuriated by the attack, sprang upon them——
But no! Again that fierce growl, the flattened ears, muscles tensed for a spring——
But as the boys, shouting and waving their improvised weapons wildly, advanced bewilderment crept into the glaring yellow eyes of their antagonist. He crouched lower, he snarled angrily, he seemed about to leap.
Then, very slowly, the big animal began to retreat, inch by inch, along the branch, his body almost touching the bark, his fur bristling angrily.
Elated at the prospect of triumph the boys sprang forward with yells that started echoes sounding and resounding through the forest.
With a sudden motion the wildcat bounded backward, landed on his feet in the underbrush and scurried away through the trees. The boys waited, weapons still raised, half expecting a return, but as the moments passed and the woodland was still save for the excited chattering of birds in the branches over their heads, they began to realize that what they had hoped for was true, the enemy had been finally and completely routed.
They turned and stared at each other with eyes in which laughter could not completely hide the shock of their experience.
“Well, what do you know about that?” asked Bob, regarding the stick which he still grasped. “Scared him off with a bit of stick. I bet if I’d tried to hit him the stick would have broken in two on his sleek back. Say, fellows, can you beat it?”
Then he began to laugh and the others joined him. They laughed till tears rolled down their cheeks, and when at last they sobered down they felt a good deal better.
“That was some great idea of yours, Bob,” said Joe admiringly, as he threw away his stick and stooped to pick up the day’s catch. “I suppose the rest of us would just have sat tight like a bunch of boobs and let that bobcat tackle us.”
“It was the craziest idea I ever had,” returned Bob. “It was a long chance, but I guess it was about the only chance we had, at that.”