"A wildcat!" cried the senator's son, and, leaping down, he brought the
dead beast into full view. All the girls shrieked, and Jessie started to
run back into the house. Hearing the commotion, Mrs. Endicott appeared,
and then her husband.
"A bobcat!" cried the railroad president. "I didn't know there were any
near this place. A big fellow, too," he added, as he inspected the
animal.
"Did you shoot him, Roger?" asked Laura.
"We all had a hand in it," answered the senator's son. "Dave gave him
the first dose of shot, and then Phil and I got in our work. It was a
hard job to kill him, I can tell you," and then Roger told of how the
wounded beast had fallen down among the horses.
"You can be thankful your horses didn't get away," said Mr. Endicott. "I
knew of a horse once that was scared by a bear and he ran several miles,
and wasn't caught until the next day."
"Oh, Dave, weren't you scared when you saw him on the tree?" whispered
Jessie. She felt proud to think her hero had been the first to shoot at
the beast.
"I didn't give myself time to get scared," he answered. "I just fired as
quickly as I could."
"But supposing the wildcat had jumped on you!" And the girl shivered and
caught him by the arm.
"I should have defended myself as best I could, Jessie.
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