One-half of the distance down the watercourse was completed, and the boy was just congratulating himself on the fine progress he was making when a sound reached his ear that literally made his hair stand on end. It was the cry of a wildcat, and it came from the brush immediately on his left! The cry lasted only a short while, but Harry had heard it before, and he at once recognized it. He knew the creature was out seeking food. Most likely it was in a half-starved condition, and fierce beyond expression. The boy did not know what to do. To flee was out of the question. The creature could easily reach him if it so wished. Nor would it avail to climb a tree. He must prepare to defend himself should the wildcat attack him, and he unslung his gun with all the haste possible, and got it ready for immediate use. The cry of the creature was repeated after a short interval of silence, but the wildcat did not as yet show itself. With his heart thumping violently in his breast, Harry continued on his way, but with his glance over his shoulder in the direction from which the sound had proceeded. A hundred feet farther on, the creek made a bend, and here it grew narrower. He kept in the middle of the frozen stream, but the trees on either side were not ten feet away. Suddenly the cry broke out again, so close to him that Harry sprang back and hoisted his gun to his shoulder. Then the wildcat appeared from over the top of a flat rock and made a leap directly for the throat of the boy. Bang! went the gun, and the shot flew for the greater part under the creature’s body. Several pierced its front legs, and, with a snarl that was tigerish in its intensity, it fell directly at Harry’s feet. Hardly had it landed on the ice when, with its hind legs, it made another leap at the boy, who endeavored to ward it off by thrusting the point of the gun barrel at it. The muzzle entered the wildcat’s open mouth, and once more it was forced to drop back upon its haunches. Harry turned to flee, and gained several yards before the beast could steady itself on its wounded legs and make after him. But soon the wildcat was close at his heels, and, with a screech, it fastened itself on his back. Whirling about, Harry shook off the dreaded creature with such force that the wildcat went over on its back on the ice. Before it could recover, he dealt it a blow on the side with the gun that sent it spinning over the ice for a distance of several yards. Harry wished he had time to reload the gun, but this was out of the question. The wildcat was wounded and dazed, but in less than five seconds it was up again, and, with added fierceness, it came at the boy a third time. Harry knew it was now a fight to the finish, and his courage was aroused to its highest pitch. As the wildcat leaped for him, he sprang to one side, and once again brought his gun down, this time flat on the creature’s head.