Not even the older people knew to what species it belonged.

It came round the barns at night, and no one had ever seen it distinctly.

Some believed it to be a catamount or panther; others who had caught glimpses of it said that it was a black creature with white stripes.
Traps had been set for it, but always without success.

Mr.Wilbur, one of the neighbors, had watched from his barn and fired a charge of buckshot at it; but immediately the creature had disappeared in the darkness, carrying off a lamb.

It visited one place or another nearly every night for a month or more--as long, indeed, as the supply of lambs held out.