They heard it amidst the howlings of the wolves, and knew it at once, for it resembled not these.

It was more like the squalling of an angry cat, but far louder, fiercer, and more terrible.

_It was the scream of the cougar_! I say that the young hunters recognised the voice of this animal at once--for they had heard it while hunting in the forests of Louisiana, although they had never been exposed to its attack.

From ample testimony, however, they knew its power and fierce nature; and were, therefore, terrified by its scream--as men of strongest nerves had often been before them.
When its cry first reached their ears, it appeared feeble and distant-- not louder than the mewing of a kitten.

The animal was evidently far off in the forest.