What was he to do?
He was armed with an ax, and he knew that with it he could make but a poor show of resistance against an enraged wild animal; and he knew, too, that one that could walk off with fifty pounds fast to his leg would be an ugly customer to handle.

He had left Brave some distance back, digging at a hole in a stump where a mink had taken refuge, and he had not yet come up.

If the Newfoundlander had been by his side he would have felt comparatively safe.

Frank stood for some minutes undecided how to act.

Should he go back to the house and get assistance?
Even if he had concluded to do so he would not have considered himself a coward; for, attacking a wounded wild-cat in the woods, with nothing but an ax to depend on, was an undertaking that would have made a larger and stronger person than Frank hesitate.
Their astonishing activity and strength, and wonderful tenacity of life, render them antagonists not to be despised.