HAS A NEW THEORY

LITTLE PREWITT BAKER MAY HAVE BEEN CARRIED AWAY BY A COUGAR

The dreadful possibility that little Prewitt Baker, who mysteriously disappeared from his parents' summer home at Eagle Harbor last May, was stolen not be a human being, but by a wild animal, is rapidly gaining credence in that little village. It is now said to be an established fact that there are cougars on the island, and the whole town is in a furore. A cougar has been seen by one woman, and other residents have heard its howls in the night and the next morning missed their chickens. One family living in the woods in the vicinity of Baker's home was awakened in the night about two weeks ago by the cougar's cry, and mothers who live anywhere near the woods are keeping their children indoors.

Some of the men in the town are planning a big hunt and will trace the animal if possible to its den. Many claim that the appearance of the cougar on the island and the probability that there are others of its kind in the thick woods may explain the mysterious disappearance of the child. Should little Prewitt have come to his death in this terrible way, the search party believe that if the den is discovered some trace of his clothing may be found. Several private parties have been going through the woods with guns thinking to run across the animal, but the theory is that it ventures forth only at night.

At the time of the disappearance of the child, the theory that it might have been carried off by an animal was discussed, but was not given much consideration, as at that time it as thought that there were no wild beasts on the island. There is no doubt now in the minds of most of the residents of Eagle Harbor that one or more ferocious mountain lions dwell in the thickets.