In this tale, there is a very wealthy rancher that owns a lot of different property. He is referred to as "the king", and has one daughter, Josefa, or "the princess". There is a ranch-hand, Ripley Givens, who decides one day to leave his post and ride the distance to go and propose to her. He stops to make camp at night on the way, and while eating, he hears the cry of a puma. Worried, he gets up and follows the noise. He sees Josefa kneeling to get a drink at a stream, with a puma ready to pounce on her. So, he gives a shout of warning and jumps in-between the puma and Josefa, with his gun drawn. The puma lands on him; Josefa had shot him. Givens is horribly embarrassed, and so to cover his humiliation he makes up a story about the puma having been his pet. He calls the puma "Bill" and says that he had raised him from a pup and that everyone loved him. Josefa apologizes and allows him to ride her home. Once home, she tells her father that she has shot down the infamous "Mexican lion they call the ‘Gotch-eared Devil’... I knew him by the slice gone from his left ear." So, she was not fooled by Givens' story at all. It's a funny story, and I highly recommend reading it if you haven't already.
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