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A moment later, with our assistance, the man had scrambled from beneath the

carcass of his would-be slayer, without a scratch to indicate how close to death

he had been.

Delcarte's buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from under the tiger with a

broad grin on his handsome face, nor could I perceive that a muscle trembled or

that his voice showed the least indication of nervousness or excitement.

With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate upon the

explanation of the presence of this savage brute at large so great a distance from

its native habitat. My readings had taught me that it was practically unknown

outside of Asia, and that, so late as the twentieth century, at least, there had

been no savage beasts outside captivity in England.

As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to him. Taylor and

Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we all started down toward the launch,

walking slowly. Delcarte wanted to fetch the tiger's skin, but I had to deny him

permission, since we had no means to properly cure it.

Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much meat as we thought

we could dispose of, and as we were again embarking to continue up the river for

fresh water and fuel, we were startled by a series of screams from the bushes a

short distance away.

"Another Felis tigris," said Taylor.

"Or a dozen of them," supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he spoke, there leaped

into sight, one after another, eight of the beasts, full grown--magnificent

specimens.

At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated demons. I saw that

three rifles would be no match for them, and so I gave the word to put out from

shore, hoping that the "tiger," as the ancients called him, could not swim.

Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and forth, uttering

fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the most malevolent manner.

As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar animals far inland.

They seemed to be answering the cries of their fellows at the water's edge, and

from the wide distribution and great volume of the sound we came to the

conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts must roam the adjacent

country.

"They have eaten up the inhabitants," murmured Snider, shuddering.

The Lost Continent