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have looked foolish indeed if my surprise and consternation were in any way
reflected upon my countenance as I lowered my rifle and gazed incredulous at the
lithe figure of the girl speeding swiftly in my direction. But I did not have long to
stand thus with lowered weapon, for as she came, I saw her cast an affrighted
glance over her shoulder, and at the same moment there broke from the jungle at
the same spot at which I had seen her, the hugest cat I had ever looked upon.
At first I took the beast for a saber-tooth tiger, as it was quite the most fearsome-
appearing beast one could imagine; but it was not that dread monster of the past,
though quite formidable enough to satisfy the most fastidious thrill-hunter. On it
came, grim and terrible, its baleful eyes glaring above its distended jaws, its lips
curled in a frightful snarl which exposed a whole mouthful of formidable teeth.
At sight of me it had abandoned its impetuous rush and was now sneaking slowly
toward us; while the girl, a long knife in her hand, took her stand bravely at my
left and a little to my rear. She had called something to me in a strange tongue
as she raced toward me, and now she spoke again; but what she said I could not
then, of course, know--only that her tones were sweet, well modulated and free
from any suggestion of panic.
Facing the huge cat, which I now saw was an enormous panther, I waited until I
could place a shot where I felt it would do the most good, for at best a frontal shot
at any of the large carnivora is a ticklish matter. I had some advantage in that
the beast was not charging; its head was held low and its back exposed; and so at
forty yards I took careful aim at its spine at the junction of neck and shoulders.
But at the same instant, as though sensing my intention, the great creature lifted
its head and leaped forward in full charge. To fire at that sloping forehead I knew
would be worse than useless, and so I quickly shifted my aim and pulled the
trigger, hoping against hope that the soft-nosed bullet and the heavy charge of
powder would have sufficient stopping effect to give me time to place a second
shot.
In answer to the report of the rifle I had the satisfaction of seeing the brute spring
into the air, turning a complete somersault; but it was up again almost instantly,
though in the brief second that it took it to scramble to its feet and get its
bearings, it exposed its left side fully toward me, and a second bullet went
crashing through its heart. Down it went for the second time--and then up and
at me. The vitality of these creatures of Caspak is one of the marvelous features
of this strange world and bespeaks the low nervous organization of the old
paleolithic life which has been so long extinct in other portions of the world.
I put a third bullet into the beast at three paces, and then I thought that I was
done for; but it rolled over and stopped at my feet, stone dead. I found that my
second bullet had torn its heart almost completely away, and yet it had lived to
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