can jaguar is not so formidable a beast as the native name of
tiger would cause one to suppose, though they are sufficiently
dangerous, and this one had rather badly clawed the Indian.
Fortunately the scratches were on the fleshy parts of the arms and
shoulders, where, though painful, they were not necessarily serious.

"But if you hadn't shot just when you did, Tom, it would have been all
up with him," commented Ned.

"Oh, well, I guess you'd have hit him if I hadn't," returned the young
inventor. "But let's see what we can do for this chap."

The man sat up wonderingly--hardly able to believe that he had been
saved from the dreaded "tigre." His wounds were bleeding rather
freely, and as Tom and Ned carried with them a first-aid kit they now
brought it into use. The wounds were bound up, the man was given water
to drink and then, as he was able to walk, Tom and Ned offered to help
him wherever he wanted to go.

"Blessed if I can tell whether he's one of our Indians or whether he
belongs to the Beecher crowd," remarked Tom.

"Senor Beecher," said the Indian, adding, in Spanish, that he lived in
the vicinity and had only lately been engaged by the young professor
who hoped to discover the idol of gold before Tom's scientific friend
could do so.

Tom and Ned knew a little Spanish, and with that, and simple but
expressive signs on the part of the Indian, they learned his story. He
had his palm-thatched hut not far from the Beecher camp, in a small
Indian village, and he, with others, had been hired on the arrival of
the Beecher party to help with the excavations. These, for some
reason, were delayed.

"Delayed because they daren't use the map they stole from us,"
commented Ned.

"Maybe," agreed Tom.

The Indian, whose name, it developed, was Tal, as nearly as Tom and Ned
could master it, had left camp to go to visit his wife and child in the
jungle hut, intending to return to the Beecher camp at night. But as
he passed through the forest the jaguar had dropped on him, bearing him
to earth.

"But you saved my life, Senor," he said to Tom, dropping on one knee
and trying to kiss Tom's hand, which our hero avoided. "And now my
life is yours," added the Indian.

"Well, you'd better get home with it and take care of it," said Tom.
"I'll have Professor Bumper come over and dress your scratches in a
better and more careful way. The bandages we put on are only
temporary."

"My wife she make a poultice of l