r instead of landing upon Dick's body, as it must
otherwise have done. It fell with a terrific splash which drenched Dick
and Moquit, and still writhing with pain, instantly turned, with the
evident intention of climbing out and attacking the two men. But by
this time Dick had begun to realise the dangerous character of the
creature, and, rapidly levelling his rifle again, shot it through the
head as it laid its two front paws upon the bank preparatory to climbing
out. With a moaning gasp, the great body relaxed and slowly settled
back into the water, where it presently turned over on its back and
floated, dead. Less than a minute later, while Dick and Moquit still
stood staring in amazement at the weird creature, there came a sudden,
violent swirling in the black water, and the heads of some six or seven
enormous alligators appeared round the body. The great jaws of the
reptiles opened, and the carcass was violently dragged hither and
thither as the huge saurians tugged fiercely at it. Dick did not wait
to see the issue of the struggle, but skipped nimbly across the
causeway, with Moquit close upon his heels, and made the best of his way
back to camp, where he found Earle already anxiously awaiting him.

"Well," demanded the American, as Cavendish came within hail, "have you
met with any luck? I was beginning to feel a bit uneasy about you, for
we seem to have struck a rather dangerous streak of country here."

"What!" exclaimed Dick. "Have you, too, been meeting with adventures,
then?"

"Of a sort, yes; though nothing worth speaking about," answered Earle.
"Simply met the biggest python I've ever seen; and as the beggar seemed
in a quarrelsome humour and spoiling for a fight, I shot him. And you?
I sort of gather from your last remark that you have met with an
adventure of some sort. Is that so?"

"You bet!" answered Dick, who was almost unconsciously adopting many of
Earle's expressive idioms. And he proceeded to relate in detail the
occurrences of the afternoon.

"Gee!" exclaimed Earle, when his companion had finished. "That sounds
interesting. I wonder what the brute can have been." (He was referring
to the strange beast which Dick had shot). "Do you think you could draw
a picture of him?"

"Oh yes, after a fashion," answered Dick, who was really rather clever
with his pencil and brush in an amateurish fashion. "He was something
like this." And, whipping out his pocket-book, he rapidly produc