But Stas, during the twinkling of an eye, perceived that the bead of
the rifle was in a direct line with the forehead of the animal--and
pulled the trigger.

The shot pealed. The lion reared so that for a while he straightened
out to his full height; after which he toppled over on his back with
his four paws up.

And in the final convulsions he rolled off the rock onto the ground.

Stas for several minutes covered him with his rifle, but seeing that
the quivering ceased and that the tawny body was stretched out inertly,
he opened the rifle and inserted another cartridge.

The stony walls reverberated yet with the thunderous echo. Gebhr,
Chamis, and the Bedouins could not at once descry what had happened, as
on the previous night rain had fallen, and owing to the dampness of the
weather the smoke veiled everything in the narrow ravine. Only when the
smoke abated, did they shout with joy, and wanted to rush towards the
boy, but in vain, as no power could force the horses to move ahead.

And Stas turned around, took in the four Arabs with his gaze and fixed
his eyes on Gebhr.

"Ah! There has been enough of this!" he said through his set teeth.
"You have exceeded the measure. You shall not torment Nell or any one
else any more."

And suddenly he felt that his nose and cheeks turned pale, but this was
a different chill, caused not by fright, but by a terrible and
inflexible resolution from which the heart in the bosom becomes, for
the time being, iron.

"Yes! It is imperative! These are mere villains, executioners,
murderers, and Nell is in their hands!"

"You shall not murder her!" he repeated.

He approached them--again stood, and suddenly with the rapidity of
lightning raised the rifle to his face.

Two shots, one after the other, jarred the ravine with an echo. Gebhr
tumbled upon the ground, and Chamis swayed in the saddle and struck his
horse's neck with his bleeding forehead.

The two Bedouins uttered a horrified cry of consternation and,
springing from the horses, dashed at Stas. A bend was not far behind
them, and if they had run in the other direction, which Stas in his
soul desired, they could have saved their lives. But blinded by terror
and fury they thought that they would reach the boy before he would be
able to change the cartridges, and cut him to pieces with their knives.
Fools! They ran barely a dozen paces when again the ill-omened rifle
cracked; the ravine resounded with the echo of new s