ly; but such a death as was now threatening me and the poor
girl I was trying to save must have made the stoutest blench. For my
part, a chill of horror seemed to pass through every limb, thoroughly
unnerving me, so that my efforts were but feeble as I felt myself
sweeping through the water towards the bank, where the stream ran
swiftly, but free of rocks, while its eddies and whirlpools showed that
there were holes and places worn in beneath the banks, to one of which
it seemed evident the monster was making.

I made one desperate struggle, as, nearing the bank, the water
shallowed; but the slight figure was still dragged swiftly onward, while
twice over I felt the rough slimy body of the monster in contact with my
legs. All defence or attack--all prospect of escape, seemed out of the
question, and by the action of the water I was turned over helplessly
upon my back, the muddy stream flowing over my face half-strangling me.
I had during the last few moments been fast approaching to a dreamy
state, which dulled the acute horror of my position, and I believe that
a few more moments would have produced insensibility, when I was
galvanised, as it were, back into vigorous action by a sound as
something grazed my shoulder.

"Now, then, hold fast by the side--hold fast!" was shrieked in my ears
as a hand grasped mine, guiding it to the edge of the canoe, to which I
clung with renewed energy as we were racing through the shallows at a
tremendous rate. Then came a shouting, and the vigorous beating of the
water with a paddle, a tremendous rushing swirl, which nearly overset
the canoe, and our locomotion was at an end, the vessel floating lightly
in a deep pool beneath the trees. A few strokes of the paddle and the
prow struck the muddy bank; and before I could recover from the
prostration I felt myself dragged on to the grass, and my arm roughly
torn from the waist it so tightly encircled; but not before I had seen
that the clinging garments were torn--rent down one side, evidently
where the huge beast had seized its prey; and then there was the
muttering of voices, the rustling of the undergrowth as a passage was
forced through it, and we were alone.

"I'd have said thanky for a good deal less than that, if it had been
me," said Tom gruffly, as he stood gazing after the retreating party.
"They're a nice lot, Mas'r Harry--swam off like a set of copper-skinned
varmints, and left the gal to drownd; and when some one else ha