Nearer and nearer crept the brute. Again Tom felt that queer sensation down his spine.
"Hurry, Ned," he whispered.
"All right," came back the reassuring answer.
There was a moment of silence.
Crack! A sliver of flame cut the darkness. There was a report that sounded like a cannon, and it was followed by an unearthly scream. Instinctively Tom leaped back as he saw the greenish eyes change color.
The young inventor felt a shower of dirt thrown over him by the claws of the dying cougar, and then he realized that he was safe. He raced toward the tent, to be met by Ned, and the next instant the camp was in wild commotion.
"Bless my slippers!" cried Mr. Damon. "What has happened. Tell me at once?"
"Fo' de lob of chicken!" yelled Eradicate from a tent he had all to himself—the cook tent.
"Santa Maria! Ten thousand confusions! What is it?" fairly screamed Delazes.
"Are you all right, Tom?" called Ned.
"Sure. It was a good shot."
And then came explanations. Wood was thrown on the fire, and as the Mexicans gathered around the blaze they saw, twitching in the death throes, a big cougar, or some animal allied to it. Neither Tom nor his friends had ever seen one just like it, and the Mexican name for it meant
