liar, so expressive of suffering, so piercing, yet
at the same time so feeble, that it instantly arrested the attention of
everybody, and all stood staring tensely in the direction from which it
had come.

"Hillo!" exclaimed Dick, who was the first to find his voice after the
first moment of surprise had passed. "What on earth does that mean?"

"Don't know," answered Earle, who was glancing about him in search of a
favourable spot upon which to pitch the tent; "but we'll soon find out.
Pitch the tent anywhere you like, Peter, so long as it is not too close
to the water. Where you are standing now will do quite well. Come on,
Dick, and bring your rifle with you. It was somewhere over in that
direction."

The pair took the brook at a bound, and, despite their fatigue, set off
at a run in the direction from which the sound had proceeded. As they
went, the peculiar sound--half whine, half scream--pealed out again upon
the still air, thus guiding them afresh, so that in the course of a
couple of minutes they reached its source.

And this was what they saw.

A young black panther--a somewhat rare animal--about three-parts grown,
lying stretched out upon its left side in the long grass, apparently in
a dying condition. There was a broad trail in the grass leading from
the spot where it lay toward the far edge of the timber; but the trail
was short, not more than a few yards long, growing less and less
distinct as it receded, showing that the miserable creature had been in
the clearing for several days, dragging itself slowly, and doubtless
with infinite suffering, toward the water, which it had thus far failed
to reach. Its coal-black coat, "watered" with the characteristic
markings of the panther, also in black, was dull and staring, the result
of neglect, and probably also of suffering; its tongue, dry and parched,
lolled out of its open jaws, which were lightly fringed with froth; and
its half-closed eyes were glassy yet burning with fever. It was in the
last stage of emaciation, its ribs and backbone showing clearly beneath
its skin.

"Poor brute!" ejaculated Dick, whose sympathies were easily aroused.
"It's evidently dying, and in great pain, too. Better put it out of its
misery, hadn't we?" And he raised his rifle suggestively.

"Not on your life," interposed Earle, hastily. "Yes, the poor beast is
pretty well pegged out; but I guess we can save him, with care and a
little trouble. He's dying of hunge