nto his memory a hazy sort of recollection that he _had_ seen a picture
or representation of the creature which squatted there stolidly some
thirty yards before him.

According to Cavendish's own subsequent description, which was confirmed
in every particular by Moquit, the general impression conveyed was that
of a gigantic frog, as big as an ox, but with several important
modifications, one of which was that its capacious mouth was furnished
with a most formidable set of sharp, curved, dagger-like teeth, of which
the observers gained an excellent view, since the creature opened its
mouth several times. It was a quadruped; that is to say, it was
provided with four legs, but while its front legs were so short as to be
little more than rudimentary, its hind legs were as long and apparently
as powerful, proportionately, as those of a kangaroo. And, like a
kangaroo, it was provided with a long tail, as thick at the root as its
own body, tapering away to a blunt point. Indeed, as Dick remarked, he
could scarcely describe the creature better than by likening it to what
he conceived might be the appearance of a cross between a frog and a
kangaroo. It had a pair of big, staring eyes, its toes were armed with
long, murderous-looking claws, and its brownish-yellow skin was mottled
all over with wart-like protuberances.

For fully five minutes, Dick supposes, he stood intently studying the
peculiarities of the extraordinary creature, animated much more by
curiosity than by any sense of fear, for he had somehow fully persuaded
himself that the beast would not hazard the passage of that narrow
causeway, while in any case a shot or two from the U.M.C. Remington,
which the young Englishman carried, would of a surety put an end to the
creature's career. Then, as Dick still stood watching and perhaps
waiting for developments of some sort, the great brute suddenly rose
upon its hind legs and, uttering a curious squealing sound, launched
itself into the air with a terrific spring which Cavendish saw with
consternation would bring the beast right upon him. Quick and
unexpected as was the action, however, it did not take Dick wholly by
surprise; on the contrary, as though by instinct, he threw up the muzzle
of his rifle, pressed the trigger, and heard the bullet thud as it
struck the leaping body. A loud, horrible scream escaped the brute as
the bullet smote it. It writhed in mid-air, and that writhe caused it
to fall into the wate