or brute to pieces."

"Yes," agreed Dick. "And I am just now beginning to understand what a
narrow squeak I had yesterday. For that fellow is exactly like the
thing I killed yesterday, though, now that I see him broadside-on, the
resemblance, whether to a frog or a kangaroo, is not so strong as it was
when I was facing him. But there are the same long, powerful hind legs,
the same almost invisible front ones, the same gaping mouth filled with
strong, dagger-like teeth, the same long, thick, pointed tail--in short,
the same creature from stem to stern."

"But the head of that thing is more like an alligator's than a frog's,"
objected Earle. "And then, look at that serrated arrangement of the
skin--I suppose it is--from the back of the head to the extremity of the
tail. You never said anything about that."

"No," admitted Dick, "I believe I didn't; but the other thing had it,
all the same. I remember noticing it, now that you call my attention to
it. I tell you that the two creatures are identical in every respect,
except that this one looks to be a bit bigger than the other. Do you
happen to know what the thing is called?"

"N-o, I am not sure that I do," answered Earle, "but I'll find out as
soon as ever I get back to New York. I shall remember the appearance of
the beast all right, now that I've actually seen it, and I guess there
will be somebody who can tell me. Say! Dick, I wouldn't have missed
this sight for a thousand dollars; and I'd give ten thousand to get the
skin and skeleton of the brute. If I could but secure them, I'd go
straight back to New York at once, and leave Manoa for another time.
Isn't there _any_ way by which we could get across that insignificant
strip of water?"

"Not without a boat or a raft of some sort, I'm afraid," answered Dick.
"And there is nothing hereabout from which we could construct even the
most elementary sort of raft. Besides, before we could put anything
together, even if we had the material, the brute would be gone. See, he
has almost gorged the whole of his prey already."

"I've a mind to try a shot at him--and I will, too," said Earle. "Hi,
there, Peter, bring me my point-three-five Remington and some
cartridges. Hurry, you black angel! Perhaps if the brute is very
savage, and we can attract his attention, or hurt him a bit, he may take
it into his head to attack us. He could jump across the stream a little
lower down, easily enough. Or he may be a sw