without seeing anything, but at
last, in a place where the leaves seemed to have been thrust aside near
the top of one of the highest trees, a great red hairy body was seen,
and a huge black face gazed fiercely down at the hunters.

Verkimier fired instantly, the branches closed, and the monster moved
off in another direction. In desperate anxiety Nigel fired both barrels
of his shot-gun. He might as well have fired at the moon. Gurulam was
armed only with a spear, and Van der Kemp, who was not much of a
sportsman, carried a similar weapon. The rest of the party were still
out of sight in rear looking after the dead mias.

It was astonishing how little noise was made by so large an animal as it
moved along. More than once the hunters had to halt and listen intently
for the rustling of the leaves before they could make sure of being on
the right track.

At last they caught sight of him again on the top of a very high tree,
and the professor got two more shots, but without bringing him down.
Then he was seen, quite exposed for a moment, walking in a stooping
posture along the large limb of a tree, but the hunter was loading at
the time and lost the chance. Finally he got on to a tree whose top was
covered with a dense mass of creepers which completely hid him from
view. Then he halted and the sound of snapping branches was heard.

"You've not much chance of him now," remarked the hermit, as they all
stood in a group gazing up into the tree-top. "I have often seen the
mias act thus when severely wounded. He is making a nest to lie down and
die in."

"Zen ve must shoot again," said the professor, moving round the tree and
looking out for a sign of the animal. At last he seemed to have found
what he wanted, for raising his rifle he took a steady aim and fired.

A considerable commotion of leaves and fall of broken branches followed.
Then the huge red body of the mias appeared falling through, but it was
not dead, for it caught hold of branches as it fell and hung on as long
as it could; then it came crashing down, and alighted on its face with
an awful thud.

After firing the last shot Verkimier had not reloaded, being too intent
on watching the dying struggles of the creature, and when it fell with
such violence he concluded that it was dead. For the same reason Nigel
had neglected to reload after firing. Thus it happened that when the
enormous brute suddenly rose and made for a tree with the evident
intention of cl