od up, but he shuddered
nevertheless.

"Obed," he said gratefully, "you came just in time."

"I surely did," said that cheerful artisan. "A bullet in time saved a
life like thine. But you had already given him a bad wound."

"What is he, Obed?"

"About the biggest and finest specimen of a black jaguar that ever
ravaged a Mexican jungle. I always thought the black kind was found only
in Paraguay and the regions down there, but I'm quite sure now that at
least one of them has been roaming up here, and he is bound to have kin,
too. Ned, isn't he a terror? If he'd got at you he'd have ripped you in
pieces in half a minute."

Ned shuddered again. Even in death the great black jaguar was capable of
inspiring terror. He had never before seen such a picture of magnificent
and sinister strength. He was heavier and more powerful than a tiger,
and he knew that the jaguar often became a man-eater.

"I'd like to have that skin to lay upon the parlor of my palatial home,
if I ever have one," said Obed, "and I reckon that you and I had better
stick pretty close together while we are in this jungle. Our pistols are
not loaded now, and we have no more ammunition."

They did not dare to sleep again in the same place, fearing that the
jaguar might have a mate which would seek revenge upon them, but, a
couple of hundred yards further down, they found in the river a little
island, twelve or fifteen feet square. Here they felt that the water
would somehow give them security, and they lay down once more.

Ned was awakened a second time by that terrifying pu-pu-pu. It
approached through the forest but it stopped at the point where the dead
body of the black giant lay. He knew that it was the voice of the mate.
He listened a long time, but he did not hear it again, and he concluded
that the second jaguar, after the brief mourning of animals, had gone
away. He fell asleep again, and did not awaken until day.

They were now practically unarmed, but they kept the pistols, for the
sake of show in case any peons of the jungle should offer trouble, and
pressed forward, with all the speed possible in so dense a tangle of
forest. In the deep shade of trees and bushes Ned continually saw the
shadows of immense black jaguars. He knew that it was only nerves and
imagination, but he did not like to be in a condition that enabled fancy
to play him such tricks. He longed more than ever for the open plains,
even with dust and thirst.

Already they