But he did not cry, for he knew that Shaddy was too far off to hear him,
and with a feeling of desperation now as he recalled that he had his
keen knife in his pocket, he loosened his hold of his arrow and thrust
in his hand to withdraw the weapon, seized the blade in his teeth, and
dragged it open.

"He shall not kill me for nothing," he thought, and he stood on his
guard, for his movements excited the animal to action, and with a roar
and a rush it sprang right out from the undergrowth to within three
yards of him, but, instead of crouching and springing again, it stood up
before him, with its back slightly arched, lashing its sides gently with
its long tail.

It was no spotted jaguar, with teeth bared, but, as dimly seen there in
the semi-darkness of the forest, a noble-looking specimen of the puma
family, and, to Rob's astonishment, it made no sign of menace, but
remained in the spot to which it had sprung, watching him.

And here for quite a minute they stood face to face, till, with a faint
cry of wonder, the lad exclaimed,--

"Why, it must be my puma! And it has followed us all along by the banks
to here."

Then came thought after thought, suggesting that it must have been the
footprints of this beast which they had seen over and over again by the
side of their fire; that it was this animal which had crept to him when
he was asleep; that it kept in hiding when he was with his companions,
but that it had been tracking him till he was alone, and that after all
he had nothing to fear.

But still he was afraid and uncertain, so that some time elapsed during
which the puma stood writhing its tail, watching him before he could
summon up courage enough to take a step forward.

He made that step at last, knowing that if he were mistaken the animal
would at once draw back and make for a spring; but, instead of moving,
the puma raised its tail erect, making the three or four inches at the
end twine a little, and the next minute Rob was talking to it softly,
with his hand upon its head, when the animal began to give forth a
curious sound somewhat resembling a purr and pressed up against him.

"Poor old chap, then!" cried Rob; "and I was frightened of you, when all
you wanted to do was to make friends. Why, you are a fine fellow,
then."

His words were accompanied by caresses, and these were evidently
approved of, the puma crouching down and finally lying on its side,
while Rob knelt beside it and found that he