f the single spectator, who was strongly of the opinion
that the puma, to put it mildly, was committing an error of judgment.

There may have been some strange, instinctive knowledge which
penetrated the brain of the beast before he reached the assailing
point, and which compelled him to stop. The individual whom he had
selected as his victim was not to be crushed at a single effort, as he
was accustomed to bring down the llamas, antelope, and other animals of
the wilderness. No; there was something in that pose, the demeanor and
the flash of the midnight eyes which forced the fierce creature to
pause, when on the very death line, as it may be termed.

But if the native was defiant, the puma had no purpose of retreating
from before such a powerful enemy. In his blind ferocity, he would
have assailed him, could it have been impressed upon him that his own
destruction would be the inevitable result.

The lank jaws were still parted and dripped foam, as the lion continued
his cavernous growls, while his ears lying flat on his head in the
manner peculiar to the feline species, the bristling spine and the
lashing of the tail gave the beast the appearance of a bundle of
concentrated fury, as indeed he was.

Fred Ashman was struck almost breathless by what followed.

He observed the curious, twitching movement of the puma's legs as they
were gathered closer under his body, and which is always a sure
evidence that the animal is about to make his decisive leap upon his
victim. The native must have read the movement aright, for the hand
over his shoulder was suddenly thrown back and instantly forward again,
as his javelin left his grasp with terrific force and the suddenness of
lightning.

But inconceivably quick as was the action, the puma dodged the missile,
which entered the earth just behind him, and driven with such
tremendous force was buried half its length in the ground.

Almost at the same instant the body of the lion rose in air and shot
forward as if driven from the throat of a Parrott gun.

But if the brute was quick, so was the man, who dropped downward
without moving his feet, and allowed his assailant to pass over his
head and land directly in the canoe, where for a single second only he
was partly hidden from sight.

Hardly had he landed, when the warrior darted forward several paces to
where his javelin projected from the ground, seized it with both hands
and wrenched it free. Whirling about, he co