ng flashed dark
beneath his nose and he drew back with a start; the action, sudden and
violent, mired his forefeet deeply in the soft mud. Before he could
recover his balance the long snout of a crocodile was thrust above the
surface; the jaws opened, revealing rows of gleaming, peg-like teeth,
and they closed again almost instantly with Warruk's left paw in their
clasp.

The cub was no match for the great, powerful reptile, and before he
could even attempt to offer resistance he had been dragged beneath the
surface. The sudden plunge bewildered him, but only for an instant. Then
he began struggling, frantically, the three free feet, with claws
unsheathed groping blindly for a foothold. At first they encountered
nothing but the unresisting water; and then one hindfoot grazed the
crocodile's back, but the tough hide turned the sharp claws aside. The
fact that there _was_ a footing somewhere within reach changed despair
to hope. If he could but obtain a firm hold to brace his body there
might be the possibility of resisting his assailant which was rapidly
backing further and further from the bank. Again his feet groped blindly
in the darkness; again they encountered something besides the swirling
water but this time the claws held fast then sank deeper as he pushed
with all his might, slid slowly downward and once more were free.

Warruk had not the strength left to make another effort. There was no
need for it for his claws had rent into ribbons the less tough hide of
the crocodile's throat.

Painful though this injury must have been it was not enough to deter the
villainous reptile from its purpose. On the contrary, it seemed to
increase its speed. Other marauders, however, had been attracted to the
scene of the combat, first by the struggle that they sensed from a
distance and now by the blood that flowed freely from the lacerated
throat of the crocodile. They were no other than the _piranhas_ or
cannibal fish. In legion they came until the water seemed packed with a
solid mass of the ravenous creatures, crazed by the taste of blood and
struggling so frantically to reach the source from which it came that
they forced one another above the surface of the water.

Those nearest the crocodile ripped and cut at the wound with their
triangular, razor-sharp teeth. And the great saurian soon understood
that it was doomed unless it immediately sought refuge on the land where
the fish could not follow. It rose to the surface