anxiety in the young officer's tone.
There was, then, some peril, of which he knew nothing as yet, attached
to the enterprise, thought Jack. But of the nature of the danger he had
no guess till later.

As the first boat, Mr. Billings' craft, drew alongside the blistering
side of the burning ship, a Jacob's ladder came snaking down from the
stern. At almost the same moment Jack, who had been looking upward,
uttered a shout of alarm.

The fierce face of a wild beast had suddenly appeared above the rail of
the blazing _Oriana_. The next instant a great lithe, striped body
streaked through the air straight for the boat. Instinctively Jack, who
saw the huge form of the tiger, for that was the desperate
flame-maddened creature that had made the jump, sprang for the side of
the boat and dived overboard.

[Illustration: The next instant a great lithe, striped body streaked
through the air.--]

He was not a second too soon. The tiger struck the side of the boat in
the stern just where Jack had been sitting a fragment of a minute
before. The boat heeled over as the great beast, mad with terror, clawed
at its sides with its fore-paws and endeavored to climb in. Mr.
Billings, pale but firm, whipped out his revolver with an untrembling
hand while the men, utterly unnerved, dropped their oars and shouted
with alarm.

Bang! The tiger gave a struggle that almost capsized the boat. Then,
suddenly, its claws relaxed their hold and it slid into the water, limp
and lifeless, shot between the eyes. But where was Jack? The question
just occurred to Mr. Billings when, looking up suddenly, he saw
something that made him yell a swift order at the top of his lungs.

"Row for your lives, men, row. She's going to blow up!"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CAST AWAY WITH A PYTHON.

When Jack dived overboard he was so unnerved by the sudden apparition of
the fear-frenzied tiger that he rose some distance back of the boat. He
came to the surface just in time to see the slaying of the animal and
hear Mr. Billings' sharp cry of warning.

Before he could attract attention the boats were all pulling at top
speed from the burning ship.

"She's going to blow up!" the words etched themselves on Jack's brain
with the rapidity of a photographic plate.

He saw a convulsive tremor shake the big steel fabric and the despairing
shouts of the men in the stern rang in his ears. At the same moment he
dived and began swimming with all his strength away from