Few perils they had faced, however, equalled this present incident. The
black panther, its gleaming eyes fixed upon the stalled motor car and the
young folk in it, crouched for only a moment, with lashing tail and bared
fangs.

Uttering another half-stifled snarl, the beast bounded into the air. The
distance was too great for the brute to pass immediately to the car; but
it was plain that one more leap would bring her aboard.

"Start it! Quick, Tom!" gasped Helen.

"I--I can't!" groaned her brother.

"Then we must run----"

"Sit still!" commanded Jane Ann, with fire in her eye. "I'm not going to
run from that cat. I hate 'em, anyway----"

"We can't leave Mr. Sheming," said Ruth, decidedly. "Try again, Tommy."

"Oh, don't bother about me," groaned the young man, who was still a
stranger to them. "Don't be caught here on my account."

"It will not do us any good to run," cried Ruth, sensibly. "Oh, Tommy!"

And then the engine started. The electric starter had worked at last. Tom
threw in his clutch and the car lunged ahead just as the snarling cat
sprang into the air again.