the confused professor was rising to his feet again, fairly in
front of the enraged brute; but ere worse came, Waldo and Bruno
were to the rescue, one firing as rapidly as possible, his
brother driving a keen-bladed knife to the very hilt just back of
that quivering forearm.

One mad wrestle, in which both lads were overthrown, then the
gaunt and muscular brute stretched its length in a shivering
throe, dead even while it strove to slay.

Just as the professor hurried to the front, beseeching his boys
to keep out of peril if they loved him; at which Waldo laughed
outright, although never had he felt a warmer love for the same
odd-speaking, queer-acting personage than right at that moment.

"I'm all right; how's it with you, sir? And--Bruno?"

"Without a scratch to remember it by," promptly asserted the
elder brother, likewise regaining his feet and taking hasty
account of stock. "No fault of his, though!" giving that carcass
a kick as he spoke. "My gracious! I caught just one glimpse of
them, and I was ready to make affidavit that each fang would
measure a foot, while his claws--"

"Would pass through an elephant and clinch on the other side,"
declared Waldo, stooping far enough to lift one of those armed
paws. "But, I say, Bruno, how awfully they have shrunk, since
then!"

Whether so intended or not, this characteristic break caused a