"Hold your horses!" was all Davy allowed himself to say, though no doubt
he himself had commenced to have serious doubts by now.

Half a minute later and there broke out a series of strange sounds from
up above their heads.

"Listen to that, now, would you?" cried Davy, bristling with importance
again. "Don't that sound like Thad might a hit up against something
big? Hear him talking, will you? Didn't you catch what he said right
then--no, you don't grab me, you rascal; I'm afraid I'll have to knock
you on the head yet! Say, don't that sound like Thad had found my
panther, and was keeping him off with that club he took up with him.
Oh! what's that?"

Something came crashing down as Davy uttered this last exclamation. The
boys were horrified at, first, because they imagined it might bit Thad
and the panther, that, meeting in midair, had lost their grip, and were
falling to the ground, fully forty feet below.

"Why, it's only his club" cried Giraffe, quickly.

"Then he must have let it get knocked out of his hand!" ejaculated
Bumpus. "Oh! poor Thad. He'll be in a bad fix without a single thing to
fight that animal with!"

"That's where you're mistaken, because I can see him now, and he's
acoming down the tree right smart!" Step Hen announced; which
intelligence allowed Bumpus to breathe freely again, for his face was
getting fiery red with the suspense that had gripped him.