Two attendants came hurrying up.

“It’s Tom Stick,” explained Johnny. “That other fellow’s dead. The big bull elephant killed him. And right it was. He deserved it. Look after Tom. I’ve got to find the twins and the black cat.”

Once more, after recovering his automatic, which had been thrown from him in the first assault of the counterfeiter, he leaped away into the dark.

He was not a moment too soon, for as he dropped down from a pile of tumbled bales of canvas he came face to face with the twins. They were standing wild-eyed, transfixed. Not ten yards away and within leaping distance, his tail lashing, his white fangs gleaming, was the great black cat.

With uncommon coolness Johnny grasped his automatic and, taking careful aim at the spot between the creature’s fiery eyes, grasped the handle tight. There came a metallic click, but no report. The gun had jammed—was utterly useless. With a cry of consternation, Johnny dropped the gun and reached for his clasp knife. Thus poorly armed, he was about to rush at the man-eater, when there came the sudden glare of red light as it played upon the great cat.

“The crimson flash! Thank God!” he murmured.

But the next instant he remembered the words of Pant, when he had told of his jungle experience: “He did not fear my charm; he leaped!”

What now would be the outcome? It was a time of terrible suspense. Johnny’s breath came in little gasps. One of the twins had dropped to the ground.

There was not long to wait. Whirling, the cat leaped away to the right. Then, for the first time, Johnny saw that the crimson flash came directly from a dark bulk, a clump of bushes close to the track. There had been no time for tricks, Pant had flashed it direct, and he was there now. The great cat would be upon him in another minute.

Even as he sprang after the cat, Johnny thought for the first time of the magic perfume, the cat-lick Pant had given him. Drawing this from his pocket, he uncorked it as he ran. He was not a second too soon. Already the beast’s fangs were at Pant’s throat.

With mad hope beating at his heart, Johnny dashed a few drops of the precious perfume at the beast’s head.

Prepared as he was for miracles, he was astounded at the result. The wild beast became at once a mere house 

 Prev. P 94/98 next