looked back in the direction of the deer.
"Blime!' he said. "Wot is hit, sir?"
"It looks to me, Whitely, like an error," I said; "some assistant
god who had been creating elephants must have been temporarily
transferred to the lizard-department."
"Hi wouldn't s'y that, sir," said Whitely; "it sounds blasphemous."
"It is more blasphemous than that thing which is swiping our
meat," I replied, for whatever the thing was, it had leaped upon
our deer and was devouring it in great mouthfuls which it
swallowed without mastication. The creature appeared to be a
great lizard at least ten feet high, with a huge, powerful tail
as long as its torso, mighty hind legs and short forelegs. When it
had advanced from the wood, it hopped much after the fashion of a
kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail to propel it, and when it
stood erect, it sat upon its tail. Its head was long and thick,
with a blunt muzzle, and the opening of the jaws ran back to a
point behind the eyes, and the jaws were armed with long sharp teeth.
The scaly body was covered with black and yellow spots about a foot
in diameter and irregular in contour. These spots were outlined in
red with edgings about an inch wide. The underside of the chest,
body and tail were a greenish white.
"Wot s'y we pot the bloomin' bird, sir?" suggested Whitely.
I told him to wait until I gave the word; then we would fire
simultaneously, he at the heart and I at the spine.
"Hat the 'eart, sir--yes, sir," he replied, and raised his piece
to his shoulder.
Our shots rang out together. The thing raised its head and
looked about until its eyes rested upon us; then it gave vent to
a most appalling hiss that rose to the crescendo of a terrific
shriek and came for us.
"Beat it, Whitely!" I cried as I turned to run.
We were about a quarter of a mile from the rest of our party, and
in full sight of them as they lay in the tall grass watching us.
That they saw all that had happened was evidenced by the fact that
they now rose and ran toward us, and at their head leaped Nobs.