At last he began to back out, but with his eyes still fixed upon the tree the limbs of which he had seen shake. Thus he covered several yards, when he saw two of the boughs shake once more, and felt by instinct that the creature, whatever it was, had leaped into another tree still closer to him.
By this time Gilbert’s heart was beating rapidly. He felt he had an enemy to face fully as dangerous as a Cossack sharpshooter. That the beast was after him there could be no doubt.
He continued to back away, at the same time holding his pistol in one hand and his sword in the other. In this fashion he presently came to where a fallen tree lay partly concealed in the grass and brushwood. Almost before he knew it, he tripped on the tree and went down on his back.
As he fell there was a fierce growl among the trees before him, and of a sudden a half-grown leopard crept softly into view, crouching low on a limb the end of which was within a few feet of the young American’s head.
Even though he was down on his back Gilbert saw the beast, and taking quick aim, he fired. At the same moment the leopard made a wild leap, intending to land upon the young captain’s breast.
Gilbert’s bullet had been intended for the savage beast’s right eye, but instead it took the leopard in the shoulder, inflicting a severe but by no means mortal wound. The shot made the creature turn in its course, and it landed close to Gilbert’s feet.
In many a battle the young officer had come to close quarters, and had thus learned how to turn himself in an emergency. Agitated though he was, he kept his presence of mind and as quick as a flash fired at the leopard a second time, and then a third. He also brought his sword into play by making a lunge at the beast’s gleaming teeth. Down came the teeth with a click on the shining blade, and the weapon was wrenched from Gilbert’s grasp. But this brought him to his feet, and once more he fired, with his pistol less than two feet from the leopard’s head.
The last shot was a telling one, and the leopard rolled over and over, snapping and snarling in a furious fashion. Then it leaped up and dragged itself off through the brushwood growling in a fashion which told that its end could not be far off.
At first Gilbert was inclined to let the beast depart. But then he thought the leopard might come back to renew the attack, and leaping into the brushwood, he quickly fired another shot. This pierced the beast’s vitals, and leaping into the air, it fell to the ground, stretched out, and breathed its last.
It was not until the fight was over that Gilbert realized that he was in a cold perspiration. He felt a strange weakness at the knees and sank down on a rock, where he lost no time in reloading the revolver which had proved such a friend.