Never came mortal back to life so suddenly as Dennis! He was the first on his feet. His yells were keyed to a pitch and volume that would have terrified any lion which ever roamed the forest, and especially that timid, sneaking creature which assumes the name of a nobler animal. From the tree above the cowardly beast looked down upon the group. Its eyes gleamed wickedly, yet its whole lithe body quivered in fear, for it had been pursued to its own destruction.
“Bang! R-r-r-rip—flash—BANG!”
It fell at their very feet, so to speak, and then did Dennis believe that his hour had really come.
“Och! murder! me soul! That ever I should have lived—to die!” and, almost paralyzed by fright he, too, fell down.
With a mutual impulse of protection, the children clung together, too startled for speech; and it was not until the lion, or puma, had been lifeless for some seconds that they released each other and peered into the forest whence the shot had come. Thence now, also, came the crashing of branches and soon there hurried into view—Mr. Burnham!
He paused, as astonished as they; then, with a shout of delight, the trio rushed together.
“Oh! have we found you?”
“Dear children! I might have killed you when I fired! How came you here?”
“But you didn’t. You only killed the lion. Where are the rest? Is everybody well? Mrs. Burnham? Teddy? And Jack? Are you camping near? Can we go now? Did you think we were lost? Oh! we have been—but—”
Nobody thought of Dennis, for a moment, and he still lay, fancying himself dying. Then he heard the voices. One seemed strangely familiar, yet he was powerless to move till the station-master comprehended who it was that lay huddled beside the dead puma, and called: