"That's pleasant!" muttered Sumichrast. "Then there are two pumas."
"No, no, Tata Sumichrast, it is the same one. Aim between its eyes, Chanito; fire!"
There were two reports almost at the same moment, and the animal tumbled down upon the ground without uttering a cry.
"Don't be too quick, Chanito," continued the Indian; "this is not a water-dog; always reload your gun, whether the enemy be dead or not, before you trust yourself within its reach."
Gringalet ventured to bark round the beast, and I kept in readiness to shoot, while my companions cautiously advanced. The cougar had been struck in the forehead, and no longer breathed. It was about three feet in length, and its hair, which was slightly waved on some parts of its body, showed it was a young one. The Indian raised the animal's enormous head.
"Come," he said, "you deserve to die like a warrior. You are the first of your race which ever ventured so close to my gun. Was it Chanito you wanted to devour?"
"I think it much more probable that it wanted Gringalet; what a pity it is that we can't tame these beautiful cats!"
"Cats!" repeated Lucien.
"Yes, to be sure; the great African lion itself is nothing but the largest and strongest of all the cat tribe. Didn't you know that?"
"I thought the lion was a beast by itself; but, at all events, it is the king of mammals?"