Every moment was an eternity, and his feet seemed to drag beneath him. He had never realized the value of a moment of time before.
But now life itself seemed to hang upon his haste.
Fortunately the distance was short, so that he covered it in a space of time less than five minutes—five minutes that might have been fatal, alas, for ere now the wild shrieks had died into silence more terrifying still—portentous silence in which the victim might have died.
At last! At last! After an eternity of time it seemed to him—he reached the scene of his suspicions.
He was right, for from the pit came terrible sounds, while all the varied denizens of the zoo, having been startled from sleep by the screams of fear, were making hideous din in their several voices, the uproar creating a sort of babel of the scene.
Over all shone the full moon in a cloudless sky, making everything almost as clear as day.
Bonair flung himself face downward, peering into Zilla’s abode.
Down there was something white that could dimly be seen on the ground, while Zilla crouched over it, hitting pounding blows with her big paws. The other three bears who shared the pit were not taking any part, only walking about on their hind legs, expressing dismay and wonder by dismal and prolonged growling.
“Oh, Heaven, have pity!” Bonair cried wildly, and leaped into the pit.
He fell flat on his face, and Zilla’s attention was quickly attracted so that the lifted paw, big, hairy, ponderous, fell nerveless as she turned desperately on the new intruder upon her domain.