Jim’s blood chilled, but he acted promptly, darting forward and scrambling down the incline after the helpless man. The unicorn rushed up the slope, his head lowered and his frightening ivory horn poised for attack.
Mr. Benjamin cried out and barely squirmed out of the way of the charging animal. The force of the unicorn’s thrust caused him to bury his sharp horn to the ground. He withdrew it with a grunt of fury and shook black earth from the glossy white tip. Then he retreated for another charge.
The unicorn rushed up the slope, his head lowered and his frightening ivory horn poised for attack.
“Help me!” Mr. Benjamin cried desperately, scrambling madly to get a foothold in the slipping gravel.
By now Jim was within arm’s reach of the tourist. He braced himself against the boulder that had settled into a hollow and strained forward to grasp Mr. Benjamin’s hand. Just as the man was pulled to his feet, the unicorn struck again, burying his horn in the ground barely inches below the tourist’s boots. Jim shuddered as he hurried Mr. Benjamin up the slope to safety.
“My poor camera!” the tourist groaned. “It’s down there with that animal!”
“You’re lucky not to be down there with him yourself, Mr. Benjamin,” Babe said grimly and led the party back toward the car.
Next the car passed over the fascinating Lake of Steam. A mist, like the sheerest of veils, rose in a solid sheet from the depths to a height of half a mile, shot through with every imaginable color. Jim thought it an incredibly beautiful sight.
Jim took over running the car while Babe went back with the passengers to point out more of the picturesque wonders. Jim was surprised when suddenly the car began roller-coasting down a steep slope toward a forbidding dark opening in the cliff face. Quickly he realized that this was the famous Haunted Tunnel of Venus.