In an instant he had dived into the water and struck out for the shore.
He could swim with amazing speed, and he had never put such power into his strokes as he did now. He knew that he was racing for his life. Would the start he had prove sufficient to bring him to the shore before he was overtaken by his terrible pursuer?
It probably would not have been, if the monster had not stopped for an instant and nosed about the log. It was there its eyes had last descried the boy, for Bomba had been swimming under water since he had slipped off like a shadow.
That moment of puzzlement on the part of the reptile proved the boy’s salvation. For by the time Bomba’s almost bursting lungs compelled him to come to the surface for air, he found himself within a few strokes of the shore.
The alligator detected him and put on a tremendous burst of speed. But it was under too great a handicap. Bomba reached the bank and pulled himself up just as the alligator made a snap at him and missed.
Bomba rose to his feet, his heart swelling with jubilation.
But that jubilation was swiftly turned to horror.
As he drew the air into his gasping lungs and turned from the shore, there came a tremendous roar and the lad found himself looking into the fiery eyes of a jaguar crouched for a spring.
There was no time to fit an arrow to the bow, not even time to draw the machete from its sheath, for even as Bomba’s startled mind grasped the situation, the beast launched itself into the air.
Like a flash Bomba dropped flat to the ground.