And Dick was lying senseless in a pit that had been made by hunters, for the purpose of trapping wild animals, for food and skins.
When Dick regained consciousness, he could not think for a few moments what had happened to him. Then he remembered being tied to the trees in the Indian village, with the fire burning about him, remembered having been freed by somebody, and that he and Ben had been running for their lives through the underbrush, pursued by the Indians, when he had taken a tumble and had got a bump on the head that had rendered him insensible, and the question now was: Where was he?
And then the thought came to him: Where was Ben?
He listened intently, but heard no sound to indicate Ben’s presence, nor did he hear the yells of the Indians. He judged, from this, that he had been in his present situation some time.
He rose to a sitting posture, and reached out and felt around him. He made out what seemed to be a solid wall of earth, at his back. Then he rose to his feet, and reached upward, trying to stretch to the top of the wall, but could not. Then he started to make his way along the wall, feeling with his hand, for guidance, and he had taken only five or six steps when he heard a low, menacing growl right in front of him.
Dick paused and gazed ahead, trying to penetrate the darkness, and then he saw what looked like two gleaming balls of fire, and then as another low, fierce growl came to his hearing, he realized the truth--that he was confronted by a wild animal of some kind, and from the sound of the growl he judged that the animal was likely a panther.
Dick had had considerable experience in hunting and trapping, and knew that pits were often dug for the purpose of trapping wild animals, and he guessed that he was in one of those old pits, and that he had for a companion a wildcat or panther!
Dick Dare realized that his situation was indeed a dangerous one. True, he had the use of his hands and feet, but what could he hope to do against the animal without weapons of any kind?
He felt that his danger was great, that his situation was indeed desperate, and he stood there, almost frozen to the spot, trying his best to think what he should do. Truly he had fled one danger but to encounter another. “From the frying pan into the fire.”
Again the low, but fierce and threatening growl came to Dick’s ears.