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.Thebeast, with lashing tail, stood over an Indian upon whom it seemed to havesprung from some lair, beating the unfortunate man to the ground.Nor had hefallen scatheless, for there was blood on the green leaves about him, and itwas not the blood of the spotted beast."Oh, Tom, can youcan you" and Ned faltered.The young inventor understood the unspoken question."I think I can make a shot of it without hitting the man," he answered, neverturning his head."It's a question, though, if the beast won't claw him in thedeath struggle.It won't last long, however, if the electric bullet goes tothe right place, and I've got to take the chance."Cautiously Tom brought his weapon to bear.Quiet as Ned and he had been afterthe discovery, the jaguar seemed to feel that something was wrong.Intent onhis prey, for a time he had stood over it, gloating.Now the brute glanceduneasily from side to side, its tail nervously twitching, and it seemed tryingto gain, by a sniffing of the air, some information as to the direction inwhich danger lay, for Tom and Ned had stooped low, concealing themselves by ascreen of leaves.The Indian, after his first frenzied outburst of fear, now lay quiet, asthough fearing to move, moaning in pain.Suddenly the jaguar, attracted either by some slight movement on the part ofNed or Tom, or perhaps by having winded them, turned his head quickly andgazed with cruel eyes straight at the spot where the two young men stoodbehind the bushes."He's seen us," whispered Ned."Yes," assented Tom."And it's a perfect shot.Hope I don't miss!"Tom Swift in the Land of WondersCHAPTER XIX.POISONED ARROWS63It was not like Tom Swift to miss, nor did he on this occasion.There was aslight report from the electric riflea report not unlike the crackle of thewirelessand the powerful projectile sped true to its mark.Straight through the throat and chest under the uplifted jaw of the jaguar itwentthrough heart and lungs.Page 55 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThen with a great coughing, sighing snarl the beast reared up, gave aconvulsive leap forward toward its newly discovered enemies, and fell dead ina limp heap, just beyond the native over which it had been crouching before itdelivered the death stroke, now never to fall."You did it, Tom! You did it!" cried Ned, springing up from where he had beenkneeling to give his chum a better chance to shoot."You did it, and saved theman's life!" And Ned would have rushed out toward the still twitching body."Just a minute!" interposed Tom."Those beasts sometimes have as many lives asa cat.I'll give it one more for luck." Another electric projectile throughthe head of the jaguar produced no further effect than to move the bodyslightly, and this proved conclusively that there was no life left.It wassafe to approach, which Tom and Ned did.Their first thought, after a glance at the jaguar, was for the Indian.Itneeded but a brief examination to show that he was not badly hurt.The jaguarhad leaped on him from a low tree as he passed under it, as the boys learnedafterward, and had crushed the man to earth by the weight of the spotted bodymore than by a stroke of the paw.The American jaguar is not so formidable a beast as the native name of tigerwould cause one to suppose, though they are sufficiently dan gerous, and thisone had rather badly clawed the Indian.Fortunately the scratches were on thefleshy parts of the arms and shoulders, where, though painful, they were notnecessarily serious."But if you hadn't shot just when you did, Tom, it would have been all up withhim," commented Ned."Oh, well, I guess you'd have hit him if I hadn't," returned the younginventor."But let's see what we can do for this chap."The man sat up wonderinglyhardly able to believe that he had been saved fromthe dreaded "tigre." His wounds were bleeding rather freely, and as Tom andNed carried with them a firstaid kit they now brought it into use.The woundswere bound up, the man was given water to drink and then, as he was able towalk, Tom and Ned offered to help him wherever he wanted to go."Blessed if I can tell whether he's one of our Indians or whether he belongsto the Beecher crowd," remarkedTom."Senor Beecher," said the Indian, adding, in Spanish, that he lived in thevicinity and had only lately been engaged by the young professor who hoped todiscover the idol of gold before Tom's scientific friend could do so.Tom and Ned knew a little Spanish, and with that, and simple but expressivesigns on the part of the Indian, they learned his story.He had hispalmthatched hut not far from the Beecher camp, in a small Indian village, andhe, with others, had been hired on the arrival of the Beecher party to helpwith the excavations.These, for some reason, were delayed
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