The Jungle Girl Part 6

"Don't shout, sir! Don't wake her! She'd be too confused to move."

Then he thrust his field-gla.s.ses into the adjutant's hand.

"Watch for the strike of my bullet, Ray," he said.

He threw himself at full length on the ground and pressed a cartridge into the breech of his rifle. His companions stood over him as he cast a hurried glance forward and adjusted his sight, muttering:

"Just about four hundred yards."

The crocodile was nearly broadside on to him; and even at that distance he could see the scaly armour covering head, back and sides, that would defy any bullet. The unprotected spot behind the shoulder was hidden from him; the only vulnerable part was the neck. Wargrave laid his cheek to the b.u.t.t and sighted on this.

The crocodile crept on inch by inch, dragging its limbs forward with the slow, stealthy movement of its kind when stalking their prey on land.

The horrified watchers saw that the terrible snout with its protruding fangs was barely a yard from Mrs. Norton's feet. Raymond's hands holding the gla.s.ses to his eyes trembled violently. The Resident shook as with the palsy; and he stared in horror at the crawling death that threatened the sleeping woman.

Wargrave fired.

As the rifle rang out the creeping movement ceased.

"You've hit him, I'll swear," cried Raymond. "I didn't see the bullet strike the ground."

Wargrave rapidly worked the bolt of his rifle, jerking out the empty case and pushing a fresh cartridge into the chamber. He fired again.

"That's got him! That _must_ have got him!" exclaimed Raymond.

The crocodile lay still. Frank leapt to his feet and, rifle in hand, dashed down the incline. At that moment Mrs. Norton awoke, turned on her side, raised her body a little and suddenly saw the horrible reptile.

She sat up rigid with terror and stared at it. The brute slowly opened its huge mouth and disclosed the cruel, gapped teeth. Then the iron jaws clashed together. With a shriek the woman sprang to her feet, but stood trembling, unable to move away.

"Run! Run!" shouted Wargrave, springing down the slope towards her.

Behind him raced Raymond, while her husband, who was unable to run fast, followed far behind.

Mrs. Norton seemed rooted to the spot. But she turned to Wargrave with outstretched arms and gasped:

"Save me, Frank! Save me!"

With a bound he reached her, and, as she clung to him convulsively, panted out:

"It's all right, dear. You're safe now."

He pushed her behind him, and bringing the rifle to his shoulder, faced the crocodile. The brute opened and shut its great jaws, seeming to gasp for air, while a strange whistling sound came from its throat. Its body appeared to be paralysed.

"It can't move. You've broken its spine," cried Raymond, as he reached them. "Your first shot it must have been. Look! Your second's torn its throat."

He pointed to the neck and went round to the other side. From a jagged, gaping wound where the expanding bullet had torn the throat, the blood spurted and air whistled out with a shrill sound.

Wargrave turned to Violet and took the terrified woman, who seemed on the point of fainting, in his arms.

"All right, little girl. It's all right. The brute's done for."

She pulled herself together with an effort and looked nervously at the crocodile. Then she released herself from Frank's clasp and said, smiling feebly:

"What a coward I am! I'm ashamed of myself. Where's John? Oh, here he is. Doesn't he look funny?"

The Resident, very red-faced and out of breath, had slowed down into a shambling walk and was puffing and blowing like a grampus. As he came up to them he spluttered:

"Is it safe? Is it dead?"

"It's harmless now, sir," answered Raymond. "It's still living but it can't move. The spine's broken, I think."

The Resident turned to his wife. The poor man had been in agony while she was in danger; but now that the peril had pa.s.sed he could only express his relief in irritable scolding:

"How could you be so foolish, Violet?" he asked crossly. "The idea of going to sleep near the tank! Most unwise! You might have been eaten alive."

His wife smiled bitterly and glanced at the grumbling man with a contemptuous expression on her face.

"Yes, John, very inconsiderate of me, I daresay. But how was I to know that there was a _mugger_ (crocodile) in the tank?"

Then for the first time she realised the nearness of the water.

"Good gracious! I thought I was much farther--how did I get so close to it? Did I slip down in my sleep?"

"No; there are the trees," said Raymond. "It's extraordinary. The whole tank seems to have shifted."

The Resident was mopping his bald scalp and lifted his hat to let the gusty wind cool his head. A sudden squall blew the big pith sun-helmet out of his hand. Wargrave caught it in the air and returned it to its owner.

"By Jove! it's a regular gale," he said. "I think I know what's happened. This wind's so strong that it's blown the water of the tank before it and actually shifted the whole ma.s.s thirty or forty yards this way."

"Yes, I've known that to occur before with shallow ponds," said Raymond.

"I've heard the pa.s.sage of the Red Sea by the Israelites and the drowning of Pharaoh's Army explained in the same way. It's said that the crossing really took place at one extremity of the Bitter Lake through which the Suez Ca.n.a.l pa.s.ses."

Major Norton was staring at the far end of the tank now left bare.

"There may be some interesting insects stranded on the bottom uncovered by the receding water," he said, abstractedly, and was moving away to search for them when Wargrave said disgustedly:

"Don't you think, sir, that, as Mrs. Norton has had such a shock, the sooner we get off the better?"

"Yes, yes. Very true. But you can order the camels to be saddled while I'm having a look," replied the enthusiastic collector. "I really must go and see. There may be some very interesting specimens there."

And he hurried away. His wife smiled rather bitterly as he went. Then she turned to the two subalterns.

"But tell me what happened? How did the _mugger_ come here? How was I saved?"

Raymond rapidly narrated what had taken place. Violet looked at Wargrave with glistening eyes and held out her hands to him.

"So you saved my life. How can I thank you?" she said gratefully. Her lips trembled a little.

Frank took her hands in his but answered lightly:

"Oh, it was nothing. Anyone else would have done the same. I happened to be the only one with a rifle."