But the wounded forepaw was a hindrance to the lion’s movements, and he began to crawl along the hollow’s edge, seeking a better point from which to make a leap.

Then Dick’s pistol spoke up a second time.

This shot was a far better one, and the bullet passed directly through the knee-joint of the lion’s left forepaw.  He was now wounded in both fore limbs, and set up a roar which seemed to fairly make the jungle tremble.  Twice he started to leap down into the hollow, but each time retreated to shake one wounded limb after another into the air with whines of pain and distress.

As soon as the great beast reappeared once more Dick continued his firing.  Soon his pistol was empty, but the lion had not been hit again.  In nervous haste the lad started to re-load only to find that his cartridge box was empty.

“Get out!” he yelled at the lion, and threw a stone at the beast.  But the lion was now determined to descend into the hollow, and paused only to calculate a sure leap to the boy’s head.

But that pause, brief as it was, was fatal to the calculations of the monarch of the jungle.  From his rear came two shots in rapid succession, each hitting him in a vulnerable portion of his body.  He leaped up into the air, rolled over on the edge of the hollow, and then came down, head first, just grazing Dick’s arm, and landing at the boy’s feet, stone dead.

“Hurrah!  I reckon I hit him!” came in Tom Rover’s voice.

“And so did I,” came from Randolph Rover.

“But he has disappeared.”

“This way, Tom!” cried Dick, with all the strength he could command.  He was shaking like a reed in the wind and all of the color had deserted his face.

“It’s Dick!” ejaculated Tom.  “I told you that I had heard several pistol shots.”

Soon Tom and Mr. Rover presented themselves at the top of the hollow, followed by Aleck and Cujo.  The latter procured a rope made of twisted vines, and by this Dick was raised up without much difficulty.

CHAPTER XXVI

THE LAST OF JOSIAH CRABTREE

All listened intently to the story Dick had to tell, and he had not yet finished when Dick Chester presented himself, having been attracted to the vicinity by the roars of the lion and the various pistol and gun shots.

“This Crabtree must certainly be as bad as you represent,” he said.  “I will have a talk with him when I get back to our camp.”

“It won’t be necessary for you to talk to him,” answered Dick grimly.  “If you’ll allow me, I’ll do the talking.”

“All right,” grinned the Yale student.  “Do, as you please.  We are a getting tired of him.”

Chester and Cujo descended into the hollow to examine the lion.  There was a bullet in his right foreleg which Chester proved had come from his rifle.  “He must be the beast Frank Rand and I fired at from across the lake.  Probably he had his home in the hollow and limped over to it during the night.”