Damon. Tom and Ned had
not gone far, however, before they heard a strange
cry from Mr. Damon.
"Tom! Ned!" shouted the eccentric man,
"Here's a monster after me! Come quick!"
"A tiger!" ejaculated Tom, as he began once
more to change the charge in his rifle to a larger
one, running back, meanwhile, in the direction
of the sound of the voice.
There were really no tigers in Honduras, the
jaguar being called a tiger by the natives, while
the cougar is called a lion. The presence of these
animals, often dangerous to man, had been indicated
around camp, and it was possible that one had been
bold enough to attack Mr. Damon, not through hunger,
but because of being cornered.
"Come on, Ned!" cried Tom. "He's in some
sort of trouble!"
But when, a moment later, the young inventor
burst through a fringe of bushes and saw Mr.
Damon standing in a little clearing, with upraised
club, Tom could not repress a laugh.
"Kill it, Tom! Kill it!" begged the eccentric man.
"Bless my insurance policy, but it's a terrible beast!"
And so it was, at first glance. For it was a
giant iguana, one of the most repulsive-looking
of the lizards. Not unlike an alligator in shape,
with spikes on its head and tail, with a warty,
squatty ridge-encrusted body, a big pouch beneath
its chin, and long-toed claws, it was enough
to strike terror into the heart of almost any one.
Even the smaller ones look dangerous, and this
one, which was about five feet long, looked
capable of attacking a man and injuring him.
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