As
a matter of fact the iguanas are harmless, their
shape and coloring being designed to protect them.
"Don't be afraid, Mr. Damon," called Tom, still
laughing. "It won't hurt you!"
"I'm not so positive of that. It won't let me pass."
"Just take your club and poke it out of the way,"
the young inventor advised. "It's only waiting
to be shoved."
"Then you do it, Tom. Bless my looking glass,
but I don't want to go near it! If my wife could
see me now she'd say it served me just right."
Mr. Damon was not a coward, but the giant
iguana was not pleasant to look at. Tom, with
the butt of his rifle, gave it a gentle shove,
whereupon the creature scurried off through the brush
as though glad to make its escape unscathed.
"I thought it was a new kind of alligator," said
Mr. Damon with a sigh of relief.
"Where is it?" asked Professor Bumper, coming
up at this juncture. "A new species of alligator?
Let me see it!"
"It's too horrible," said Mr. Damon. "I never
want to see one again. It was worse than a
vampire bat!"
Notwithstanding this, when he heard that it
was one of the largest sized iguanas ever seen,
the professor started through the jungle after it.
"We can't take it with us if we get it," Tom
called after his friend.
"We might take the skin," answered the
professor. "I have a standing order for such things
from one of the museums I represent. I'd like
to get it. Then they are often eaten. We can
have a change of diet.
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