362 THRILLING ADVENTURES. 



on. Just as their heads appeared above the bank, the 

 foremost coolie tripped his foot and fell, I groaned with dis- 

 appointment. Presently my brother came along with them 

 and brought the battery to my feet ; a good deal of the acid 

 had been spilled, but with the aid of a bottle of fresh acid we 

 had brought with us, we soon got the battery up to the re- 

 quisite power. Every thing being now in order, I commenced 

 pulling up the rope with the wire. I proceeded as cautiously 

 as possible, for fear of disturbing the mugger ; but in spite of 

 all my efforts, the inflated skin, in coming up the bank, dis- 

 lodged some loose pieces of earth, and sent them splashing 

 into the water. Fortunately, however, the mugger had made 

 up his mind to digest the kid where he was. I could not help 

 chuckling when I at length got hold of the end of the wires. 

 While my brother was fastening one of them to the battery, 

 I got the other ready for completing the circuit ; the mugger 

 all the while lying still at the bottom of the nullah with, most 

 likely a couple of fathoms of water over his head, unconscious 

 of danger, and little dreaming that the two-legged creatures 

 on the bank had got a nerve communicating with his stomach, 

 through which they were going to send a flash of lightning, 

 that would shatter his scaly hulk to pieces. 



Every thing being now ready, I made the fatal contact. 

 Our success was complete ! We felt a shock as if something 

 had fallen down the bank a mound of muddy water rose, 

 a muffled, rumbling sound, and then burst out to a column of 

 dark smoke. A splashing and bubbling succeeded, and then 

 a great crimson patch floated on the water, like a variegated 

 carpet pattern. Strange-looking fragment of scaly skin were 

 picked up by the natives from the water's edge, and brought 

 to us amid a very general rejoicing. The exploded mugger 

 floated down the stream, and the current soon carried it out 

 of sight. We were not at all sorry, for it looked such a 

 horrible mess that we felt no desire to examine it. 



Our sense of triumphant satisfaction was, however, sadly 





