A FORTUNATE SHOT. 365 



His final struggle at last released his hold, and he rolled away from the elephant 

 at the moment he would have been crushed had he hung fast. He came to rest on 

 his back, with his legs also pointing upward. They gave a few twitches, and then 

 it was all over. 



So the tiger was killed by a single bullet fired by Dick Brownell. 



Meanwhile, Mr. Godkin, finding it impossible to check the headlong flight of 

 his huge steed, took a rather dangerous leap to the ground, his servant, Jim, doing 

 the same, while the other remained in his seat and soon after reached the village 

 without harm. 



Mr. Godkin was impelled to this step by his solicitude for Dick, whom he had 

 left behind, within reach of the infuriated tiger. On his way back he met the 

 terrified Jack, who assured him that Jo and the young man had been killed. 



A short distance farther Jo was encountered, fleeing also for his life, and carry- 

 ing the tidings that Dick was entirely swallowed and in process of digestion by that 

 time. 



Mr. Godkin might have felt frightened had he not been near enough to the 

 scene of the conflict to see that his young friend, the report of whose weapon he 

 had heard, was alive and standing on his feet beside the prostrate tiger and the 

 elephant, which was in the act of climbing to an upright posture again. 



By this time the natives began to flock back, the news having been carried to 

 the crowds, who had not yet reached the village, that a fight was going on with the 

 tiger which they might be able to look upon from a safe distance. 



It did not take them long to find out the beast had been killed by the youngest 

 member of the party, and it was then that Dick Brownell experienced a taste of the 

 annoyances of popularity. Some of the natives seemed to suspect he was above 

 the range of ordinary mortals, and they gathered around him as if to satisfy their 

 doubts. 



The three servants, Jo, Jack and Jim, were among the most enthusiastic ; and I 

 am afraid that Mr. Godkin mischievously added to the adulation of the party by 

 relating some mythical exploits of his young friend on the other side of the great 

 water. 



