Page:The Boy Land Boomer.djvu/40

32 Like a flash the pistol came up. But ere Pawnee Brown could fire a curious thing happened.

A large drop of water, splashing down from the roof of the cavern, caused the light to splutter and go out.

The scout was in the dark with his enemy.

More than this, he was boxed up in a narrow place, from which escape was well-nigh impossible.

Aiming as best he could under the circumstances, he fired.

The bullet struck the flat rock, bounded up to the side wall of the cavern and then hit him in the leg.

"Missed, by thunder!"

He jumped past the spot and moved up the cavern a distance of several yards.

A rattle and a whirr followed, as the great rattle snake made a vicious strike in the dark. An intense hiss sounded out when the reptile realized that the object of his anger had been missed.

Listening with strained ears, the boomer heard the deadly thing sliding slowly from rock to rock, coming closer at every movement.

To flee was impossible, so with bated breath he stood his ground.