Page:Neuroomia.djvu/76

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64
NEUROOMIA: A NEW CONTINENT.

severely. I endeavoured to pull him up, but he appeared to have already changed his tactics, and suddenly went down on his knees. I knew that my only safety was in sitting well back, so I sat back till my head touched his rump, keeping at the same time my legs well up, in case he might throw himself over on his side; but this appears not to have been his game, for, almost immediately his knees touched the ground, he sprang back clean from under me, and at the same time gave me a dig in the back with his horns, which afterwards caused me considerable pain and inconvenience.

When I recovered consciousness, I found myself lying in a bed on a large and well-ventilated room. The fresh air streamed in through the open windows, and I felt as if it were giving me new life. But where was I? The room and surroundings were strange to me.

I thought of the Penguin, Louva and Atazatlan. Then there was a young lady in the room; but not Louva, for she was a blonde, her beautiful golden hair waving in tresses over her shoulders. I looked into the kind and handsome face, and knew that I could not have seen it before. I was about to attempt to speak, when she came near, and said, in a sweet voice, “You are still very weak, Captain