The captain raised his gun and the boys their pistols, but before they could fire the beast had disappeared.
"What was it ?" asked Sam, trembling with excitement.
"I give it up, unless it was a bear," said Tom.
"I think I know what it was," said the captain.

"A big baboon or a gorilla." "I guess you are right, captain," answered Tom.

"I saw a gorilla in a menagerie, and it was exactly like that beast.

But what a big fellow he was!" "Gorillas are highly dangerous, especially when cornered," said Captain Blossom.

He himself was more frightened than he cared to admit.