The sun, however, soon came out, reviving his hope; but it came so hot, that though it scarcely penetrated the thick foliage, which was matted with tangled vines, it generated stifling gases, which, rising from the damp shades, nearly strangled him; so that, having escaped death from the water, he now expected it from the air. Next came a great terror, and he expected to die from fright. There was a desperate battle between a hippopotamus and an alligator which reddened the yellow flood, and stirred it into a wilder foam than the great rain had done. The alligator he believed to be the great Dragon of Shoozoo, or Devil of the Watery World. Soon the whole swamp was filled with animals. Called out by the rain, some had come to feed, knowing that the waters, stirred by the shower, would be alive with fish and reptiles, while others—great land animals—had been disturbed in their lairs by the washout. Among these last was a great three-toed tapir, which seemed to be lost; and, following near it, came a more graceful animal, having a long tail and two-toed feet, forming a kind of intermediate type between a hog and a deer. These two animals were closely watched by a cave lion, which, washed out of his cave by the flood, was approaching them stealthily in hope of a meal. The sight was one of mingled fear and relief to Koree; for if the lion had not his eye on some desirable game, he would have attacked him. He awaited, therefore, with anxiety the next movements of the beasts, expecting another fight like that between the hippopotamus and the alligator, when a more dreadful sight alarmed both him and the lion, as well as the game which the lion was pursuing, and started them all in different directions. [Illustration: THE BATTLE IN THE SWAMP.]