But now life itself seemed to hang upon his haste. Fortunately the distance was short, so that he covered it in a space of time less than five minutes--five minutes that might have been fatal, alas, for ere now the wild shrieks had died into silence more terrifying still--portentous silence in which the victim might have died. At last! At last! After an eternity of time it seemed to him--he reached the scene of his suspicions. He was right, for from the pit came terrible sounds, while all the varied denizens of the zoo, having been startled from sleep by the screams of fear, were making hideous din in their several voices, the uproar creating a sort of babel of the scene. Over all shone the full moon in a cloudless sky, making everything almost as clear as day. Bonair flung himself face downward, peering into Zilla’s abode. Down there was something white that could dimly be seen on the ground, while Zilla crouched over it, hitting pounding blows with her big paws. The other three bears who shared the pit were not taking any part, only walking about on their hind legs, expressing dismay and wonder by dismal and prolonged growling. “Oh, Heaven, have pity!” Bonair cried wildly, and leaped into the pit. He fell flat on his face, and Zilla’s attention was quickly attracted so that the lifted paw, big, hairy, ponderous, fell nerveless as she turned desperately on the new intruder upon her domain. Before he could struggle up to his feet, breathless from his race and the shock of his fall, the black bear dealt him a blow hard enough to knock the life out of him if he had not been nerved by a terrible anxiety that almost made him proof against her force. He got up feebly and clutched at her, muttering through a mouthful of blood: “Zilla! Zilla!” The name proved his salvation, for the huge black animal was opening her arms to crush him to her in a grip that meant death, but she paused in sudden indecision. “Zilla! Zilla!” the man cried again hoarsely, entreatingly, his heart leaping to his throat in panting gasps. A stifled moan smote his ear, but it did not come from Zilla, but from the still white something on the ground, and at the sound the bear turned toward it again with a ferocious growl. But the great uplifted hairy paw did not fall, for with lightning swiftness, Bonair sprang forward, his fist shot out with terrible force and struck the animal just between the eyes, so that she lurched backward. “Zilla, you devil, if you have hurt her, I will kill you!” he shouted, as he flung himself between them. Madam Bruin, who had seen stars for a moment as his fist struck her face, now regained her feet, standing erect and menacing, but without making direct attack. She seemed dazed, stupefied, and a sort of shiver shook her huge black body.