Having been ambushed by the notorious Fu Manchu while on safari, T.R. shook off the effects of the ether vapor in time to witness the flight of the Oriental villain into the scrub brush. The members of his party were nowhere to be seen, absconded with alongside the vital expeditionary log they had written to catalog the wonders of natural history for the American Smithsonian. Hindering the enlightening progress of Western Science was likely a mere byproduct of Fu Manchu's true sinister purpose.
The sun-drenched savanna gave way to dense jungle thicket. Following the Chinaman's clear path through the undergrowth lead Theodore to the muddy bank of a minor river, doubtlessly one of the inland tributaries that flowed together to form the mighty Nile.
Reasoning that the draft was too shallow for craft able to steam against the current, and finding mere water no obstacle to the man who had dug the Panama Canal, Teddy waded in waist deep and gave chase downstream.
Even as the placid flow turned to torrential rapids capable of dashing him into the rocks, Theodore persevered at a brisk pace.
He recognized a sudden telltale countercurrent coming in his direction as well as the vast black shape just beneath the water which accompanied it. As it neared the surface, a distinctive fin rose up to end all doubt: it was a shark!
"Bully!" Theodore said with enthusiasm.
With a swift surge, as if it were a torpedo, the shark burst from the water in a gravity-defying leap. T.R.'s vast ecological knowledge allowed him, in the the instant that the beast flew towards him with its row-upon-row of razor sharp teeth gnashing like knives, to identify the foul creature as more than a simple river shark. This was the dreaded Hammer-headed Great White Bull Tiger, aka the Africanized Man-eater, a hybridized invasive apex predator!
Knowing the hide of the behemoth was thick enough to make it impervious to gunfire, Teddy braced himself as the shark's lunge brought it crashing into him, mouth agape with intent to devour. Only the force of his American muscles held back the thrashing maw, mere inches from his face.
Thinking with uncommon swiftness, Teddy drew back his upper hand, wrestling at the slick top of the shark's wide snout, and formed a fist. He walloped the carnivore directly in its delicate package of sensory tissues. Only this made it retreat