356 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



cheroot between my teeth the while, I sought the soothings 

 of tobacco. 



The rain had now passed away. I could hear it still 

 falling heavily, further down the glen. The jungle around 

 pattered with continuous dripping ; and mingled with the 

 smoke of my fragrant weed, came that wonderful scent of 

 fresh-soaked earth in a tropic land. There was no moon 

 that night, but as the thunder died away in splutterings, 

 the sky began to clear again, and that patch of dim light, 

 star-pricked now, came once more through the loophole. 



Whether it is the never-ceasing stream of thought that 

 flows through the mind while " sitting up" in the jungle, or 

 the entire absence thereof, time slips by in an extra- 

 ordinary manner on such occasions. My watch having 

 recently broken down under a long and systematic course 

 of ill-treatment, it was not easy to make even approximate 

 guesses at the time of night. No familiar planet or con- 

 stellation was visible through the loophole. And so it may 

 have been at any time up to midnight that the dull, settled 

 patience of my vigil was rewarded. A bank of fat clouds 

 had again collected, and the night had become almost 

 impenetrably dark. A few suspicious sounds of the most 

 intense faintness had been suggested to my ears now 

 pricked to gather with opened mouth such minute 

 microphonic disturbances of the quietness. 



" Here he comes," every sense seemed to say, and sure 

 enough, next moment, there was a sudden loud "Baa!" 

 from the unfortunate bait, and a rolling and a tugging 

 almost within reach of my hand. 



The barrel of the gun loaded with slugs pushed quickly 

 through the little loophole by " feel," that is to say, for no 

 glimmer of light was there to see by. Without there 

 reigned a deep silence. After a while came a slow deep 

 sniff. I ground the glowing end of the cheroot into the 

 earth at my feet, and swiftly covered it up : grabbed the 

 soft hat off my head, and stealthily slid it over the loophole, 



