JUNGLE NIGHT 293 



than any fairyland of which I have read or 

 which I have conceived. The jungle by day, as 

 I have said that, too, is wonderful. We may 

 have two friends, quite unlike in character, 

 whom we love each for his own personality, and 

 yet it would be a hideous and unthinkable thing 

 to see one transformed into the other. 



So, with the mist settling down and tarnish- 

 ing the great plaque of silver, I left the jungle, 

 glad that I could be far away before the first 

 hint of dawn came to mar the magic. Thus in 

 memory I can always keep the dawn away until 

 I return. 



And some time in the future, when the lure 

 of the full moon comes, and I answer, I shall 

 be certain of finding the same silence, the same 

 wonderful light, and the waiting trees and the 

 magic. But Nupee may not be there. He will 

 perhaps have slipped into memory, with Drojak 

 and Aladdin. And if I find no one as silently 

 friendly as Nupee, I shall have to watch alone 

 through my jungle night. 



