210 THE HUNTER'S ARCADIA. 



relinquished post ; and, as night was rapidly approach- 

 ing, and the foe that would have been dangerous to 

 encounter driven off or killed, I did not hesitate to 

 get on my knees and call upon the lad to come out 

 as soon as possible. 



" Ya, ya, Bass," I thought I heard him answer, but 

 the sound appeared to come from so great a distance 

 that I felt quite uncertain whether my ears informed 

 me correctly. Like many another person under similar 

 circumstances, however, I accepted the response as 

 I wished it to be, so took a seat, again lit a pipe, and 

 ardently wished that my term of " sentry-go " was 

 over, and that I was on my way to camp, if not in 

 it, for I commenced to yearn for some of the succulent 

 food that I knew would be about ripe for feeding on 

 at this hour. 



My companions of the hunt, the fellows who had 

 departed on the spoor, did not return. " No, no, the 

 selfish beasts had gone home," I concluded; "what the 

 deuce did they care about a white man being left out 

 in the wilds all night ? not a fig ; not a con - ; " 

 there I stopped, for a voice informed me, a hollow, 

 sepulchral voice : " All right, Bass, I have got them." 



In a few minutes after, first one chocolate-coloured 



