2IO A THIEF OF THE NIGHT. 



"You mean to say, then," said Jack, "that if four or five of us should head 

 westward, we are likely to reach the Atlantic, obtain ship to the north, and save 

 weeks and months of time ? " 



"That is my view, but I have already named the greatest objection to that 

 course. We have secured a lot of valuable prizes for whose care I am responsible, 

 and, if I turn them over to a party of natives, and calamity should befall them, Mr. 

 Barnum would never excuse me. No," said the director, with a compression of his 

 lips, "it will never do." 



" You're right," added the Texan, decisively; " we will see the train safe out of 

 the woods, or, at least, do all we can to see it out, and then we'll look into the 

 gorilla business." 



I may say that I was surprised to learn from Mr. Godkin that there had ever 

 been any question in his mind as to the proper course for him to pursue. Having 

 reached a decision, he himself wondered that he had ever wavered on the point. I 

 suspect that his strong desire to gratify the wishes of his young friends interfered, 

 to a slight extent, with his natural level-headedness in such matters; for I tr_t I 

 have told you enough to make clear his coolness and good sense in such crises as 

 he was continually meeting. 



It was not yet midnight when the director announced his conclusion in such 

 emphatic language. He and Jack refilled their pipes, and smoked as though they 

 would never tire. Wart and Adz, the natives, were dimly seen in the faint light of 

 the fire and moon, as they plodded back and forth on the edge of the camp. 



They did not encircle it in their tramping, as they should have done, but their 

 beat covered a small space at the side and a few yards from where the white men 

 sat discussing the future movements of the expedition. 



The fire had smoldered so low that the two could hardly see each other's faces. 

 Mr. Godkin stepped forward and stirred the wood with his foot, so that it broke 

 forth into a large, crackling blaze. There was plenty of wood within reach, and he 

 flung a lot on the flames. 



" We don't need it," he said, resuming his seat on the other side, and facing 

 the Texan, " but it is so cheerful that I prefer to keep it going. I wonder what 

 time it is." 



He drew out his watch to answer his own question, and found that midnight 

 was but half an hour distant. 



Once more he settled back, but, before he could add anything to what he had 

 just said, Jack Harvey spoke in the most matter-of-fact tone: 



"Don't stir; there's a wild man right behind you; I'll attend to him." 



" What do you mean to do ? " asked Mr. Godkin, with the same coolness, as he 

 deliberately puffed his pipe. 



