CHAPTER LVIII. 



THE CRASH OF SPLINTERING WOOD. 



was natural that all the party should feel more or less uneasiness from the 

 fact that no one could say where the hippopotamus was. The probabilities 

 were that she had left the neighborhood, but for the present there could be no 

 certainty on that point. All appreciated the necessity of stillness, for a loud word 

 or a careless splash with pole or paddle might draw the beast directly upon them. 

 She was probably so enraged because of her wound, that nothing like fear would 

 restrain her from rushing headlong at anything which might present itself. 



It will be understood that the main danger lay in the inevitable noise of the pole 

 or paddle while propelling the craft across the river. Water is a much better con- 

 ductor of sound than air, and no little skill was required to handle those imple- 

 ments. 



As the raft and dug-out kept so nigh each other, it was an easy matter to 

 exchange words in low tones, without increasing the danger of detection by their 

 giant enemy. 



The stars were dazzling in their brilliancy/ and the constellations shone with a 

 splendor surpassing anything they had ever seen. Nothing could equal the beauty 

 of the Southern Cross, on which both Bob and Dick gazed more than once while 

 crossing the stream. 



But the increasing sense of danger brought back their attention to the sphere 

 on which they lived, and, when they found they were near the middle of the river, 

 they thought of nothing else. 



" I wonder where she can be," said Bob, in a guarded undertone, from his 

 perch in the stern of the dug-out, to his cousin, who was standing erect on the raft 

 less than a dozen feet away. 



" I cannot think there is any likelihood of our stirring her up," said Dick, in 

 reply. "It seems impossible that we should run against her when we traverse such 

 a narrow path." 



" It isn't impossible, but we ought to be able to go very close to the hippopota- 

 mus without disturbing her. Can you hear the ripple of Pongo's paddle?" 



The two were silent a moment, during which they could scarcely distinguish the 

 soft rustling of the implement which the Bushman plied with such skill. He kept 

 the dug-out in motion by using it first on one side of the boat and then on the other, 

 but his extreme care prevented him going very fast. 



It was the same with the Hottentot, who handled the long pole. He did not 

 raise the lower end above the surface, for it was not necessary to do so, but he was 

 obliged continually to withdraw the point from the muddy bottom, and a slight 



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