^90 JUNGLE PEACE 



by sinking from the height of a man to that of 

 a jungle deer. And still I had lost nothing of 

 the insulation which my moccasins provided from 

 all the inconveniences of the forest floor. Look- 

 ing at Nupee after this rush of chaotic thoughts 

 which came between jungle and happenings, I 

 chuckled as I hugged my knees, for I knew 

 that Nupee had noticed and silently considered 

 my little accomplishment, and that he approved, 

 and I knew that I had acquired merit in his 

 sight. Thus may we revel in the approval of 

 our super-servants, but they must never know it. 

 From this eulogy of squatting, my mind re- 

 turned to the white light of the glade. I watched 

 the motionless leaves about me, many of them 

 drooping and rich maroon by daylight, for they 

 were just unbudded. Reaching far into the 

 dark mystery of the upper jungle stretched 

 the air-roots, held so straight by gravity, so un- 

 heeding of the whirling of the planet through 

 space. Only one mighty liana — a monkey-lad- 

 der — ^had revolted against this dominance of the 

 earth's pull and writhed and looped upon itself 

 in fantastic whorls, while along its length rip- 

 pled ever the undulations which mark this uneasy 

 growth, this crystallized Saint Vitus plant. 



