73 



went the gun, and I almost let off the right bar- 

 rel. Near the end of the great log a few dots of 

 scarlet caught my eye. He was hit there was 

 no doubt of that. Ever so carefully, step by 

 step, and scanning carefully every possible foot 

 of the way, I took up his trail. Twice I lost it, 

 and twice I turned back and puzzled it out again. 

 Now and then I could see his footprints plainly 

 in the soft soil, and occasionally a spot of blood. 

 Then the ground became harder, and the blood 

 spots fewer and further apart, until I finally 

 lost all trace; made a circle back to pick up the 

 trail again, missed it, tried again and again, and 

 then tried to find my way back to the tree where 

 I had been watching. In an hour more there was 

 no use trying to fool myself, though I hated to 

 accept it as a fact. I was lost; and what was 

 more, at almost this moment there came a ver- 

 itable tropical downpour. Before the torrents of 

 rain pelted down and drenched me through I 

 was in a dripping perspiration, but now the sud- 

 den w r etting had thrown me into a violent chill, 

 shaking so from head to foot I was compelled to 

 put my gun down for fear of dropping it. 



So far I had escaped fever, but this occurrence 

 was almost sure to bring on fever that would go 

 raging and surging until it ran its course one 



