THE LURE OF KARTABO 17 



or tissue membrane; crawling or leaping by 

 night; burrowing underground; gnawing up 

 through the great supporting posts; swarming 

 up the bamboos and along the pliant curving 

 stems to drop quietly on the shingled roof; 

 thus had the jungle-life come past Hope's un- 

 seeing eyes and found the bungalow worthy resi- 

 dence. 



The bats were with us from first to last. We 

 exterminated one colony which spent its inverted 

 days clustered over the center of our supply 

 chamber, but others came immediately and dis- 

 puted the ownership of the dark room. Little 

 chaps with great ears and nose-tissue of sensi- 

 tive skin, spent the night beneath my shelves and 

 chairs, and even my cot. They hunted at dusk 

 and again at dawn, slept in my room and van- 

 ished in the day. Even for bats they were fero- 

 cious, and whenever I caught one in a butterfly- 

 net, he went into paroxysms of rage, squealing 

 in angry passion, striving to bite my hand and, 

 failing that, chewing vainly on his own long fin- 

 gers and arms. Their teeth were wonderfully 

 intricate and seemed adapted for some very spe- 

 cial diet, although beetles seemed to satisfy those 



