20 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 



but I hardly felt the pushing of the feet and 

 pulling of the thumbs as it crawled along. If 

 I had been asleep, I should not have awakened. 

 It continued up my forearm and came to rest 

 at my elbow. Here another long period of rest, 

 and then several short, quick shifts of body. 

 With my whole attention concentrated on my 

 elbow, I began to imagine various sensations as 

 my mind pictured the long, lancet tooth sink- 

 ing deep into the skin, and the blood pumping 

 up. I even began to feel the hot rush of my 

 vital fluid over my arm, and then found that I 

 had dozed for a moment and that all my sensa- 

 tions were imaginary. But soon a gentle tick- 

 ling became apparent, and, in spite of putting 

 this out of my mind and with increasing doubts 

 as to the bat being still there, the tickling con- 

 tinued. It changed to a tingling, rather pleasant 

 than otherwise, like the first stage of having one's 

 hand asleep. 



It really seemed as if this were the critical 

 time. Somehow or other the vampire was at 

 work with no pain or even inconvenience to me, 

 and now was the moment to seize him, call for 

 a lantern, and solve his supersurgical skill, the 

 exact method of this vespertilial anaesthetist. 



