ADVENTURE ON THE HIGHWAY 211 



letter of introduction to his sub-agent in the next 

 village, and as that hamlet was some distance off, 

 we took our leave at once. 



For miles we struggled on through the tangle of 

 vegetation without encountering a sign of the hand of 

 man. The shadows lengthened eastward, twilight fell 

 and thickened to darkness. To travel by night in this 

 jungle country is utterly impossible. We paid for 

 our attempt to do so by losing our way and sinking 

 to our knees in a slimy swamp. When we had dragged 

 ourselves to more solid ground, all sense of direction 

 was gone. With raging thirst and gnawing hunger, we 

 threw ourselves down in the depths of the wilderness. 

 The ground was soft and wet. In ten minutes we had 

 sunk half out of sight. I pulled my ' swag ' loose and 

 rolled over to another spot. It was softer and wetter 

 than the one I had left. 



' Hark ! ' murmured James suddenly. * Is that a 

 dog barking? Perhaps there's a village near/ 



We listened intently, breathlessly. A far-off howl 

 sounded above the droning of the jungle. Possibly 

 some dog was baying the faint face of the moon. 

 There was an equal possibility that we had heard the 

 roar of some beast abroad in quest of prey. ' Tigers 

 abound/ the Englishman had said. So must snakes 

 in this reptile-breeding undergrowth. A crackling of 

 twigs close beside me sent an electric shock along 

 my spine. I opened my mouth to call to James. He 

 forestalled me. 



' Hello ! ' he whispered. ' Say, I'll get a fever if 

 I sleep in this mud. Let's try that big tree there.' 



It was a gigantic growth for the tropics. The lowest 

 of its wide-spreading branches the Australian could 



