Part 14 (1/2)

Another hour and the passage broadened into a clearing At least so it seeht and left And still the iave it up; we could go no farther A few uselessfor a soft spot to lie on-- We found none, of course; but even the hard, unyielding rock was grateful to our exhausted bodies We lay side by side, using our ponchos for pillows; our clothing at least was dry

I do not kno long I slept, but it seemed to me that I had barely dozed off when I akened by so--what?

There was no sound tointently into the darkness, shuddering without apparent reason Then I reflected that nothing is dangerous to a hed aloud--then trembled at the sound of ular breathing told of its depth

Again I lay down, but I could not sleep So er alone

And soon my ear justified it

At first it was not a sound, but thelike a pulse What could it be? Again I sat up, listening and peering into the darkness And this ti, sibilant

Little by little it increased, or rather approached, until it sounded but a few feet fro It was the silent, suppressed breathing of so ever nearer

Then was the darkness doubly horrible I sat paralyzed with h fear, thank Heaven, did not strike me! I could hear no footstep; no sound of any kind but that low, rushi+ng breathing; but it noas certain that whatever the thing was, it was not alone

From every side I heard it--closer, closer--until finally I felt the hot, fetid breath in ust, not far fro totoward hi sound, no rush of feet, nothing; but I felt ers

I tried to struggle, and iht of a score of soft, ill-shtened; my arms relaxed, my brain reeled, and I knew no more

Chapter VII

THE FIGHT IN THE DARK

I returned to consciousness with a sickening sensation of nausea and unreality Only h paralyzed Still darkness and silence, for all ht have been still in the spot where I had fallen

Then I tried to move my arms, and found that s, ht sound; and immediately I heard a whisper but a few feet away:

”Are you awake, Paul?”

I was still half dazed, but I recognized Harry's voice, and I answered simply: ”Yes Where are we?”

”The Lord knows! They carried us You have been unconscious for hours”

”They carried us?”

”Yes A thousand miles, I think, on their backs What--what are they, Paul?”

”I don't know Did you see theorillas and covered with hair; I felt that much They didn'tas me, and yet one of theh one hundred and seventy pounds”

”What are we bound with?”