, bristly-necked animal, suddenly raised its head
and gazed sharply, with eyes that looked fiery in the brilliant
sunshine, straight in his direction.

_Twang! twang_! went two bowstrings, the arrows whizzed through the air,
and in the midst of a rush, away tore the herd down the valley, just as
Ned leaped up, made a bound or two, and plunged his spear down amidst
the bushes.

Jack dropped his bow, caught up his own spear, and dashed forward to
help finish the wounded pigs, and Ned was up before him, panting and
dripping with perspiration.

"Got one?" cried Jack.

"Got one!" cried Ned bitterly. "Course we ain't. Just like my luck."

"Oh!" groaned Jack, as a pang of hunger shot through him.

"I never saw such arrows," cried Ned passionately. "I could smash the
lot. They don't go straight."

"Is it any use to follow them?" said Jack.

"No, sir; it ain't," cried the man angrily. "And what's more, you know
it ain't. What's the good of aggravating a poor fellow? And," he added
pathetically, "I did mean to have such a roast."

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

IN THE FACE OF PERIL.

"Come on," said Jack, after they had stood listening for a few minutes,
and gazing in the direction taken by the pigs. "Is it any use looking
for the arrows?"

"Not a bit, sir. Here, only let me find one lying asleep in the mud
somewhere. I dare say there's, dozens doing it now, with their eyes
shut, and their curly tails pretending to whisk away the flies. Come
on, sir, we must keep going, hot as it is. Never mind, we shall do it
yet, but next time I'm not going to trust to bows and arrows. You shall
hunt them down to where I'm hiding, and I'll skewer one somehow or
another."

But in the next two hours' weary struggle among trees, rocks, and waving
creepers they only heard pigs once, and then it was as they dashed off
unseen, grunting and squealing wildly. Birds were scarcer and very
small, while they felt no temptation to try the esculent qualities of
the lizards they saw glancing about over the hot lava, or of the snakes
which hurriedly crawled away.

They were successful though in finding a trickling stream of pure cold
water, and a tree bearing a kind of fruit something like a poor, small
apricot with a very large stone. It was bitter and sour, but it did, as
Ned said, to clean your teeth.

Three more arrows were lost in shooting at birds, but without success,
and Ned shook his head.

"I don't know how it is with