e stopped suddenly and showed
us some wood ready for making a fire.

Here we had a welcome rest and a hearty meal, but he did not let us stay
long, hurrying us forward, till, just before sundown, he brought us to a
dense patch of forest, with huge trees towering upward and spreading
their branches, making an impenetrable shade.

"It will be too dark to travel far here to-night, Nat," said my uncle.
"Where does he mean to go? But this ought to be the place for the birds
of paradise, Nat, if we are to get any."

Just then Ebo stopped, and we found a rough hut of leaves with a bed of
fern already waiting for us, this having been part of his work during
his prolonged absence.

His delight knew no bounds as he saw that we were pleased, and as usual
he indulged in a dance, after which he caught us in turn by the arm and
tried very hard to explain that the birds of paradise were plentiful
here.

We were too tired to think about anything much besides sleep, and very
gladly crept into our hut, to sleep so soundly without a single thought
of serpents or huge apes, that I seemed hardly to have closed my eyes,
and felt exceedingly grumpy and indisposed to move when Ebo began
shaking me to get me up.

"All right!" I said, and then, as I lay still with my eyes closed, Ebo
kept on:

"Hawk, hawk, hawk; kwok, kwok, kwok;" and it seemed so stupid of him,
but there it was again; "Hawk, hawk, hawk; kwok, kwok, kwok."

"Come, Nat," cried my uncle; "unbutton those eyelids, boy, and get up.
Don't you hear the birds calling?"

"I thought it was Ebo, uncle," I said. "Oh! I am so sleepy."

"Never mind the sleepiness, Nat. Come along and let's see if we cannot
get some good specimens."

Just then I saw Ebo's face in the opening, and cutting a yawn right in
half I followed my uncle out into the darkness, for though the birds of
paradise were calling, there was no sign of day.

But if we wished for success I felt that we must get beneath the trees
unseen, and, examining my gun, I followed my uncle, who in turn kept
close behind Ebo.

The black went forward very cautiously, and looking very strange and
misty in the darkness; but he evidently knew what he was about, going
along amongst the great tree trunks without a sound, while we followed
as lightly as we could.

On all sides we could hear the hoarse cries of the birds, which we felt
must be in good numbers, and I felt less sleepiness now in the fresh
morning air, and a cur