he fierce and hungry monsters. I gave up hope and ceased my
swimming, expecting every minute to see the water churned into angry
foam by the furious sharks. Instinctively I placed my hand on the knife
I had thrust through the lapel of my coat for just such an emergency,
but strength and courage were all gone and my nerveless hand could not
draw it out. It seemed a long time that I waited, half dazed, for death,
which I hoped when it came would be swift.

Then I began swimming again, but in a hopeless way. My nerve was all
gone. I fancied I was ringed around with the black-finned devils, and
thought I could discern the currents from their waving tails; but I kept
on swimming, pushing my raft before me, until suddenly I was thrilled
through by my foot striking the bottom.

Making a rush for the shore, and once there, heedless of the fact that I
was in the rear of the houses, I fell down in the sand, weak and
panting, and there I lay until strength enough to walk came to me. Then,
taking my baggage from the raft, and cutting the cords that bound it
together, I started on. Courage and confidence soon came back, and I
kept steadily on for three hours, passing several small salt water
inlets, but no fresh water to fill my now empty bottle.

At the first sign of day I went just within the border of the jungle,
and lying down was soon asleep, and sleeping soundly, too, for waking I
found the sun high in the heavens, and, looking at my watch, saw it was
9 o'clock. At the same time I discovered that I was hungry, with no food
save a small piece of dried beef and not a drop of water in my bottle.

The salt water lagoon, or inlet, where I had my adventure of the
previous night was marked on my map as a river, but it was not. However,
I did not worry over the water question, as I knew I was near the hilly
country surrounding the town of Alguizor, an important military
headquarters, and I was confident of soon meeting some creek flowing
from the hills. As for food, there were to be found in the dense jungle,
where the soil was moist and wet, the holes of the nut crabs. They were
large and fat--that is, appeared to be fat--and I knew that with plenty
of them in the jungle I should not suffer from hunger.

Before starting inland for the day I turned to look at the blue waters
rippling under a light breeze, and glancing in the sun, only a few yards
away, I smiled to think of the phantoms my fears had conjured up, but
for all that I