hrowing a tarpaulin across the
bows, ready for them to creep under as soon as the rain came.

"False alarm, boys!" said Brazier.

Shaddy overheard him, and wrinkled up his face in a curious grin as he
looked hard at Rob. It was as much as to say, "All right! Just you
wait a bit and see who's right and who's wrong."

"My word, how hot!" cried Rob the next minute, for the sun appeared to
be shining down through a kind of transparent haze so dense that it
acted like a burning glass.

"Yes, this is fierce," said Joe, drawing back into the shade afforded by
the great tree.

"It would give one sunstroke, wouldn't it, if we stopped in the full
blaze?"

"I suppose so. But I say, Shaddy's right. We are going to have a
storm."

"How do you know?"

"By the sun gleaming out like that."

"Oh, I don't think that's anything," said Rob. "Here, let's get up into
this tree and collect some orchids for Mr Brazier."

He looked up into the large forest monarch as he spoke--a tree which on
three sides was wonderfully laden with great drooping boughs.
Consequent upon its position at the western corner of the clearing where
the boat was moored, the boughs formed a magnificent shelter for their
boat down almost to the water, while on the side of the opening they
pretty well touched the ground.

But Rob paid little heed to this, his attention being taken up by the
fact that, though there was perfect silence, the tree was alive with
birds and monkeys, which were huddled together in groups, as if their
instinct had taught them that a terrible convulsion of nature was at
hand. As a rule they would have taken flight or scampered about through
the branches as soon as human beings had come to the tree, but now, as
if aware of some great danger, they were content to share the shelter
and run all risks.

"See them, Master Rob?" said Shaddy, with a grin. "No mistake this
time! Look out; I daresay there'll be snakes dropping down there
by-and-by, but so long as you don't touch 'em I don't s'pose they'll
touch us. Shouldn't wonder if we get something else."

Just then Brazier called him to draw his attention to some of the
covering, and they heard him say,--

"Don't see as we can do any more, sir. Things are sure to get wet; you
can't stop it. All we can do is to keep 'em from getting wetter than we
can help."

The sun still shone brilliantly, streaming down, as it were, through the
leaves of the great tree like a shower of