smothered in the embrace of lichen and
creepers, accepted the homage of the plant life indifferently. Piang
was blind to the sublimity of his surroundings, as he hurried
on. Carefully he stepped on the ledge; warily he held out his bolo
to ward off surprises. A sudden hiss made him leap into the stream,
and shuddering, he plunged on, down the black path. Would the stream
lead him to the sunlight again? Or was he burrowing into the depths
of the earth, never again to breathe the air of life?

Finally, after almost giving up hope, he heard the distant call of
a mina-bird. The jungle! Frantically he worked his way forward,
wondering if the mate to the sentinel at the other opening would
bar his passage. Daylight! Faintly, at the end of the long tunnel,
he could see the blessed green of the forest, but his cry of joy was
stilled; his hope of safety vanished. Again that mournful cry echoed
through the cavern, and he gave himself up for lost. The souls of
the wicked were pursuing him, would capture him, and make him pay
for intruding upon them! Piang reeled as he heard a splash in the
water behind him; he caught at something for support; it writhed out
of his hand. Paralyzed with fear, the boy scarcely breathed. On came
the pursuer, stealthily, warily. Reaching the end of his endurance,
Piang wheeled, and faced the cave. Something paused, whined, and a
streak flew past him. The fetid odor of a living creature brought
him to his senses, and his anxious eyes discerned the outline of a
civet-cat making its way to the opening.

As he struggled through those last few rods, Piang thought he had
never worked so hard in his life, but finally he lay in the sunshine,
safe, free, and unafraid.

For two days Piang struggled upward. Everything was strange to him;
the growths and trees were different from those of the lowlands. Scrub
palms, covered with small buds, on which the dread packda feeds,
began to appear, and Piang anxiously scanned the trees. There is no
creature in the jungle that has the strength of the packda. Only the
crocodile and the python are foolish enough to attack it, but the
crocodile's jaws are torn asunder, and the python is clawed to pieces.

"Piang!" The name echoed and vibrated through the forest. Who had
called him? Trembling with fear, filled with apprehension, Piang
took refuge in a tree. From the branches he scanned the surrounding
forest. Was a spirit following him from the haunted cave, or was it
t