mah could go no further. He had
already wandered far from the country so well known to him. Around him
grew _castanha_ trees with nuts in shells like cannon-balls that hung
high over his head; palms with leaves so enormous that one could
shelter an entire encampment; and birds of species he had never seen
before fluttered among the branches. The air was saturated with the
heavy though not unpleasant odor of vanilla beans. It was indeed a
strange land but Oomah was too ill to take much heed of his
surroundings.

At noon he could go no further. The ground seemed to rise toward his
flushed face and then smote him such a blow that all grew black before
his eyes.

When he awoke the screeching of the cicadas warned him that the day's
end was at hand. The fever had relented and he felt somewhat refreshed.
His first thought was of fire. Dry wood was not hard to find in the
crackling forest and a few deft twirls of the fire-sticks produced the
spark needed to set a handful of dry leaves aflame. Food there was none
so, with his back to the thick butt of a castanha tree and the blaze in
front Oomah silently and gravely awaited the coming of night.

Hours passed. The moon had disappeared and the glimmer of the stars did
not penetrate the canopy of foliage overhead. Even the goatsuckers,
queer birds that looked like giant whip-poor-wills, had ceased their
wails and in the jungle reigned the darkest hours of night.

Oomah awoke with a start, as if in response to the prod of a rude hand,
and shivered. The blaze had died to a mere flickering tongue of flame
that leapt now and then from the bed of coals. Over the youth came that
nameless feeling that bespoke the proximity of some living thing; seeing
nothing, he nevertheless felt that hidden eyes were boring him through.
Minutes dragged by; the suspense was frightful but his knowledge of the
wilderness bade him feign sleep and he moved not a muscle. Then, with a
suddenness that was appalling, the insane cackle of a woodrail
shattered the silence with its demoniacal cries. The sound, enough to
drive the uninitiated into a frenzy caused even Oomah to turn his head
toward the direction from which it had come, and what he saw were two
points of greenish fire glaring at him out of the blackness not ten
paces away.

Terror lent strength to the faltering arms. The protecting cap was
dashed from the poisoned arrow and the notched base of the shaft flew to
its position in the string. There