s was not the only danger. The
jungle in the night time, when, amidst the stillness can be heard every
sound, every step, and almost the buzz which the insects creeping over
the grass make, is downright terrifying. Fear and terror hover over it.
Stas had to pay heed to everything, to listen, watch, look around in
every direction, have his head on screws, as it were, and have the
rifle ready to fire at any second. Every moment it seemed to him that
something was approaching, skulking, hiding in ambush. From time to
time he heard the grass stir and the sudden clatter of animals running
away. He then conjectured that he had scared some antelopes which,
notwithstanding posted guards, sleep watchfully, knowing that many
yellow, terrible hunters are seeking them at that hour in the darkness.
But now something big is darkly outlined under the umbrella-like
acacia. It may be a rock and it may be a rhinoceros or a buffalo which,
having scented a man, will wake from a nap and rush at once to attack
him. Yonder again behind a black bush can be seen two glittering dots.
Heigh! Rifle to face! That is a lion! No! Vain alarm! Those are
fireflies for one dim light rises upwards and flies above the grass
like a star shooting obliquely. Stas climbed onto ant-hillocks, not
always to ascertain whether he was going in the right direction, but to
wipe the cold perspiration from his brow, to recover his breath, and to
wait until his heart, palpitating too rapidly, calmed. In addition he
was already so fatigued that he was barely able to stand on his feet.

But he proceeded because he felt that he must do so, to save Nell.
After two hours he got to a place, thickly strewn with stones, where
the grass was lower and it was considerably lighter. The lofty hills
appeared as distant as before; on the other hand nearer were the rocky
ridges running transversely, beyond which the second, higher hill
arose, while both evidently enclosed some kind of valley or ravine
similar to the one in which the King was confined.

Suddenly, about three or four hundred paces on the right, he perceived
on the rocky wall the rosy reflection of a flame.

He stood still. His heart again beat so strongly that he almost heard
it amid the stillness of the night. Whom would he see below? Arabs from
the eastern coast? Smain's dervishes, or savage negroes who, escaping
from their native villages, sought protection from the dervishes in the
inaccessible thickets of the hills