ad ever seen before. It was all strange and gloomy,
and very silent. Not a leaf trembled; for if one had trembled near
him he would have heard it whisper in that profound stillness that
made him hold his breath to listen. But sometimes at long intervals
the silence would be broken by a sound that made him start and stand
still and wonder what had caused it. For the rare sounds in the
forest were unlike any sounds he had heard before. Three or four
times during the day a burst of loud, hollow, confused laughter
sounded high up among the trees; but he saw nothing, although most
likely the creature that had laughed saw him plainly enough from its
hiding-place in the deep shadows as it ran up the trunks of the trees.

[Illustration: ]

At length he came to a river about thirty or forty yards wide;
and this was the same river that he had bathed in many leagues
further down in the open valley. It is called by the savages
Co-viota-co-chamanga, which means that it runs partly in the dark
and partly in the light. Here it was in the dark. The trees grew
thick and tall on its banks, and their wide branches met and
intermingled above its waters that flowed on without a ripple, black
to the eye as a river of ink. How strange it seemed when, holding on
to a twig, he bent over and saw himself reflected--a white, naked
child with a scared face--in that black mirror! Overcome by thirst,
he ventured to creep down and dip his hand in the stream, and was
astonished to see that the black water looked as clear as crystal in
his hollow hand. After quenching his thirst he went on, following
the river now, for it had made him turn aside; but after walking for
an hour or more he came to a great tree that had fallen across the
stream, and climbing on to the slippery trunk, he crept cautiously
over and then went gladly on in the old direction.

Now, after he had crossed the river and walked a long distance, he
came to a more open part; but though it was nice to feel the
sunshine on him again, the underwood and grass and creepers trailing
over the ground made it difficult and tiring to walk, and in this
place a curious thing happened. Picking his way through the tangled
herbage, an animal his footsteps had startled scuttled away in great
fear, and as it went he caught a glimpse of it. It was a kind of
weasel, but very large--larger than a big tom-cat, and all over as
black as the blackest cat. Looking down he discovered that this
strange animal