Bart changed colour, and did not stop to hoe, but walked rapidly across to Abel. "What's the matter?" said the latter. "Dunno, lad," said the other, rubbing his brow with his arm; "but there's something wrong." "What is it?" "That's what I dunno; but just now something said quite plain, `Bart! Bart!'" "Nonsense! You were dreaming." "Nay. I was wide awake as I am now, and as I turned and stared it said it again." "It said it?" "Well, she said it." "Poll parrot," said Abel, gruffly. "Go on with your work. Here's the overseer." The young men worked away, and their supervisor passed them, and, apparently satisfied, continued his journey round. "May have been a poll parrot," said Bart. "They do talk plain, Abel, lad; but this sounded like something else." "What else could it be?" "Sounded like a ghost." Abel burst into a hearty laugh--so hearty that Bart's face was slowly overspread by a broad smile. "Why, lud, that's better," he said, grimly. "I ar'n't seen you do that for months. Work away." The hint was given because of the overseer glancing in their direction, and they now worked on together slowly, going down the row toward the jungle, at which Bart kept on darting uneasy glances. "Enough to make a man laugh to hear you talk of ghosts, Bart," said Abel, after a time. "What could it be, then?" "Parrot some lady tamed," said Abel, shortly, as they worked on side by side, "escaped to the woods again. Some of these birds talk just like a Christian." "Ay," said Bart, after a few moments' quiet thought, "I've heared 'em, lad; but there's no poll parrot out here as knows me." "Knows you?" "Well, didn't I tell you as it called to me `Bart! Bart!'" "Sounded like it," said Abel, laconically. "What does he want?" For just then the overseer shouted, and signed to the gang-men to come to him. "To begin another job--log-rolling, I think," growled Bart, shouldering his hoe. At that moment, as Abel followed his example, there came in a low, eager tone of voice from out of the jungle, twenty yards away-- "Bart!--Abel!--Abel!" "Don't look," whispered Abel, who reeled as if struck, and recovered himself to catch his companion by the arm. "All right!" he said aloud; "we'll be here to-morrow. We must go." CHAPTER TWELVE. IN DEADLY PERIL. It was quite a week before the two young men were at work in the plantation of young trees again, and during all that time they had feverishly discussed the voice they had heard. Every time they had approached the borders of the plantation when it ran up to the virgin forest they had been on the _qui vive_, expecting to hear their names called again, but only to be disappointed; and, after due consideration, Abel placed a right interpretation upon the reason. "It was someone who got ashore from a boat," he said, "and managed to crawl up there. It's the only place where anyone could get up."