With the first signs of coming night the animals grew restive. The deer moved toward the high, barren sides of the crater; the armadillos sought their burrows; the tortoises waddled into crevices in the rocks, and the other creatures hurried to the forested areas. Within the space of half an hour the crater appeared deserted. It was ominous. Experience had taught the denizens of this strange region to seek their shelters before the onrush of darkness. “I’ve loaded the magazines so there will be bursts of ten shots,” Ted announced. “That ought to be enough, and if it is not, we can let loose another string of ten additional ones.” “If that does not stop them, nothing will.” “This place does not seem so high as I thought, somehow or other.” “The coming darkness and the shadows are deceptive. Powerful as they are, the tigers could not possibly jump up here.” “No, of course not. But this is a creepy place, just the same. I hope they do not keep us waiting very long. I almost think I might get nervous,” Ted laughed, but the laugh sounded hollow and was without mirth. It seemed as if the experience would be more exciting and less enjoyable than they had anticipated. Just then a black apparition swept past their faces, not a yard away, on silent wings, and settled on the ledge near by. When it hooted dismally they knew it was an owl. “Wow!” Stanley exclaimed. “I’ll say it’s creepy here. And we are in for a whole night of it. They took the ladder away so we can’t get down if we want to. Come on, tigers; this suspense is worse than fighting you.” And, almost before he knew it, his wish was gratified. CHAPTER XVIII THE MAN IN THE CRATER When the sun plunged into the masses of yellowish mist that clung to the rim of the crater a bright moon was already high in the heavens. The transformation from day to night was sudden, for in the tropics the light fades abruptly, and darkness swoops upon the land almost as a black cloud scurrying across the face of the sun obliterates the brilliant radiance in a short space of time. The soft moonlight, in streaks and splashes, and the long, creeping shadows made the floor of the crater seem weird and unreal. A streak of silvery light lay across the smooth surface of the lake, and as the two men, crouching on the narrow ledge, gazed in fascination at it, the mirror-like water was broken by ripples that appeared here and there like little pools and lines of sparkling jewels. The creatures that were coming out for their nocturnal frolic, but which could not be clearly distinguished, swam in circles or straight lines and dived with great splashes. Only their heads, like black dots, could be seen on the surface of the water. “They may be some kind of a muskrat, like the _nutria_ of the Argentine, or like the water opossums,” Stanley suggested. “Whatever they are, they do not seem to be afraid of anything, for, look, one is heading for the shore.”