After a while the lonely lad fell into a sleep filled with troubled
dreams. An owl came and hooted above him; the night wind sighed
weirdly through the tall timber behind him; while queer gurglings,
mysterious splashings, and other strange sounds came from the
swift-flowing river close at hand. Although none of these sounds
wakened the boy, they tinged his dreams with their uncanniness.
For some hours he slept, and then woke with a start. He was sitting
bolt upright, and felt certain that something cold and wet had just
touched his face. He put a hand to his cheek. Yes, there was a wet
spot. What were those two bright points shining in the dim fireglow!
They looked like eyes. Winn sprang to his feet. At his movement the
glowing eyeballs vanished. Some animal uttered an indescribable sound,
something between a bark and a snarl, there was a rustling of dead
leaves, and then all was still.
While the boy stood trembling with the vague fear that always
accompanies a suspected but unknown danger, and staring blankly into
the darkness, there came to his ears from the forest depths a sound
that was almost as terrifying as the recent presence of the unknown
animal. It seemed a mingling of howls, cries, and groanings. It rose
and fell, now loud, and then almost inaudible; but it always came from
the direction of the deserted log-hut. At length it ceased, and now
Winn noticed for the first time that a faint light was beginning to
tinge the eastern sky above the tree-tops.
"Daylight is coming," thought the boy, "and it is high time for me to
be off." He was glad of an excuse for leaving a place that had all at
once become filled with such unexplained terrors. Feeling his way
cautiously to the river-bank, he reached the little raft without
mishap. It took him some time to get it clear of the boom; but at
length he succeeded, and with a very decided feeling of relief he
pushed off into the current, and proceeded on his journey.
Winn's spirits rose as his clumsy craft moved out from the heavy
shadows of the island, and he began to whistle to convince himself that
he had not been afraid of anything after all. Suddenly he heard low
voices close beside him, a dark object dashed up to his raft, and a
dazzling light was flashed full in his face. The next instant two men
sprang to his side, threw him down, searched him for arms, secured his
knife, which was the only thing resembling a weapon that he possessed,
and forced him into a large skiff containing several other men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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