“I guess I’d feel considerable more comfortable with a gun in my pocket,” resumed Silas. “Tooth-picks like these yer are all right in their way, but when it comes to a scrap, give me a barker. There’s a sorter tonic in the feel of a shootin’ iron. Makes you feel real good!” “What an old fire-eater you are, Silas!” laughed Wilson; “I believe you’re spoiling for a fight now.” “I guess not, sonny,” was the reply. “Your Uncle Sile as had enough scrappin’ to last him for a considerable period. Say, Mervyn, this yer picnic of yours has panned out rich in the way of trouble. If we’d a gone lookin’ for that same commodity we couldn’t ha’ struck a bigger pile, an’ I calculate we ain’t through yet, not by a hull heap.” “That we’re not,” agreed the baronet, “and it strikes me we shall have the very old lad of a job to find the _Seal_ again. If we had but a few rounds of ammunition apiece I should not care for all the wolf-men in the underworld, but without it we are no better armed than the savages themselves. Still, we’ve got to see this job through. Garth must be found in spite of Nordhu’s savages.” “That’s so,” replied Haverly. “As I figure it out, the sooner we strike Garth’s trail--after we’re through with the present deal--the better for him an’ us. This yer old underworld ain’t so dusty, but I guess I prefer the daylight. It’s kinder more natural-like. Down here you never know when to go to bed, and I’m blamed if you know what time you’re getting up. Why, it might be midnight at the present period, for all we know--midnight, pards, an’ we a-waltzin’ around here ’stead of bein’ tucked away snug in our little beds. I guess we’ll be developin’ inter real giddy young night-howlers if we have to hang out long in this yer location. Say, William, I reckon it’s about time we were progressin’ some. If you’ll kinder intimate the same to our big pard, we’ll get a move on.” A few moments later the party plunged in amid the fungi, the great elk trampling a broad passage which made progress easy for the three on foot. Never had the explorers seen anything to equal this subterranean jungle. The tropical forests of the upper world, with all their floral magnificence, could not compare with the weird beauty of this wonderland. To the mind of the scientist it seemed almost a shame that such superb growths should be produced only to flourish where the eye of man could never drink in the wondrous beauty of their varied forms. The ground was hidden beneath a mass of trailing fungi, which rioted in luxurious confusion between the larger growths. From its shelter as the party passed numerous small creatures broke, to scurry into the denser growth on either side. A bell-beetle, its antennae clanging furiously, flashed across the track almost beneath the hoofs of Muswani, and disappeared ere Mervyn could catch more than a bare glimpse of its form.