Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/300

 DICK SANDS, TIIE BOY CAPTAIN. sscd his hope that, in little Jack*s case, thc words of th thîs sanguine vîcw, poîntcd out to Mrs. Weldon thatV' though it was past thc time for thc periodical return oft* ic fcvcr, thc child was still slumberîng quietly în Hercules trms. The march was contînued wîth as much rapidity as consistent wîth caution. Occasîonally, where the bush and brushwood had becn broken down by the récent pas- sage of mon or beasts, progress was comparatively easy but much more frequcntly, greatly to Dick's annoyanc obstacles of various sorts impcded their advance. Climb- îng plants grew in such inextricable confusion that the; could only bc comparcd to a ship's rigging învolved î hopcless entanglcmcnt ; there were crecpcrs resemblin curvcd scimitars, thickly covcrcd with sharp thoms ; the; wcrc likcwisc strange growths, likc vegetable serpents, fifl or sixty fcct long, which sccmcd to hâve a cruel faculty fo torturing cvcry passcngcr with thcir prickly spînes. Ax in hand, thc ncgrocs had rcpcatcdly to eut their roa llirough thcsc bcwildcring obstructions that clothcd th trccs froni tliLM*r summit to tlicir base. Animal lifc was no loss rcmarkablc in its way than th végétation, lîirds in grcat varicty flittcd about în thc:: ample folîagc, sccure from any stray shot from the lîttl band, whoso chicf ohjcct it was to prcscrve its incognito- Guinca-fowls wcrc sccn in considérable numbcrs, francolin55 in scvcral varictics. aiul a fow spécimens of the bird tc^ which thc Amcricans, in imitatii'jn of their note, hâve gîvcn thc namc of ** whij)-j">oor-will." If Dick had not had too much cvidcncc in othcr wavs to the contrarv, hc mÎLrht almost havc imagincd himsclf in a province of thc New World. Ilithcrto thcy h.ul bcon unmolcstcd by any dangerous wild beasts. During thc présent stage of thcir march a hcrd ofgiraffes, startlcd by their uncxpected approach, rushcd flectly past ; thîs timc, howcvcr, without bcing rcprcsented as ostrichcs. Occasionallv a dense cloud of dust on the edge of thc prairie, accompanicd by a sound like the roll
 * .it travcllcr would bc vcrificd, and in encouragemen