Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 3).djvu/41

 "After this I gave it up. Mounting the sun-deck I told one of the men to hand me up a camp stool, and sat down to do sentry myself. The moon was nearing the tops of the forest trees, and the dark shadows were gradually stretching farther and farther across the water. The Arab settlement across the river would soon be wrapped in the black robes of utter darkness, and then our only safety lay in listening, sheer listening. The launch was moored just below a long reef of rocks which stretched a third of the distance across the river, and protected her from the fierce swirl of the rapids. The water being low, these rocks were quite dry, and I took particular notice of the outer extremity of the reef as long as there was any light. When the moon sank behind the dark forest wall, I left the boat and felt my way carefully along to the far end of the reef, to see if it was possible for canoes to approach its upper side. Satisfied on this point, I returned to my post.

"Minutes crawled into long hours, clouds came up overhead and hid the stars, several times I started up in false alarm as I thought I heard the grating of a canoe against the rocky shore, the splashing of a paddle, or a rustle among the grass on the bank. The struggle against sleep was fearful. How I did envy those niggers doubled up over their guns, for I let them sleep on, thinking it safer than the noise I should make continually waking them. It was terribly dark—not a star was visible. How long those hours did seem! At last the clouds began to break, the buzz of tropic insect life became hushed, and only the never-ending diapason of the cataract sounded through the silence that precedes the dawn.

"Weary and stiff, I clambered ashore, felt my way silently along the reef of rock, till I stood at the far end, straining eyes and ears to their utmost. Round the end of the reef the rapid tore and whirled with an eddying rush that beat up the water into white foam. It made too much noise for me just then, so I moved slowly back along the upper edge of the reef till I came to a small hollow in the rock, into which the wavelets beat over a low ledge of smooth stone. The rapid surged against the reef with considerable force, throwing up débris of all sorts. As I paused by this