Page:The Wreck of a World - Grove - 1890.djvu/144

128 "Well dearest, I know better now. To go on then—as I gave myself up for lost, and cast a last thought on you, Father, and on you, William, and on the poor children whom I was thankful to have been allowed to save, I saw a cleft a few inches wide in the lower part of the giant bole. Tearing off my hat and jacket, I managed to squeeze myself into the hollow interior just as the two creatures came round, and by many snorts and screeches indicated their puzzlement as to what had become of me. My poor hat and jacket were torn to shreds and it must have been scraps of them that you found, and I dare say the stupid brainless things thought they had got hold of me at last. However, after fooling around for half an hour they finally disappeared, the sound of their steam-machinery died away, and I crept out to find it quite dark, and myself in the middle of a trackless wood, not knowing which way to turn.

For some time I tried to find a way out, but being dead-beat soon gave up the useless task till the morrow, and laid myself down at the foot of a tree to sleep. I awoke soon after sunrise, cold, stiff, and hungry. I now made a determined effort to make my way through