Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/262

 gripped him anew as he speculated as to what would happen when he at last was forced to yield to the weight of weariness that even now was oppressing him so sorely.

Presently a change began to come over the forest in which he sat. A whisper of sound from the trees around told him that the birds were beginning to stir. Objects, which hitherto had been black and shapeless masses cast into prominence by the clear moonlight, gradually assumed more definite shape. Later the colour of the trunks and leaves and creepers- still sombre and dull, but none the less colour- became perceptible, and Kûlop of the Iarelip rejoiced exceedingly because the dawn had come and the horrors of the night were passing away.

Quickly he boiled his rice and devoured a meal; then, gathering up his belongings, he resumed his journey. All that day, though physical weariness pressed heavily upon him, he trudged onward stub- bornly; but the news had spread among the Sâkai that their enemy was once more among them, and the number of the jungle-folk who dogged his foot- steps steadily increased. Kûlop could hear their shrill whoops as they called to one another through the forest, giving warning of his approach, or signal- ling the path that he was taking. Once or twice he fancied that he caught a glimpse of a lithe brown body, of a pair of glinting eyes, or of a straggling mop of hair; and forthwith he would charge, shouting furiously. But the figure if indeed it had any existence save in his overwrought imagination―