For over a hundred feet I continued that ascent to freedom, and then I stopped and listened to a peculiar fluttering noise on my left.
I craned my neck and peered through the branches.
The "thing" came into view—a great red ball, beneath which there billowed and waved the flags of America and England!
"Balloon ahoy!" I shouted, deliriously.
("And they've caught another gorilla!" I thought, subconsciously.)
There was no answer, and after giving still another futile shout, I began working my way from one tree to another until I came to the edge of a clearing containing one of our cages. By crawling out to the extremity of a huge horizontal branch, I was at last able to look below.
"Hello, there!" I shouted.
I saw the two blacks turn their faces skywards and, tearing off my vest, I waved it aloft.
"Hel-lo-oh . . . !" came a voice which was apparently Gran'pa's.
Without further palaver, I commenced my descent to terra firma. From bough to bough I dropped in quick succession, until, when I reached the last, I was only twenty feet above ground level.