“Killed him?”
“Don’t know, sir,” said Mark, staring down among the ferns and arums which filled the hole.
“Must have killed him, for he does not move. Squat down. We don’t want the savages to see us. They are sure to come.”
“Let’s run.”
“What? The gauntlet? No, thank you, my boy. We are safer here. Hist!”
They crouched there listening for the sounds of the enemy’s approach, but all remained silent. Mark could hear his heart beating with excitement, and he found himself wondering why it was that he, with a serpent on one side and savages on the other, was not more alarmed.
“Keep still,” whispered the major; “we must hear them directly. What’s that?”
“The dog,” said Mark in the same low tone, for Bruff had softly crept to their side, looked up in their faces, and lain down.
“Why, hallo!” exclaimed the major, “this isn’t natural.”
“What?”