Shaddy uttered a low grunt, gazed up at the shaft of light which shone upon the cluster of flowers, and then shifted the iguana again, and tramped on sturdily for about an hour, till there was a broad glare of light before them, and he suddenly stepped out from the greenish twilight into sunshine and day.
“Not so bad, Mr Rob, sir, without a compass!” he said, with a smile of triumph.
But Rob, as he stepped out, was already looking round for their fellow-prisoner in the forest, but looking in vain. There was no sign of human being in the solitude; and a chilly feeling of despair ran through the lad as he forgot his weariness and made a move for the hut, about a hundred yards away.
It was hard work to get through the low tangled growth out there in the sunlight; and before he was half-way there he stumbled and nearly fell, but gathered himself up with a faint cry of fear, for there was a low growl and a rush, as something bounded out, and he just caught a glimpse of the long lithe tawny body of a puma as it sprang into a fresh tangle of bush and reed, while Rob stood fast, and then turned to look at Shaddy.
The man’s face was wrinkled up, and for the moment he evidently shared the boy’s thoughts. Stepping close to him, he began to peer about amongst the thick growth from which the animal had sprung, while Rob felt sick as his imagination figured in the puma’s lair the torn and bleeding body of his friend; and as Shaddy suddenly exclaimed, “Here’s the place, sir!” he dared not look, but stood with averted eyes, till the man exclaimed:
“Had his nest here, sir, and he was asleep. Bah! I ought to have known. I never heard of a puma meddling with a man.”
“Then Mr Brazier is not there?” said Rob faintly.
“Why, of course he ain’t,” replied the man sourly. “Come along, sir, and let’s see if he’s in the hut.”
They rushed to their newly thatched-in shelter, and Rob seized the side and peered in, where all was black darkness to him, coming as he did from the brilliant sunshine.
“Mr Brazier,” he cried huskily; but there was no reply. “Mr Brazier,” he shouted, “why don’t you answer?”