In the grove in the background, Frank could see here and there the gleam of one of the cooking fires about which the bearers left to him and Bob were preparing their evening meal. With nothing to do that day, the bearers had enjoyed life by taking a long nap. Now they were up and about the fires, Frank knew, cooking and chattering. He could even hear occasionally the sound of a laugh from the light-hearted fellows, louder than usual.
Well, they would need those fires, he reflected, not alone for the preparation of food but to provide warmth. At this altitude of 8,000 feet, the nights, as they had discovered the night previous, became very cold. In fact, Frank was wearing heavy canvass knickers tucked into high lace boots and the warmest sweater he could find, for the first time in months.
The presence of Bob not far away and of the bearers in the background, together with the glow of their fires, was welcome to the boy on lonely outpost above that pit of shadows into which night seemed to have flung a world of soft velvet.
For the forest world was awake. And now the quiet of day, broken only by bird calls or the occasional bark of a gorilla, had given way to a medley of terrifying sounds. The sobbing of leopards and cheetahs thrilled and vibrated mournfully. Constantly the boom of the gorilla cut across all other noises, aweing them into silence for a moment, after which they would begin again. Owls hooted, insects shrilled and hummed near at hand, about Frank’s face. And from the distant plain below rose the shrill barking of a jackal pack pierced through now and again by the mournful note of the hyena.
It was Africa. And by night Africa awakes. Frank was both fascinated and repelled. But with it all he was thrilled, too, thrilled at the thought that he had been lucky enough in his youth to be able to penetrate into the very heart of this most mysterious continent on the face of the globe, to behold its mysteries and wonders close at hand.
Suddenly out of that velvety darkness cloaking the plain a ball of fire soared upward followed by a glowing comet’s tail of sparks, and then another and another followed.
Through the spyglass Frank could see them clearly, although he knew that in his remoter position at the rear, where the radio had been set up, Bob was unaware that the rockets had been touched off. He did not even wait to pick his cautious way back over the rocks, which were so uneven the boys had considered it best not to erect the radio station upon them, but, instead, put his hand to his mouth and called to Bob.
“All right? Have they signalled?” came Bob’s hail in response.
“They’ve signalled,” shouted Frank. “Let’s go.”
Then turning his pocket flashlight on the rocks in order to guard against either missteps or stepping upon a snake, he made his way to his comrade’s side.