“It’s death if I don’t shoot, and it can be no worse if I kill four or five; besides, the report of the revolver may frighten them,” he said to himself as, backing against a gigantic palm-tree, he drew and leveled the weapon directly at the foremost ape.
His position at this moment was most critical. That he would be torn in pieces as had been his cravat, after shooting the first ape, seemed inevitable; but he said grimly, between his set teeth:
“It is better to die while fighting than to yield without a struggle,” and he took deliberate aim.
Another second and the weapon would have been discharged, unless, indeed, as was quite possible, its long immersion in the sea had rendered it useless.
Just as he was on the point of pressing the trigger a terrific shriek, such as it would hardly seem could have come from any pair of lungs, however vigorous, was heard some distance in the rear, and was prolonged until the echoes sent it rolling down the lake like detonations of thunder.
Philip stared about him in alarm, trying in vain to discover the meaning of this strange noise, and to his great astonishment the crowd of apes started with the rapidity of the wind in the direction from which the shriek had come.
On every hand among the foliage could be seen for one brief second the disappearing tails of his troublesome companions, and then he was left alone, the tumult in the distance growing fainter and fainter, as this army of animals dispersed at the highest rate of speed, until finally all was hushed and still.
He was alone on the border of the lake. Silence and solitude had in the twinkling of an eye replaced the frightful tumult, and the shadows of night were closing rapidly around him.
Utter despair gave way to hope. Now that he was alone, the possible dangers to be encountered in the forest during the hours of darkness were as nothing compared to the relief he felt at having lost sight of the grinning, chattering apes.
It might be possible to find human beings before the mantle of night had been fully spread over the land, and he made his preparations for continuing the tramp as calmly as if his life had never been threatened. The most important task was to regain possession of his shoes and stockings, for without them it would be a matter of impossibility to walk a hundred yards, and he began the most careful search on the scene of the late encounter.