Bruised, bleeding and exhausted as he was, nothing save the knowledge of his imminent peril could have induced him to so much as raise a hand. Now, however, it was absolutely necessary, in order to save his life, that he leave the village, and, limping painfully, he made his way through the window to the street.
In which direction the grotto lay he had no idea, because of the bewilderment that had come upon him during the past hour, and it was only possible to rush blindly forward into the jungle, taking no heed of his steps save that each one carried him further away from the scene of his humiliation and punishment.
Stumbling, falling, rising only to fall again, he pushed on amid the tangled foliage, nerved to almost superhuman exertions by the knowledge of what his fate might be in case an escape was not effected.
In this manner, hardly knowing whether he continued in a straight course or moved in a circle, he managed to press forward until the underbrush became more sparse, and hope again sprung up in his heart. He supposed he had arrived at the banana grove, where it was possible to procure food, and from whence he would have but little difficulty in finding the grotto.
But for the fact that the events and ill-treatment of the evening had dazed him, he would have exercised more care while traveling over an unknown country. As it was, however, he walked blindly on, until he found himself sinking amid the slime and water of a jungle marsh.
That which he had mistaken for the banana plantation was one of those open morasses so frequent in this portion of the globe; and as the cold water flowed around his aching body he realized the danger in which he had thus incautiously placed himself.
In attempting to raise his feet and scramble back to more solid earth he sunk the deeper, and then reason gave way to fear.
He knew that any effort on his part would make the situation more dangerous; but this was forgotten in the frenzy which came upon him.
At the first plunge the water had only been within a few inches of his knees; in five minutes it was at his waist, his lower limbs being so imprisoned that any further movement of his feet was impossible.
Now came a new cause for alarm. He had felt himself growing weak for several moments, but believing the faintness was caused by exertions made during his rapid flight he paid no attention to the fact until, when held prisoner by the mud, he discovered that his hands, face and neck were covered with what at first glance appeared to be small caterpillars, dark brown in color and striped with vivid yellow.