“If only we’d had a camera,” was Billy’s regret. But for the next few moments there were more important things to think about. The orang stood upright, looking about him in a truculent manner. It almost appeared as if, now that his battle with the saurian was over, he had recollected the human figure he had seen not long before, but had paid little heed to it in his haste to make his evening meal among the water plants.
In fact, he started shamblingly toward the brake where the boys were concealed with leveled rifles and fingers on triggers. But the great creature’s life was spared, for that time at least, for had the boys fired he must have fallen at the first bullets from the high-powered rifles. After advancing a few paces, he changed his mind and, grumbling to himself, he shuffled off and was soon lost in the gloom of the forest.
“We ought to have shot him, Jack,” muttered Billy as they started back to camp with what game they bagged.
“What, kill a fine old warrior like that without cause? Could you have done it, Billy?”
“Um—well—er—no, I don’t believe I could,” rejoined his chum. “After all, that crocodile started the scrap and—and I guess every American likes a good fighter.”
CHAPTER XXXIV.—A FIGHT WITH A HORNBILL.
“Now me showee you something.”
It was during the noon rest the next day and the Malay had asked the whites to come a little distance apart from the camp to a fine-looking banyan tree. They watched him with interest as with the axe he cut down several lengths of bamboo from a nearby cluster, and, pointing the ends sharply, having first separated the lengths into bits about two feet long, began driving them into the yielding bark of the tree. In this way he had soon made the first four rounds of a primitive ladder.
Although, as yet, he had given them no hint of the object of all this, they were all sure that he had something really of interest to show them and forbore asking questions till he was ready to explain the mystery. Salloo had driven the tenth round of his queer ladder and was about ten feet from the ground, when Jack drew everybody’s attention to a strange hissing sound that appeared to come from within the tree.