"Well," he said, "we've sure got a whole bunch of gratitude on tap for the lucky way we dropped in here. Chances looked twenty to one it couldn't be done. And I'd like to wager that no other air pilot could have made the ripple so well."
"You're prejudiced, old fellow, because I'm one of the Bird boys," laughed Frank as he struck a match and applied it to the bunch of dead grass he had gathered in the spot selected for their fire.
It was a dozen yards away from the aeroplane and about the same from the nearest line of great bushy trees. Immediately the flame sprang up, dispelling the darkness to some extent.
"Shucks! but that makes a big improvement and no mistake," said Andy, stooping to drop some wood on the fire. "I always like to see what I'm doing. And more than ever when I'm in a strange place. Hark! what was that, do you suppose, Frank?"
A sound had come from the depths of the forest not unlike the wailing of a babe. Frank could give a guess what made it, but he did not immediately say so.
"Say, we must have landed close to some native shack, and that's a baby crying!" Andy declared.
"Hardly," came from Frank. "That's only one of our cat friends giving tongue, perhaps calling to his mate to come and see the funny objects that dropped from the skies."
"Wow! reckon now you must mean a yellow boy, a jaguar! I bet you, Frank, there's a heap of 'em around us right now. How do we know but what every tree hides one of the critters, watching everything we do? I can tell you right now that I don't wander far from this jolly little blaze tonight. And besides, one of us has just got to keep a grip on this gun all the time. I don't hanker after being carried away and made a meal of by a big hungry cat."
"Oh, the fire will scare them away all right, I believe. There isn't an animal that doesn't dread fire. Always keep that in mind, Andy, when trouble comes," said Frank, earnestly.
"I mean to," replied the other, as he once more started to pick up wood, but it could be noticed that while doing so Andy always kept on eye on the alert, as if he really believed what he had said about the chances of their being watched by an army of jaguars.