And in three minutes Frank knew from the heavy breathing coming from that quarter, that his chum had found no trouble in getting to sleep, regardless of the various sounds welling up from the neighboring forest, and the fears that possessed his boyish soul.
Frank sometimes sat down; and again, feeling cramped in this position, he would rise to his feet, and walk back and forth. But all the time he kept the gun in his possession, with the hammer pulled back, ready for business. And constantly did he maintain a close watch along the nearer border of the undergrowth that lay there, so dense and filled with mystery.
Time passed on.
It seemed as though a thousand things flitted through the active mind of the young aviator as he thus stood guard over the camp. Once again he was back in good old Bloomsbury, where he had spent so many happy days. He could see the faces of his boyhood friends, Larry, Elephant and others.
Frequently he would detect a movement here or there among the trees; and at such times he could easily imagine that some animal belonging to the forest was creeping closer in. The question was, whether simple curiosity urged them to do this thing, or a design upon the occupants of the camp.
Frank had been in other situations calling for considerable pluck, and never failed to meet the emergency, nor did he now.
It must have been some three hours back that Andy lay down to sleep. That had been the limit of time arranged upon; but Frank did not show any signs of intending to awaken the other.
"Let him sleep," he said to himself, as he walked up and down, for by now he was beginning to feel very drowsy himself, in spite of the coffee. "He needs it more than I do. And besides, I'm a little dubious as to what sort of watch Andy would keep. Anyhow, I can stand it a while longer. Hello! what's that mean?"
His attention had been attracted toward a movement in the brush at the nearest point of the forest. It was not thirty feet distant. Could one of those long-bodied muscular jaguars cover that distance in a wild leap? What if without warning he should see a tawny figure flashing through the air, and headed straight for him?
Frank threw the gun up to his shoulder as if to try and see how readily he could cover such a flying form. As he did so he heard a low and ominous growl, which undoubtedly sprang from the very spot where he had just caught that suspicious movement.