There it lay savagely regarding its huge enemy as if contemplating another charge at a less substantial portion of the train, but before the rhino could put its plan into execution the driver started the engine. The hiss of the escaping steam, accompanied by the shrill blast of the whistle, was too much for the rhino's determination, and, regaining its feet, the animal charged madly into the forest. As night fell a powerful light was shown from the front of the engine, its rays illuminating the track for several yards ahead.
Although it was yet only seven o'clock the passengers began to make preparations for turning in. "Early to bed and early to rise" seemed to be the order of things in Equatorial Africa, so as to take advantage of the relatively cool period just after sunrise and to rest while the rays of the sun are strongest.
But neither Colin nor his companion felt any inclination to sleep. The novelty of rushing through a tropical forest in the darkness was too great. After days afloat, when the rhythmic vibrations of the propellers seemed to lull them into slumber, the rumble of the train as it swayed over the metal rails had the opposite effect.
The moist and clammy heat, coupled with the fact that the lights in the carriages were kept on, also tended to wakefulness.
At length—it was close on midnight—Colin was on the point of dropping into a fitful slumber when the sudden application of the brakes aroused him.
"Another rhino?" he asked himself, "or an elephant, perhaps."
The train halted with disconcerting suddenness. Some luggage pitched noisily on the floor. A passenger thrown from his bunk was expostulating in German with no one in particular and the world in general.
Then from the rear of the train came voices raised high in angry expostulation. Heavy boots grated along the corridor. The sliding door of the compartment was thrown back, and a tall, bearded man, his face partly hidden by a mask, burst abruptly upon the startled passengers. One man began shouting in a high-pitched frightened voice.
"Chuck it!" exclaimed the masked man. "Hands up!"