And Hal’s life rested on that decision, for he had hesitated upon that step. One foot, however, had already been plunged forward and he felt water close over it. In a moment he had drawn it back, trembling and shaken, for something had rubbed against it. And in a nervous abandon he took out his last match, struck it against the little box and held it up to see that he had barely escaped certain death.
For the flickering light of the match showed him to be standing on the brink of a stagnant jungle pond. And lying on its slimy banks was a huge alligator blinking curiously at the tiny flame and occasionally opening its cavernous jaws.
The light went out, but Hal found his way back to the camp and he stayed there until dawning.
CHAPTER XVI
WITH THE MORNING
Hal was sick when daylight seeped in through the trees; he felt much too sick to do anything but stay right where he was. But the nearness of the pond housing an alligator, and the hope that the trail revived, did much toward giving him the strength and initiative to go on.
The trail skirted the pond, for which he was tremendously thankful. He gave it a furtive glance in passing, but there was nothing save a good-sized ripple on the slimy-green surface, and Hal decided that the monster must be taking his morning bath.
“And he can stay under until I get out of sight,” Hal muttered savagely. “One look at that fellow will last me for a long, long time.”
He trudged along, feeling more and more encouraged at the decided thinning out of the jungle. He felt freer, more like breathing than when back in the dense forest, and the broad expanse of daylight in the heavens set his heart to beating faster.
He almost forgot that his body ached and that his head throbbed terribly. Fever racked him and his right hand was so swollen that it was practically useless. But there was always the trail winding in and out of the trees, lost one moment in a maze of bushes between the trees, then coming up again a few feet further on.
The sun came up in a vast red ball, and Hal could see its reflection now upon the shining leaves in the tree tops. He had stopped a moment to look at it, when he heard a sudden rustling noise in the distant bushes. He stepped up, realizing that it sounded like some heavy object plunging about in the undergrowth, and was about to withdraw instinctively, when there arose in the morning air a blood-curdling roar.