At last he had to rest again, and thinking himself safe for the time being he set about cleaning his hands and face, and also his outfit.
“This is certainly treasure hunting with a vengeance,” he mused. “I think I would have done better had I stuck to the nitrates. Maybe I’ll lose my life and the vultures will pick my bones, just as they did poor Plum’s.”
It made our hero more dismal than ever to think of how Plum had departed, and he was very sober as night drew on and he still found himself alone and with no idea of where he was.
“I’ll have to stay here alone in the dark,” he said, half aloud. “That won’t be pleasant, but it can’t be helped.”
Soon it was so dark that to advance further would have been foolish.
Accordingly Jack came to a halt, and looked around for some means of making himself comfortable for the night.
He did not deem it wise to remain on the ground, where some wild beast might leap upon him, and so looked for some wide-spreading tree among whose branches he might rest in peace.
At length he found a tree to his liking and having taken a final look around, ascended to a number of the upper branches.
Here there was a sort of natural platform, where he might lie without much danger of falling to the ground.
It was now pitch dark, the clouds obscuring the stars in the heavens. He was very hungry but had absolutely nothing with which to gratify his appetite.