I obeyed him, walking backwards round the fire, my piece ready, so as to
get a shot if I saw the creature again; but this time all remained
perfectly still, and though I went right round the fire, no sound came
from among the trees.
"Take a piece of burning wood and throw it opposite to where you stand,
Joe."
I did so, and the blazing wood described an arc, fell in a tuft of dry
undergrowth which burst out into a vivid column of light for a few
minutes and died out, but there was no charge, no roar from our enemy,
not even the rustling of the bushes as it passed through.
"It's very strange, Joe," whispered the doctor. "Pile on more wood."
I obeyed him, and this time it caught directly and there was a
tremendous blaze, but no attack followed; and we stood listening for
some sound of the enemy in vain.
"You must have shot it," I said, speaking with some confidence.
"Or else you did, Joe," said the doctor.
I shook my head, and we remained listening for quite a quarter of an
hour, but still in vain. The silence in the forest was now awful, and
though we strained our eyes till the fire across which we looked dazzled
them, we could see nothing to cause alarm.
"Either it's dead or it has gone off, scared by our fire," said the
doctor at last. And now that we found time to think, he continued, with
a smile, "I hope we are not going to have many such night-watches as
this on our expedition. I say though, my lad, how some people can
sleep! I should have thought that those howls would have wakened
anything. Why, hallo! Gyp, didn't you hear anything? Where's your
master?"
He stooped and patted the dog, which came trotting up to us, and then
yawned and stretched himself out.
"Here I am," said Jack Penny, involuntarily imitating his dog. "Here,
where's that chap Jimmy? He was to watch with me, wasn't he? Is it
time?"
"Time! Yes," I said impatiently. "You ought to have been here two
hours ago. He'll have to look out, won't he, doctor, for that tiger or
wild man."
"Yah! stuff!" said Jack with a sneer. "I sha'n't see no--hullo! what
has Gyp found? Look, there's something there."
We all turned to see the dog, which had picked up some scent about
half-way between the fire and the edge of the circle of light. He ran
at once to the thick bushes, barked angrily, and then followed the scent
round and round the fire at the distance of about twenty yards, ending
by dashing right off into the forest depths, his bark growing fainter as
we listened.
"I say, ought we to follow Gyp?" said Jack Penny.
"If we wish to lose our lives," replied the doctor. "You see, Joe, it
has gone right off."
"But I don't like Gyp to go off after anything and not follow him,"
cried Jack Penny. "He's a good dog, you know. What is it he's after?"
"Some savage beast that has been haunting us all night," cried the
doctor. "I should like to follow Gyp, but it would be madness, my lads,
and--hark, what's that?"