"I say I can't understand it."
"Understand what?"
"That shadow. It was real and yet----"
"Oh, go to sleep!" advised Tom, and, turning
over, he was soon breathing heavily and regularly,
indicating that he, at least, had taken his own advice.
Ned, too, finally succumbed to the overpowering
weariness of the first day of travel, and he,
too, slept, though it was an uneasy slumber,
disturbed by a feeling as though some one were
holding a heavy black quilt over his head,
preventing him from breathing.
The feeling, sensation or dream--whatever it
was--perhaps a nightmare--became at last so
real to Ned that he struggled himself into
wakefulness. With an effort he sat up, uttering an
inarticulate cry. To his surprise he was
answered. Some one asked:
"What is the matter?"
"Who--who are you?" asked Ned quickly,
trying to peer through the darkness.
"This is Jacinto--your guide," was the soft
answer. "I was walking about camp and, hearing
you murmuring, I came to your tent. Is
anything wrong?"
For a moment Ned did not answer. He
listened and could tell by the continued heavy
and regular breathing of his chum that Tom
was still asleep.
"Are you in our tent?" asked Ned, at length:
"Yes," answered Jacinto. "I came in to see
what was the matter with you. Are you ill?"
"No, of course not," said Ned, a bit shortly.
"I--I had a bad dream, that was all. All
right now."
"For that I am glad. Try to get all the sleep
you can, for we must start early to avoid the
heat of the day," and there was the sound of
the guide leaving and arranging the folds of the
mosquito net behind him to keep out the night-
flying insects.
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