a place, to have an uninhabited island, and such a
glorious one, far more beautiful and productive than that of Robinson
Crusoe, than whom I should be far better off, for in addition to a man
Friday I had my clever uncle for companion, guide, and protector.

At the thought of the last word I stretched out my hand to awaken him
and tell him of my horrible feeling of dread; but I drew it back for
very shame, for what was there to be afraid of?

I grew a little calmer then and lay gazing out of the open door at the
brilliant moonlight, which made some leaves glisten as if they were of
silver, and all beneath and amidst the thickets look dark and black and
soft as velvet.

Then came a strange sighing noise from the forest behind us, which made
my flesh creep as I wondered what it could be. Then there was a wild,
strange cry, and soon after a heavy crash as of something falling.

After that, as I lay bathed in perspiration and oppressed by the
terrible feeling of loneliness that seemed to increase, I fancied I
heard the pat, pat, pat, pat of some animal running along the ground,
followed by a hard breathing.

"That must be a wild beast," I said to myself; and I rose up on one
elbow to listen, meaning to get hold of my gun and load it if the sound
came nearer.

Then in a confused and troubled way I began to ask myself whether I
ought to awaken Uncle Dick and at the same time kick Ebo to make him
seize his spear and help in our defence.

But there are no big wild beasts in these islands, my uncle had said to
me several times, even expressing his doubt as to there being anything
very large in New Guinea.

"But there are great apes," I said to myself. "I know there are in
Borneo, so why should there not be others in an island like this?" and
in imagination I began to picture a hideous, great orang-outang
cautiously advancing towards our cabin.

I knew they could be very fierce and that they were tremendously strong.
Then, too, some travellers had described them as being quite giants of
six, seven, and eight feet high, and supposing that there really were no
other wild beasts in this island, undoubtedly there were these wild men
of the woods, as the Malays called them, and it was one of these that
was coming about the hut.

Of course; I knew now as well as if I had seen it. That crash I had
heard was made by one of these monsters, and that was its hard breathing
that I could hear now.

It was of no use that I tr