n
the biggest island of the group and we knew not what dangerous forms of
life might be lurking within the recesses of the forest--when, as we
were looking about us for fruit-bearing trees of some kind, quite
suddenly the woodland silence was broken by a rapid succession of
piercing cries that somehow suggested to us the idea of a cat in a state
of acute terror and physical distress.

"Hark! what is that?" exclaimed Billy, laying his hand upon my arm. "It
sounds as though there was a cat somewhere quite near, in the grip of an
enemy. Let's look for and rescue the poor thing, if we can, Mr
Blackburn. A cat is just the one thing needed to complete the homelike
look of our bungalow. The poor thing is over there, somewhere, and I'm
sure it is in terrible distress."

We hurried in the direction indicated by Billy's pointing hand, and, a
few seconds later, saw, at a distance of a yard or two ahead of us, a
commotion in the long grass, as though some creature or creatures buried
in it were engaged in a violent struggle. The spot happened to be in
deep shadow, and the thought came to me that, hidden in the thick masses
of that tangled grass, some small animal might be fighting for its life,
possibly in the embrace of a snake that, as likely as not, might be of a
deadly venomous species. Therefore I put forth a restraining hand and
said sharply to Billy:

"Stay here, and do not come until I call you. I will go alone and see
what all the trouble is about."

With a couple of strides I reached the scene of the commotion, the cries
meanwhile pealing out as piercingly as ever, and as I stooped to
investigate, my cap came into contact with something that yielded
slightly to the touch, and was snatched off my head. Surprised and a
little startled by the unexpectedness of the happening, I straightened
up, to see my cap apparently suspended in mid air! Still more
surprised, I stretched forth my hand and seized the cap to replace it
upon my head, when I found that it strongly resisted my efforts, and,
looking closely to discover the reason, I saw that it had become
entangled in a spider's web! Yes, _a spider's web_! but such a web as I
venture to say very few men save myself have ever seen. It hung
suspended from a branch quite ten feet above the ground, it was tightly
strained between the trunks of two trees at least eight feet apart, and
it reached right down to the ground, where it was strongly interwoven
with the long