ive with preying
creatures, had sunk so that they could not be above four feet in depth;
and just as they had concluded that this was the case Shaddy sprang up,
and sat staring at them.

"Why!--what?--Have I slept all night?" he cried. "Oh, Mr Rob!"

"We both felt that you must have rest, Naylor," said Brazier quietly.

"That's very good of you, sir; but you should have been fairer to
yourselves. Did you--?"

He stopped short.

"Hear anything in the night?" asked Rob.

"Well, no, sir, I was going to say something else, only I was 'most
ashamed."

"Never mind: say it," said Brazier.

"I was going to ask if you had left me a little scrap of the prog."

Rob looked at him sharply and then at Brazier, who did the same, but
neither of them replied; and the old sailor put his own interpretation
upon their silence.

"All right, gentlemen," he said; "you must have both been terrible
hungry. Don't say anything about it. Now, how could I manage to catch
a fish?"

"After breakfast, Shaddy, please," said Rob merrily. "Mr Brazier
thought we ought to wait for you."

"What! You don't mean to say you haven't had any?"

"When three people are situated as we are, Naylor, a fair division of
the food is necessary. Get it at once."

"Well!" ejaculated the old sailor, as he took down the packet from where
he had secured it in the upper branches; and again, as he placed it on
the loose platform, "Well!" Then--"There, gentlemen, I can't tell you
how thankful I am to you for being such true comrades. But there, let's
eat now. The famine's over, and I mean to have some more food soon."

"How, Shaddy?" said Rob, with his mouth full; "you can't wade because of
the reptiles, and the piranas would attack you."

"No, sir, I can't wade unless I could make stilts, and I can't do that.
It will be a climb for fruit, like the monkeys, for luncheon if the
water doesn't go down."

To the despair of all, the day passed on till it was getting late in the
afternoon, and still the water spread around them right into the forest;
but it was literally alive with fish which they could not see their way
to catch.

Rob and Shaddy set to work making a fishing-line. A piece of the
toughest wood they could find was fashioned into a tiny skewer sharpened
at both ends and thrust into a piece of fruit taken from high up the
tree, where Rob climbed, but soon had to come back on account of the
puma following him.

Then they angled, with pl