ll
his life. The pajama trousers had not been heavy; but they had been
much heavier than nothing. And the next day he roasted in the hot sun,
for again their way led much across wide and treeless plains.

It was still in the boy's mind to travel to the south, and circle back
to the coast in search of another outpost of civilization. He had said
nothing of this plan to Akut, for he knew that the old ape would look
with displeasure upon any suggestion that savored of separation.

For a month the two wandered on, the boy learning rapidly the laws of
the jungle; his muscles adapting themselves to the new mode of life
that had been thrust upon them. The thews of the sire had been
transmitted to the son--it needed only the hardening of use to develop
them. The lad found that it came quite naturally to him to swing
through the trees. Even at great heights he never felt the slightest
dizziness, and when he had caught the knack of the swing and the
release, he could hurl himself through space from branch to branch with
even greater agility than the heavier Akut.

And with exposure came a toughening and hardening of his smooth, white
skin, browning now beneath the sun and wind. He had removed his pajama
jacket one day to bathe in a little stream that was too small to harbor
crocodiles, and while he and Akut had been disporting themselves in the
cool waters a monkey had dropped down from the over hanging trees,
snatched up the boy's single remaining article of civilized garmenture,
and scampered away with it.

For a time Jack was angry; but when he had been without the jacket for
a short while he began to realize that being half-clothed is infinitely
more uncomfortable than being entirely naked. Soon he did not miss his
clothing in the least, and from that he came to revel in the freedom of
his unhampered state. Occasionally a smile would cross his face as he
tried to imagine the surprise of his schoolmates could they but see him
now. They would envy him. Yes, how they would envy him. He felt
sorry for them at such times, and again as he thought of them amid
luxuries and comforts of their English homes, happy with their fathers
and mothers, a most uncomfortable lump would arise into the boy's
throat, and he would see a vision of his mother's face through a blur
of mist that came unbidden to his eyes. Then it was that he urged Akut
onward, for now they were headed westward toward the coast. The old
ape thought tha