stable between him and the most
savage beast that ranges the Eastern jungles.

The lad was stout-hearted enough, but he could not help feeling that
though the building was strong of its kind, it would prove but a frail
defence against the mighty arms and tremendous claws of a furiously
hungry tiger; and after the first shock he crept cautiously to the
hiding-place of one of the spears and drew it out, to plant the butt
against one retired foot and hold it with the keen blade about
breast-high in the direction of the bamboo uprights and palm lath slats
that were woven in and out in duplicate.

That deep-toned roar was followed by a silence that was awe-inspiring in
its way, and as Archie listened it seemed to him that he could hear the
snuffling breathing of the savage animal that must have scented him
during its rounds.

That silence lasted about a quarter of an hour before it afforded some
amount of encouragement to the listener. The loneliness was awful, for
he was sure that he and his fellow-prisoner were correct in coming to
the conclusion that very soon after sunset the sentry had crept silently
away, this terrible roar suggesting itself as an explanation of the
reason for the elephant-stable with its prisoners being left without a
watcher during the night.

Several times over, since he had been sufficiently recovered to sit
wakefully chatting with Peter Pegg as to the best way of making their
escape, he had heard snarling cries, shrieks that were thrilling enough
in themselves, and which the two lads had set down to be the utterances
of some ape that had been scented out and pounced upon by one of the
cat-like creatures during its nocturnal search for prey. They had heard
too, and rightly judged what were the authors of, other night cries,
some of which, coming from a large kind of stork or crane that lurked
upon the banks of the neighbouring river, were horrible and weird in
their intensity. But though the jungle was supposed to contain plenty
of tigers, it was only once that the prisoners had heard what they knew
for certain to be the huge cat's roar.

Archie felt that he would not have cared upon the present occasion if
Peter Pegg had been by his side, and in imagination, as he stood with
the lowered spear, he saw himself taking turns with the young private in
stabbing at the savage beast as it was snarling, tearing, and trying to
force its way through the tangled side of the big stable. But to do
thi