life. Why, if you had heard that there thing roar--"

"I did hear it roar," said Archie quietly; "and it kept me awake all
night."

"Hark at that now, sir," said Peter. "My word, Mister Archie, sir!
wouldn't one of them be a fine thing to train young recruities with, and
teach them how to keep awake on sentry?"

"But you said something to me, Peter, about having to make our escape by
daylight. Why?"

"Why, sir? Because as soon as you try and travel out in that there
jungle, it's so dark that you can't tell which way to steer."

"But we should have to trust to the elephant--if we could get him."

"Oh, that wouldn't do, sir. We should have trouble enough with it all
clear daylight. I've thought it all over till my head won't think, and
it's all as clear as crystial. We must wait for morning, when the
helephant comes for his titbits before one of these chaps mounts guard,
and then slip out and chance it. I believe in chance, sir--chance and
cheek. You can often do things by risking it when you makes all sorts
of plans and fails."

"Well, Peter," said Archie wearily, "I can propose nothing better."

"I wish you could, sir."

"So do I," said Archie. "Well, we must try; and if they catch us, why,
they can but bring us back. I don't think they dare use their spears,
for fear of what might follow when our people come to rescue us."

"Oh, they won't dare to savage us, sir. I believe these are Rajah
Suleiman's men, and he wants to keep friendly with the Major."

"There I think you are wrong, Pete. If he wanted to keep friendly, he
would not have set his men to attack our boat."

"I don't know, sir," said Peter solemnly, "for there's a deal of cunning
and dodgery amongst these krisy chaps, and you never knows what games
they may be at; and as to waiting for our Bri'ish Grenadiers to march up
and find us, I'm thinking that we may wait till all's blue. My old
woman used to say--my granny, you know, as brought me up--`Peter,' she
used to say, `I am going to give you a moral lesson, boy: don't you wait
for people to help you, my lad; you help yourself.'"

"That was very good advice, Pete," said Archie, smiling, and uttering a
deep yawn.

"Yes, sir; and that's what I used to do."

"Help yourself?"

"I didn't mean that, sir. I used to hear it so often that I used to do
as you did just now."

"What do you mean?"

"Yawn at it, sir."

"Oh!" said Archie. "Well, but, Pete, that tiger you talked about