The Indiana State sentinel., 1886-03-24
BROWNS ADVENTURE.

without catching a glimpse of 'fur jack
ct" and but for the novelty and the high
festival for which the occasion formed an ex-
cuse, they were beginning to get rather dis
gusted with their expedition. They thought
sadly of what Smith and his party would be
saying when they, the Smith party, returned
triumphant to their bungalows with perhaps
three or four tiger skins, not to speak of
other game, while here they had only ac-
counted for a sambur deer and a few
wretched antelopes.
While matters were at this stage, Brown,
who loved adventure better than sleep, and
seemed impervious to tropical suns, shoul-
dered his gun one afternoon while all the
rest of the camp were STEPPED in after
breakfast oblivion, and hied out through
the Jungle for a shot at whatever chance
might throw in his way. He hoped at least
to come across jungle fowl or two, or per-
haps peafowl, to replenish their somewhat
empty gamebag; and if bigger game did
offer-why, he trusted to his luck and his
good breech-loader to make the best of the
situstion.
The spreading foliage overhead, with il
| hickering shade, sheltered him from the di-
rect blaze of the sun, which it largely ab-
sorbed; and through the cool shadow below
he wound over thick carpet of dead leaves,
between clumps OF interlacing creepers and
trailers. long thorny canes with terrible
hook shaped prickles and dense masses of
Leakage; ana between the huge trunks OF
sal, ceesoo, toon and other trees which here,
| for hundreds of miles east and west ini-
| tailed the slopes of the mighty Hilalayas.
| Not breath of air stirred, enough even
| to sgitate the smoke of his cheroot
as it curled straight upward; nor
| did a sound break the intense stiffness
of the forest depths. Here it seemed as if
| the foot of man had never intruded to dis
| turb natures primeval garb, or ever essayed
| the task of cutting down and transferring to
| the distant haunts of men the huge trunks.
| All seemed in its wild and natural luxuri-
ance, as from time immemorial. Every now
| and again rare creepers, all ablaze with fiow-
| ers that had wound themselves in thick, leafy
| masses around the trunks OF trees, arrested
| Browns attention, or parasite orchids of
brilliant hues that imbedded their roots in
| them. Brown was keen admirer OF nature,
and, alone as he was, communing with her,
| he felt the quiet, deep spirit of forest life
| stealing over him-that strange, indescriba-
BILE feeling which Cooper and Mayne Reid
| have so well described as wedding the great
prairie hunters of the West to their wood
|
rustic among the branches caused
| Brown to look up, and brilliant
| jungle fowl in al his glorious plumage
| flashed acr oss the sunlight, but too quick
for him to takeaim. Still, by gauging their
| fight through the supervening foliage he
managed by-and-by to drop one or two
| Nothing of larger kind offered, however,
| and he was bethinking himself of returning
| to camp, from which he must now have
strolled a considerable distance, when a
| slight rustic among the underground sud-
denly arrested his attention. 1t was moth
| ing but an antelope that trotted out and
cantered slowly away as il quite unused as
| yet TO that novel creature man, that had in
vaded Its solitude. a ruthless bullet, how
ever, soon undeceived and rolled it over,
1 but for moment only, for uD it started
| again and limped away at feeble, labOred
1 pace. Brown gave chase, thinking il would
soon drop, but still it kept its distance, until
! managing to reload as he ran, charge of
| No. brOughtit down.
He had now got his antelope, but what
was bis CONSERVATION on looking round to
find that not only was the sun by this time
very low down, but that he had lost his bear
| iDgs. Another half hour or so in the troD-
les would bring total darkness, and here he
| was in the midst of the Jungle he knew not
whittier or how far from camp. He only
| hoped he was not too far for the report of
his friends barrels to reach him and direct
/ IOMdIU VI NlC6 versa. W
| such guide the more he attempted to reach
camp the more he might be wandering away
from it. Acting on this idea he fired shot
| after shot, listening intently in the intervals
| for the wished for response, but not sound
replied to his signals. Things were begin
| ming to look serious. The dusk was already
| deepening into darkness, the mosquitoes be-
ginning to buzz and firefies to glance
through the foliage. There was no chance
| now of his friends coming out in search of
him ON wild goose chase at the best, and
that, too, in the lawful prowling hour of the
| fourfOoted deniZens of the forest. Though
not one of them might be visible by day, yet
Brown knew well that there might be plenty
OF them in every direction at night, and,
therefore, for him to attempt solitary Jour
ney to camp would be still more dangerous.
So there seemed nothing left but to bivouac
where he was for the night and make the
most of the situation. Accordingly he set
about his preparations without more delay.
First he looked aboutfO tree that would
afford safe and comfortable perch. This
he soon found in one where several large
arms branched off from the main trunk at
an elevation of about fifteen feet from the
ground, and which promised a comfortable
roost at the fork or point of juncture.
Before ascending. however, he was re-
solved not to leave behind his birds
and antelope a tasty moTsel to any stray
tiger or leopard that came prowling about,
|
to the antelope and the other end to each to
his button-hole, and thus accoutred began
tofascend the tree. This he managed slowly
and with some difficulty, owing to the dark
ness and smoothness Of the trunk, and to his
attention being every now and then dis
tracted by imaginary rustliDg below, but
with the help of his hunting knife and sun
dry excrecences on the bark, at length he
stood upon the branches with a triumphant
feeling of being, in a manner, secure and
housed for the night He only hoped some
gliding boa might not come upon him una
wares and entwine him in its gentle embraced !
But beyond that it would puzzle, thought
he, even the feline powers of the leopard to
reach him in his aerial bed chamber.
He now pulled up his birds, and
hitching the other cord over a branch of the
tree, he soon had his antelope also landed
beside him. Nothing remained now but to
load and put within easy reach his double
barrele9 friend, and to attach himself 10 the
tree as q necessary precaution against sleep.
Having done all this he lit his cheeroot.
Soon the red glow and the fumes helped to
dissipate the last trace OF vexation at his
position, and to throw him into dreamy
4