Chương Chương 3 · Life and Death

. Life and Death

Morning found them but little, if at all refreshed, though it was with

a feeling of intense relief that they saw the day dawn.

As soon as they had made their meager breakfast of salt pork, coffee

and biscuit, Clayton commenced work upon their house, for he realized

that they could hope for no safety and no peace of mind at night until

four strong walls effectually barred the jungle life from them.

The task was an arduous one and required the better part of a month,

though he built but one small room. He constructed his cabin of small

logs about six inches in diameter, stopping the chinks with clay which

he found at the depth of a few feet beneath the surface soil.

At one end he built a fireplace of small stones from the beach. These

also he set in clay and when the house had been entirely completed he

applied a coating of the clay to the entire outside surface to the

thickness of four inches.

In the window opening he set small branches about an inch in diameter

both vertically and horizontally, and so woven that they formed a

substantial grating that could withstand the strength of a powerful

animal. Thus they obtained air and proper ventilation without fear of

lessening the safety of their cabin.

The A-shaped roof was thatched with small branches laid close together

and over these long jungle grass and palm fronds, with a final coating

of clay.

The door he built of pieces of the packing-boxes which had held their

belongings, nailing one piece upon another, the grain of contiguous

layers running transversely, until he had a solid body some three

inches thick and of such great strength that they were both moved to

laughter as they gazed upon it.

Here the greatest difficulty confronted Clayton, for he had no means

whereby to hang his massive door now that he had built it. After two

days’ work, however, he succeeded in fashioning two massive hardwood

hinges, and with these he hung the door so that it opened and closed

easily.

The stuccoing and other final touches were added after they moved into

the house, which they had done as soon as the roof was on, piling their

boxes before the door at night and thus having a comparatively safe and

comfortable habitation.

The building of a bed, chairs, table, and shelves was a relatively easy

matter, so that by the end of the second month they were well settled,

and, but for the constant dread of attack by wild beasts and the ever

growing loneliness, they were not uncomfortable or unhappy.

At night great beasts snarled and roared about their tiny cabin, but,

so accustomed may one become to oft repeated noises, that soon they

paid little attention to them, sleeping soundly the whole night

through.

Thrice had they caught fleeting glimpses of great man-like figures like

that of the first night, but never at sufficiently close range to know

positively whether the half-seen forms were those of man or brute.

The brilliant birds and the little monkeys had become accustomed to

their new acquaintances, and as they had evidently never seen human

beings before they presently, after their first fright had worn off,

approached closer and closer, impelled by that strange curiosity which

dominates the wild creatures of the forest and the jungle and the

plain, so that within the first month several of the birds had gone so

far as even to accept morsels of food from the friendly hands of the

Claytons.

One afternoon, while Clayton was working upon an addition to their

cabin, for he contemplated building several more rooms, a number of

their grotesque little friends came shrieking and scolding through the

trees from the direction of the ridge. Ever as they fled they cast

fearful glances back of them, and finally they stopped near Clayton

jabbering excitedly to him as though to warn him of approaching danger.

At last he saw it, the thing the little monkeys so feared—the man-brute

of which the Claytons had caught occasional fleeting glimpses.

It was approaching through the jungle in a semi-erect position, now and

then placing the backs of its closed fists upon the ground—a great

anthropoid ape, and, as it advanced, it emitted deep guttural growls

and an occasional low barking sound.

Clayton was at some distance from the cabin, having come to fell a

particularly perfect tree for his building operations. Grown careless

from months of continued safety, during which time he had seen no

dangerous animals during the daylight hours, he had left his rifles and

revolvers all within the little cabin, and now that he saw the great

ape crashing through the underbrush directly toward him, and from a

direction which practically cut him off from escape, he felt a vague

little shiver play up and down his spine.

He knew that, armed only with an ax, his chances with this ferocious

monster were small indeed—and Alice; O God, he thought, what will

become of Alice?

There was yet a slight chance of reaching the cabin. He turned and ran

toward it, shouting an alarm to his wife to run in and close the great

door in case the ape cut off his retreat.

Lady Greystoke had been sitting a little way from the cabin, and when

she heard his cry she looked up to see