The silence and unexplainable mystery of the place made me anxious to
catch up with them before the darkness came down, while hunger and
revenge made Kaipi move at a speed that was most unusual.
Darkness came down like a suffocating blanket, and we halted.
"No go farther," muttered Kaipi. "Better make fire and sleep. Catch um
to-morrow."
I sat down while the Fijian gathered a pile of rotten wood, but before
he could set fire to the heap I was on my feet clawing my way into the
darkness in front. From somewhere out of the inky night came the voice
of Edith Herndon lifted up in a little Italian melody that I had heard
her singing the night we left Levuka. It seemed to me that she suspected
my near presence, and that she was singing to guide me to the spot where
the party had camped.
Five minutes afterward Kaipi and I stumbled into the circle of light
round the fire, and Leith sprang to his feet with a growl of rage.
"What's this?" he cried. "Who the devil gave you permission to come
here?"
"The captain sent me," I replied, looking straight at the giant as I
fired the lie at him.
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