I must have slept, for I had a notion, like one has sometimes in sleep,
of extraordinary extension of time. It seemed to me that for years of my
life I had done nothing else than walk under the starlit sky into a vast
cave of black darkness, which only receded farther and farther as the
swinging of the lamp advanced with its monotonous vibration of light.

It was just midnight when I descried a faint light in the distance. It
grew as we tramped on. I knew therefore it was no deceptive star setting
in the horizon, but the welcome firelight of a human habitation. This
time it was my goal--Uibanya! I stopped for a moment and fired off a
couple of shots to announce our approach, whereupon some of the people
in the house rushed out to see what was up, and I made myself known by
an English "halloo," and out of the darkness came a voice saying, "All
right."

"All's well that ends well," I said to myself as I paid my guide for
his night's work. I looked round for the Wallack, but the fellow had
sloped off!

I was most kindly and hospitably received, and, O ye gods, with what an
appetite I ate the excellent supper quickly prepared for me!




CHAPTER VIII.

Hospitable welcome at Uibanya--Excursion to the Servian side of the
Danube--Ascent of the Stierberg--Bivouac in the woods--Magnificent
views towards the Balkans--Fourteen eagles disturbed--Wallack