idle and careless young rascal, and only that very morning I had to
tell Pharaoh to give him a beating for letting the oxen stray, which
Pharaoh did with the greatest gusto, although he was by way of being
very fond of Jim-Jim. Indeed, I saw him consoling Jim-Jim afterwards
with a pinch of snuff from his own ear-box, whilst he explained to him
that the next time it came in the way of duty to flog him, he meant to
thrash him with the other hand, so as to cross the old cuts and make a
"pretty pattern" on his back.

"Well, off they went, though Jim-Jim did not at all like leaving the
camp at that hour, even when the moonlight was so bright, and in due
course returned safely enough with a great bundle of wood. I laughed
at Jim-Jim, and asked him if he had seen anything, and he said yes, he
had; he had seen two large yellow eyes staring at him from behind a
bush, and heard something snore.

"As, however, on further investigation the yellow eyes and the snore
appeared to have existed only in Jim-Jim's lively imagination, I was
not greatly disturbed by this alarming report; but having seen to the
making-up of the fire, got into the skerm and went quietly to sleep
with Harry by my side.

"Some hours afterwards I woke up with a start. I don't know what woke
me. The moon had gone down, or at least was almost hidden behind the
soft horizon of bush, only her red rim being visible. Also a wind had
sprung up and was driving long hurrying lines of cloud across the
starry sky, and altogether a great change had come over the mood of
the night. By the look of the sky I judged that we must be about two
hours from day-break.