and love into her ears.

Soon after, he lowered the curtain walls, tying them securely
to the trees so that, except for a little opening toward
the beach, they were entirely enclosed.

As it was now pitch dark within their tiny aerie they lay
down upon their blankets to try to gain, through sleep, a
brief respite of forgetfulness.

Clayton lay facing the opening at the front, a rifle and a
brace of revolvers at his hand.

Scarcely had they closed their eyes than the terrifying cry
of a panther rang out from the jungle behind them. Closer
and closer it came until they could hear the great beast
directly beneath them. For an hour or more they heard it
sniffing and clawing at the trees which supported their platform,
but at last it roamed away across the beach, where Clayton
could see it clearly in the brilliant moonlight--a great, handsome
beast, the largest he had ever seen.

During the long hours of darkness they caught but fitful
snatches of sleep, for the night noises of a great jungle
teeming with myriad animal life kept their overwrought nerves
on edge, so that a hundred times they were startled to
wakefulness by piercing screams, or the stealthy moving of
great bodies beneath them.