senses it was pitch-dark around me and a light rain was falling. At first I could not collect myself and did not attempt to stir. Where was I, and what had happened?
The flowing of water over one arm aroused me, and, making examination, I found that I was lying half in and half out of the mountain torrent. Had I fallen into a little different position I must surely have drowned. As a matter of fact my hair showed that I had fallen head first into the water, but had by some unconscious movement saved myself from a watery grave.
It was fully a quarter of an hour before I felt able to sit up, much less stand on my feet. I ached in every joint, and my head was in such a whirl that I could scarcely see.
"Oh, what a villain Captain Kenny is!" were the first words that crossed my lips. "I'll get square with him as soon as I can join the others again!" Alas! little did I then realize that my companions had hunted for me in vain, and that a band of Tagals had made it necessary for them to set off in their boat without me, taking with them the guilty captain, who had never opened his lips concerning his perfidy.
By the darkness I knew it was night, but what part of the night I could not determine. Yet I thought it could not be late, and that I must try to get back to the shore, no matter how much pain it cost me.
