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The river swelled ever further as they followed its course northward and it met new tributaries until at last the whole an the long and grindingly slow journey to the coast The country was not unpopulated: native tribesain, mostly from the other side of the river, but these vanished as quickly as they came if ever Laurence tried to hail them, or even if Teons they saw only a few small feral beasts, and those by accident: Iskierka was in the river again, preferring to half-paddle herself along than to fly, and so Teone off to hunt meanwhile; Iskierka caons the size of Winchesters, sharing a ish creature on the shore
She was barely a head in the water at the tions stared in curiosity; then she reared up partway on the bank and deood?"
Yet three-quarters and hed all three of theh fired fro behind their dinner; this proved their only encounter, save for gli away "Oh, well," Iskierka said callously, and devoured the re them doith ss of river water
"What have you been eating?" Kulingile inquired, on returning: their hunting efforts had so far yielded only some s the hunger of three large dragons, one of the Su did what he could to stretch them
"I don’t know; they wouldn’t stay and tell me," Iskierka said drowsily, already half-asleep on the shore and resisting persuasion to continue any farther that day
In theand an acrid stench: she was vo heavily into the river, and sank one lied to return with a coupleboiled nearly to inedibility Iskierka’s ons were not enthusiastic about the resultant h by then they were glad enough for anything to eat
The jungle miasma lay heavily upon all of them Hammond was also queerly feverish and short-te Ferris; Laurence feared the beginning of so them He himself was almost perpetually in a sweat, the woolen clothes suited to the high mountain fastnesses of the Inca were become a prison for all of them, but the viciousness and size of the insects prohibited all but theany unnecessary part to the air
"Well, and it is an evil part of the world we have coeneral sentiment, after a fewroar of protest, and shaken off three bats which had latched on to him, in the dark
"They bit ation turned up s and fed, so it seemed, upon the blood; and several ons
There was soer, but the bats were no h Granby slept on Iskierka’s back and woke several tiood arrowing hard and swollen and hot to the touch after a day
The half-healed injury which Granby had taken to his arravated and all earlier progress lost in his being flung fro to escape the flarossly swollen and bruised purple-black, and the hand dangling useless They had no surgeon; only the foriance out of a dockside carouse, and his only contribution was to offer, "Why, I can have it off easy as you please, sir, if the little miss will lend me her knife; and someone can find lare
"Wrap it up tight for me, Laurence, if you please," Granby said hastily, "and let us see what a feeeks will do: it does not pain me over-much--" this last delivered while he was claony; but Laurence was in too ue for its being endured: the shoulder which seemed the real seat of the injury could not itself be taken off
Four days later, the ar beneath the skin froers, and Granby could not close his hand The shoulder at least seemed a little recovered, and when palpated the flesh of the upper ar there was a feverish heat growing above the elbow, and the engorge upwards
"Had it better co at Laurence’s face
"I think itto inspect his field of work, patted Granby’s shoulder
"Never you fear, Captain; why, I have had off the arh I do not have my saw" He took the knife which Roland silently proffered hi called miss now subsumed in anxiety, and carried it down to the riverside to sharpen against the stones of the bank