noon
`` And they have stolen nothing , '' said Mr. Hume , after a careful inspection of the kit . The guides pointed to the trees , and once more they were traveling the upper road through the moist leaves , glistening under the sun from the myriad drops of condensed mist . It was more than they could do to keep pace with the agile leaders , and time and again the little men had to wait for the big-limbed , awkward-footed strangers to come up . As on the previous day , they stuck to the work , grudging even a few minutes ' rest in the heat of the burning noon , and they only relaxed their efforts to introduce a peculiar sporting event , which nearly put an end to the party . The quick eye of the light-coloured guide saw some object in the tree-tops , and miming out lightly to the end of the branch , he gave a peculiar bark . In response there came the familiar barking roar of a gorilla , followed by the appearance of the black face at a little distance . Immediately the three little men grossly insulted the great monarch of the woods , whose undisputed sway no denizen of the forest cared to dispute , who had been known to break the back of a leopard , and to outstare some chance lion prowling on the outskirts .