noon
Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he continued in this mood , I began making any number of feeble jokes -- feeble , but quite as good as the one which had provoked such outrageous merriment -- for it amused me to see him acting in this unusual way . But they all failed of their effect -- there was no hitting the bull 's - eye a second time ; he would only stare vacantly at me , then grunt like a peccary -- not appreciatively -- and walk on . Still , at intervals he would go back to what I had said about hitting a very big bird , and roar again , as if this wonderful joke was not easily exhausted . Again on the third day we were out together practicing at the birds -- frightening if not killing them ; but before noon , finding that it was his intention to go to a distant spot where he expected to meet with larger game , I left him and returned to the village . The blow-pipe practice had lost its novelty , and I did not care to go on all day and every day with it ; more than that , I was anxious after so long an interval to pay a visit to my wood , as I began to call it , in the hope of hearing that mysterious melody which I had grown to love and to miss when even a single day passed without it . After making a hasty meal at the house , I started , full of pleasing anticipations , for the wood ; for how pleasant a place it was to be in ! What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness it possessed above all forests , because of that mystery that drew me to it !