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diff --git a/21365.txt b/21365.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3237636 --- /dev/null +++ b/21365.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14164 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Rob Harlow's Adventures, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rob Harlow's Adventures + A Story of the Grand Chaco + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Illustrator: W. Burton + +Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21365] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROB HARLOW'S ADVENTURES *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Rob Harlow's Adventures, a Story of the Grand Chaco, by George Manville +Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +A small private naturalist's expedition is about to take place up one of +the Paraguay rivers. The eponymous hero, Rob Harlow, is a teenager. +They are going to be rowed up the river, and the larger vessel that had +brought then there, with its Italian captain, is to wait for them. The +captain's son, Giovanni, is very keen to come with them, and his father +thinks it would be a very good idea. The other adults on the trip are +not so happy about the responsibility, but eventually he is allowed to +come. He is about the same age as our hero, Rob. + +There ensue the usual desperate situations we always get from this +author. Serpents; people getting lost and eventually found, having lost +their reason; attacks by Indians; insects; pumas; jaguars; and various +other problems with animals. There are even quarrels between the boys, +arising from a silly misunderstanding. + +It's good stuff, and will be numbered among George Manville Fenn's best, +which is rather a long list. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +ROB HARLOWS'S ADVENTURES, A STORY OF THE GRAND CHACO, BY GEORGE MANVILLE +FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +TWO TRAVELLERS. + +"Don't they bite, sir?" + +"Bite?" + +_Smick! smack! flap_! + +"Oh, murder!" + +"What's the matter, sir?" + +"My hand." + +"Hurt it, sir?" + +"I should think I have." + +"You should wait till they've sucked 'emselves full and then hit 'em; +they're lazy then. Too quick for you now." + +"The wretches! I shall be spotted all over, like a currant dumpling. I +say, Shaddy, do they always bite like this?" + +"Well, yes, sir," said the man addressed, about as ugly a specimen of +humanity as could be met in a day's march, for he had only one eye, and +beneath that a peculiar, puckered scar extending down to the corner of +his mouth, shaggy short hair, neither black nor grey--a kind of +pepper-and-salt colour--yellow teeth in a very large mouth, and a skin +so dark and hairy that he looked like some kind of savage, dressed in a +pair of canvas trousers and a shirt that had once been scarlet, but was +now stained, faded, and rubbed into a neutral grub or warm earthy tint. +He wore no braces, but a kind of belt of what seemed to be snake or +lizard skin, fastened with either a silver or pewter buckle. Add to +this the fact that his feet were bare, his sleeves rolled up over his +mahogany-coloured arms, and that his shirt was open at the throat, +showing his full neck and hairy chest; add also that he was about five +feet, nine, very broad-shouldered and muscular, and you have Shadrach +Naylor, about the last person any one would take to be an Englishman or +select for a companion on a trip up one of the grandest rivers of South +America. + +But there he was that hot, sunny day, standing up in the stern of the +broad, lightly built boat which swung by a long rope some fifty feet +behind a large schooner, of shallow draught but of lofty rig, so that +her tremendous tapering masts might carry their sails high above the +trees which formed a verdant wall on each side of the great river, and +so catch the breeze when all below was sheltered and calm. + +The schooner was not anchored, but fast aground upon one of the shifting +sand-banks that made navigation difficult. Here she was likely to lie +until the water rose, or a fresh cool wind blew from the south and +roughened the dull silvery gleaming surface into waves where she could +roll and rock and work a channel for herself through the sand, and sail +onward tugging the boat which swung behind. + +It was hot, blistering hot! and all was very still save for the rippling +murmur of the flowing river and the faint buzz of the insect plagues +which had come hunting from the western shore, a couple of hundred yards +away, while the eastern was fully two miles off, and the voices of the +man and the boy he addressed sounded strange in the vast solitudes +through which the mighty river ran. + +Not that these two were alone, for there were five more occupants of the +boat, one a white man--from his dress--a leg being visible beneath a +kind of awning formed of canvas, the other four, Indians or +half-breeds--from the absence of clothing and the colour of their skins +as they lay forward--fast asleep, like the occupant of the covered-in +portion. + +The great schooner was broad and Dutch-like in its capacious beam, and +manned by a fair-sized crew, but not a soul was visible, for it was +early in the afternoon; the vessel was immovable, and all on board were +fast asleep. + +Shadrach Naylor, too, had been having his nap, with his pipe in his +mouth, but it had fallen out with a rap in the bottom of the boat, and +this had awakened him with a start to pick it up. He valued that pipe +highly as one of his very few possessions--a value not visible to any +one else, for intrinsically, if it had been less black and not quite so +much chipped, it might have been worth a farthing English current coin +of the realm. + +So Shadrach Naylor, familiarly known as "Shaddy," opened his one eye so +as to find his pipe, picked it up, and was in the act of replacing it in +his mouth prior to closing his eye again, when the sharp, piercing, dark +orb rested upon Rob Harlow, seated in the stern, roasting in the sun, +and holding a line that trailed away overboard into the deep water +behind the sand-bank. + +Perhaps it was from being so ugly a man and knowing it that Shaddy had a +great liking for Rob Harlow, who was an English lad, sun-burnt, +brown-haired, well built, fairly athletic, at most sixteen, very +good-looking, and perfectly ignorant of the fact. + +So Shaddy rose from forward, and, with his toes spreading out like an +Indian's, stepped from thwart to thwart till he was alongside of Rob, of +whom he asked the question respecting the biting, his inquiry relating +to the fish, while Rob's reply applied to the insects which worried him +in their search for juicy portions of his skin. + +But they were not allowed to feed in peace, for Rob smacked and slapped +sharply, viciously, but vainly, doing far more injury to himself than to +the gnat-like flies, so, to repeat his words,-- + +"I say, Shaddy, do they always bite like this?" + +"Well, yes, sir," said Shaddy, "mostlings. It's one down and t'other +come on with them. It's these here in the morning, and when they've +done the sand-flies take their turn till sun goes down, and then out +comes the skeeters to make a night of it." + +"Ugh!" ejaculated Rob, giving himself a vicious rub. "I'm beginning to +wish I hadn't come. It's horrible." + +"Not it, youngster. You'll soon get used to 'em. I don't mind; they +don't hurt me. Wait a bit, and, pretty little creeturs, you'll like +it." + +"What! Like being bitten?" + +"To be sure, sir. 'Livens you up a bit in this hot sleepy country; does +your skin good; stimmylates, like, same as a rub with a good rough towel +at home." + +Rob gave vent to a surly grunt and jerked his line. + +"I don't believe there are any fish here," he said. + +"No fish! Ah! that's what we boys used to say o' half-holidays when we +took our tackle to Clapham Common to fish the ponds there. We always +used to say there was no fish beside the tiddlers, and them you could +pull out as fast as you liked with a bit o' worm without a hook, but +there was fish there then--big perch and whacking carp, and now and then +one of us used to get hold of a good one, and then we used to sing quite +another song.--I say, sir!" + +"Well?" + +"This here's rather different to Clapham Common, isn't it?" + +"Yes," said Rob, "but it isn't what I expected." + +"What did you 'spect, then? Ain't the river big enough for you?" + +"Oh! it's big enough," said the lad, snatching his line in. "Didn't +seem like a river down behind there." + +"Right, my lad; like being at sea, ain't it?" + +"Yes, and it's all so flat where you can see the shore. An ashy, dusty, +dreary place, either too hot or too cold! Why, I wouldn't live at Monte +Video or Buenos Ayres for all the money in the world." + +"And right you'd be, my lad, says Shadrach Naylor. Ah! Why, look at +that! Fish is fish all the world over. You don't expect they'll bite +at a bare hook, do you?" + +"Bother the bait! it's off again," said Rob, who had just pulled in the +line. "It always seems to come off." + +"Not it, lad. There, I'll put a bit o' meat on for you. It's them +little beggars nibbles it off.--There you are; that's a good bait. +Perhaps you may get a bite this time. As I says, fish is fish all the +world over, and they're the most onaccountable things there is. One day +they're savage after food; next day you may hold a bait close to their +noses, and they won't look at it. But you're hot and tired, my lad. +Why don't you do as others do, take to your sister?" + +"My sister!" cried Rob, staring. "I haven't got one." + +"I didn't say sister," said Shaddy, showing his yellow teeth; "I said +sister--nap." + +"I know you did," grumbled Rob; "why don't you say siesta?" + +"'Cause I don't care about making mouthfuls of small words, my lad." + +_Splash_! went the freshly thrown-in bait. + +"I don't like sleeping in the middle of the day," said Rob as he took a +fresh hold of his line. + +"Wait a bit, my lad, and you'll like getting a snooze on there when you +can get a chance. And so you're a bit disappynted in the country, are +you?" + +"Yes, but it's been getting better the last few days." + +"Yes," said Shaddy, "ever so much; and as soon as you get used to it +you'll say it's the beautifullest place in the world." + +Rob turned to him quickly, his irritation passing away. + +"Yes, it is getting beautiful," he said; "the trees all along that side +are very grand." + +"Ah," said Shaddy, replacing the great sheath-knife with which he had +been cutting up his tobacco in his belt, "and it's bigger and wilder +when we get higher up. I don't wonder at their calling it the Grand +Chaco." + +"The trees are wonderful," said Rob softly as he gazed at the great wall +of verdure. + +"And it's wonderfuller inside as you go on and up the little rivers or +creeks. Just you wait a bit, my lad, and you'll see. I can show you +things as'll open your eyes. You won't think the place dull." + +"I suppose we are getting up toward quite the middle of South America, +aren't we?" + +"Getting that way, my lad, but not yet. Wasn't that a bite?" + +"No," replied Rob confidently. "I say, Shaddy, are there really any +good fish in this river? Isn't it too big?" + +"Wants a big river to hold big fish in, millions of 'em, big as you are. +Wait, and you'll see." + +"But one gets so tired of waiting." + +"But we has to wait all the same, and how those 'Talians get up and down +as they do is always a wonder to me. I suppose they like waiting, and +having their snoozes in the hot sun. 'Tis their nature to. Naples is +hot enough, but not like this." + +"Have you been to Italy?" + +"'Ain't many places I haven't been to, my lad." + +"But you've been here a long time." + +"Nigh upon twenty year up and down; and when I go to a place I like to +forage and ferret about, being fond of a bit o' sport. That's how it is +I know so much of the country up here. Couldn't help larning it. No +credit to a man then." + +"What are you looking at?" said Rob. + +"Nothing, but looking out for squalls." + +"Change of weather?" + +"Nay, not yet. I meant Indian squalls. I didn't know as there were to +be no watch kept, or I wouldn't have slept. It ain't safe, my lad, to +go to sleep close to the shore this side." + +"Why! Wild beasts?" + +"Nay, wild Indians, as hates the whites, and would come out from under +the trees in their canoes and attack us if they knowed we were here. I +told the skipper so, but he's like them 'talians: knows everything +himself, so that he as good as told me to mind my own business, and so I +did. But this side of the river's all savage and wild, my lad. The +people had rough hard times with the old Spaniards, so that every white +man's a Spaniard to them, and if they get a chance it's spear or club." + +Rob looked rather nervously along the interlacing trees hung with the +loveliest of vine and creeper, and then jerked his line. + +"Ah, it's all right enough, sir, if you keep your eyes open. I can't, +you see: only one." + +"How did you lose your eye, Shaddy?" + +"Tiger," said the man shortly. + +"There are no tigers here," said Rob. "They are in India." + +"I know that. Striped ones they are, and bigger than these here. I've +known 'em swim off from Johore across to Singapore--though they're big +cats--and then lie in wait for the poor Chinese coolie chaps and carry +'em off. They call these big spotted chaps tigers, though, out here; +but they're jaggers: that's what they are. Call 'em painters up in +Texas and Arizona and them parts north. Jaggered my eye out anyhow." + +"How was it?" + +"I was shooting, and after lying in wait for one of the beggars for +nights, I saw my gentleman--coming after a calf he was--and I shot him. +`Dead!' I says, for he just gave one snarly cry, turned over on his +back, clawed about a bit, and then lay down on his side, and I went up, +knife in hand, meaning to have his spotted skin." + +Shaddy stopped and laid his hand over the scar and empty eye cavity, as +if they throbbed still. + +"Well?" cried Rob eagerly. + +"No; it wasn't well, my lad. All the worst's coming. He wasn't dead a +bit, and before I knew where I was, he sent my rifle flying, and he had +me. It was one leap and a wipe down the face with his right paw, and +then his jaws were fixed in my right shoulder, and down I went on my +back. If I hadn't twisted a bit he'd have torn me with his hind claws +same as a cat does a great rat, and then I shouldn't have been here to +be your guide. As it was, he kicked and tore up the earth, and then he +left go of my shoulder and turned over on his side, and died in real +earnest." + +"The bullet had taken effect?" + +"Nay, my lad; it was my knife. I thought it was my turn again, and, as +I had it in my hand, I felt for his heart, and found it." + +"How horrible!" + +"Yes, it was, my lad, very; but I won that game. I didn't get the skin +money, for I didn't care for it then. I couldn't see very well. Why, I +was quite blind for a month after, and then all the strength of two eyes +seemed to go into this one. Painters they call 'em nor'ard, as I said; +and he painted me prettily, didn't he, right down this cheek? Never saw +a girl who thought me handsome enough to want to marry me." + +Shaddy laughed. + +"What is it?" said Rob. + +"I was thinking about Mr Brazier yonder when I came to you at Buenos +Ayres." + +"What, when he was waiting for the guide Captain Ossolo said he could +recommend?" + +Shaddy nodded. + +"He looked quite scared at me. Most people do; and the captain had +quite a job to persuade him that I should be the very man." + +"Yes, and it was not till the captain said he would not get one half so +good that he engaged you." + +"That's so, my lad. But I am a rum 'un, ain't I?" + +"You're not nice-looking, Shaddy," said Rob, gazing at him thoughtfully; +"but I never notice it now, and--well, yes, you are always very kind to +me. I like you," added the boy frankly. + +Shaddy's one eye flashed, and he did not look half so ferocious. + +"Thank ye, my lad," he cried, stretching out his great hand. "Would you +mind laying your fist in there and saying that again?" + +Rob laughed, looked full in the man's eye, and laid his hand in the +broad palm, but wished the next moment that he had not, for the fingers +closed over his with a tremendous grip. + +"I say, you hurt!" he cried. + +"Ay, I suppose so," said Shaddy, loosing his grip a little. "I forgot +that. Never mind. It was meant honest, and Mr Brazier shan't repent +bringing me." + +"I don't think he does now," said Rob. "He told me yesterday that you +were a staunch sort of fellow." + +"Ah! thank ye," said Shaddy, smiling more broadly; and his ruffianly, +piratical look was superseded by a frank aspect which transformed him. +"You see, Mr Harlow, I'm a sort of a cocoa-nutty fellow, all shaggy +husk outside. You find that pretty tough till you get through it, and +then you ain't done, for there's the shell, and that's hard enough to +make you chuck me away; but if you persevere with me, why, there inside +that shell is something that ain't peach, nor orange, nor soft banana, +but not such very bad stuff after all." + +"I should think it isn't," cried Rob. "I say, it would make some of our +boys at home stare who only know cocoa-nut all hard and woody, and the +milk sickly enough to throw away, if they could have one of the +delicious creamy nuts that we get here." + +"Yes, my lad, they're not bad when you're thirsty, nor the oranges +either." + +"Delicious!" cried Rob. + +"Ay. I've lived for weeks at a time on nothing but oranges and +cocoanuts, and a bit of fish caught just now and then with my hands, +when I've been exploring like and hunting for gold." + +"For gold? Is there gold about here?" + +"Lots, my lad, washed down the rivers. I've often found it." + +"Then you ought to be rich." + +The man chuckled. + +"Gold sounds fine, sir, but it's a great cheat. My 'sperience of gold +has always been that it takes two pounds' worth of trouble to get one +pound's worth o' metal. So that don't pay. Seems to me from what I +hear that it's the same next door with dymons." + +"Next door?" + +"Well, up yonder in Brazil. I should say your Mr Brazier will do +better collecting vegetables, if so be he can find any one to buy 'em +afterwards. What do you call 'em--orkards?" + +"Orchids," said Rob. + +"But who's going to buy 'em?" + +"Oh, I don't know," said Rob, laughing. "There are plenty of people +glad to get them in England for their hothouses. Besides, there are the +botanists always very eager to see any new kinds." + +"Better try and get some new kinds o' birds. There's lots here with +colours that make your eyes ache. They'd be better than vegetables. +Why, right up north--I've never seen any down here--there's little humpy +birds a bit bigger than a cuckoo, with tails a yard long and breasts +ever so much ruddier than robins', and all the rest of a green that +shines as if the feathers were made of copper and gold mixed." + +"Mr Brazier hasn't come after birds." + +"Well then, look here; I can put him up to a better way of making money. +What do you say to getting lots of things to send to the 'Logical +Gardens? Lions and tigers and monkeys--my word, there are some rum +little beggars of monkeys out here." + +"No lions in America, Shaddy." + +"Oh, ain't there, my lad? I'll show you plenty, leastwise what we calls +lions here. I'll tell you what--snakes and serpents. They'd give no +end for one of our big water-snakes. My word, there are some whackers +up these rivers." + +"How big?" said Rob, hiding a smile--"two hundred feet long?" + +"Gammon!" growled Shaddy; "I ain't one of your romancing sort. Truth's +big enough for me. So's the snakes I've seen. I've had a skin of one +fellow six-and-twenty foot long, and as opened out nearly nine foot laid +flat. I dessay it stretched a bit in the skinning, but it shrunk a bit +in the drying, so that was about its size, and I've seen more than one +that must have been longer, though it's hard to measure a twisting, +twirling thing with your eye when it's worming its way through mud and +water and long grass." + +"Water-snakes, eh?" said Rob, who was beginning to be impressed by the +man's truth. + +"Ay, water-snakes. They're anti-bilious sort of things, as some folks +calls 'em--can't live out of the water and dies in." + +He laughed merrily as he said this. + +"That's true enough, my lad, for they wants both land and water. I've +seen 'em crawl into a pool and curl themselves up quite comfortable at +the bottom and lie for hours together. You could see 'em with the water +clear as cryschial. Other times they seem to like to be in the sun. +But wait a bit, and I'll show 'em to you, ugly beggars, although they're +not so very dangerous after all. Always seemed as scared of me as I was +of--hist! don't move. Just cast your eye round a bit to starboard and +look along the shore." + +Rob turned his eye quickly, and saw a couple of almost naked Indians +standing on an open patch beneath the trees, each holding a long, thin +lance in his hand. They were watching the water beneath the bank very +attentively, as if in search of something, just where quite a field of +lilies covered the river, leaving only a narrow band clear, close to the +bank. + +"Don't take no notice of 'em," said Shaddy; "they're going fishing." + +"Wish them better luck than I've had," said Rob. "Fishing! Those are +their rods, then; I thought they were spears." + +"So they are, my lad," whispered Shaddy. "They're off. No fish there." + +As he spoke the two living-bronze figures disappeared among the trees as +silently as they had come. + +"Of course there are no fish," said Rob wearily as he drew in his +baitless line, the strong gimp hook being quite bare. "Hullo, here +comes Joe!" + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +CATCHING A DORADO. + +For at that minute a slight sound from the schooner made him cast his +eyes in that direction and see a lithe-looking lad of about his own age +sliding down a rope into a little boat alongside, and then, casting off +the painter, the boat drifted with the current to that in which Rob was +seated. + +"Had your nap?" said Rob. + +"Yes," replied the lad in good English, but with a slight Italian +accent, as he fastened the little dinghy and stepped on board. "How +many have you caught?" + +Rob winced, and Shaddy chuckled, while Giovanni Ossolo, son of the +captain of the Italian river schooner _Tessa_, looked sharply from one +to the other, as if annoyed that the rough fellow should laugh at him. + +"Shall I show him all you've caught, sir?" said Shaddy. + +"Haven't had a touch, Joe," said Rob, an intimacy of a month on the +river having shortened the other's florid Italian name as above. + +The Italian lad showed his teeth. + +"You don't know how to fish," he said. + +"You'd better try yourself," said Rob. "You people talk about the fish +in the Parana, but I've seen more alligators than sprats." + +"Shall I catch one?" said the new-comer. + +"Yes; let's see you." + +The lad nodded and showed his white teeth. + +"Give me an orange," he said. + +Rob rose and stepped softly to the awning, thrust his hand into a basket +beneath the shelter, and took out three, returning to give one to the +young Italian and one to Shaddy, reserving the last for himself and +beginning to peel it at once. + +Giovanni, alias Joe--who had passed nearly the whole of his life on his +father's schooner, which formed one of the little fleet of Italian +vessels trading between Monte Video and Assuncion, the traffic being +largely carried on by the Italian colony settled in the neighbourhood of +the former city--took his orange, peeled it cleverly with his thin brown +fingers, tossed the skin overboard for it to be nosed about directly by +a shoal of tiny fish, and then pulled it in half, picked up the gimp +hook and shook his head, laid the hook back on the thwart, and pulled +the orange apart once more, leaving two carpels, one side of which he +skinned so as to bare the juicy pulp. + +"The hook is too small," said the boy quietly. + +"Why, it's a jack hook, such as we catch big pike with at home. But +you're not going to bait with that?" + +"Yes," said the lad, carefully thrusting the hook through the orange +after passing it in by a piece of the skin which, for the first time, +Rob saw he had left. + +"I never heard of a bait like that." + +"Oh, I dunno, my lad," said Shaddy. "I've caught carp with green peas +and gooseberries at home." + +"Orange the best bait for a dorado," said the Italian softly, as he +placed the point of the hook to his satisfaction. + +"Dorado? That ought to be Spanish for a golden carp," said Rob. + +"That's it. You've about hit it, my lad," cried Shaddy, "for these here +are as much like the gold-fish you see in the globes at home as one +pea's like another." + +"Then they're only little fish?" said Rob, with a contemptuous tone in +his voice. + +"Oh yes, only little ones, my lad," said Shaddy, exchanging glances with +the new-comer, who lowered the baited hook softly over the side of the +boat, and rapidly paid out the line as the orange was borne away by the +current. + +"There, Rob, you fish!" the Italian said. "Hold tight if one comes." + +"No; go on," replied Rob. "I'm hot and tired. Bother the flies!" + +The young Italian nodded, and sitting down, twisted the end of the stout +line round a pin in the side of the boat, looking, in his loose flannel +shirt and trousers and straw hat, just such a lad as might be seen any +summer day on the river Thames, save that he was bare-footed instead of +wearing brown leather or canvas shoes. Excepting the heavy breathing of +the sleepers forward, there was perfect silence once again till Shaddy +said,-- + +"Wind to-night, gentlemen, and the schooner will be off the bank." + +"The pampero?" said Giovanni--or, to shorten it to Rob's familiar +nickname, Joe--quietly. + +"Looks like it, my lad. There you have him." + +For all at once the line tightened, so that there was a heavy strain on +the side of the boat. + +"That's one of them little ones, Mr Rob, sir." + +Joe frowned, and there was a very intense look in his eyes as the line +cut the water to and fro, showing that some large fish had taken the +bait and was struggling vigorously to escape. + +Rob was all excitement now, and ready to bewail his luck at having given +up the chance of holding so great a capture on the hook. + +"To think o' me not recollecting the orange bait!" grumbled Shaddy. +"Must have been half asleep!" + +Those were intense moments, but moments they were; for after a few +rushes here and there the taut line suddenly grew slack, and as Rob +uttered an ejaculation expressive of his disappointment Joe laughed +quietly and drew in the line. + +"Look," he said, holding up the fragment of gimp attached by its loop to +the line. "I knew it was not strong enough." + +"Bit it in two," said Shaddy. "Ah, they have some teeth of their own, +the fish here. Ought to call 'em dogfish, for most of 'em barks and +bites." + +While he was speaking Joe had moved to the side of the dinghy, reached +over to a little locker in the stern, opened it, and returned directly +with a big ugly-looking hook swinging on a piece of twisted wire by its +eye. + +"They will not bite through that," he said as he returned. + +"Oh, but that's absurdly big," said Rob, laughing. "That would frighten +a forty-pound pike." + +"But it wouldn't frighten a sixty-pound dorado, my lad," said Shaddy +quietly. + +"What?" cried Rob. "Why, how big do you think that fish was that got +away?" + +"Thirty or forty pound, perhaps more." + +By this time the young Italian was dividing the orange which Shaddy had +laid upon the thwart beside him, and half of this, with the pulp well +bare, he placed upon the hook, firmly securing this to the line. + +"Now, Rob, your turn," said Joe; and the lad eagerly took hold, lowered +the bait, and tossed over some twenty yards of line. + +"Better twist it round the pin," said his companion. + +"Oh no, sir; hold it." + +"Well, then, let me secure the end fast." + +Rob was ready to resent this, for he felt confidence in his own powers; +but he held his tongue, and waited impatiently minute after minute, in +expectation of the bite which did not come. + +"No luck, eh?" said Shaddy. "I say, I hope you're not going to catch a +water-snake. I'll get my knife out to cut him free; shall I? He might +sink us." + +"Do be quiet," said Rob excitedly. "Might have one of those John Doreys +any moment." + +But still the minutes went on, and there was no sign. + +"How are you going to manage if you hook one?" said Joe quietly. + +"Play him till he's tired." + +"Mind the line doesn't cut your fingers. No, no, don't twist it round +your hand; they pull very hard. Let him go slowly till all the line's +out." + +"When he bites," said Rob in disappointed tones. "Your one has +frightened them all away, or else the bait's off." + +"No; I fixed it too tightly." + +Just then there was a yawn forward, and another from a second of the +Indians. + +"Waking," said Rob. "May as well give it up as a bad job." + +"No, no, don't do that, sir. You never know when you're going to catch +a big fish. Didn't you have a try coming across?" + +"No; they said the steamer went too fast, and the screw frightened all +the fish away." + +"Ay, it would. But you'd better keep on. Strikes me it won't be +fishing weather to-morrow." + +_Thung_ went the line, which tightened as if it had been screwed by a +peg, and Rob felt a jerk up his arms anything but pleasant to his +muscles; while, in spite of his efforts, the line began to run through +his fingers as jerk succeeded jerk. But the excitement made him hold on +and give out as slowly as he could. The friction, though, was such that +to check it he wound his left hand in the stout cord, but only to feel +it cut so powerfully into his flesh that during a momentary slackening +he gladly got his left hand free, lowered both, so that the line rested +on the gunwale of the boat, and, making this take part of the stress, +let the fish go. + +"Best way to catch them fellows is to have a canoe and a very strong +line, so as he can tow you about till he's tired," said Shaddy. + +"Is the end quite safe?" panted Rob, whose nerves were throbbing with +excitement; and he was wondering that his new friend could be so +impassive and cool. + +"Yes, quite tight," was the reply, just as all the line had glided out; +and as Rob held on he was glad to have the help afforded by the line +being made fast to the pin. + +"What do you say now, sir?" cried Shaddy. + +"Oh, don't talk, pray." + +"All right, sir, all right; but he's going it, ain't he? Taking a +regular gallop over the bottom, eh?" + +"I do hope this hook will hold." + +"It will," said Giovanni; "you can't say it's too big now." + +"No," said Rob in a husky whisper. "But what is it--a shark?" + +"I never heard o' sharks up in these parts," said Shaddy, laughing. + +"Or would it be an alligator? It is awfully strong. Look at that." + +This was as the prisoner made a furious rush through the water right +across the stern. + +"Nay; it's no alligator, my lad. If it were I should expect to see him +come up to the top and poke out his ugly snout, as if to ask us what +game we called this. Precious cunning chaps they are, and as they live +by fishing, they'd say it wasn't fair." + +"Oh, Shaddy, do hold your tongue!" cried Rob. "I say, Joe, how long +will it take to tire him?" + +"Don't know," said the lad, laughing. "He's tiring you first." + +"Yes; but how are we to get him on board?" + +"Hullo, Rob, lad! caught a fish or a tartar?" said a fresh voice, and a +bronzed, sturdy man of about seven-and-thirty stepped up behind them, +putting on a pith helmet and suppressing a yawn, for he had just risen +from his nap under the awning. + +"Think it's a Tartar," said Rob between his set teeth. + +"Or a whale," said the fresh comer, laughing. "Perhaps we had better +cut adrift." + +"No, no, sir," cried Rob excitedly. "I must catch him." + +"I meant from the schooner, so as to let him tow us if he will take us +up stream instead of down." + +"No; don't move; don't do anything," cried Rob hoarsely. "I'm so afraid +of his breaking away." + +"Well, he is doing his best, my lad." + +"Getting tired, Mr Brazier," said the Italian lad. "They are _very_ +strong." + +"They? What is it, then--a fresh-water seal?" + +"No; a dorado. I know it by the way it pulls." + +"Oh, then, let's have him caught," said Martin Brazier, head of the +little expedition up the great Southern river. "I am eager to see the +gilded one. Steady, Rob, my lad! Give him time." + +"He has had time enough," said Giovanni quickly. "Begin to pull in now, +and he will soon be beaten." + +Rob began to haul, and drew the fish a couple of yards nearer the boat, +but he lost all he had gained directly, for the captive made a frantic +dash for liberty, and careered wildly to and fro some minutes longer. +Then, as fresh stress was brought to bear, it gradually yielded, +stubbornly at first, then more and more, till the line was gathering +fast in the bottom of the boat, and a sudden splash and tremendous eddy +half a dozen yards away showed that the fish was close to the surface. + +Just then the Italian captain's son came close up to Rob, and stood +looking over, holding a large hook which he had fetched from the dinghy; +but he drew back, and looked in Mr Brazier's face. + +"Would you like to hook it in?" he said, "or shall we let him go? It is +a very big one, and will splash about." + +"Better let me, sir," said Shaddy, drawing his knife. "Keep clear of +him, too, for he may bite." + +Martin Brazier looked sharply at the man he had engaged for his guide, +expecting to see a furtive smile, but Shaddy was perfectly serious, and +read his meaning. + +"It's all right, sir; they do bite, and bite sharply, too. Give us the +hook, youngster." + +He took the hook the young Italian handed, and as Rob dragged the fish, +which still plunged fiercely, nearer the side, he leaned over, and after +the line had been given twice and hauled in again, there was a gleam of +orange and gold, then a flash as the captive turned upon its side, and +before it could give another beat with its powerful caudal fin, Shaddy +deftly thrust the big hook in one of its gills, and the next moment the +dorado was dragged over the gunwale to lay for a moment in the bright +sunshine a mass of dazzling orange and gold, apparently astonished or +half stunned. The next it was beating the bottom heavily with its tail, +leaping up from side to side and taking possession of the stern of the +boat, till a sharp tug of the hook brought its head round, and a thrust +from Shaddy's knife rendered the fierce creature partially helpless. + +Rob's arms ached, and his hands were sore, but he forgot everything in +the contemplation of the magnificent fish he had captured. For as it +lay there now, feebly opening and closing its gills, it was wonderfully +like an ordinary gold-fish of enormous size, the orange-and-gold scale +armour in which it was clad being so gorgeous that, in spite of his +triumph in the capture, Rob could not help exclaiming,-- + +"What a pity to have killed it!" + +"There are plenty more," said Joe, smiling. + +"Yes, but it is so beautiful," said Rob regretfully. + +"Yet we should not have seen its beauty," said Brazier, "if we had not +caught it." And he bent down to examine the fish more closely. + +"Mind your eye, sir," shouted Shaddy. + +"You mean my finger, I suppose," said Brazier, snatching back his hand. + +"That's so, sir," replied Shaddy. "I'd a deal rather have mine in a +rat-trap. Just you look here!" + +He picked up the boat-hook and presented the end of the pole to the fish +as its jaws gaped open, and touched the palate. In an instant the mouth +closed with a snap, and the teeth were driven into the hard wood. + +"There, sir," continued Shaddy, "that's when he's half dead. You can +tell what he's like when he's all alive in the water. Pretty creetur, +then," he continued, apostrophising the dying fish, "it was a pity to +kill you. They'll be pretty glad down below, though, to get rid of you. +Wonder how many other better-looking fish he ate every day, Mr Harlow, +sir?" + +"I didn't think of that," said Rob, feeling more comfortable, and his +regret passing away. + +"With teeth like that, he must have been a regular water tyrant," said +Brazier, after a long examination of the fish, from whose jaws the pole +was with difficulty extracted. "There, take it away," he continued. +"Your cook will make something of it, eh, Giovanni?" + +"Yes," said the lad; "we'll have some for dinner." + +"But what do you suppose it weighs?" cried Rob. + +"Good sixty-pound, sir," said Shaddy, raising the captive on the hook at +arm's length. "Wo-ho!" he shouted as the fish made a struggle, +quivering heavily from head to tail. "There you are!" he cried, +dropping it into the dinghy. Then in the Guarani dialect he told two of +the Indian boatmen to take it on board the schooner, over whose stern +several dark faces had now appeared, and soon after the gorgeous-looking +trophy was hauled up the vessel's side and disappeared. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +AN ITALIAN ALLIANCE. + +"Now, sir, if you please," said Shaddy, "I think it's time to do +something to this covering-in. We've had fine weather so far, but it's +going to change. What do you say to spreading another canvas over the +top?" + +"If you think it's necessary, do it at once." + +"It's going to rain soon," said the Italian lad, who was seated by Rob +carefully winding up the line so that it might dry. + +"And when it do rain out here, sir, it ain't one of your British +mizzles, but regular cats and dogs. It comes down in bucketfuls. And, +as you know, the best thing toward being healthy's keeping a dry skin, +which you can't do in wet clothes." + +Work was commenced at once after the boat had been swabbed clean, and a +canvas sheet being unfolded, it was stretched over the ridge pole which +covered in a portion of the boat, tightly tied down over the sides, and +secured fore and aft. + +"There," said Shaddy when he had finished, the boys and Mr Brazier +helping willingly, "if we can keep the wind out we shall be all right +now. Nothing like keeping your victuals and powder dry. Not much too +soon, sir, eh?" + +Martin Brazier and his companion had been too busy to notice the change +that had come over the sky; but now they looked up to see that the sun +was covered by a dull haze, which rapidly grew more dense. The heat +that had prevailed for many days, during which they had fought their way +slowly up the great river, passed rapidly away, and Rob suggested that +rain would begin to fall soon. + +"Not yet, my lad. These are not rain-clouds," said Shaddy; "that's only +dust." + +"Dust? Where are the roads for it to blow off?" said Rob incredulously. + +"Roads? No roads, but off the thousands of miles of dry plains." + +Just then a hail came from the schooner, the captain looking over, and +in extremely bad English suggesting that the party should come on board; +but directly after he lapsed into Italian, addressed to his son. + +"Father says we shall have two or three days' rain and bad weather, and +that you will be more comfortable on board till the storm has gone by." + +"Yes," said Mr Brazier, "no doubt, but I don't like leaving the boat." + +"She'll be all right, sir," said Shaddy. "I'll stop aboard with one of +the Indians. Bit o' rain won't hurt us." + +Mr Brazier hesitated. + +"Better go, sir." + +"To refuse would be showing want of confidence in him," said Brazier to +Rob, and then aloud,-- + +"Very well. Take care of the guns, and see that nothing gets wet." + +Just then there was a whirling rush of cool wind, which rippled the +whole surface of the water. + +"I shall take care of 'em, sir," said Shaddy. "Here comes the dinghy. +Better get aboard whilst you can. She'll be off that sand-bank 'fore an +hour's past. You can send us a bit of the fish, Mr Harlow. Haul us up +close, and drop some in." + +"Yes, I'll look after you, Shaddy," replied Rob. + +"And if this wind holds we shall soon be in the Paraguay river, sir, and +sailing into another climate, as you'll see." + +They went on board the schooner, where they were warmly welcomed by the +Italian skipper, and in less time than Shaddy had suggested there was a +heavy sea on, which rocked the loftily masted vessel from side to side. +Then a sail or two dropped down, a tremendous gust of moisture-laden air +came from the south, the schooner rose, dipped her bowsprit, creaked +loudly, and as quite a tidal wave rushed up the river before the storm +she seemed to leap off the sand-bank on its crest right into deep water, +and sailed swiftly away due north. + +All whose duty did not keep them on deck were snugly housed in the +cabin, listening to the deafening roar of the thunder and watching the +lightning, which flashed incessantly, while the rain beat and thrashed +the decks and poured out of the scuppers in cascades. + +"They were right," said Brazier to Rob. "We're better here, but if this +goes on our boat will be half full of water, and not a thing left dry." + +"Shaddy will take care of them," said Rob quietly. "Besides, most of +the things are packed in casks, and will not hurt." + +Mr Brazier shook his head. + +"I don't know," he said; "I'm afraid we shall have to renew our stock of +provisions and powder at Assuncion, and they'll make us pay pretty +dearly for it, too." + +The storm lasted well through the night, but at daybreak the rain had +ceased. When they went on deck, there, swinging behind them, was the +drenched boat, with Shaddy seated astern, scooping out the last drops of +water with a tin, and saving that the canvas tent was saturated and +steamed slightly, nothing seemed wrong. The morning was comparatively +cool, a gleam of orange light coming in the east, and a pleasant gale +blowing from the south and sending the shallow-draughted schooner onward +at a rapid pace. + +A couple of hours later, with the sun well up, the temperature was +delicious, the canvas of the boat tent drying rapidly, and Shaddy, after +hauling close up astern for the fish he had not forgotten, had reported +that not a drop of water had got inside to the stores. + +Days followed of pleasant sailing, generally with the pampero blowing, +but with a few changes round to the north, when, as they tacked up the +river, it was like being in another climate. + +One or two stoppages followed at the very few towns on the banks, and at +last the junction of the two great rivers was reached, the Parana, up +which they had sailed, winding off to the east and north, the Paraguay, +up which their destination lay, running in a winding course due north. + +As Shaddy had prophesied, the change was wonderful as soon as they had +entered this river, and fresh scenes and novelties were constantly +delighting Rob's eyes as they slowly sailed on against the current. + +"Oh yes, this is all very well," said Shaddy; "but wait till we've got +past the big city yonder and left the schooners and trade and houses +behind: then I shall show you something. All this don't count." + +Mr Brazier seemed to think that it did, and a dozen times over he was +for bidding Captain Ossolo good-bye, thanking and paying him for towing +him up the river, and turning off at once into one of the streams that +ran in through the virgin land west. But Shaddy opposed him. + +"I'm only your servant, Mr Brazier, sir," he said, "and I'll do what +you say; but you told me you wanted to go into quite noo country. Well, +it will be easier for me to take you up one of these creeks or rivers, +and you'll be able to hunt and collect; only recollect that it isn't +such very noo country--other folks have been up here and there. What I +say is, give the skipper good-bye when we get to Assuncion, and then +we'll sail and row and pole up a couple of hundred miles farther, and +then turn off west'ard. Then I can take you up rivers where +everything's noo to Englishmen, and in such a country as shall make you +say that you couldn't ha' thought there was such a land on earth." + +Similar conversations to this took place again and again, and all fired +Martin Brazier's brain as much as they did Rob's. + +They had an unexpected effect, too, for, on reaching Assuncion, where +the schooner cast anchor to discharge her cargo and take in a fresh one +for the downward journey, Captain Ossolo came over into the boat one +evening with his son, just as Brazier and Rob were busy with Shaddy +packing in stores which had been freshly purchased, as possibly this +would be the last place where they could provide themselves with some of +the necessaries of life. + +"Ah, captain," cried Brazier, "I'm glad you've come. I want to have a +settlement with you for all you've done." + +The captain nodded, and rubbed one brown ear, making the gold ring +therein glisten. + +"What am I in your debt?" continued Brazier, "though no money can pay +you for your kindness to us and excellent advice." + +The captain was silent, and took to rubbing the other ear, his face +wearing a puzzled expression. + +"Don't be afraid to speak out, sir," continued Brazier; "I am sure you +will find me generous." + +"_Si_! yes," said the captain, holding out his hand, which was at once +taken; "much please--good fellow--_amico_--_bono_--_altro_--_altro_!" + +He broke down and looked confused. + +"I understand you," said Brazier, speaking slowly; "and so are you a +good fellow. I wish I could speak Italian. Do you understand me?" + +"_Si! si_!" said the captain, nodding his head. + +"We both hope to find you here again when we return, for you to help us +down the river again with the collections we shall have made." + +This last puzzled the captain a little; but his son, who was at his +elbow, interpreted, and he nodded his head vehemently. + +"_Si! si_!" he cried. "Take you back on _Tessa_. Get fever? No. Get +hurt? No. Come back safe." + +"My father means you are to take care of yourselves," said Joe, "both +you and Rob. Shaddy has promised to help you all he can." + +"Ah, to be sure I will; depend upon that," said the individual named. + +"And father wants to say something else," said Joe. + +"Yes, of course," said Brazier rather impatiently. "What am I in his +debt?" + +"Shall I tell him, father?" said the lad in Italian. + +"_Si! si_!" + +The lad cleared his voice, and fixed his eyes on Rob, but turned them +directly after upon Brazier. + +"My father says he will not take any money for what he has done." + +"Oh, nonsense!" cried Brazier; "he must." + +"No!" cried the skipper, frowning as he shook his head till his earrings +glistened. + +"He wants you to do him a favour." + +"What does he so want--a gun, a watch, some powder?" + +"No," said the lad, clearing his throat again; "he wants you to be a +friend to me and take me with you in the boat." + +"What?" cried Rob, with an eager look. + +"Father--_il mio padre_--says it would do me good to go with you and +travel, and learn to speak English better." + +"Why, you speak it well now." + +"But better," continued Joe. "He would like me to go with Rob, and help +you, and shoot and fish and collect things. He would like it very +much." + +Captain Ossolo showed his teeth and laughed merrily as he clapped his +son on the shoulder. + +"Do you understand what your son says?" cried Brazier. + +"_Si_! All he say. Giovanni want go bad, very much bad." + +"I thought so," said Brazier. Then turning to the lad, "Do you know +that we may be months away?" + +"Yes, I know," said the lad eagerly. "Father says it would--Please take +me, Signore Brazier. I will be so useful, and I can fish, and cook, and +light fires." + +"And lay the blame on your father, eh? He wants you to go?" + +"He says I may, signore--I mean sir. He promised me that he would ask +you." + +"I understand," said Brazier; "but, my good lad, do you know that we +shall have to rough it very much?" + +"Bah!" exclaimed the boy. "You will have the boat, and Shaddy, and the +four Indian rowers. The country is paradise. It will be a holiday, a +delight." + +"And the insects, the wild beasts, the dangers of disease?" + +"What of them? We shall be on the rivers, and I have been on rivers +half my life. Pray take me, signore." + +Brazier shook his head, and a look of agony convulsed the boy's Southern +features. + +"Speak to him, my father," he cried excitedly, "and you, Rob. We were +making friends. Beg, pray of him to say yes." + +"_Si_!" said the captain, nodding his head. "Do boy _mio_ good. Much, +very good boy, Giovanni." + +"Well, I hardly like to refuse you, my lad," said Brazier. "What do you +say, Rob? Could we make room for him?" + +A light seemed to flash from Giovanni's eyes, and his lips parted as he +waited panting for Rob's reply. + +"Oh yes; he would not take up much room." + +"No, very little. I could sleep anywhere," cried the lad excitedly, +"and I could help you so much. I know the country almost as well as +Shaddy. Don't I, Shaddy?" + +"Say ever so much more, boy, if you like. But he does know a lot about +it. Me and he's been more than one trip together, eh, lad?" + +"Yes. But beg him to take me, Rob," cried the boy. "I do so want to +go." + +"You will take him, will you not, Mr Brazier?" + +"I shrink from the responsibility," said Brazier. + +"I'll take the responsibility, then," cried Rob eagerly. + +"Suppose I say `no'?" + +Giovanni's countenance changed at every speech, being one moment +clouded, the next bright. And now as that word "No" rang out he clasped +his hands together and raised them with a gesture full of despair. Then +his eyes lit up again, for Rob said quickly,-- + +"Don't say it, then. He would be so horribly disappointed now." + +"_Si_! Take Giovanni," said the skipper, and the boy gave him a +grateful glance. + +"But suppose anything happens to him?" + +The Italian captain could not grasp the meaning of this last speech, and +turned to his son, who rendered it into their own tongue. + +"Oh," replied the captain in the same language, "it is fate. He must +take care of himself. Suppose I fall overboard, and am drowned, or the +fish eat me? Yes, he must take care." + +"You would like him with us, then, Rob?" said Brazier. + +"Yes, very much." + +"That's enough, then. You shall come, my lad. Wait a moment; hear what +I have to say. You must be obedient and follow out my instructions." + +"Yes; I'll do everything you tell me," cried the boy. + +"And you will have to do as we do--live hard and work hard." + +"I'm not afraid of work," said the boy, smiling. + +"And now interpret this to your father. I will do everything I can to +protect you, and you shall be like one of us, but he must not expect me +to be answerable for any mishaps that may come to us out in the wilds." + +Giovanni turned eagerly to his father, but the skipper waved his hand. + +"Understand," he said, nodding his head. "I you trust. Take _il mio_ +boy." + +He held out his hand to Brazier, and shook his solemnly as if in sign +manual of the compact, and then repeated the performance with Rob, whose +hand he retained, and, taking his son's, placed them together. + +"_Fratelli_! broders!" he said, smiling. + +"Yes, I will be like a brother to you," cried Giovanni. + +"All right," said Rob unpoetically; and then the skipper turned to +Shadrach, and grumbled out something in Italian. + +"Toe be sure," growled the man in English. "'Course I will. You know +me, cap'en." + +"_Si_!" replied the skipper laconically; and then, asking Rob to +accompany him, the Italian lad made for his little cabin to begin the +few preparations he had to make. + +The result was that a canvas bag like a short bolster was handed down +into the boat, and then the boy followed with a light, useful-looking +rifle, belt and long keen sheath-knife, which he hung up under the +canvas to be clear of the night dew or rain. + +It was still grey the next morning when the boatmen sat ready with their +oars, and Captain Ossolo stood in the dinghy beside Brazier's boat, +which swung astern of the _Tessa_, down into whose hold scores of +light-footed women were passing basketfuls of oranges. + +They paused in their work for a few minutes as the captain shook hands +with all in turn. + +"_A revederla_!" he cried, taking off his Panama hat. "I see you when +you come back, ole boy; goo'-bye; take yourself care of you." + +The next minute he was waving his soft hat from the dinghy, while +Brazier's boat was gliding up stream, and the two boys stood up and gave +him a hearty cheer. + +"Now, youngsters," said Shaddy, as he cleared the little mast lying +under the thwarts, "we shall catch the wind as soon as we're round the +next bend; so we may as well let Natur' do the work when she will." + +"What's that, Shadrach?" said Brazier; "going to hoist the sail?" + +"Ay, sir. No _Tessa_ to tow us now." + +"True. What do you mean to do first?" + +"Ask you to resist all temptations to stop at what you calls likely +bits, sir, and wait till we get up a hundred mile or so, when I'll take +you into waters which will be exactly what you want." + +"Very good; I leave myself then in your hands." + +"Just to start you, sir. After that it's you as takes the helm." + +As their guide said, the wind was fair as soon as they had rowed round a +bend of the great, smooth river; the sail was hoisted, the oars laid in, +and the Indian rowers too, for as soon as they had ceased pulling they +lay down forward to sleep, and that night the boat was moored to a tree +on the eastern side of the stream, far-away from the haunts of civilised +man, while Rob lay sleepless, listening to the strange and weird sounds +which rose from the apparently impenetrable forest on the far-away +western shore. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +NOISES OF THE NIGHT. + +"Not asleep, my lad?" said a voice at his elbow as Rob crept out from +under the awning to the extreme stern. + +"You, Shaddy? No, I can't sleep. It all seems so strange." + +"Ay, it do to you," said the man in a husky whisper. "You've got it +just on you now strong. You couldn't go to sleep because you thought +that them four Indian chaps forward might come with their knives and +finish you and drop you overboard--all of us." + +"How do you know I thought that?" + +"Ah, I know!" said Shaddy, with a chuckle. "Everybody does. I did +first time. Well, they won't, so you needn't be afeared o' that. Nex' +thing as kept you awake was that you thought a great boa-constructor +might be up in the tree and come crawling down into the boat." + +"Shaddy, are you a witch?" cried Rob. + +"Not as I knows on, my lad." + +"Then how did you know that?" + +"Human natur', lad. Every one thinks just like that. Next you began +thinking that them pretty creeturs you can hear singing like great cats +would swim across and attack us, or some great splashing fish shove his +head over the side to take a bite at one of us. Didn't you?" + +Rob was silent for a few moments, and then said,-- + +"Well, I did think something of the kind." + +"Of course you did. It is your nature to think like that, but you may +make your mind easy, for there's only one thing likely to attack you out +here." + +"What's that?" whispered Rob--"Indians who will swim out from the +shore?" + +"No, wild creeturs who will fly--skeeters, lad, skeeters." + +"Oh," said Rob, with a little laugh, "they've been busy enough already, +two or three of them. But what's that?" + +He grasped Shaddy's arm, for at that moment there was a plunge in the +river not very far-away in the darkness from where they were moored, and +then silence. + +"Dunno yet," said Shaddy in a whisper. "Listen." + +Rob needed no telling, for his every nerve was on the strain. There +came a peculiar grunting sound, very unlike any noise that might have +been made by a swimming Indian, and Shaddy said quietly,-- + +"Water hog. Carpincho they calls 'em; big kind of porky, beavery, +ottery, ratty sort of thing; and not bad eating." + +Rob pressed his arm again as a sharp, piercing howl came from far-away +over the river, here about four or five hundred yards across. + +"That's a lion," said Shaddy quietly. "Strikes me they shout like that +to scare the deer and things they live on into making a rush, and then +they're down upon 'em like a cat upon a mouse." + +"Lion? You mean a puma." + +"Means a South American lion, my lad." + +"There it is again," whispered Rob in an awe-stricken voice, "only it's +a deeper tone, and sounds more savage." + +"That's just what it is," said Shaddy, "ever so much more savage. That +wasn't a lion; that was a tiger--well, jagger, as some calls 'em. Deal +fiercer beasts than the lions." + +The cries were repeated and answered from a distance, while many other +strange noises arose, to which the man could give no name. + +"One would want half a dozen lives to be able to get at all of it, my +lad," said Shaddy quietly, "and there's such lots of things that cheat +you so." + +"Hist! There's another splash," whispered Rob. + +"Ay; there's no mistake about that, my lad. There it goes again, double +one. It's as plain as if you can see it, a big fish springing out of +the water, turning over, and falling in again with a flop. You don't +think there's no fish in the river now, do you?" + +"Oh no. I don't doubt it now," whispered Rob, as he listened to fish +after fish rising, and all apparently very large. + +"Makes a man wonder what they are jumping after, unless it is the stars +shining in the water. You hear that?" + +"Yes." + +"And that, too?" + +"Yes, I hear them," replied Rob, unable to repress a shiver, so strange +and weird were the cries which came mournfully floating across. + +"Well, them two used to puzzle me no end--one of 'em a regular roar and +the other quite a moan, as if somebody was a-dying." + +"You know what it is now?" + +"Yes, and you'd never guess, my lad, till you said one was made by a +bird." + +"A bird?" + +"Yes, a long-legged heron kind of thing as trumpets it out with a roar +like a strange, savage beast; and the other moaning, groaning sound is +made by a frog. I don't mind owning it used to scare me at first." + +Rob sat listening to the weird chorus going on in the forest and +watching the stars above, and their slightly blurred reflections in the +water which went whispering by the prow and side of the boat. It was +all so solemn, and strange, and awe-inspiring that, in spite of a +feeling of dread which he could not master, he was glad to be there, +wakeful, trying to picture the different creatures prowling about in the +darkness of the primeval forest. He had listened time after time on the +voyage up, but then the schooner was close at hand, and they passed +towns and villages on the east bank; but here they were farther away in +the heart of the wild country, and on the very edge of a forest +untrodden by the foot of man, and maybe teeming with animal life as new +as it was strange. And in amongst this they were soon going to plunge! + +It had been the dream of the boy's life to penetrate one of the +untrodden fastnesses of nature, but now that he was on the threshold +listening in the darkness of night, there was something terrible both in +the silence and in the sounds which made him ask himself whether he had +done wisely in accompanying Martin Brazier, an old friend of his father, +who, partly for profit, but more for the advancement of science, had +made his arrangements for this adventurous journey. But it was too late +now to recede, even had he wished to do so. In fact, had any one talked +of his return, he would have laughed at him as a proposer of something +absurd. + +"I suppose it comes natural to most boys to long for adventures and to +see foreign countries," he thought to himself, and then he went mentally +over the scene with Giovanni. + +"Joe is as eager as I was," he muttered, and then he started, for +something swept by his face. + +"What's matter, my lad?" said Shaddy quietly. + +"I--I don't know, something--There it goes again, some bird. An owl, I +think, flew past my face. There, it skimmed just over our heads with a +fluttering noise." + +"I heard it, lad--bat, big 'un. Put your toes in your pockets if you +haven't got on your shoes." + +"What do you mean?" + +"It's a blood-sucker--wampire, that's all." + +"But that's all nonsense," said Rob, with a slight shudder, "a +traveller's tale." + +"Oh, is it, boy? You'll see one of these times when we wake in the +morning. They come in the night and suck your blood." + +"Oh, that can't be true?" + +"Why not? Get out, will you?" said Shaddy gruffly, as he made a blow at +the great leathern-winged creature that kept fluttering about their +heads. "He smells his supper, and is trying for a chance. You don't +believe it, then?" + +"No." + +"Humph! Well, you've a right to your own opinion, my lad," said Shaddy +quietly, "but I suppose you believe that if you dabbled your legs in the +water a leech might fix on you and suck your blood?" + +"Oh yes; I've had many on me in England." + +"And you've had skeeters on you and maybe sucked your blood here?" + +"Yes." + +"Then why can't you believe as a bat wouldn't do the same?" + +Rob found the argument unanswerable. + +"It's true enough, my lad. They'll lay hold on a fellow's toe or thumb, +ay, and on horses too. I've known 'em quite weak with being sucked so +much night after night." + +"Horses? Can they get through a horse's thick skin?" + +Shaddy chuckled. + +"Why, dear lad," he said, "a horse has got a skin as tender as a man's, +so just you 'member that next time you spurs or whips them." + +Rob sat in silence, thinking, with the weird sounds increasing for a +time; and, in spite of his efforts, it was impossible to keep down a +shrinking sense of dread. + +Everything was thrilling: the golden-spangled water looked so black, and +the darkness around so deep, while from the Grand Chaco, the great, +wild, untrodden forest across the river stretching away toward the +mighty Andes in the west, the shouts, growls, and wails suggested +endless horrors going on as the wild creatures roamed here and there in +search of food. + +_Plash_! right away--a curious sound of a heavy body plunging into the +river, but with the noise carried across the water, so that it seemed to +be only a few yards away. + +"What's that?" whispered Rob. + +"Can't tell for sartain, my lad, but I should say that something came +along and disturbed a big fat 'gator on the bank, and he took a dive in +out of the way. I say! Hear that?" + +"Hear it?" said Rob, as a creeping sensation came amongst the roots of +his hair, just as if the skin had twitched; "who could help hearing it?" + +For the moment before Shaddy asked his question a blood-curdling, +agonising yell, as of some being in mortal agony, rang out from across +the river. + +"Ay, 'tis lively. First time I heered that I says to myself, `That's +one Injun killing another,' and I cocked my rifle and said to myself +again, `well, he shan't do for me.'" + +"And was it one Indian murdering another in his sleep?" + +Shaddy chuckled. + +"Not it, lad. Darkness is full of cheating and tricks. You hears +noises in the night, and they sound horrid. If you heered 'em when the +sun's shining you wouldn't take any notice of 'em." + +"But there it is again," whispered Rob, as the horrible cry arose, and +after an interval was repeated as from a distance. "Whatever is it?" + +"Sort o' stork or crane thing calling its mate and saying, `Here's lots +o' nice, cool, juicy frogs out here. Come on.'" + +"A bird?" + +"Yes. Why not? Here, you wait a bit, and you'll open your eyes wide to +hear 'em. Some sings as sweet as sweet, and some makes the most gashly +noises you can 'magine. That's a jagger--that howl, and that's a lion +again. Hear him! He calls out sharper like than the other. You'll +soon get to know the difference. But I say, do go and have a sleep now, +so as to get up fresh and ready for the day's work. I shall have lots +to show you to-morrow." + +"Yes, I'll go and lie down again soon. But listen to that! What's that +booming, roaring sound that keeps rising and falling? There, it's quite +loud now." + +"Frogs!" said Shaddy promptly. "There's some rare fine ones out here. +There, go and lie down, my lad." + +"Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me? You are watching. Can't +I keep you company?" + +"Glad to have you, my lad, but I was picked out by Skipper Ossolo +because I know all about the country and the river ways, wasn't I?" + +"Yes, of course." + +"Very well, then. I give you good advice. You don't want to be ill and +spoil your trip, so, to keep right, what you've got to do is to eat and +drink reg'lar and sensible and take plenty of sleep." + +"Oh, very well," said Rob, with a sigh. "I'll go directly." + +"It means steady eyes and hands, my lad. I know: it all sounds very +wild and strange up here, but you'll soon get used to it, and sleep as +well as those Indian lads do. There, good-night." + +"Good-night," said Rob reluctantly. "But isn't it nearly morning?" + +"Not it, five hours before sunrise; so go and take it out ready for a +big day--such a trip as you never dreamed of." + +"Very well," replied Rob, and he crept quietly back to his place under +the canvas covering, but sleep would not come, or so it seemed to him. +But all at once the mingling of strange sounds grew muffled and dull, +and then he opened his eyes, to find that the place where he lay was +full of a soft, warm glow, and Joe was bending over him and shaking him +gently. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +A WATCH IN THE DARK. + +"You do sleep soundly," said the young Italian merrily. + +"Why, it's morning, and I didn't know I had been sleeping! Where's Mr +Brazier?" + +"Forward yonder." + +"Why, we're going on." + +"Yes; there's a good wind, and we've been sailing away since before the +sun rose." + +Rob jumped up and hurried out of the tent-like arrangement, to find +Shaddy seated in the stern steering, and after a greeting Rob looked +about him, entranced by the scenery and the wondrous tints of the dewy +morning. Great patches of mist hung about here and there close under +the banks where the wind did not catch them, and these were turned by +the early morning's sun to glorious opalescent masses, broken by +brilliant patches of light. + +The boat was gliding along over the sparkling water close in now to the +western shore, whose banks were invisible, being covered by a dense +growth of tree and climber, many of whose strands dipped into the river, +while umbrageous trees spread and drooped their branches, so that it +would have been possible to row or paddle in beneath them in one long, +bowery tunnel close to the bank. + +"Going to have a wash?" said Joe, breaking in upon Rob's contemplative +fit of rapture as he gazed with hungry eyes at the lovely scene. + +"Wash? Oh yes!" cried Rob, starting, and he fetched a rough towel out +of the tent, went to the side, and hesitated. + +"Hadn't we better have a swim?" he said. "You'll come?" + +"Not him," growled Shaddy. "What yer talking about? Want to feed the +fishes?" + +"Rubbish! I can swim," said Rob warmly; and leaning over the side, he +plunged his hands into the water, sweeping them about. + +"Deliciously cool!" he cried. "Oh!" + +He snatched out his right and then his left, and as he did so a little +silvery object dropped into the water. + +Joe looked on in silence, and a peculiar smile came over Shaddy's +countenance as he saw Rob examine the back of his hand. + +"Something's been biting me in the night," he said. "It bleeds." + +Rob thrust in his hand again to wash away the blood, but snatched it out +the next minute, for as the ruddy fluid tinged the water there was a +rush of tiny fish at his hand, and he stared at half a dozen tiny bites +which he had received. + +"Why, they're little fish," he cried. "Are they the piranas you talked +about, Joe?" + +"Yes. What do you say to a swim now?" + +"I'm willing. The splashing would drive them away." + +Shaddy chuckled again. + +"The splashing would bring them by thousands," said Joe quietly. "You +can't bathe here. Those little fish would bite at you till in a few +minutes you would be covered with blood, and that would bring thousands +more up to where you were." + +"And they'd eat me up," said Rob mockingly. + +"If somebody did not drag you out. They swarm in millions, and the +bigger fish, too, are always ready to attack anything swimming in the +stream." + +"Come and hold the tiller here, Joe, my lad," growled Shaddy, "while I +dip him a bucket of water to wash. When he knows the Paraguay like we +do, he won't want to bathe. Why, Mr Rob, there's all sorts o' things +here ready for a nice juicy boy, from them little piranas right up to +turtles and crocodiles and big snakes, so you must do your swimming with +a sponge till we get on a side river and find safe pools." + +He dipped the bucket, and Rob had his wash; by that time Brazier had +joined him. + +"Well, Rob," he cried, "is this good enough for you? Will the place +do?" + +"Do?" cried Rob. "Oh, I feel as if I do not want to talk, only to sit +and look at the trees. There, ain't those orchids hanging down?" + +Brazier raised a little double glass which he carried to his eyes, and +examined a great cluster of lovely blossoms hanging from an old, +half-decayed branch projecting over the river. + +"Yes," he cried, "lovely. Well, Naylor, how soon are we to land or run +up some creek?" + +"Arter two or three days," said the guide. + +"But hang it, man, the bank yonder is crowded with vegetable treasures." + +"What! them?" said Shaddy, with a contemptuous snort. "I don't call +them anything. You just wait, sir, and trust me. You shall see +something worth coming after by-and-by." + +"Well, run the boat in closer to the shore, so that I can examine the +plants as we go along. The water looks deep, and the wind's right. You +could get within a dozen yards of the trees." + +"I could get so as you might touch 'em, sir. There's plenty of water, +but I'm not going no closer than this." + +"Why?" + +"Because I know that part along there. We can't see nobody, but I +dessay there's Injuns watching us all the time from among the leaves, +and if we went closer they might have a shot at us." + +"Then they have guns?" + +"No, sir, bows and arrows some of 'em, but mostly blowpipes." + +"With poisoned arrows?" + +"That's so, sir, and, what's worse, they know how to use 'em. They hit +a man I knew once with a tiny bit of an arrow thing, only a wood point +as broke off in the wound--wound, it weren't worth calling a wound, but +the little top was poisoned, and before night he was a dead man." + +"From the poison?" + +"That's it, sir. He laughed at it at first. The bit of an arrow, like +a thin skewer with a tuft of cotton wool on the end, didn't look as if +it could hurt a strong man as I picked it up and looked where the point +had been nearly sawed off all round." + +"What, to make it break off?" cried Rob. + +"That's so, my lad. When they're going to use an arrow they put the +point between the teeth of a little fish's jaw--sort o' pirana thing +like them here in the river. Then they give the arrow a twiddle round, +and the sharp teeth nearly eat it through, and when it hits and sticks +in a wound the point breaks off, and I wouldn't give much for any one +who ever got one of those bits of sharp wood in their skins." + +"What a pleasant look-out!" said Brazier. "Oh, it's right enough, sir. +The thing is to go up parts where there are no Indians, and that's where +I'm going to take you. I say, look at that open patch yonder, where +there's a bit o' green between the river and the trees." + +"Yes, I see," said Joe quickly--"three Indians with spears." + +"Right, lad!" + +"I don't see them," said Brazier. "Yes," he added quickly, "I can see +them now." + +"Only one ain't got a spear. That's a blowpipe," said Shaddy quietly. + +"What! that length?" cried Rob. "Ay, my lad, that length. The longer +they are the smaller the darts, and the farther and stronger they sends +'em." + +"But we don't know that they are enemies," said Brazier. + +"Oh yes, you do, sir. That's the Injuns' country, and there's no doubt +about it. White man's their enemy, they say, so they must be ours." + +"But why?" said Rob. "We shouldn't interfere with the Indians." + +"We've got a bad character with 'em, my lad. 'Tain't our fault. They +tell me it's all along o' the Spaniards as come in this country first, +and made slaves of 'em, and learnt 'em to make 'em good, and set 'em to +work in the mines to get gold and silver for 'em till they dropped and +died. Only savages they were, and so I s'pose the Spaniards thought +they weren't o' no consequence. But somehow I s'pose, red as they are, +they think and feel like white people, and didn't like to be robbed and +beaten, and worn to death, and their children took away from 'em. +Spaniards never seemed to think as they'd mind that. Might ha' known, +too, for a cat goes miaowing about a house if she loses her kittens, and +a dog kicks up a big howl about its pups; while my 'sperience about wild +beasts is that if you want to meddle with their young ones, you'd better +shoot the old ones first." + +"Yes, I'm afraid that the old Spaniards thought of nothing out here but +getting gold." + +"That's so, sir; and the old Indians telled their children about how +they'd been used, and their children told the next lot, and so it's gone +on till it's grown into a sort of religion that the Spaniard is a sort +o' savage wild beast, who ought to be killed; and that ain't the worst +on it." + +"Then what is?" said Rob, for Shaddy looked round at him and stopped +short, evidently to be asked that question. + +"Why, the worst of it is, sir, that they poor hungered, savage sort o' +chaps don't know the difference between us and them Dons. English means +an Englishman all the wide world over, says you; but you're wrong. He +ain't out here. Englishman, or Italian, or Frenchman's a Spaniard; and +they'll shoot us as soon as look at us." + +"Why, you're making for the other shore, Naylor." + +"Yes, sir. I'd ha' liked to land you yonder, but you see it ain't safe, +so we'll light a fire on the other side, where it is, and get a bit o' +breakfast, for I'm thinking as it's getting pretty nigh time." + +"But is it safe to land there?" asked Brazier. + +"Yes, sir; you may take that for granted. East's sit down and be +comfortable; west side o' the river means eyes wide open and look out +for squalls." + +"But you meant to go up some river west." + +"True, sir; but you leave that to me." + +As they began to near the eastern shore, where the land was more +park-like and open, the wind began to fail them, and the sail flapped, +when the four boatmen, who had been lying about listlessly, leaped up, +lowered it down, and then, seizing the oars, began to row with a long, +steady stroke. Then Shaddy stood up, peering over the canvas awning, +and looking eagerly for a suitable place for their morning halt, and +ending by running the boat alongside of a green meadow-like patch, where +the bank, only a couple of feet above the water level, was +perpendicular, and the spot was surrounded by huge trees, from one of +which flew a flock of parrots, screaming wildly, while sundry sounds and +rustlings in that nearest the water's edge proved that it was inhabited. + +"What's up there?" whispered Rob to Joe as he looked. "Think it's a +great snake?" + +"No," was the reply. "Look!" and the captain's son pointed up to where, +half hidden by the leaves, a curious little black face peered +wonderingly down at them; and directly after Rob made out one after +another, till quite a dozen were visible, the last hanging from a bough +like some curious animal fruit by its long stalk, which proved to be the +little creature's prehensile tail, by which it swung with us arms and +legs drawn up close. + +"Monkeys!" cried Rob eagerly, for it was his first meeting with the odd +little objects in their native wilds. + +"Yes; they swarm in the forests," said Joe, who was amused at his +companion's wondering looks. + +Just then Shaddy leaped ashore with a rope, after carefully seeing to +the fastening of the other end. + +"May as well give you gents a hint," he said: "never to trust nobody +about your painter. It's just as well to use two, for if so be as the +boat does break loose, away she goes down-stream, and you're done, for +there's no getting away from here. You can't tramp far through the +forest." + +He moored the boat to one of the trees, gave a few orders, and the +Indian boatmen rapidly collected dead wood and started a fire, Shaddy +filling the tin kettle and swinging it gipsy fashion. + +"I'd start fair at once, gentlemen," he said. "One never knows what's +going to happen, and I take it that you ought to carry your gun always +just as you would an umbrella at home, and have it well loaded at your +side, ready for any action. Plenty of smoke!" he continued, as the +clouds began to roll up through the dense branches of the tree overhead. + +The result was a tremendous chattering and screaming amongst the +monkeys, which bounded excitedly from branch to branch, shaking the +twigs and breaking off dead pieces to throw down. + +"Hi! stop that, little 'uns!" roared Shaddy. "Two can play at that +game. It ain't your tree; be off to another, or we'll make rabbit-pie +o' some on you." + +Whether the little creatures understood or no, they chattered loudly for +a few moments more, and then, running to the end of a branch, which bent +beneath their weight, they dropped to the ground, and galloped off to +the next tree, each with his peculiar curling tail high in air. + +The guide's advice was taken respecting the pieces, and, in addition to +his cartridge-pouch, each mounted a strong hunting-knife, one that, +while being handy for chopping wood or cutting a way through creepers +and tangling vines, would prove a formidable weapon of offence or +defence against the attack of any wild animal. + +"That's your sort," said Shaddy, smiling as he saw Rob step out of the +boat with his piece under his arm. "Puts me in mind of handling my +first gun, when I was 'bout your age, sir, or a bit older. No, no, +don't carry it that way, my lad; keep your muzzle either right up or +right down." + +"Well, that is down," said Rob pettishly, for he felt conscious, and +wanted to appear quite at ease, and as if he were in the habit of +carrying a rifle; consequently he looked as if he had never held one +before in his life. + +"Ay, it's down enough to put a bullet in anybody's knees." + +"No, it isn't, Shaddy, for it's a shot-gun, and has no bullet in it." + +"I know, lad, one o' them useful guns with a left-hand bore as'll carry +a bullet if you like. More down. Wound close at hand from charge o' +shot's worse than one from a bullet." + +"Because it makes so many wounds?" said Rob. + +"Nay, my lad; because at close quarters it only makes one, and a big, +ragged one that's bad to heal. That's better. Now, if it goes off, it +throws up the earth and shoots the worms, while if you hold it well up +it only shoots the stars.--Water boils." + +Breakfast followed--a delightful _alfresco_ meal, with the silver river +gliding by, birds twittering, piping, screaming, and cooing all around, +and monkeys chattering and screeching excitedly at having their +sanctuary invaded; but they were quite tame enough to drop down from the +trees and pick up a piece of biscuit, banana, or orange when thrown far +enough. But this was not till they felt satisfied that they were not +being watched, when the coveted treasure was seized and borne off with a +chattering cry of triumph, the actions of the odd little creatures +taking up a good deal of Rob's time which might have been devoted to his +breakfast. + +The travellers had brought plenty of fruit and provisions with them, and +an ample supply of _mate_--the leaves that take the place of tea amongst +the South American tribes, whose example is largely followed by the +half-breeds and those of Spanish descent; and after watching how the +preparation was made Rob found himself quite ready to partake of that +which proved on tasting to be both palatable and refreshing. + +Then, somewhat unwillingly--for both Brazier and the lads were disposed +to stay on shore to collect some of the natural objects so plentiful +around them--they re-entered the boat; it was pulled into mid-stream, +with the monkeys flocking down from the trees about the fire to pick up +any scraps of food left, notably a couple of decayed bananas, and then +running quite to the edge of the water to chatter menacingly at the +departing boat. + +The sail was soon after hoisted, and for the whole of that day and the +next the little party ascended the river, making their halts on the +right bank, but sleeping well out in the stream, held by a rope mooring +the boat's head to a tree, and a little anchor dropped in the stream. + +Progress was fairly swift, and there was so much to see along the banks +that the time glided by rapidly; but at every cry of exultation on the +discovery of some fresh bird, flower, or insect, Shaddy only smiled +good-humouredly, and used the same expression:-- + +"Yes; but just you wait a bit." + +The third day had passed, and the conversation in the boat threatened a +revolution against the will of Shaddy, whose aim seemed to be to get +them up higher, while they were passing endless opportunities for making +collections of objects of natural history such as they had never had +before, when all at once, as he stood in the boat looking up stream, +after she had once more been carefully moored for the night, the guide +turned and said quietly:-- + +"To-morrow, long before the sun's highest, I shall get you up to the +place I mean, and, once there, you can begin business as soon as you +like." + +"A river on the left bank," said Brazier, as eagerly as a boy. + +"Yes, sir, one as runs for far enough west, and then goes north." + +"And you think there are no Indians there?" + +"I don't say that, sir, because we shall see some, I daresay; but +they'll perhaps be friendly." + +"You are not sure?" + +"Well, no, sir. There, the sun's dipping down; it will be heavy +darkness directly in this fog, and what we want is a good night's rest, +ready for a long, hard day's work to-morrow." + +It was Brazier's turn to keep watch half the night, and at about twelve, +as nearly as they could tell, Rob rose to take his place. + +"Nothing to report," said Brazier. "The same noises from the forest, +the same splashings from the river, the Indians sleeping as heavily as +usual. There, keep your watch; I wish I had it, for you will see the +day break that is to take us to the place which I have been longing to +see for years." + +Saying "good-night," Brazier went into the shelter, and Rob commenced +his solitary watch, with his brain busily inventing all kinds of dangers +arising from the darkness--some horrible wild creature dropping down +from the tree, or a huge serpent, which had crawled down the branch, +twining its way along the mooring rope and coming over the bows past the +Indian boatmen. Then he began to think of them, and how helpless he +would be if they planned to attack him, when, after mastering him, which +he felt they could easily do, he mentally arranged that they would creep +to the covered-in part of the boat and slay Brazier and Giovanni. + +"Poor Joe!" he said to himself. "I was beginning to like him, though he +was not English, and--Oh, Joe, how you startled me!" + +For a hand had been laid upon his shoulder as he sat watching the dark +part where the Indians lay, and he started round to find that Giovanni +had joined him. + +"I did not mean to frighten you," said the lad, in his quiet, subdued +way. "Mr Brazier woke me coming in to sleep, and I thought you would +be alone, and that I could come and talk to you about our journey +to-morrow." + +"I'm glad you've come, but it would be too bad to let you stop. There, +stay a quarter of an hour, and then be off back to bed--such as it is," +he added, with a laugh. + +"Oh, I'm used to hard beds. I can sleep anywhere--on the deck or a +bench, one as well as the other." + +"I say, have you ever been up as high as this before?" + +"No, never higher than the town. It's all as fresh to me as to you." + +"Then we go up a river to-morrow?" + +"I suppose so. Old Shaddy has it all his own way, and he keeps dropping +hints about what he is going to take us to see." + +"And I daresay it will all turn out nothing. What he likes may not suit +us. But there, we shall see." + +Then they sat in silence, listening to the rustlings and whistlings in +the air as of birds and great moths flitting and gliding about; the +shrieks, howls, and yells from across the river; and to the great +plungings and splashings in the black water, whose star-gemmed bosom +often showed waves with the bright reflections rising and falling, and +whose surface looked as if the fire-flies had fallen in all up the river +after their giddy evolutions earlier in the night, and were now floating +down rapidly toward the sea. + +Rob broke the silence at last. + +"How is it this stream always runs so fast?" he said. + +"Because the waters come from the mountains. There's a great waterfall, +too, higher up, where the whole river comes plunging down hundreds of +feet with a roar that can be heard for miles." + +"Who says so? who has seen it?" + +"Nobody ever has seen it. It is impossible to get to it. The water is +so swift and full of rocks that no boat can row up, and the shores are +all one dank, tangled mass that no one can cut through. Nobody can get +there." + +"Why not? I tell you what: we'll talk to Shaddy to-morrow." + +"He wouldn't go. He told me once that he tried it, and couldn't get +there. He nearly lost his life." + +"I'll make him try again and take us." + +"I tell you he wouldn't." + +"Well, you'll see." + +"What will you do?" + +"Tell him--fair play, mind: you will not speak?" + +"Of course not." + +"Then look here, Joe; I'll say to him that I've heard of the place, and +how difficult it is, and that I wish we had some guide who really knew +the country and could take us there." + +Joe shook his head. + +"Beside, we could not attempt it without Mr Brazier wished to go." + +"If you told him about that great fall, he would wish to go for the sake +of being the discoverer. You'll see. What's that?" + +A tremendous splash, so near to them that quite a wave rose and slightly +rocked the boat as the boys sat there awe-stricken, listening and +straining their eyes in the darkness which shut them in. + +The noise occurred again--a great splash as of some mighty beast rearing +itself out of the water and letting itself fall back, followed by a +peculiar, wallowing noise. + +This time it was lower and more as though it had passed the boat, and +directly after there was another splash, followed by a heavy beating +like something thrashing the water with its tail. Then came a +smothered, bellowing grunt as if the great animal had begun to roar and +then lowered its head half beneath the water, so that the noise was full +of curious gurglings. The flapping of the water was repeated, and this +time forty or fifty yards away, as near as they could guess, and once +more there was silence. + +"I didn't know there were such horrible beasts as that in the water," +whispered Rob. + +"Nor I. What can it be?" + +"Must have been big enough to upset the boat if it had seen us, or to +drag us out. Shall we wake Shaddy and ask him?" + +"No," said Joe; "I don't suppose he would be able to tell us. It sounds +so horrible in the darkness." + +"Why, I thought you were too much used to the river to be frightened at +anything." + +"I did not say I was frightened," replied Joe quietly. + +"No, but weren't you? I thought the thing was coming on right at the +boat." + +"So did I," said Joe, very softly. "Yes, I was frightened too. I don't +think any one could help being startled at a thing like that." + +"Because we could not see what it was," he continued thoughtfully. "I +fancied I knew all the animals and fish about the river, but I never +heard or saw anything that could be like that." + +Just then they heard a soft, rustling sound behind, such, as might have +been made by a huge serpent creeping on to the boat; and as they +listened intently the sound continued, and the boat swayed slightly, +going down on one side. + +"It's coming on," whispered Rob, with his mouth feeling dry and a +horrible dread assailing him, as in imagination he saw a huge scaly +creature gliding along the side of the boat and passing the covered-in +canvas cabin. + +It was only a matter of moments, but it was like hours to the two boys. +The feeling was upon Rob that he must run to the fore-part, leap +overboard, and swim ashore, but he could not move. Every nerve and +muscle was paralysed, and when he tried to speak to his fellow-watcher +no words came; for, as Joe told his companion afterwards, he too tried +to speak but was as helpless. + +At last, in that long-drawn agony of dread, as he fully expected to be +seized, Rob's presence of mind came back, and he recollected that his +gun was lying shotted beneath the canvas of the sail at the side, and, +seizing it with the energy of despair, he swung the piece round, cocking +both barrels as he did so, and brought them into sharp contact with +Joe's arm. + +"Steady there with that gun," said a low familiar voice. "Don't shoot." + +"Shaddy!" panted Rob. + +"Me it is, lad. I crep' along so as not to disturb Mr Brazier. I say, +did you hear that roar in the water?--but o' course you did. Know what +it was?" + +"No!" cried both boys in a breath. "Some great kind of amphibious +thing," added Rob. + +"'Phibious thing!--no. I couldn't see it, but there was no doubt about +it: that threshing with the tail told me." + +"Yes, we heard its tail beating," said Joe quickly. "What was it?" + +"What was them, you mean! Well, I'll tell you. One of them tapir +things must have been wading about in a shallow of mud, and a great +'gator got hold of him, and once he'd got hold he wouldn't let go, but +hung on to the poor brute and kept on trying to drag him under water. +Horrid things, 'gators. I should like to shoot the lot." + +Rob drew a long breath very like a sigh. An alligator trying to drag +down one of the ugly, old-world creatures that looks like a pig which +has made up its mind to grow into an elephant, and failed--like the frog +in the fable, only without going quite so far--after getting its upper +lip sufficiently elongated to do some of the work performed by an +elephant's trunk! One of these jungle swamp pachyderms and a reptile +engaged in a struggle in the river, and not some terrible water-dragon +with a serpentlike tail such as Rob's imagination had built up with the +help of pictures of fossil animals and impossible objects from heraldry! +It took all nervousness and mystery out of the affair, and made Rob +feel annoyed that he had allowed his imagination to run riot and create +such an alarming scene. + +"Getting towards morning, isn't it?" said Joe hastily, and in a tone +which told of his annoyance, too, that he also should have participated +in the scare. + +"Getting that way, lad, I s'pose. I ain't quite doo to relieve the +watch, but I woke up and got thinking a deal about our job to-morrow, +and that made me wakeful. And then there was that splashing and +bellowing in the water, and I thought Mr Rob here would be a bit +puzzled to know what it was. Course I knew he wouldn't be frightened." + +"None of your sneering!" said Rob frankly. "I'm not ashamed to say that +I was frightened, and very much frightened, too. It was enough to scare +any one who did not know what it was." + +"Right, my lad! enough to scare anybody!" said Shaddy, patting Rob on +the shoulder. "It made me a bit squeery for a moment or two till I knew +what it was. But, I say, when I came softly along to keep you company, +you warn't going to shoot?" + +"I'm afraid I was," said Rob. "It sounded just like some horrible great +snake creeping along toward us out of the darkness." + +"Then I'm glad I spoke," said Shaddy drily, "Spoiled your trip, lad, if +you'd shot me, for I must have gone overboard, and if I'd come up again +I don't bleeve as you'd have picked me up. Taken ever so long to get +the boat free in the dark, and if you hadn't picked me up I don't see +how you could have got on in the jungle. Look here, now you two gents +have taken to gunning, I wouldn't shoot if I were you without asking a +question or two first." + +"But suppose it is a jaguar coming at us?" said Joe. + +"Well, if it's a jagger he won't answer, and you had better shoot. Same +with the lions or bears." + +"Bears?" said Rob eagerly; "are there bears here?" + +"Ay, lad! and plenty of 'em, not your big Uncle Ephrems, like there is +in the Rocky Mountains--grizzlies, you know--but black bears, and pretty +big, and plenty savage enough to satisfy any reasonable hunter, I mean +one who don't expect too much. Wait a bit, and you'll get plenty of +shooting to keep the pot going without reckoning them other things as +Mr Brazier's come out to hunt. What d'yer call 'em, awk'ards or +orchards--which was it?" + +"Orchids," said Rob. + +"Oh! ah! yes, orchids. What's best size shot for bringing o' them +down?" + +"Don't answer him, Rob; it's only his gammon, and he thinks it's witty," +said Joe. + +Shaddy chuckled, and it was evident that his joke amused him. + +"There," he said, "it ain't worth while for three on us to be keeping +watch. One's enough, and the others can sleep, so, as I'm here, you two +may as well go and roost." + +"No," said Rob promptly; "my time isn't up." + +"No, my lad, not by two hours, I should say; but I'll let you off the +rest, for it's a-many years since I was up this part, and I want to sit +and think it out before we start as soon as it's light." + +But Rob firmly refused to give up his task till the time set down by Mr +Brazier for him to be relieved. Joe as stubbornly refused to return to +his bed, and so it was that when the birds gave note of the coming of +the day, after the weird chorus had gradually died away in the forest +they were still seated upon one of the thwarts, watching for the first +warm rays of the sun to tinge the dense river mist with rose. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THROUGH THE GREEN CURTAIN. + +A fair breeze sprang up with the sun, and the boat glided up stream for +many miles before a halt was called, in a bend where the wind railed +them. Here, as on previous occasions, a fire was lit, and the breakfast +prepared and eaten almost in silence, for Brazier's thoughts were far up +the river and away among the secret recesses of nature, where he hoped +to be soon gazing upon vegetation never yet seen by civilised man, while +Rob and Joe were just as thoughtful, though their ideas ran more upon +the wild beasts and lovely birds of this tropic land, into which as they +penetrated mile after mile it was to see something ever fresh and +attractive. + +Shaddy, too, was very silent, and sat scanning the western shore more +and more attentively as the hours passed, and they were once more +gliding up stream, the wind serving again and again as they swept round +some bend. + +The sun grew higher, and the heat more intense, the slightest movement +as they approached noon making a dew break out over Rob's brow; but the +warmth was forgotten in the beauty of the shore and the abundance of +life visible around. + +But at last the heat produced such a sense of drowsiness that Rob turned +to Joe. + +"I say, wouldn't an hour or two be nice under the shade of a tree?" + +"Yes," said Brazier, who had overheard him. "We must have a rest now; +the sides of the boat are too hot to touch. Hullo! where are we going?" +he continued. "Why, he's steering straight for the western shore." + +Brazier involuntarily stooped and took his gun from where it hung in +loops under the canvas awning, and then stood watching the dense wall of +verdure they were approaching till, as they drew nearer, their way was +through acres upon acres of lilies, whose wide-spreading leaves +literally covered the calm river with their dark green discs, dotted +here and there with great buds or dazzlingly white blossoms. + +The boat cut its way through these, leaving a narrow canal of clear +water at first, in which fish began to leap as if they had been +disturbed; but before the boat had gone very far the leaves gradually +closed in, and no sign of its passage was left. + +"I don't see where we are to land," said Brazier, as he stood in front +of the canvas cabin scanning the shore. + +"No; there is no place," said Rob, as they glided out of the lily field +into clear water, the great wall of trees tangled together with creepers +being now about two hundred yards away. + +"Go and ask. No; leave him alone," said Brazier, altering his mind. +"He'll take us into a suitable place, I daresay." + +Just then Shaddy, from where he was steering, shouted to the men, who +lowered the sail at once; but the boat still glided on straight for the +shore. + +"Why, he's going to run her head right into the bank," cried Rob, though +the said bank was rendered invisible by the curtain of pendent boughs +and vines which hung right down to the water. + +"How beautiful!" exclaimed Brazier, as he gazed at clusters of snowy +blossoms draping one of the trees. "We must have some of those, Rob." + +"I say," cried Joe, "what makes the boat keep on going?" + +"Impetus given by the sail," replied Brazier. "But it couldn't have +kept on all this time," cried the lad, "and we're going faster." + +"We do seem to be," said Brazier; "but it is only that we are in an +eddy. There always is one close in by the banks of a swift stream." + +"But that goes upward while the stream goes down," cried Joe. "This is +going straight in toward the trees." + +"Better sit down, every one," shouted Shaddy. "Lower that spar, my +lads," he added, in the _patois_ the men used. + +Down went the mast in a sloping position, so that it rested against the +canvas cabin. But Rob hardly noticed this in the excitement of their +position. For there was no doubt about it: some invisible force had +apparently seized the boat, and was carrying it swiftly forward to dash +it upon the shore. + +But that was not Brazier's view of the question. "The river is flooded +here and overrunning the bank," he cried. "Hi! Naylor! Do you see +where you're going?" + +"Right, sir. Sit down." + +But Brazier, who had risen, did not sit down, for he was quite startled, +expecting that the next moment the boat would be capsized, and that they +would all be left to the mercy of the reptiles and fish which haunted +the rapid waters. + +"Hi!" he shouted again. "Naylor, are you mad?" + +"No, sir, not yet," was the reply. "Better sit down. Mind your hat!" + +For all through this the boat was gliding slowly but straight for the +curtain of leaves and flowers which hid the bank of the western side of +the river; and as the position seemed perilous to Rob, he saw with +astonishment that the four Indian boatmen lay calmly back furling up the +sail as if nothing was the matter, or else showing that they had perfect +faith in their leader and steersman, who was not likely to lead them +into danger. + +What followed only took moments. They were out in the dazzling +sunshine, were rapidly, as it seemed, approaching the bank, and directly +after plunged right into the lovely curtain of leaves and flowers which +swept over them as they glided on over the surface of the swiftly +running clear black water, the sun entirely screened and all around them +a delicious twilight, with densely planted, tall, columnar trees +apparently rising out of the flood on either hand, while a rush and +splash here and there told that they were disturbing some of the +dwellers in these shades. + +"What does this mean?" said Brazier, stooping to recover his hat which +had been swept off on to the canvas awning, and which he only just +recovered before it slipped into the stream. + +There was no answer to the question as they watched, and then they saw +light before them, which rapidly brightened till they glided into +sunshine and found that they had passed through a second curtain of +leaves, and were in a little river of some hundred yards wide, with +lovely verdure on either side rising like some gigantic hedge to shut +them in; in fact, a miniature reproduction of the grand stream they had +so lately left. + +"Why, Naylor," cried Brazier, "I thought you were going to run us ashore +or capsize us." + +"Yes, sir, I know you did," was the reply. + +"But where are we? What place is this?" + +"This here's the river I wanted to bring you to, sir." + +"But it does not run into the Paraguay, it runs out." + +"Yes, sir, it do. It's a way it has. It's a curious place, as you'll +say before we've done." + +"But it seems impossible. How can it run like this?" + +"Dunno, sir. Natur' made it, not me. I've never been up it very far, +but it strikes me it's something to do with the big waterworks higher up +the big river." + +"Waterworks! Why, surely--" + +"Natur's waterworks, sir, not man's; the big falls many miles to the +north." + +Rob and Joe exchanged glances. + +"Strikes me as the river being very full here the bank give way once +upon a time, and this stream winds about till it gets close up to where +the falls come down." + +"But water can't go up hill, man." + +"No, sir, course not; but I thought that if it goes along some valley up +to the mountains where the falls come down, it would be an easy way of +getting to the foot of the high ground and striking the big river +again." + +"Stop a moment: I have heard some talk of a great cascade up north." + +"Yes, sir, where nobody's never been yet. Seemed to me as it was rather +in your way, and you might find some orchids up there as well as here." + +"Of course, of course!" cried Brazier; the idea of being first in the +field with a great discovery making his pulses throb. "Tell me all +about it." + +"Right, sir, when we've had something to eat. It's 'bout twelve +o'clock, and here's a shady place, so if you give the word we'll land +and cook a bit. Place looks noo, don't it, sir?" + +"New, Naylor! I can never thank you enough." + +"Don't try then, sir," said Shaddy, steering the boat in, and with the +help of the boatmen laying it ashore close to some huge trees. "Now we +shall have to make her fast, for if our boat gets loose the stream will +carry her where nobody will ever find her again." + +"I can't understand it," said Brazier impatiently, as the Indians leaped +ashore, one to make a rope fast, the others to light a fire; "this +stream running out of the main river is contrary to nature, unless where +it divides at its mouths." + +"Not it, sir; it's right enough. Right down south in the Parana the +river does it lots of times, for the waters there are like a big net all +over the land, and--I say, Mr Rob, sir, where's your gun? There's a +carpincho just yonder among them reeds. Try for it, sir; we can manage +with it for a bit o' roast and boiled." + +Rob seized the piece, and Shaddy pointed out the spot where he was to +fire and hit the beast in the shoulder, but just then they were +interrupted by a hideous yell. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE FIRST "TIGER." + +The cry, which thrilled Rob and made Brazier and the young Italian seize +their weapons, came from one of the Indians, who, axe in hand, had been +about to cut up a dead bough he had seized for the fire, when something +dark struck him in the chest, sending him backward amongst the low +growth, and a magnificent cat-like animal bounded into the middle of the +opening, driving the boatmen among the trees and taking up its position +in the bright sunshine, with its coat glistening and the brown spots on +its tawny hide shining with almost metallic lustre. + +And there it stood, with its ears lowered and eyes blazing, looking from +one to another of the occupants of the boat, and from them to Shaddy, +who leaped ashore knife in hand, while the brute's tail writhed and +twisted as if it were a serpent. + +"Hadn't one of you better shoot?" said Shaddy calmly. "He's, too much +for me with only a knife." + +Just then the Indian who had been knocked down began to crawl cautiously +toward the trees. + +The movement was enough for the jaguar. It was the cat again that has +stricken down a mouse standing perfectly careless till the unfortunate +little animal begins to stir. The fierce beast turned, gathered itself +together, and was about to launch itself upon the boatman in one +tremendous bound, when simultaneously there was a sharp click from +Brazier's gun, but with no further result, for he had drawn the trigger +of his rifled barrel in which there was no cartridge, and a sharp stab +on the loins as Shaddy hurled his knife with unerring aim at the savage +beast. + +The jaguar turned with a fierce snarl and struck the knife from where it +stuck in its back. Then, seeing in Shaddy its assailant, it crouched +again to bound upon the guide. + +Once again its aim was spoiled; for with fingers trembling Rob had +cocked his piece and taken aim, being about to fire when the knife was +thrown; but the rapid movement of the animal checked him till it +crouched and he saw it about to spring upon Shaddy. + +This time he pressed the stock firmly to his shoulder, and, taking aim +at the jaguar's head, fired twice, the first charge taking effect full +in the creature's back, and, as it sprang up, the second in its flank. + +With a fierce howl it twisted itself round and bit at the side, tearing +out the glossy fur in its rage and pain. Then turning sharply it looked +round for its assailant, when Joe's piece rang out, the bad powder with +which it was heavily loaded making a cloud of dense smoke which +prevented Rob from seeing for a few moments, and when it rose the jaguar +had gone. + +They all busied themselves reloading now, but there was no animal to +shoot, and Shaddy picked up his knife, wiping its point carefully on his +trousers as he straightened himself. + +"Which way did it go?" cried Brazier. + +"Yonder, sir, through the trees. But it's of no use for you to follow." + +"It must be dangerously wounded." + +"Not it, sir; only a bit tickled. That was only bird shot you fired, +was it, my lads?" + +"Number 5," said Rob promptly. + +"Thought so. Best keep a bullet always in your guns, gentlemen, out +here, for you never know what's going to turn up next." + +The Indians were back now, going about picking wood for the fire as if +nothing whatever had happened. + +"But that man," whispered Rob; "isn't he hurt--clawed?" + +"No, sir," replied Shaddy calmly; and he asked a question of the man in +the mixed Indian tongue. Then turning to Brazier, "Only got the wind +knocked, out of him a bit, sir. No clawing. He don't mind." + +"But the brute may come back," said Rob. + +"Well, Mr Rob, sir, if he do he's a bigger fool than I take him to be. +No, there'll be no coming back about him. Just while he was up he was +ready to fly at anything, but every one of them little shot will make a +sore place which it will take him a fortnight to lick quite well again. +I daresay they're all lying just under his skin." + +"And what a skin!" cried Rob. "You could have got it off and cured it +for me, couldn't you?" + +"Oh yes, or these chaps here, sir; but if you wants tiger jackets you +mustn't try to kill them as wears 'em with Number 5 shot.--Now, lads, +more wood," and a good fire was soon burning, over which the kettle was +hung. + +A meal was quickly prepared, but Shaddy indulged in a bit of a growl +over it. + +"And me 'specting pork chops frizzled over that fire on the iron sheet," +he said. "Why it wouldn't have been no good, my lad, going about with a +pinch of lead snuff in your gun. You want something like small marbles +out here, I can tell you, or good buck shot. You'll mind that next +time." + +"But I want to get some of the birds we see," said Rob, in tones of +remonstrance. + +"That's right, sir; but keep one barrel always for play and one for +work. I don't want to make too much of it, but in a country like this +it must be dangerous sometimes." + +"He is quite right, Rob," said Brazier. "He is giving you a lesson, but +he means some of it for me. Don't you, Naylor?" + +"Well, sir," said Shaddy grimly, "I s'pose you'd like the honest truth?" + +"Of course." + +"Then I'll tell you what I said to myself. How a gentleman at his time +o' life could leave his weepun, as ought to be ready for action, without +a good bullet for wild beast or Indian, I can't think." + +"I have learned my lesson, Naylor," said Brazier, "and you shall not +have an opportunity for reproaching me again." + +"And you ain't offended, sir? In course I'm only like your servant." + +"Give me credit for more sense, my man.--You take it to heart, too, both +of you, and keep a bullet in your left-hand barrel." + +"For food or enemy," said Shaddy in his deep growl. + +"But that's what I meant to do. I thought I had loaded that way," said +Rob. + +"Hah--hoo!" ejaculated one of the Indians who was standing with his arms +full of wood close to the spot where the jaguar had disappeared. + +"What's the matter, my lad?" said Shaddy, joining him with the others, +when an eager burst of conversation ensued. + +"They say as the tiger's lying wounded not far in among the trees. +Bring your guns, gentlemen." + +The pieces were eagerly raised and cartridges examined, so that there +should be no further mistake, and then, with the Indian who was knocked +down as a guide, Brazier next with Shaddy, who contented himself with +his knife, and then Rob and Joe and the rest of the Indians, the party +entered the forest, which was so dense that they soon had to take to +Indian file. + +But they had not far to go, and in spite of the danger that might be +ahead the leading Indian proved that Shaddy's selection was a good one, +for he went straight on, cutting right and left with his heavy knife to +divide the growth that was in their way, and so on for about fifty +yards, when he stopped short and said a few words to Shaddy. + +"Yes. Get back," said the latter, after listening. "Now two guns +forward; but I think he has had enough as it is?" + +"Be careful, man!" said Brazier anxiously; "you are unarmed." + +"Not quite, sir!" said Shaddy, showing his big knife. "If he jumps on +me he'll jump right on to that point, and if he does, though he may claw +me, it will be his last leap. Silence!" + +They all listened, Rob hearing the shriek of some great parrot and the +dull heavy throb of his heart, but from out of the dense growth a little +way ahead he could make out a gurgling moan. + +Shaddy gave him a look and a nod. + +"No, my lad," he said, "that isn't a frog, nor anything else, but some +animal as has got his death. It's either that tiger, or else it's a +deer he has pulled down on his way. I'll go and see." + +"Let me," said Brazier; "and if it is only wounded I can fire again." + +"Powder and shot's valuable out here, sir," said Shaddy, "and we mustn't +waste a single charge. Stand fast, and if I want help come and give it +to me; but I shan't." + +He parted the bushes and creepers with his left hand holding his knife +well before him with the right; but before he had gone six yards with +great caution there was a horrible cry, and a sound as of a struggle +going on--a sound which made Rob press forward and thrust the barrel of +his gun in front of Brazier. + +"Has he got hold of Shaddy?" he panted, with a chill of horror running +through him. + +"No, my lad; I'm all right--it's all over," cried the guide, as the +sound ceased. "Ah! I can see him plain now: quite dead." + +"A deer?" said Brazier, eagerly. + +"Deer don't make a noise like that, sir," said Joe from behind. + +"Nay, it's no deer," said Shaddy; "I'll let you see what it is. Hi!" he +called; and the Indians crowded past through the dense growth, went +boldly right to the front, and Shaddy reappeared smiling. + +"Back again," he said; "they'll bring him along." + +Rob turned back unwillingly, for he was eager to see what the dead +animal might be, Shaddy's mysterious manner suggesting the possibility +of its being something extraordinary. But he followed the others out, +the guide seeming to drive them all before him back into the open spot +by the fire, while almost directly after the Indian boatmen appeared, +half carrying, half dragging--each holding a paw--with his white under +fur stained with blood--the great jaguar, perfectly dead. + +"There," cried Shaddy, "now you can have your skin, sir; and you deserve +it for those two shots." + +"But I couldn't have--" began Rob. + +"But you did, sir," said Shaddy, who was down on his knees by the +beautiful animal. "Here you are: face and head all full of small shot, +and down here right in the loins--yes: back regularly broken by a +bullet. Your piece was loaded proper after all." + +"A splendid shot, Rob," cried Brazier, and Joe patted his back. + +"But it was quite an accident," said Rob, excitedly. + +"Accident?" growled Shaddy. "If you shot at a man in England and killed +him, do you think the judge would say it was an accident?" + +"Well, no," said Rob, laughing. + +"'Course not. Splendid shot, as the captain says. So now let's finish +our bit of eating and have a nap while my chaps here takes off the +skin." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +HIDDEN DANGERS. + +It did not take the lads long to finish the interrupted meal, seated in +the shade of a magnificent tree, one side of which sent out branches and +pensile boughs laden with leaf and flower from the summit almost to the +ground, while the other side was comparatively bare, so closely was it +placed to the dense crowd of its fellows whose limbs were matted +together and enlaced with creepers of endless variety, out from which +the sheltering tree stood like a huge, green, smoothly rounded buttress, +formed by nature to support the green wall which surrounded her forest +fastness. + +As soon as they had eaten their meal the two lads hurried off to where +the boatmen were deftly skinning the great cat-like creature,--rather a +disgusting operation, but one full of interest, as limb after limb was +cut down right to the toes and the skin stripped away, to show the +tremendous muscles and sinews which enabled the animal to bound like +lightning upon its prey. + +"Seems a pity to waste so much good, fresh meat when a bit would be +welcome, eh?" said Shaddy, with a grim smile. + +"Would you like to eat some of it?" asked Joe. + +Shaddy shook his head. + +"No," he said, "I should as soon think of roasting a tom-cat at home and +calling it hare. Rum thing it seems, though, that those creatures which +live upon one another should be rank and nasty, while those which eat +fruit and green-stuff should be good. Keep your guns ready, my lads. +It's very quiet here, and you may get a shot at something good for the +supper to-night: some big pigeons, or a turkey, or--I'll tell you, +though; I can hear 'em rustling about in the trees now. They'll be +easy, too, for a shot." + +"What? Parrots?" + +"Nay, better than them. A nice, plump young monkey or two." + +"What?" roared Rob. + +"A nice young monkey or two; and don't shout, my lad. If you make that +noise, we shan't be able to hear anything coming." + +"Bah!" cried Joe. "I should feel like a cannibal if I even thought of +it. I say, look at Mr Brazier!" + +Rob turned and smiled as he saw his leader eagerly making up for lost +time, and, after climbing about twenty feet up a tree with a hatchet in +his belt, holding on with one hand while he cut off a great bunch of +flowers hanging from the bough upon which, like so much large mistletoe, +it had taken root. + +Shaddy saw him almost at the same moment, and turned to the tree, +followed by the lads. + +"I say, sir, don't do that!" he said, respectfully. + +"Why not, my man? We are not trespassing, and damaging anybody's +property here." + +Shaddy laughed. + +"No, sir, you won't do much trespassing here," he said. + +"Then why do you interfere? This is a magnificent orchid, different +from any that I have ever seen. I thought you understood that I have +come on purpose to collect these." + +"Oh yes, I understand, sir; but you're captain, and have got to order. +We'll get 'em for you. My four chaps'll climb the trees better, and be +handier with the axe; and as they'll have scarcely anything to do, we'll +set 'em to work at that sort of thing." + +"They will have the rowing to do." + +"Precious little, sir, now. The rowing's done. All we've got to do is +to float along the stream." + +"Ah, well, I'll finish this time, and they shall do it another." + +"Better come down now, sir," whispered Shaddy. "You see they're a dull, +stupid lot, who look up to white people as their natural masters; and, +without being a brute to 'em, the more you stands off and treats 'em as +if they were servants the more they look up to you. If you don't, and +they see you doing work that they're paid to do, they'll look down on +you, think you're afraid of 'em, and grow saucy." + +"Ah!" ejaculated Brazier, giving a start, and nearly losing his hold of +the branch. + +"What's the matter, sir?" + +For answer Brazier cut frantically with his axe at something invisible +to those below, but evidently without avail, till he struck a small +bough so violently that they saw the object dropping down, and Rob had +only time to leap aside to avoid a small snake, of a vivid green with +red markings, which fell just where he had been standing, and then began +to twine in and out rapidly, and quite unhurt, ending by making its +escape into the dense forest, where it was impossible to follow. + +"Did you kill it?" cried Brazier from up in the tree. + +"No," said Rob; "it's gone!" + +"Ah," said Shaddy, thoughtfully, "I never thought to warn you against +them. That's a poisonous one, I think, and they climb up the trees and +among the flowers to get the young birds and eggs and beetles and +things. Better always rattle a stick in amongst the leaves, sir, before +you get handling them. Try again, now, with the handle of the hatchet." + +Brazier obeyed, and snatched his hand back directly, as he held on with +his left, after violently striking the branch close to the plant he +tried to secure. + +"There's another here," he said. + +"Better come away, sir!" cried Rob. + +"No; I must have this bunch. I have nearly cut the boughs clear from +it, and a stroke or two then will divide the stem, and it will drop +clear on to those bushes." + +"Shall I come, sir?" + +"No; I'll keep away from where the thing lies. It is coiled-up, and I +only saw its head." + +"Better mind, sir: they're rum things. Only got one inch o' neck one +moment, and the next they're holding on by their tails, and seem to have +three foot." + +"I'll take care," said Brazier. "Stand from below; I shall cut the stem +at once." + +There was the sharp sound of the hatchet, as he gave a well-directed +cut, and then a rustling, and the gorgeous bunch of flowers dropped, +with all its bulbous stems and curious fleshy elongated leaves, right on +the top of the clump of bushes beneath the great bough. + +"All right!" cried Rob: "not hurt a bit. Oh, how beautiful!" + +"Mind, will you!" cried Shaddy, savagely: "do you hear?" + +He whipped out his knife as he stepped forward, and made a rapid cut +horizontally above the bunch of orchids. For as Rob approached, with +outstretched hand, to lift off this, the first-fruits of their +exploration, a little spade-shaped head suddenly shot up with two +brilliant eyes sparkling in the sun, was drawn back to strike, and +darted forward. + +But not to strike Rob's defenceless hand, for Shaddy's keen knife-blade +met it a couple of inches below the gaping jaws, cut clean through its +scale-armed skin, and the head dropped among the lovely petals of the +orchis, while the body, twisting and twining upon itself in a knot, went +down through the bush and could be heard rustling and beating the leaves +out of sight. + +There was a peculiar grey look on Rob's face as he looked at Shaddy. + +"Only just in time, master," said the latter. "It'll be a lesson to you +both in taking care." + +Rob shuddered; but, making an effort, he said, laughing dismally, "I +don't suppose it was a venomous snake, after all." + +"Praps not," said Shaddy drily. "There, lift the bunch down with the +bar'l of your gun. Shove the muzzle right in." + +"You do it, Joe," whispered Rob; "I feel a bit sick. It's the sun, I +think." + +Just then Mr Brazier, who had been scrambling down the trunk of the +huge tree by means of the parasites, which gave endless places for hold, +dropped to the ground, and stood beating and shaking himself, to get rid +of the ants and other insects he had gathered in his trip up to the +branch. + +"Ah! that's right, Giovanni," he said; "no, I must call you Joe, as Rob +does." + +"Do, please, sir; it's ever so much shorter. Here it is," he continued, +as he lifted the bunch of lovely blossoms off the bush on to the clear +space where they stood. + +"Oh, if I could only show that in London, just as it is!" cried Brazier. +"Why, that bunch alone almost repays me for my journey: it is so +beautiful and new." + +"Give it a shake, Mr Joe, sir!" said Shaddy. + +"Ah, yes, let's make sure." + +"Can't be anything else in it," said Rob boisterously, in his desire to +hide the fact that he had been terribly frightened. + +"Never you mind whether there is or whether there ain't, sir," said +Shaddy; "I want that there bunch shook." + +Joe gave a few jerks, and at the last something fell with a light _plip_ +in amongst the leaves at their feet. + +"Ah!" ejaculated their guide; and, bending down, he pressed the leaves +aside with the point of his knife till he saw the object which had +fallen, and carefully took it up with his left finger and thumb to hold +out before the others the head and about an inch or so of the little +snake--one much thinner, but otherwise about the size of an English +adder. + +"Horrid-looking little thing," said Rob carelessly; "but I don't think +it's poisonous." + +Shaddy gave a grunt, and holding the neck tightly, he thrust the point +of his knife in between the reptile's jaws, opened them, and then +shifting his fingers to the angle, he held the snake's head upside down, +and with the point of the blade raised from where they lay back on the +roof of the mouth, close to the nose, two tiny glass-like teeth, the +creature's fangs, which could be held back or erected at its pleasure. + +"Not much doubt about them, sir," said Shaddy. + +"Not the slightest," replied Brazier, frowning. "We've both had narrow +escapes, Rob." + +"You have, sir, and all for want of knowing better, if you'll excuse me. +What you've got to do is to look upon everything as dangerous till +you've found out as it's safe. And that you must do, please, for I +can't help you here. If it's a clawing from a lion or tiger, or a dig +from a deer's horn, or a bite of 'gator, or a broken limb, or spear +wound, or even a bullet-hole, I'm all there. I'll undertake to pull you +through a bit of fever too, or any or'nary complaint, and all without +pretending to be a doctor. But as to fighting against snake poison, I'm +just like a baby. I couldn't help you a bit, so don't get running your +hands among the things anywhere. They'll get out of your way fast +enough if you give them a chance; so just help me by minding that." + +One of the boatmen came up and said something in a sour way to the +speaker, who added,-- + +"They've skinned the tiger, and want to know what to do with the +carkidge, sir. Come along with me, and I'll show you something else." + +"No, no: stop a moment. Look here!" cried Joe. + +They all turned to where he stood holding the bunch on his gun-barrel, +and saw his eyes fixed upon something playing about--a great humble-bee +apparently--which paused before one of the orchid blossoms. + +The little thing was dull-looking, and they saw directly after that it +was probing the flowers with a long curved beak. + +"Humming bird," cried Rob; "but I thought that they were +bright-coloured." + +In an instant, as if it had heard his words, the tiny creature changed +its position to such an angle with the sun that for a few seconds its +breast glowed with gorgeous green and flame-coloured scales, which +looked as if they had been cut out of some wonderful metal to protect +the bird's breast. Its wings moved so rapidly that they were invisible, +and the beautiful little object seemed to be surrounded by a filmy haze +of a little more than the diameter of a cricket-ball. + +Again there was a sharp motion, such as is noted in one kind of fly in +an English summer, when it can be seen poised for a few moments +apparently immovable, but with its wings beating at lightning speed. +And as the humming bird changed its position the breast feathers looked +dark and dull, while its head displayed a crest of dazzling golden +green. + +It appeared to have no dread of the group of human beings close to it, +but probed blossom after blossom as calmly as a bee would at home; and +it was from no movement they made that it suddenly made a dart and was +gone. + +"Pretty creatures!" said Shaddy, smiling, and looking the last man in +the world likely to admire a bird; "you've come to the right place for +them, gentlemen. Those lads of mine would soon make blowpipes and +arrows, and knock you a few down, or I could if you wanted 'em, with one +of your guns." + +"The shots would cut them to pieces," said Brazier. + +"To be sure they would, sir, and I shouldn't use none. I've knocked one +down with a charge of powder, shot off pretty close, and other times +with half a teaspoonful of sand in the gun. But I tell you what acts +best, only you can't do it with a breechloader. It must be an old +muzzle gun, and after you've rammed down your powder very tight with a +strong wad, you pour in a little water, and fire soon as you can. You +get a shower then as brings 'em down without damaging your bird." + +"Let's look at the jaguar skin," said Rob; and stepping aside to where +the boatmen stood in the broad sunshine, instead of gazing upon the +tawny fur, with its rich spots of dark brown along back and flanks, +shading off into soft white, he found, stretched out tightly by pegs, a +sheet of unpleasant-looking fleshy skin, hardening in the ardent +sunshine, which drove out its moisture at a rapid rate. + +"Do it no end of good to stop like that till to-morrow," said Shaddy. +"It would be pretty nigh stiff and hard by then." + +"But I don't want it stiff and hard," cried Rob. "I want it soft, like +a leather rug." + +"Yes, sir, I know," replied the guide. "Let's get it dry first; I can +soon make it soft afterwards." + +Brazier was looking round the open patch of slightly sloping ground, +about half an acre in extent, forming quite a nook in the forest through +which the river ran. + +"There is plenty of work here for a day or two," he said; "and it is a +suitable place for our halt." + +"Couldn't be better, sir. We shan't find another so good." + +"Then we'll stop for one day, certain." + +"'Cording to that, then," said Shaddy thoughtfully, "we'd better take +the carkidge somewhere else." + +"Of course--get rid of it or bury it. Before long in this sun it will +be offensive. Why not throw it in the river?" + +"That's what I meant to do, sir; but I was a bit scared about drawing +the 'gators about us. Don't want their company. If they see that came +from here they'll be waiting about for more. I dunno, though; perhaps +the stream'll carry it down half a mile before they pull it under or it +sinks." + +He made a sign to the boatmen, who seized the carcass of the jaguar, +bore it just below where the boat was moored, and the two lads followed +to see it consigned to the swift river. + +Here the men stood close to the edge, and acting in concert under +Shaddy's direction, they swung the carcass to and fro two or three +times, gathering impetus at every sway, and then with one tremendous +effort and a loud expiration of the breath they sent it flying several +yards, for it to fall with a tremendous splash and sink slowly, the +lighter-coloured portions being quite plain in the clear water as it +settled down, sending great rings to each shore. Then the carcass rose +slowly to the surface and began to float down-stream. + +"Look," cried Rob the next instant, as the smooth water suddenly became +agitated, and dark shadows appeared to be moving beneath the surface. +Then the jaguar moved suddenly to one side, as if it were alive, then +back, to alter its course directly straight away from them, and again to +begin travelling up stream; while the water boiled all round about it, +and several silvery fish flashed out of the water and fell back; then +heads and tails appeared as the fierce occupants of the river fought for +morsels which they bit out of the flanks and limbs of the dead animal. + +"Makes 'em mad to get at it," said Shaddy, as the water grew more +disturbed; "they're coming up the river in shoals. You see there's no +skin to get through and fill their teeth with hair. Say, youngsters, +talk about ground bait, don't you wish you'd got your tackle ready? +Might catch some good ones for supper." + +"And eat them after they've been feeding on that animal?" + +"Better have them after feeding on that, Rob," said Brazier, "than after +a feast of I don't know what. Why not try, Naylor?" + +"No meat for a bait, sir. Let's wait till they've done, and then I'll +fish for a dorado. We've got some oranges left." + +He ceased speaking, and they stood watching the carcass, which still +floated, from the simple fact that a shoal of fish were attacking it +from below, while so many came swarming, up from lower down the stream, +attracted by the odour of the pieces of the jaguar, and the many +fragments which ascended and floated away, that the carcass not only +could not sink but was driven higher and higher toward the main river. + +"Hah!" ejaculated Shaddy suddenly, "I thought that was coming." + +For suddenly there were dozens of silvery fish leaping in the air to +fall back into the water, which ceased to boil, and a wave formed by the +shoal swept down-stream. + +"What's that mean?" cried Rob. "Why, they've left it." + +"Yes, sir, _they_ have," said Shaddy, emphasising the personal pronoun. +"Look!" + +A fresh splash about twenty yards from them had already taken Rob's +attention, and then there was another caused by a peculiar dark-looking +object, which rose above the surface. + +"'Gator's tail," said Shaddy, grimly. "It's their turn now, and the +hungry fishes have to make room." + +Just then a long black, muddy-looking snout glided out of the water, +followed by the head, shoulders and back of a hideous lizard-like +creature, which glided over the carcass of the jaguar and disappeared, +followed directly by a head twice as large, and as it rose clear of the +water the jaws opened wide and closed with a loud snap. Directly after +this head sank down out of sight there was a tremendous swirl in the +water, and then it began to settle down, but only to be disturbed once +more about opposite to where the party stood, and again some twenty +yards lower down, after which the river ran swiftly and smoothly once +more. + +"That was an old bull 'gator," said Shaddy. "The small ones, three or +four, came first and scared off all the fish that didn't want to be +eaten, and then the old chap came and soon sent them to the right-about, +and he has carried off the carkidge to enjoy all to himself down in some +hole under the bank." + +"Plenty of natural history for you here, boys," said Brazier, "eh?" + +"Yes; but how horrid!" cried Rob. "And yet how beautiful it all is to +compensate!" said Brazier, thoughtfully. "But what about something +fresh to eat, Naylor? We must shoot something, or you must fish. +There, Rob, you said how horrid just now; and yet we are as bad. The +alligators and fish only sought for their daily food. We are going to +do worse than they did with our guns and tackle. Well, Naylor, what are +we to do?" + +"I'm thinking, sir, that if the young gents here, or one of them, will +try a fishing-line with an orange or half an orange bait, you might sit +quiet at your corner and watch for something--bush turkey, or parrots +even, for they're good eating." + +"But suppose I shoot a bird, and it falls in the river, what then?" + +"Why, we must go after it with the boat; but I expect that something or +another would take it down before we could get to it. This river +swarms, sir, with big fish and 'gators." + +"Why not go a few hundred yards into the forest? We might put up a +deer." + +"Dessay you would, sir, if you could get in. Why, you couldn't get in a +dozen yards without men to hack a way for you; and if you went in alone, +even so far, it's a chance if you could find your way out again. You'll +have to be careful about that." + +"Why?" said Rob, eagerly. "The wild beasts?" + +"They're the least trouble, sir," replied Shaddy. "It's the getting +lost. A man who is lost in these forests may almost as well lie down +and die at once out of his misery, for there's no chance of his getting +back again." + +"I'm afraid you try to make the worst of things, Naylor," said Brazier, +smiling. "Well, I'll take my position at the corner yonder while you +lads fish." + +Rob felt as if he would far rather try his luck with a gun, for he +wanted to practise shooting; and Shaddy read the disappointment in his +face. + +"It'll be all right, my lad," he said, as Brazier went to the boat to +get some different cartridges; "you'll have plenty of chances of +shooting for the pot by-and-by. Why, you haven't done so very bad +to-day--bagging a whole tiger. Here, I'll help you rig up a line." + +"And suppose I hook one of those alligators?" + +"Hardly likely, my lad; but if you do it will be bad for the 'gator or +bad for your line. One'll have to come, or the other'll have to go." + +Just then Brazier returned from the boat with the cartridge-pouch and +examining the breech of his gun, after which he walked slowly to the +corner of the green opening and took his place close to the edge of the +river, where he was partly hidden by some pendent boughs, while Rob, +Joe, and Shaddy got on board the boat again, and were soon fitting up a +line with an orange bait. + +"May as well fish from the boat, my lads," said Shaddy; "it's peaceabler +and comfortabler. What do you say?" + +"No," said Joe, "but one from the boat, and one from the other corner +there. If we fish together we shall get our lines tangled." + +"Right, my Hightalian man o' wisdom," said Shaddy. "There you are, +then," he continued, as he fixed the half of an orange as securely as he +could; "you begin there, and Mr Rob will try up yonder, while I'll go +to and fro with the gaff hook ready to help whichever of you wants a +hand." + +"Hi! you chaps," he shouted to the men in their own tongue, as they were +settling themselves down for a long sleep, "make that fire up again; +we're going to stop here to-night." + +"I wish I could speak their language, Shaddy," said Rob, as the men +deliberately began to pile some of the wood they had collected on the +embers. + +"You'll soon pick it up, my lad. It's soft and easy enough. Not as I +speak it, you know, because I'm so rough and keep chopping in broken +English. They're not bad fellows. But now look here," he continued, as +they reached their corner where the stream flowed very deep and made +quite an eddy; "it strikes me that the best thing we can do is to try a +different bait, one as will tempt the fish that don't care so much for +flesh. What do you say to a quarter of a biscuit?" + +"Too hard, and will not stick on." + +"Get soft in the water; and it will stick on, for I shall tie it with +some thin string, making quite a net round it." + +"That will do then," said Rob, who felt some compunction at trying for +fish which had been lunching off a large cat; and in due time the bait +was carefully bound on. + +"This place will suit," said Shaddy, "because the water will carry the +hook out softly right toward the middle in this eddy, and we shan't have +to throw and knock off our bait. Ready?" + +_Bang_! + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE DOUBLE CATCH. + +The sharp report was from Brazier's piece, and as all looked round it +was to see a large turkey-like bird beating and flapping the ground with +its strong pinions, evidently being badly wounded. + +"Ah!" cried Shaddy, "that'll be better meat than our fish;" and dropping +the line, he trotted towards the spot where the bird lay close to the +edge of the forest, just as Brazier started on the same mission from his +end of the opening; while quite a flock of small birds and a troop of +monkeys came flying and bounding through the trees, as if to see what +was the meaning of the strange noise, and filling the air with their +chatterings and cries, but hardly displaying the slightest dread. + +"I happened to look round," cried Brazier, "and saw it come out from +among the trees." + +This was just as he and Shaddy neared the bird, where it lay half a +dozen yards from the dense mass of interwoven foliage, when, to the +disgust of both, the bird suddenly rose to its feet, made a bound, and, +with its wings whistling loudly, flew right in through an opening, while +its would-be captors were brought up short by the to them impenetrable +forest. + +"How vexatious!" cried Brazier, stamping his foot. + +"There goes our supper!" grumbled Shaddy; "and that's about the joociest +bird I know." + +"I wish I'd given it the other barrel," said Brazier. + +"Better load, sir," said Shaddy. "Never mind. You'll get another +chance soon. Eh? Oh, very well then, have a try." + +This was to one of the boatmen, who, roused by the shot, came up smiling +with his sword-like knife in his hand, evidently with the intention of +cutting his way in and trying to retrieve the bird. + +"I don't think it is of any use," said Brazier. + +"Dunno, sir. Perhaps it is. The bird was hard hit, and maybe hasn't +gone far. Let him try. He may just as well do that as lie and sleep." + +They both stopped for a few minutes watching the man, who bent down, and +going on all-fours, passed in between the interlacing growth. They saw +his feet for a few moments, and then he disappeared altogether, while +Brazier and Shaddy both returned to their stations. + +"What a pity!" grumbled the latter. "'Bout the nicest birds I know-- +when you're hungry. There'll be another shot for him soon, though, for +they go in flocks in open bits of land near water." + +"What bird was it?" said Rob--"a turkey?" + +"Nay, not so big as a turkey, lad; I dunno what they call 'em. I call +'em Argentine larks." + +"What?" cried Rob, with a laugh. + +"Ah, you may grin, my lad, but it ain't such a bad name; and if you'd +seen 'em do what I have, you'd say so too." + +"What do you mean?" said Rob; "do they make their nests on the ground?" + +"I don't know nothing about their nests, but I'll tell you what they do: +they rise off the ground and fly up in the air higher and higher, and +sail round and round singing just like a lark does, only lots of times +as loud." + +Rob looked keenly in the man's face. + +"Oh, I ain't a-stuffing of you with nonsense, my lad; that 'ere's a +nat'ral history fact. They flies up singing away till they're out of +sight, and the music comes down so soft and sweet then that it makes you +want more and more, as you get thinking of when you was away in the +country at home." + +"But that bird was so big," cried Rob. + +"All the better, my lad. Holds more music and sings all the longer." + +"Caught anything?" asked Joe from the boat, for both lines had been cast +now, and the lads were patiently holding the ends. + +"No; haven't had a bite," replied Rob; and the words had hardly left his +lips when Brazier's gun raised an echo across the river, which ran to +and fro, reflected by the wall of trees in zigzag course till it died +out. + +But no one listened to the echo, for all attention was taken by a large +duck, one of about a dozen which had come skimming along over the +surface of the water till its course had been stopped by Brazier's +accurate shot, when it fell flapping heavily and raising quite a spray +around it as it began to float rapidly down-stream. + +"Come, we mustn't lose that," cried Shaddy, running to unfasten the rope +which moored the boat. "We'll go together. Mr Joe, sir, haul in your +line." + +But before the boy could obey there was a cry of annoyance from Brazier +as, with a slight splash, something seized the duck and drew it under. + +"'Nother supper gone!" growled Shaddy. + +"What was it?" cried Brazier. + +"Didn't see, sir. Either a 'gator or a big fish. Look sharp, Mr Joe, +sir. Now, if you could catch that there fish with the duck in his jaws +too, it would be something like." + +But Joe did not have the chance to catch a fish with the duck or +without, and Rob fervently hoped that he might not catch the captor of +the duck, for he felt certain that he had seen the jaws of a small +alligator close upon the unfortunate bird as he held the end of his line +tightly and waited for the bite which would not come. + +But in the midst of that lovely solitude there was no room for +disappointment. Though they could not obtain exactly what they sought, +Rob felt that nature was offering them endless treasures, and his eye +was being constantly attracted by the flowers high up on the trees +across the river and the still more beautiful butterflies and birds +constantly passing here and there. Now it was some lovely object whose +large flat wings flashed with steely or purply blue, according to the +angle in which it was viewed, then butterflies of velvety black dashed +with orange and vermilion. Parrots of vivid green with scarlet heads +flew to and fro across the stream; and twice over a great _ara_ or +macaw, with its large, hooked beak and scarlet-and-blue feathering, a +very soldier in uniform among birds, flew over them, watching them +keenly as it uttered its harsh, discordant cry. Then, too, there were +the humming-birds darting here and there with bee-like flight, emitting +a flash every now and then as their metallic, scale-like feathers caught +the sun on their burnished surface. + +"No," said Rob to himself, "one can't feel disappointed here," and soon +after, as he drew a long, deep breath full of satisfaction, "Oh, how +gloriously beautiful it all is! What would they say at home?" + +Now he gazed down into the deep, clear, swiftly flowing water, where, +brilliantly illuminated by the sun, just beyond where he sat shaded by a +tree, he could see fish of all sizes floating motionless, apparently at +different depths, while farther out there were more and more, larger it +seemed, and as the depth and density of the water increased looking more +shadowy and strange. + +"There are plenty of them, even if they don't bite," thought Rob; "and +if it were not that we must have them to eat, I don't know that I want +to catch them. Ugh!" + +He involuntarily shrank away, but resumed his position at the edge of +the river, gazing down at where, with its four legs outstretched and its +tail waving softly, an alligator swam by some five feet below the +surface. It was only a small one, between three and four feet in +length, but showing all the ugly configuration of its kind; and it +fascinated Rob as he gazed at it till it slowly grew more shadowy and +shortened in length and disappeared. + +"Wonder how Joe's getting on!" he thought; and then his mind dwelt again +upon their surroundings, and as his eyes wandered from spot to spot he +felt that they ought to go no farther, but make a temporary stay there. + +Just then he looked to his right, to find that Mr Brazier had given up +his task of watching for birds and was busy with Shaddy arranging the +bunch of orchids on a branch in the full sunshine, to dry as much as was +possible before being transferred to their destination--the bottom of +one of the tubs. + +"Slow work!" muttered Rob, drawing in his line now, to find the biscuit +softened, but still held tightly enough to the hook. Then, dropping it +in again, he watched it as it was carried out by the eddy, and ended by +tying the line fast to one of the overhanging branches and walking to +where the boat was moored. + +"How are you getting on, Joe?" he said; but there was no answer. "Not +here?" he muttered as he stepped on board, to find the young Italian +lying back fast asleep, while the end of the line was secured to one of +the thwarts. + +"Oh, I say!" muttered Rob, "you lazy beggar!" Then stooping down, so +that his lips were near the sleeper's ear, he said loudly, "Ready for +supper?" + +Joe leaped up in confusion. + +"Have I been asleep?" he said hastily. + +"Looks like it. Where's the dorado?" + +"I--that is--I grew so drowsy, I--yes, I fastened the end of the line +for fear it should go overboard, and--here, look out!" he cried sharply, +"I have him!" + +"Not you," said Rob; "the hook caught it." + +For the line had been drawn tight while Joe slept, and as he took hold +of it he found that it was fast in something heavy, which now sent a +quiver along the line, as if it were shaking its head angrily at being +disturbed. + +"Why, it's a big one," said Rob excitedly. + +"It's a monster," panted Joe. "Oh, I wish I had not been asleep." + +"Caught anything?" came from behind them, and Brazier and Shaddy drew +near. + +"Yes; Joe has hooked a very big one," cried Rob eagerly. "Get your hook +ready, Shaddy." + +"All right, sir," said the guide grimly, "but you won't want it just +yet. You'll have to play that chap before you get him up to the boat." + +So it seemed, for the captive lay sulky for a few moments, resenting the +strain on the line, till Joe gave it a jerk, when there was a rush away +to the left, the line suddenly slackened, and Rob exclaimed in a tone of +disappointment,-- + +"Gone!" + +"No," growled Shaddy. "Pull in a bit, my lad. Steady!" + +Joe began to haul in the line, drawing in yard after yard, which fell in +rings to the bottom of the boat, till half the fishing cord must have +been recovered. + +"He has gone, Shaddy," said Joe. + +"Beginning to think you're right, my lad. Fancied at first he'd swum up +to the side, for there's no telling what a fish may do when--Look out; +he's on still," roared Shaddy. "Hold the line, my lad. Don't let him +haul it quite out, or he'll snap it when he gets to the end." + +Joe seized the line and let it slip through his fingers, but the +friction was so painful that he would have let go again had not Shaddy +stepped to his help and taken hold behind him. + +"Won't hurt my fingers," he growled; "they're a deal too hard," and he +kept hold so that he did not interfere with Joe's work in playing the +fish, but relieved him of the strain and friction as the line cut the +water here and there. + +Brazier looked on with plenty of interest in the proceedings, for the +capture of a fish of goodly size was a matter of some consequence to the +leader of an expedition with eight hungry people to cater for day after +day. + +"Think it's a dorado, Shaddy?" asked Rob. + +"Ought to be, my lad, from its taking an orange, and if it is it's 'bout +the heaviest one I've knowed. My word, but he does pull! Can't say as +ever I felt one shake his head like that before. Shall I play him now, +my lad?" + +"No," cried Joe through his set teeth as he held on, "not yet. I will +ask you if I want help. No: Rob will help me." + +The struggle went on so fiercely that it increased Brazier's interest, +and but for the clever way in which the two lads in turn played the +fish, the cord, strong as it was, must have been broken. But they were +fortunate enough to get a good deal of the long line in hand, and were +thus enabled to let their captive run from time to time, merely keeping +up a steady strain till the rush was over and then hauling in again. + +"Why, boys," said Brazier at last as he stood on the bank resting upon +his double gun, "it will be supper-time before you catch your prize, and +in this climate fish will be bad to-morrow. Better let him go." + +"What!" cried Rob, whose face was streaming with perspiration. "Let him +go? Do you hear, Joe?" + +Joe nodded and tightened his lips, his face seeming to say,-- + +"Let him go? Not while I can hold him." + +So the fight went on till the fish grew less fierce in its rushes, but +none the weaker, keeping on as it did a heavy, stubborn drag, and though +frequently brought pretty near to the boat, keeping down close to the +bottom, so that they never once obtained a glimpse of it. + +"It ain't a dorado," said Shaddy at last. "I never see one fight like +that." + +"It must be a very grand one," said Joe, wiping his face, for he had +resigned the line for a time. + +"It pulls like a mule," said Rob, as the captive now made off toward the +middle of the river. + +"What sort of a hook have you got on, Mr Jovanni?" cried Shaddy. + +"One of those big ones, with the wire bound round for about two feet +above it." + +"Then I tell you what, my lad: I don't believe that strong new cord'll +break. S'pose both of you get hold after he's had this run, haul him +right up, and let's have a look at him! Strikes me you've got hold of +one of them big eely mud-fish by the way he hugs the bottom." + +"Shall we try, Joe?" + +"I--I'm afraid of losing it," was the reply. "It would be so dreadful +now. Perhaps it will be tired soon." + +"Don't seem like it, my lad!" said Brazier. "It is not worth so long +and exhausting a fight." + +"Right, sir, and they've been too easy with him. You get his head up, +Mr Rob, as soon as he gives a bit, and then both of you show him you +don't mean to stand any more nonsense. That'll make him give in." + +"Very well," said Joe, with a sigh. "We have been a long time. Wait +till he has had this run." + +The line was running out more and more through Rob's fingers as he +spoke, and the fish seemed bent on making for the farther shore; but the +lad made it hard work for the prisoner, and about two-thirds of the way +it began to slacken its pace, almost stopped, quite stopped, and sulked, +like a salmon, at the bottom. + +"Now both of you give a gentle, steady pull," said Brazier; and Joe took +hold of the line and joined Rob in keeping up a continuous strain. + +For a few minutes it was like pulling at a log of wood, and Rob declared +the line must be caught. But almost as he spoke the fish gave a vicious +shake at the hook, its head seemed to be pulled round, the strain was +kept up, and the captive yielded, and was drawn nearer and nearer very +slowly, but none the less surely, the line falling in rings to the +bottom of the boat. + +"Bravo!" cried Brazier. + +"That's right, both of you!" shouted Shaddy excitedly. "He's dead beat, +and I shall have the big hook in his gills before he knows where he is. +Haul away!" + +"Are these mud-fish you talk about good eating, Naylor?" asked Brazier. + +"Oh yes, sir. Bit eely-like in their way; not half bad. Come, that's +winning, gents. Well done. Give me a shout when you want me. I won't +come yet so as to get in your way." + +"Sha'n't be ready yet," panted Rob. "He is strong. I think you ought +to have a harpoon.--I say." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Do these mud-fish bite?" + +"Well, yes, sir," replied Shaddy; "pretty nigh all the fish hereabouts +are handy with their teeth." + +"Ah, he's off again!" cried Joe; and they had to let the prisoner run. +But it was a much weaker effort, and a couple of minutes later they had +hauled in all the line given, and got in so much more that the fish was +at the bottom of the river only four or five yards from the boat. + +"Now then, both together; that line will hold!" cried Shaddy excitedly; +"get him right up and see what he is, and if he begins to fight fierce +let him have one more run to finish his flurry, as the whalers call the +last fight." + +"Ready, Joe?" + +"Yes." + +"Both together, then." + +There were a few short steady pulls, hand over hand, and the prisoner +was drawn nearer and nearer, and raised from the bottom slowly and +surely, while, as full of excitement now as the lads, Brazier and Shaddy +stood close to the edge watching. + +"Hurrah!" cried Rob, who was nearest to the gunwale. "I can see him +now!" + +"Well, what is it--a mud-fish?" asked Brazier. + +"No," said Joe, straining his neck to get a glimpse through the clear +water, the disturbed mud raised by the struggles of the fish being +rapidly swept away. "It's a dorado: I can see his golden scales!" + +"Then he's a regular whopper, my lads. Steady, don't lose him!" cried +Shaddy. "Shall I come on board?" + +"No, not yet," said Joe excitedly. "He may make another rush." + +"Why, I say, it isn't a very big one," said Rob. + +"No," cried Joe, in a disappointed tone; "but he's coming up backwards, +which shows how strong he is." + +"Ha, ha!" shouted Rob; "we've caught him by the tail." + +"Got the line twisted round it, perhaps," said Brazier. "That's what +makes the fish seem so strong." + +"Ugh!" yelled Rob, letting go of the line, with the result that it was +drawn back rapidly through Joe's fingers, till at a cry from his lips +Rob took hold again as the fish ran off and nearly reached its former +quarters. + +"What's the matter?" said Brazier. "Did the line cut your fingers?" + +"No. We've caught a horrid great thing. It isn't a dorado. I saw it +well, and it's nearly as long as the boat." + +"Gammon!" growled Shaddy. "Here, what's it like, Master Joe?" + +"I don't know. I never saw a fish like it before: its tail was all +golden scales, and then it was dark at the top and bottom, and went off +dark right toward the head." + +"Then it must be a mud-fish, I should say, though I never knowed of one +with a tail like that. Haul him in again, and I'll get aboard now ready +with the hook." + +He stepped into the boat, and lay down in the bottom with his arms over +the side and his landing-hook, securely bound to a short, stout piece of +bamboo, held ready. + +"Shan't be in your way, shall I?" he asked. + +"No, not at all," replied Joe. "Now, Rob, are you ready?" + +"Yes." + +"I say, don't let go again." + +"I'll try not," replied Rob, and the hauling began once more, with +almost as much effort necessary. But at the end of a minute it began to +be evident that the fish was tired, for it yielded more and more as the +line was drawn in, but kept to its old tactics of hugging the bottom +till it was close up to the boat, where, after pausing a moment or two, +Rob cried,-- + +"Now then, both together! Don't miss him, Shaddy! Mind, he's a hideous +great thing." + +"All right, my lads; haul away!" + +They hauled, but instead of the fish suffering itself to be dragged like +a lump of lead close in to the boat, it now commenced different tactics, +and rose till the gilded tail appeared above the surface quite clear of +the line, and beat and churned up the water so that it was too much +disturbed for them to see the head, the creature seeming to be fighting +hard to dive down again straight to the bottom. + +"That's right, my lads: he's coming. 'Nother fathom, and I'll get the +hook into him. Haul steady. He's, done. He's--Well, I'm blessed!" + +Shaddy roared out this last exclamation, for all at once, as the boys +hauled persistently at the line, the tail half of a large dorado was +thrust above the surface, agitated violently, and directly after there +followed the hideous head of an alligator with its jaws tightly closed +upon the fore half of the fish. It was shaking its head savagely to +break the line, and began giving violent plunges while it made the water +foam with its struggles, and in another moment would no doubt have +broken away; but just at the crisis, on seeing what was the state of +affairs, Brazier raised his gun, took a quick aim, and discharged +rapidly one after the other both barrels of his piece. + +The result was magical. As the smoke rose, and quite a cloud of +brilliantly tinted birds flew here and there from side to side of the +river, whose trees on both banks seemed to have grown alive with +monkeys, the alligator made one leap half out of the water, fell back +with a heavy splash, and then lay motionless save for a quivering of its +tail as it was drawn nearer, when Shaddy managed to get his hook inside +the jaws, which were distended by the dorado, and then, stepping ashore, +he hauled the reptile right out on to the grass. + +"Is he dead?" said Brazier, who was reloading. + +"Not yet, sir; but you've shattered the back of his head, and he'll soon +be quite. No wonder you didn't land him quicker, Master Joe." + +"But what does it mean?" cried Rob. "Oh, I see! Joe hooked a dorado, +and this fellow tried to swallow it head first, and couldn't get it +right down." + +"That's it, my lad," replied Shaddy. "He'd half managed it when Mr +Jovanny here gave a pull, and has got the hook in him somewhere. I +thought so. Here's the pynte sticking right through outside his neck, +and he couldn't bite because of the fish stuck in his jaws just like a +great gag." + +"Well, what's to be done?" said Rob; "we can't eat the dorado now. +Wonder whether I've got a bite yet." + +He went slowly and wearily up to the tree where he had fastened the end +of his line, and to his delight saw that the branch was rising and +falling as a fish on the hook tugged to get away. + +"Hi! Joe! Got one!" he shouted; but before the lad could reach him he +had the line in his hand and was hauling, sore as his fingers were, a +heavy fish toward the shore. Then with a cry of disappointment he +pulled in the line easily enough, for the fish was gone. + +They returned to the spot where Brazier and Shaddy stood, near the +captured alligator. + +"Good six feet long, Rob," said Brazier, who had measured it by taking +two long paces. "Something like a catch, Giovanni. Can you get the +fish out of its jaws, Naylor?" + +"Oh yes, I think so, sir." + +"Mind, for these creatures are very retentive of life." + +"Oh yes, I know 'em, sir. I'll get the chopper and take his head off +first." + +"But we are not going to eat that fish now, Mr Brazier, are we?" + +"Well, I don't know, Rob. If it is well washed and skinned, it cannot +be any the worse, and we have nothing else in the way of fish or meat." + +"Wrong, sir," said Shaddy, making a very wide smile; "look at that." + +He pointed toward the top of the little clearing where the boatman had +forced his way in amongst the tangled growth, and gone on hewing his way +through bush, thorn, vine, and parasitical growth, to reappear just in +the nick of time with the bustard-looking bird hanging from his left +hand, dead. + +"Says he had to go in a long way," said Shaddy, after a short +conversation with the man, who, weary though he was with his exertions, +immediately set to work by the fire picking the bird and burning its +feathers, with the result that the Europeans of the little expedition +confined themselves to the windward side of the fire till the man had +done. + +"Never had such a delicious supper before in my life," said Rob two +hours later, as they sat in the boat eating oranges and watching the +gorgeous colours of the sky. + +"Think this place 'll do, sir?" said Shaddy, after washing down his +repast with copious draughts of _mate_ made by his men. + +"Excellently, Naylor." + +"And you ain't hardly begun yet," said Shaddy, smiling. "Wait till you +get higher up, where it's wilder and wonderfler: this is nothing. Suit +you, Master Rob? Never had such fishing as that before, did you?" + +"Never, Shaddy; but what did you do with the alligator and the fish?" + +"My lads cut all off as the 'gator hadn't had down his throat, and +tumbled the other into the stream. Ain't much of him left by this +time." + +The night came on almost directly after, with the remarkable tropical +absence of twilight; and, as if all had been waiting for the darkness, +the chorus of the forest began. Then, well making up the fire with an +abundance of wood, the boatmen came on board, and immediately settled +themselves down to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +THE WONDERS OF THE WILDS. + +It was a weird hour that next which was passed with the fire sending up +volumes of smoke, followed by glittering sparks which rose rapidly and +looked like specks of gold-leaf floating away over the river, red now as +blood, now orange and gold, as the fire blazed higher and cast its +reflections on the rapid stream. + +The bright light had a singular attraction for the birds, which came +skimming round and swooping through the dark smoke, small birds with +bright wings, and large-headed owls with soft silent pinions; these +latter every now and then adding their mournful cries to the harsh +screeching, whirring, drumming, throbbing, and piping of bird, insect, +and reptile which mingled with the fine, thin, humming _ping_ of the +mosquitoes and the mournful fluting of the frogs. + +No one spoke for a time, the attention of three of the party being taken +up by the novelty of their position and the noises of the forest, for +though they had passed many nights on the river and listened to the +cries on the farther shore, this was their first experience of being +right in among these musicians of the night as they kept up their +incessant din. + +"Can you tell what every sound is that we hear, Shaddy?" whispered Rob +at last. + +"Nay, hardly; some on 'em of course," said their guide. "You know many +of them too already, though they get so mixed up it's hard to pick out +one from the other." + +"But that?" whispered Rob, as if he dared not raise his voice, and he +started violently, for there was a splash close at hand. + +"Didn't mean that fish, did you, sir? That won't hurt you here so long +as you don't walk overboard in your sleep." + +"No, no, I didn't mean that; I meant that bellowing noise. You heard +it, didn't you, Mr Brazier?" + +There was no reply. + +"Sleep," said Shaddy gruffly. + +"Joe, you heard that bellowing down the river there?" whispered Rob. + +Again there was no reply. + +"Sleep too," growled Shaddy. "Well, don't you know what that was?" + +"No." + +"'Gator. Don't suppose he thinks it's bellowing. Dessay he'd call it a +song. There it goes again. Comes along the river as if it was close to +us. But there, don't you think you've done enough for one day, and had +better do as the rest are doing? We're the only two awake." + +"But what about keeping watch?" said Rob, rather excitedly. + +"Oh, I don't know as there's any need to keep watch here, my lad," said +Shaddy coolly. + +"What, not with all kinds of wild and savage beasts about us, and +monstrous reptiles and fishes in the very water where we float! Why, it +seems madness to go to sleep among such dangers." + +"Nay, not it, my lad. Why, if you come to that, the world's full of +dangers wherever you are. No more danger here than on board a big ship +sailing or steaming over water miles deep." + +"But the wild beasts--lions and tigers, as you call them?" + +"Lions won't hurt you so long as you don't meddle with them, and the +tigers won't pass that fire." + +"Then the Indians?" + +"No Indians about here, my lad, or I should have that fire out pretty +soon and be on the watch. You leave all that to me, and don't you get +worrying yourself about danger because you hear a noise in the forest! +Noise is a noosance, but it don't hurt. There was five thousand times +as much danger in the fangs of that little sarpint I chopped to-day as +in all the noise you're listening to now." + +Rob was silent. + +"So just you take my advice, my lad: when night comes you say your bit +o' prayers and tuck your head under your wing till it's near daylight. +That's the way to get a good night's rest and be ready for the morning." + +Rob started again, for a great, soft-winged thing swept silently by, so +near that he felt the wind of its pinion as it glided on, its outline +nearly invisible, but magnified by the darkness into a marvellous size. + +"On'y a bat, my lad!" said Shaddy, yawning. + +"Is that one of the blood-sucking ones?" + +"Very likely." + +"And you talk about there being no danger out here!" + +"Nay, not I. There's plenty of dangers, my lad, but we're not going to +be afraid of a thing that you could knock down with one of your hands so +that it would never fly again. It ought to feel scared, not you." + +"Is that a firefly?" said Rob, after a few minutes' silence, and he +pointed to a soft, golden glow coming up the river five or six feet +above the stream, and larger and more powerful than the twinkling lights +appearing and disappearing among the foliage at the river's edge. + +"Yes, that's a firefly; come to light you to bed, if you like. There, +my lad, it's sleep-time. Get under shelter out of the night damp. +You'll soon be used to all the buzzing and howling and--" + +"That was a tiger, wasn't it?" said Rob excitedly, as a shrill cry rang +out somewhere in the forest and sent a thrill through him. + +"No. Once more, that's a lion, and he's after monkeys, not after you, +so good-night." + +Shaddy drew the sail over him as he stretched himself in the bottom of +the roomy boat, and Rob crept in under the awning. The heavy breathing +enabled him to make out exactly where his companions lay asleep, and +settling himself down forward, he rested his head on his hand, convinced +that sleep would be impossible, and preparing to listen to the faint +rustling noise of the mooring rope on the gunwale of the boat, a sound +which often suggested something coming on board. + +Then he made sure what it was, and watched the faint glow thrown by the +fire on the canvas till it seemed to grow dull--seemed, for the boatmen +had arranged the wood so that from time to time it fell in, and hence it +kept on burning up more brightly. But it looked dull to Rob and then +black, for in spite of yells and screams and bellowings, the piping and +fluting of frogs, the fiddling of crickets, and the drumming of some +great toad, which apparently had a big tom-tom all to itself, Rob's eyes +had closed, and fatigue made him sleep as soundly as if he had been at +home. + +The sun was up when he awoke with a start to find Joe having his wash in +a freshly dipped bucket of clean water, and upon joining him and looking +ashore, it was to see Brazier bringing his botanic treasures on board to +hang up against the awning to dry; while Shaddy had taken the skin of +the jaguar, pegs and all, rolling it up and throwing it forward. The +boatmen kept the kettle boiling and some cake-bread baking in the hot +ashes. At the same time a pleasant odour of frizzling bacon told that +breakfast would not be long. + +"You are going to stay here for a day or two?" said Rob to Mr Brazier +as he rubbed his face dry in the warm sunshine. + +"No. Naylor says we shall do better farther on, and keep on collecting +as we go, beside getting a supply of ducks or other fowl for our wants. +The farther we are from the big river the easier it will be to keep our +wants supplied." + +"Gun, sir!" said Shaddy just then; "big ducks coming up the river. Take +it coolly, sir, and don't shoot till you can get two or three." + +Brazier waited and waited, but the birds, which were feeding, came no +farther. + +"Hadn't Mr Rob better try too, sir?" whispered Shaddy; "he wants to +learn to shoot." + +Rob glanced at Brazier, who did not take his eyes from the ducks he was +watching, and the boy hurriedly fetched his gun. + +"What yer got in?" whispered Shaddy. + +"Shot in one barrel, bullet in the other." + +"Bah!" growled the guide. "You don't want bullet now. Yes, you do," he +continued. "Look straight across the water in between the trees, and +tell me if you see anything." + +"No. Whereabouts?" + +"Just opposite us. Now look again close to the water's edge, where +there's that bit of an opening. Come, lad, where's your eyes?" + +"I don't see anything but flowers and drooping boughs." + +"And a deer just come down for a drink of fresh-water, ready to be shot +and keep us in food for days." + +"Yes, I can see it now," said Rob eagerly. "What a beautiful creature!" + +"Yes, beautiful meat that we can cut up in strips and dry in the sun, so +as to have a little supply in hand." + +"But it seems--" began Rob. + +"It's necessary, lad, and it's a chance. Sit down, rest your piece on +the gunwale, and aim straight with your left barrel at the centre of its +head. If you miss that you're sure to send the bullet through its +shoulder and bring it down." + +Feeling a great deal of compunction, Rob sank into the position advised, +cocked his piece, and took careful aim. + +"Make sure of him, my lad," whispered Shaddy. "It's a fine bit o' +practice for you. Now then, hold the butt tight to your shoulder and +pull the trigger gently; squeeze it more than pull. Covered him?" + +"Yes." + +"Then fire." + +_Bang! bang_! Two shots in rapid succession, and the deer was gone, but +a monkey unseen till then dropped head over heels into the water from +one of the trees over the trembling deer, scared from its hold by the +loud reports, and after a few moments' splashing succeeded in reaching a +branch which dipped in the stream. In another moment or two it was in +safety, chattering away fiercely as an ugly snout was protruded from the +water where it fell. + +"Got them this time!" said Brazier in a tone of satisfaction, as five +ducks lay on the water waiting to be picked up. "You should have fired +too, Rob. We want fresh provisions." + +"What I told him, sir, but he took such a long aim that the deer said, +`Good-morning; come and be shot another time.'" + +"Deer? What deer?" + +"One t'other side, sir," said Shaddy, who had got out to unmoor the +boat. + +"I wish I had seen it; the meat would have been so valuable to-day." + +"What I telled him, sir." + +"And you didn't shoot!" + +"I was just going to when you fired, and the deer darted away." + +"Naturally," said Brazier, smiling; and by this time the boat was +gliding down the river in the wake of the ducks. These were secured, +all but one, which, being wounded, flapped and swam toward the shore, +where it was suddenly sucked down by a reptile or fish. Those they +secured dropped silvery little arrows, apparently, back into the water +in the shape of the tiny voracious fish that had forced their way +already between their feathers to reach the skin. + +The birds secured, Rob sat gazing with delight at the fresh beauties of +the river where it wound off to the right. Birds innumerable were +flitting about, chirping and singing; noisy parrots were climbing and +hanging head downwards as they hunted out a berry-like fruit from a tall +tree; and toucans, with orange-and-scarlet breasts and huge bills, +hopped about, uttering their discordant cries. Everything looked so +beautiful and peaceful that for the moment he forgot the dangerous +occupants of the river, and his eyes grew dim with the strange sense of +joy that came over him that glorious morning. But the next moment he +became aware of the fact that to all this beauty and brightness there +was a terrible reverse side. For suddenly a great falcon dashed with +swift wing high up along the course of the river, and cries of fear, +warning, and alarm rang out from the small birds, the minute before +happy and contentedly seeking their food. + +The change was magical. At the first cry, all dropped down +helter-skelter beneath the boughs and leaves, seeking shelter; and as +the falcon gave a harsh scream it was over groves that had suddenly +become deserted, not a tenant being visible, except some half-dozen +humming-birds, whose safety lay in their tiny size and wonderful powers +of flight. Three of these, instead of showing fear, became immediately +aggressive, and, darting like great flies at the falcon, flashed about +it in different directions, apparently acting in concert and pestering +the great bird, so that it winged its way over the great wall of trees +and was gone. + +But almost at the same moment a vulture appeared, with its hideous naked +head and neck outstretched, making the humming-birds ruffle up again and +resume their attack till they literally drove the great intruder away. + +"What daring little things they are!" said Rob, who was watching the +tiny bird gems with keen delight, while Brazier's admiration was as much +taken up by the clusters of blossoms hanging from a branch over the +water. + +"I shall be obliged to have those, Rob," he said, pointing to the +orchids. "Do you think you could get out along that bough if the boat +were run in to the bank?" + +"Yes," said the boy; "but suppose I drop into the river! What then?" + +"We would keep the boat under you." + +"Can't be done," growled Shaddy, who had been trying to force the boat +back to their little camp by paddling with one oar over the stern. +"'Bliged to ask you, gentlemen, to take an oar apiece. Stream runs +mighty fast here." + +Rob seized an oar, and Brazier followed suit, at the same time glancing +toward their last night's halting-place to see if their men were within +reach to come and row and enable him to make an effort to obtain some of +the green, bulbous-looking stems and flowers of the lovely parasite +which had taken his attention. But they were as unobtainable as if they +were a hundred miles away, for it would have taken them days to cut a +way to opposite where the boat was now being held against the swift +stream, and even when they had reached the spot it would have been +impossible to force her in through the tangled growth to the shore. + +"Now together, gentlemen!" growled Shaddy. "Keep stroke, please. Pull +hard." + +They were already tugging so hard that the perspiration was starting out +upon Rob's brow, and in that short row, with Shaddy supplementing their +efforts by paddling with all his might, they had a fair sample of the +tremendous power of the stream. + +"At last!" said Shaddy as they regained their old quarters, where Joe +and the four men had stood watching them. "It will give my chaps a +pretty good warming if we come back this way. Strikes me that we four +had better practise pulling together, so as to be able to give them a +rest now and then when the stream's very much against us." + +"By all means," said Brazier. + +"You see, men ain't steam-engines, sir, and we might be where there was +no place for landing. O' course we could always hitch on to the trees, +but that makes poor mooring, and we should be better able to make our +way. There's hardly a chance of getting into slack water in a river +like this: it all goes along with a rush." + +"But I must get that plant, Naylor," said Brazier. "If you'll believe +me, sir," was the reply, "you needn't worry about that one. I'm going +to take you where you'll find thousands." + +"Like that?" + +"Ay, and other sorts too. Seems to me, sir, we want to catch a monkey +and teach him how to use a knife. He'd be the sort of chap to run up +the trees." Rob laughed at the idea, and said it was not possible. +"Well, sir," said Shaddy, "you may believe it or no, but an old friend +of mine 'sured me that the Malay chaps do teach a big monkey they've got +out there to slip up the cocoa-nut trees and twist the big nuts round +and round till they drop off. He said it was a fact, and I don't see +why not." + +"We'll try and dispense with the monkey," said Brazier; and trusting to +finding more easily accessible specimens of the orchid, he gave that up, +and a couple of hours after they were gliding swiftly along the stream, +rapt in contemplation of the wonders on either hand, Shaddy being called +upon from time to time to seize hold of some overhanging bough and check +the progress of the boat, so that its occupants might watch the gambols +of the inquisitive monkeys which kept pace with them along the bank by +bounding and swinging from branch to branch. + +The birds, too, appeared to be infinite in variety; and Rob was never +weary of watching the tiny humming-birds as they poised themselves +before the trumpet blossoms of some of the pendent vines to probe their +depths for honey, or capture tiny insects with their beaks. + +Their journey was prolonged from their inability to find a suitable +place for a halt, and it was easy work for the boatmen, who smiled with +content as they found that only one was required to handle the oars, so +as to keep the boat's head straight. + +It was nearly night, when a narrow place was found where by the fall of +a huge tree several others had been torn up by their roots, and lay with +their water-worn branches in the river. + +The place offered just room to run the boat between two of the trees, +but it could be easily moored, and there was the clear sky overhead. +Moreover, they had an ample supply of dead wood to make a fire, and by +the time this was blazing merrily and lighting up the wall of trees and +the river night had fallen intensely dark. + +The lads were for leaping out directly and climbing about amongst the +fallen trunks which nearly filled the opening, but Shaddy checked them. + +"Wait a while, my lads, till the fire's been burning a bit. I don't +quite like our quarters." + +"But that fire will scare away any wild beasts that may be near," said +Rob. + +"Yes, but the place looks snaky, Mr Rob; and I daresay there's lots o' +them big spiders about." + +"What big spiders?" + +"Them as bites so bad that you remember it for months. Why, there's one +sort out in these parts as'll run after you and attack you--fierce." + +"No, no, Shaddy, not spiders," said Rob, laughing. + +"Look ye here, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy solemnly, "when I tell you a +story of the good old traveller sort--I mean a bouncer--you'll see the +corners of my lips screwed up. When I'm telling you what's true as +true, you'll see I look solid as mahogany; and that's how I'm looking +now." + +"Yes, it's true, Rob," said Joe. "There are plenty of spiders out on +the pampas--great fellows that will come at you and bite horribly." + +"I should like to see one," said Rob. + +"Wait a bit, my lad, and you shall," said Shaddy.--"Humph! don't like +this place at all," he growled. "Look there!" he continued, pointing at +where three big trees lay close together, with their branches worn sharp +by the action of the water. "If there ain't 'gators under all them +sharp snags my name ain't Shadrach Naylor! Water's quite still, too, +there. I hope there ain't anything worse." + +"Do you think we had better go on?" said Brazier. + +"Nay, we'll risk it, sir. Let's wait till the fire burns up big and +strong. We'll have a roarer to-night, and that'll scare away most of +the trash. Worst of it is, I'm 'fraid it 'tracts the 'gators and fish." + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +AN EVENTFUL NIGHT. + +"I do like a good fire, Joe," said Rob, as he gazed at the ruddy flames +rushing up. + +"Why, you're not cold?" + +"No, I'm hot, and this fire brings in a breeze and makes it cooler--on +one side. But what I like in a fire of this kind is that you can burn +as much wood as you like, and nobody can say it's waste, because it's +doing good--clearing the ground for the trees around to grow. I say, +look at the birds." + +"After supper," said Joe, as he watched the actions of the principal +boatman, who was head cook, busily preparing the ducks and two +good-sized fish which they had caught by trailing a bait behind the boat +as they came. + +"Yes, I'm hungry," said Rob. "What's that?" + +"It was Shaddy." + +"What! tumbled in?" said Rob excitedly. + +"No; he took hold of a thick piece of branch and threw it into the +water. What did you do that for?" + +"Scare them 'gators, my lad. There's a whole school of 'em out there, +and I think they mean coming to supper. And fish too," he added, as +there was another splash and then another. + +By this time he was close alongside of the boat, under whose tent Mr +Brazier was busy by the light of a lanthorn making notes and lists of +the flowers and orchid bulbs which he had secured that day. + +"Hadn't we better put out a line, Shaddy? If we caught a fish or two +the men would be glad of them in the morning." + +"No, Mr Rob, sir; I don't suppose they'd bite now, and even if they +did, so sure as you hooked one a smiler would get hold of it, and you +don't want another fight of that sort. I'm beginning to think that we'd +best get our bit o' food, and then drop slowly down the river again." + +"What's that?" said Brazier, looking up from his work. "That will not +do, Naylor; we should miss no end of good plants." + +"Well, sir, better do that than get into a row with any of the natives +here," growled Shaddy. + +"Why, you said there were no Indians near." + +"Tchah! I mean the other natives--'sects and rept'les and what not. +But there, if we put a rope to the end of that largest tree and anchor +ourselves yonder I don't suppose we shall hurt. Eh? All right," he +cried, in answer to a hint from the men; "supper's ready, gentlemen." + +"And so are we," said Rob with alacrity; and he leaped off the gunwale +on to the tree trunk by whose side it was moored. + +To all appearance it was a solid-looking stem of tons in weight, but +covered with mosses, creepers, and orchids, which pretty well hid its +bark. + +Rob's intention was to run along it to the root end, which stood up +close to the fire; but, to his intense astonishment, he crashed through +what was a mere outer shell of bark into so much dust and touchwood +right up to the armpits, where he stuck, with a hedge of plants +half-covering his face. + +Joe burst out into a fit of laughing, in which Rob joined as soon as the +first startled sensation was over. + +"Who'd have thought of that?" he cried. "But, I say, I'm fast. Come +and lend me a hand. I thought it was a great solid trunk, and all +inside here you can see it looks as if it were on fire. Oh! oh! Ah! +Help!" + +"What's the matter?" cried Brazier excitedly, as Shaddy and he stepped +cautiously to the boy's side, Joe having already mounted on the tree +trunk. "Not on fire, are you?" + +"No, no," gasped Rob in agonised tones; and, speaking in a frightened +whisper, "There's something alive in here." + +"Nippers o' some kind, eh?" + +"No, no," cried Rob faintly; "I can feel it moving. Oh! help! It's a +snake." + +As he spoke there was a curious scuffling noise inside, as if something +was struggling to extricate itself, and Shaddy lost no time. Bending +down, he seized Rob by the chest under the armpits, stooped lower, gave +one heave, and lifted him right out; when, following close upon his +legs, the head of a great serpent was thrust up, to look threateningly +round for a moment. The next, the creature was gliding down through the +dense coating of parasitical growth, and before gun could be fetched +from the cabin, or weapon raised, the rustling and movement on the side +of the trunk had ceased, and Joe in turn gave a bound to one side. + +"It's coming along by here," he cried, as, in full belief that he would +the next moment be enveloped in the monster's coils, he made for the +fire. + +"Where is it now?" cried Shaddy, knife in hand. + +"The grass is moving there," said Brazier, pointing a little to the +right, where the tree trunks cast a deep shadow. + +"Can't see--so plaguey dark," growled the guide; "and it's no good if I +could. Yes, I can see the stuff moving now. He's making for the water. +Now, sir, send a charge o' shot where the grass is waving." + +But before Brazier could get a sight of the reptile it had glided into +the river, down among the branches of the fallen tree, as if quite used +to the intricate tangle of pointed wood beneath the bank, and accustomed +to use it for a home of refuge, or lurking place from which to strike at +prey. + +"Did it seize you?" said Brazier excitedly. + +"No, I only felt it strike against my leg and then press it to the side. +I think I trod upon it." + +"Made its home, I suppose, in the hollow tree. But you are sure you are +not hurt, my boy--only frightened?" + +"I couldn't help being frightened," said Rob, in rather an ill-used +tone. + +"Nobody says you could," said Brazier, laughing. "Master Giovanni seems +to have been frightened too. Why, Rob, my lad, it would have almost +frightened me into fits: I have such a horror of serpents. There, I +believe after all these things are not so very dangerous." + +"Don't know so much about that, sir," said Shaddy. "I've know'd 'em +coil round and squeeze a deer to death, and then swallow it." + +"Yes, a small deer perhaps; but the old travellers used to tell us about +mighty boas and monstrous anacondas which could swallow buffaloes." + +"Ah! they don't grow so big as that now, sir. I've seen some pretty big +ones, too, in my time, specially on the side of the river and up the +Amazons." + +"Well, how big--how long have you ever seen one, Naylor?" + +"Never see one a hundred foot long," said Shaddy drily. + +"No, I suppose not. Come, what was the largest?" + +"Largest I ever see, sir, was only the skin, as I telled Mr Rob about. +Some half-caste chaps had got it pegged out, and I dessay skinning had +stretched it a bit." + +"Well, how long was that, Naylor?" + +"That one was twenty-six foot long, sir, and nine foot across; and you +may take my word for it as a thing like that, all muscles like iron--say +six-and-twenty foot long and bigger round than a man--would be an +awkward customer to tackle. Big enough for anything." + +"Quite, Naylor." + +"But how big was this one, do you think?" said Rob, who was getting over +the perturbation caused by his adventure. + +"Well, my lad, seeing what a bit of a squint I had of it, I should say +it were thirteen or fourteen foot--p'raps fifteen." + +"I thought it was nearer fifty," said Rob. + +"Yes, you would then, my lad. But, never mind, it didn't seize you. I +dessay you scared it as much as it did you." + +"You will not be able to eat any supper, Rob, I suppose?" said Brazier +rather maliciously. + +Rob looked doubtful, but he smiled; and they went to the clearest place +they could find, but not without sundry misgivings, for another tree +sheltered them from the fire, which now sent forth a tremendous heat, +and a cloud of golden sparks rose eddying and circling up to a dense +cloud of smoke which glowed as if red-hot where it reflected the flames. +This huge trunk, like the one through which Rob had slipped, was coated +with parasitical growth, and though apparently solid, might, for all +they knew, be hollow, and the nesting-place of half a dozen serpents +larger than the one they had seen. + +"Hadn't we better shift our quarters?" said Brazier. + +"Yes, do," said Joe eagerly; "I hate snakes." + +"Nobody's going to jump through that tree and 'sturb 'em, so I don't +s'pose they'll 'sturb us. You see, they're a curious kind o' beast, +which is all alive and twine for a day or two till they get a good meal, +and then they go to sleep for a month before they're hungry again. It's +wonderful how stupid and sleepy they are when they're like this. It +takes some one to jump on 'em to rouse 'em up, like Mr Rob did." + +"Well, we must chance it," said Brazier; and they seated themselves to +their _al fresco_ supper, over which Rob forgot his fright--his appetite +returning, and the novelty of the position making everything delightful, +in spite of the discomfort of their seat. For all around was so new, +and there was a creepy kind of pleasure in sitting there by that +crackling fire eating the delicious, hot, juicy birds, and all the while +listening to the weird chorus of the forest, now in full swing. + +Rob paused in the picking of a tasty leg, deliciously cooked, and sat in +a very unpolished way listening to the curious cries, when, raising his +eyes, they encountered Brazier's, who was similarly occupied. + +"We've come to a wild enough place, Rob, my lad," he said; "but I don't +think we wish to change." + +"Oh! no," said Rob, in a whisper. "One can't help being a bit +frightened sometimes, but it is grand even if we see nothing more." + +Shaddy uttered a low, jerky sound, which was meant for a laugh. + +"See nothing more, lad!" he cried. "Why, look here, you may go hundreds +of miles to the south, the west and the north, and it's all savage land +that man has hardly ever crossed. Don't you think there's something +more to be seen there? Why, who knows but what we may come upon strange +wild beasts such as nobody has ever set eyes on before, and--Why, what's +the matter with our young skipper?" + +Joe was opposite to him, staring wildly, his eyelids so drawn back that +he showed a circle of white around the irises, and his lips were apart +from his teeth. + +"Why, what's the matter, lad? They haven't put any poison stuff in your +victuals, have they?" + +Joe made no reply, but sat staring wildly still, not at Shaddy, but in +the direction of the river beyond. + +"What's the matter, my lad?" said Brazier. + +"I know!" cried Shaddy; "where's your guns? It's them 'gators coming up +out of the water, and it's what I expected." + +"No, no," whispered the boy excitedly: "look lower!" + +All followed his pointing finger, but for the moment they could see +nothing, one of the men having thrown some fresh fuel upon the fire, +which was emitting more smoke than blaze. + +"Hi! one of you!" cried Shaddy, "stir that fire." + +One of the men seized the end of a burning limb, shook it about a +little, and a roar of flame ascended skyward, lighting up the river and +the trees beyond, but above all, striking just upon the rotten trunk +through which Rob fell. There they saw a something glistening and +horrible, as it swayed and undulated and rose and fell, with its neck +all waves and its eyes sparkling in the golden blaze of the fire. Now +it sank down till it was almost hidden among the parasitic plants; now +it slowly rose, arching its neck, and apparently watching the party near +the fire; while moment by moment its aspect was so menacing that Joe +thought it would launch itself upon them and seize one to appease its +rage. + +"It's--it's come back!" he whispered faintly. + +"Not it," growled Shaddy; "this one's twice as big as t'other. It's its +father or mother, p'r'aps. Better have a shot at it, sir." + +"Yes," said Brazier, slowly raising his gun, "but this light is so +deceptive I am not at all sure that I can hit." + +"Oh, you'll hit him full enough," said Shaddy. "You must hit it, sir. +Why, if you missed, the beast would come down upon us as savage as a +tiger. Take a good, quiet aim down low so as to hit his neck, if you +don't his head. Are you cocked?" + +"Tut! tut!" muttered Brazier, who in his excitement had forgotten this +necessary preliminary, and making up for the omission. + +"Come, Mr Rob, sir, don't miss your chance of having a shot at a +'conda. 'Tain't everybody who gets such a shot as that." + +Rob mechanically picked up his piece, examined the breech, and then +waited for Mr Brazier to fire, feeling sure the while that if it +depended upon him the creature would go off scathless. + +"Now's your time, sir!" whispered Shaddy. "He is put out, and means +mischief. I'd let him have the small shot just beneath the jaws, if I +could. Wait a moment, till he's quiet. Rather too much waving about +him yet. Look out, sir! he's getting ready to make a dart at us, I do +believe!" + +But still Brazier did not fire, for the peculiar undulatory motion kept +up by the serpent, as seen by the light of the fire, was singularly +deceptive, and again and again the leader of the little expedition felt +that if he fired it would be to miss. + +Shaddy drew in a long breath, and gazed impatiently at Brazier, who was +only moved by one idea--that of making a dead shot, to rid their little +camp of a horrible-looking enemy. + +Then the chance seemed to be gone, for by one quick movement of the +lithe body and neck the head dropped down amongst the plants which +clothed the tree trunk. + +"Gone!" gasped Rob, with a sigh of satisfaction. + +"Eyes right!" cried Shaddy; "he hasn't gone. He'll rise close in +somewhere. Look out, gentlemen--look out!" + +He was excited, and drew his knife, as if expecting danger. And it was +not without cause, for almost directly after the keen steel blade had +flashed in the light of the fire, the hideous head of the serpent rose +up not ten feet away, with its eyes glittering, the scales burnished +like bright, many-shaded bronze, and the quick, forked tongue darting in +and out from its formidable jaws. + +The head kept on rising till it was fully six feet above the growth, +when it was rapidly drawn back, as if to be darted forward; but at that +moment both Rob and Brazier fired together, and as the smoke cleared +away another cloud of something seemed to be playing about on the +ground, but a solid cloud, before which everything gave way, while some +great flail-like object rapidly beat down plant and shrub. + +All shrank away, and, as if moved by one impulse, took refuge behind the +roaring fire, feeling, as they did, that their dangerous visitor would +not attempt to pass that in making an attack upon those sheltered by so +menacing an outwork. + +There was something terribly appalling in the struggles of the silent +monster, as it writhed and twisted itself into knots; then unfolded with +the rapidity of lightning, and waving its tail in the air, again beat +down the bushes and luxuriant growth around. + +That it was fearfully wounded was evident, for after a few moments all +could plainly see that it was actuated by a blind fury, and in its agony +vented its rage upon everything around. And as it continued its +struggles, moment by moment it approached nearer to the blazing fire, +till all stood waiting in horror for the moment when one of its folds +would touch the burning embers and the struggles come to a frightful +end. + +But all at once the writhings ceased, and the reptile lay undulating and +heaving gently among the dense beaten-down growth. + +"Stop!" said Brazier sharply, as the guide moved; "what are you going to +do?" + +"Put him out of his misery," replied Shaddy, quietly. "Hi! you there: +give me the axe." + +"No," said Brazier, firmly, "it is too risky a task; you shall not +attempt it." + +Shaddy uttered a low growl, like some thwarted animal, and said, in an +ill-used tone,-- + +"Why, I could fetch his head off with one good chop, and--" + +"Look, look!" cried Joe. "Mind! Take care!" + +"Yes," shouted Rob; "it's coming round this way." + +Neither could see the reptile; but the swaying herbage and the rustling, +crackling sound showed that it was in rapid motion. + +"Nay," growled Shaddy, "he ain't coming this way--only +right-about-facing. It is his nature to; he's going to make for the +water. That's what those things do: get down to the bottom and lie +there, to be out o' danger. Look, Mr Rob, sir; you can see now what a +length he is. One part's going one way, and the t'other part t'other +way. Now he's turned the corner, and going straight for the river." + +With Shaddy's words to guide them, they could easily make out what was +taking place, as the reptile now made for the place of refuge already +sought by its companion. + +Just then Brazier cocked his piece--_click, click_--and took a few steps +forward to try and get a sight of the creature before it reached the +river bank. + +"May as well save your shot, sir," said Shaddy gruffly. "He's going +into the water bleeding pretty free, I know; and there's them waiting +below as will be at him as soon as they smell blood." + +"How horrible!" cried Rob. + +"Ay, 'tis, sir, or seems so to us; but it's nature's way of clearing off +all the sickly and wounded things from the face of the earth." + +"But what will dare to attack such a terrible beast?" + +Shaddy chuckled. + +"Anything--everything, sir; little and big. Why, them little pirani +fishes will be at him in thousands, and there's 'gators enough within +fifty yards to make a supper of him as if he was spitchcocked eel. Ah! +there he goes--part of him's in the water already; but I should have +liked the master to have his skin." + +Invisible though the serpent was, its course was evident by the rustling +and movement of the growth, and some idea too was gained of the +reptile's length. + +"There! what did I say?" shouted Shaddy excitedly, as all at once there +was the sound of splashing and agitation in the water down beneath the +submerged trees; and directly after the serpent's tail rose above the +trunk of one of those lying prone, and gleamed and glistened in the +blaze as it undulated and bent and twined about. Then it fell with a +splash, and beat the water, rose again quivering seven or eight feet in +the air, while the water all around seemed terribly agitated. There was +a snapping sound, too, horribly ominous in its nature, and the rushing +and splashing went on as the tail of the serpent fell suddenly, rose +once more as if the rest of the long lithe body were held below, and +finally disappeared, while the splashing continued for a few minutes +longer before all was silent. + +Rob drew a long breath, and Joe shuddered. + +"Well," said Shaddy quietly, "that's just how you take it, young +gentlemen. Seems so horrible because it was a big serpent. If it had +been a worm six inches long you wouldn't have thought anything of it. +Look at my four chaps there: they don't take any notice--don't seem +horrid to them. You'll get used to it." + +"Impossible!" said Brazier. + +"Oh! I don't know, sir," continued Shaddy. "You've come out where you +wanted to, in the wildest wilds, where the beasts have it all their own +way, and they do as they always do, go on eating one another up. Why, +I've noticed that it isn't only the birds, beasts, and fishes, but even +the trees out here in the forest do just the same." + +"Nonsense!" cried Rob merrily. "Eat one another?" + +"Yes, sir; that's it, rum as it sounds to you. I'll tell you how it is. +A great ball full of nuts tumbles down from one of the top branches of +a tree, when it's ripe, bang on to the hard ground, splits, and the nuts +fly out all round, right amongst the plants and rotten leaves. After a +bit the nuts begin to swell; then a shoot comes out, and another out of +it. Then one shoot goes down into the ground to make roots, and the +other goes up to make a tree. They're all doing the same thing, but one +of 'em happens to have fallen in the place where there's the best soil, +and he grows bigger and stronger than the others, and soon begins to +smother them by pushing his branches and leaves over them. Then they +get spindly and weak, and worse and worse, because the big one shoves +his roots among them too; and at last they wither and droop, and die, +and rot, and the big strong one regularly eats up with his roots all the +stuff of which they were made; and in a few years, instead of there +being thirty or forty young trees, there's only one, and it gets big." + +"Why, Naylor, you are quite a philosopher!" said Brazier, smiling. + +"Am I, sir? Didn't know it; but a man like me couldn't be out in the +woods always without seeing that. Why, you'd think, with such thousands +of trees always falling and rotting away, that the ground would be feet +deep in leaf mould and decayed wood; but if you go right in the forest +you'll find how the roots eat it up as fast as it's made." + +"But what about these big trunks?" said Joe, pointing to the fallen +trees. + +"Them? Well, they're going into earth as fast as they can, and in a few +years there'll be nothing of 'em left. Why, look at that one; it's as +if it were burning away now," he continued, pointing to the hole through +which Rob had fallen: "that's nature at work making the tree, now it's +dead, turn into useful stuff for the others to feed on." + +"Yes," said Brazier, as he broke out a piece of the luminous touchwood, +which gleamed in the darkness when it was screened from the fire: +"that's a kind of phosphoric fungus, boys." + +"Looks as if it would burn one's fingers," said Joe, handling the +beautiful piece of rotten, glowing wood. + +"Yes; and so do other things out here," said Shaddy. "There's plenty of +what I call cold fire; but you'll soon see enough of that." + +Shaddy ceased speaking, for at that moment a strange, thrilling sound +came from the depths of the forest, not more, apparently, than a hundred +yards away. + +Its effect was electrical. + +The half-bred natives who formed Shaddy's crew of boatmen had watched +the encounters with the two serpents in the most unconcerned way, while +the weird chorus of sounds from the depths of the forest, with yells, +howls, and cries of dangerous beasts, was so much a matter of course +that they did not turn their heads even at the nearest roar, trusting, +as they did, implicitly in the security afforded them by the fire. But +now, as this strange sound rang out, silencing the chorus of cries, they +leaped up as one man, and made for the boat, hauling on the rope and +scrambling in as fast as possible. + +Rob's first impulse was to follow suit, especially as Giovanni took a +few hurried steps, and tripping over a little bush, fell headlong. But +seeing that Shaddy stood fast, and that Brazier cocked his piece, he +stopped where he was, though his heart throbbed heavily, and his breath +came as if there were some strange oppression at his chest. + +"What's that?" whispered Brazier, as the thrilling sound died away, +leaving the impression behind that some huge creature must be +approaching in a threatening manner, for a curious rustling followed the +cry. + +"Well, sir," said Shaddy, taking off his cap, and giving his head a rub +as if to brighten his brain, "that's what I want to know." + +"You don't know?" + +"No, sir," said the man, coolly; "I know pretty well every noise as is +to be heard out here but that one, and it downright puzzles me. First +time I heard it I was sitting by my fire cooking my dinner--a fat, young +turkey I'd shot--and I ups and runs as hard as ever I could, and did not +stop till I could go no further. Ah! I rec'lect it now, how hungry and +faint I was, for I dursen't go back, and I dessay whatever the beast was +who made that row ate my turkey. Nex' time I heard it I didn't run. I +was cooking ducks then, and I says to myself, `I'll take the ducks,' and +I did, and walked off as fast as I could to my boat." + +"And you did not see it?" + +"No, sir. P'r'aps we shall this time; I hope so, for I want to know. +Third time never fails, so if you don't mind we'll all be ready with our +guns and wait for him. May be something interesting to a nat'ral +hist'ry gent like you, and we may get his head and skin for you to take +home to the Bri'sh Museum. What do you say?" + +"Well," said Brazier, drily, "self-preservation's the first law of +nature. I do not want to show the white feather, but really I think we +had better do as the men have done--get on board and wait for our enemy +there. What do you say, lads!" + +"Decidedly, yes," cried both eagerly. + +"But we don't know as it is our enemy yet, sir," replied Shaddy, +thoughtfully. "Hah! hark at that!" + +They needed no telling, for all shivered slightly, as another cry, very +different from the last, rang out from the forest--half roar, half howl, +of a most appalling nature. + +"Here, let's get on board," said Brazier. + +"Not for that, sir," cried Shaddy, with one of his curiously harsh +laughs. "Why, that's only one of them big howling monkeys who would go +off among the branches twisting his tail, and scared 'most into fits, if +you looked at him." + +"A monkey!" cried Rob. "Are you sure?" + +"Oh, yes, I'm sure enough 'bout that, gentlemen. It's the other thing +that puzzles me." + +They ceased speaking and stood watchfully waiting; but after a +retrograde movement toward the boat, so as to be able to retreat at any +moment. The cry was not repeated, though, and the feeling of awe began +to die off, but only to return on Shaddy continuing,-- + +"There's a something there, or else that there howler wouldn't have +hollered once and then gone off. The lions and tigers, too, have +slinked away. That's a lion--puma you call him--ever so far off; and, I +can hear a couple of tigers quite faint-like; but all the things near +here have stopped calling, and that shows there's that thing prowling +about." + +"But the men?" whispered Rob. "They ran away as if they knew what it +was." + +"Tchah! They don't know. Their heads are full of bogies. Soon as they +hear a noise, and can't tell what it is, they say it's an evil spirit or +a goblin or ghost. Babies they are. Why, if I was to go near a lot of +natives in the dark, hide myself, and let go with Scotch bagpipes, +they'd run for miles and never come nigh that part of the forest again." + +All at once the chorus in the forest was resumed, with so much force +that it sounded as if the various creatures had been holding their +noises back and were now trying hard to make up for the previous check. + +That was Rob's opinion, and he gave it in a whisper to his companion. + +"Then, it's gone," said Joe. "I say, didn't you feel scared?" + +"Horribly." + +"Then I'm not such a coward after all. I felt as if I must run." + +"So you did when the serpent came." + +"Well, isn't it enough to make one? You English fellows have the credit +of being so brave that you will face anything without being frightened; +but I believe you are frightened all the same." + +"Of course we are," said Rob, "only Englishmen will never own they are +frightened, even to themselves, and that's why they face anything." + +"Then you are not an Englishman?" said Joe. + +"No, only an English boy," said Rob, laughing. "I say, though, never +mind about bragging. I'm precious glad, whatever it was, that it has +gone." + +"I remember, now, my father telling me about his hearing some horrible +noise in the Grand Chaco one night when the schooner was at anchor close +in shore. He said it gave him quite a chill; but I didn't take any more +notice of it then. It must have been one of those things." + +"No doubt," said Brazier, who had overheard his words; "but there, our +adventure is over for this time, and it will be something to think about +in the future." + +"Perhaps we shall see it yet," said Rob. + +"I hope not," cried Joe uneasily. + +"Gone, Naylor?" continued Brazier. + +"Yes, sir, I think so." + +"Good job too. Why, Naylor, my man, I never thought you were going to +bring us to such a savage, dangerous place as this." + +"What? Come, sir, I like that! Says to me, you did, `I want you to +guide me to some part of the country where I can enter the prime +forest.'" + +"Primeval," said Brazier, correctively. + +"That's right, sir. `Where,' you says, `the foot of man has never trod, +and I may see Natur' just as she is, untouched, unaltered by any one. +Do you know such a place?' Them was your very words, and Master Rob +heered you." + +"Quite true, my man." + +"And I says to you, `I knows the spot as'll just suit you. Trust to +me,' I says, `and I'll take you there, where you may see birds, beasts, +and fishes, and as many o' them flowers'--orkards you called 'em--`as +grows on trees, as you like;' and now here you are, sir, and you +grumble." + +"Not a bit, Naylor." + +"But, begging your pardon, sir, you do; and I appeals to Master Rob +whether I arn't done my dooty." + +"No need to appeal to Rob, Naylor, for I do not grumble. You have done +splendidly for me. Why, man, I am delighted; but you must not be +surprised at my feeling startled when anacondas come to supper, and we +are frightened out of our wits by cries that impress even you." + +"Then you are satisfied, sir?" + +"More than satisfied." + +"And you don't want to go back?" + +"Of course not. What do you say, Rob? Shall we return?" + +"Oh no--not on any account; only let's keep more in the boat." + +"Yes, I think we are safer there," said Brazier. "But our friend, or +enemy, seems to have gone." + +"Wait a bit, sir," replied Shaddy; "and glad I am that you're satisfied. +Let me listen awhile." + +They were silent, and stood listening as well, and watching the weird +effects produced by the fire, as from time to time one of the pieces of +wood which the men had planted round the blaze in the shape of a cone +fell in, sending up a whirl of flame and glittering sparks high in air, +lighting up the trees and making them seem to wave with the dancing +flames. The wall of forest across the river, too, appeared to be +peopled with strange shadows, and the effect was more strange as the +fire approached nearer to the huge butt of the largest tree, throwing up +its jagged roots against the dazzling light, so that it was as if so +many gigantic stag-horns had been planted at a furnace mouth. + +And all the while the fiddling, piping, strumming and hooting, with +screech, yell and howl, went on in the curious chorus, for they were +indeed deep now in one of Nature's fastnesses, where the teeming life +had remained untouched by man. + +"Well," said Brazier at last to the guide, whose figure, seen by the +light of the fire, looked as wild as the surroundings, "had we not +better get on board? You can hear nothing through that din." + +"Oh yes, I can, sir," replied Shaddy. "I've got so used to it o' nights +that I can pick out any sound I like from the rest. But we may as well +turn in. The fire will burn till morning, and even if it wouldn't, +those chaps of mine wouldn't go ashore again to-night; and I certainly +don't feel disposed to go and mend the fire myself, for fear of getting +something on my shoulder I don't understand." + +"It has gone, though," said Brazier. + +"Something moving there," whispered Rob, pointing to the gilded mass of +foliage beyond and to the left of the fire. + +"Eh! where?" cried Shaddy. "Nay, only the fire making it look as if the +trees were waving. Nothing there, my lad. Whatever it is, it has +slinked off into the forest again. The fire drew it this way, I +suppose. There, we've heard the last of him for to-night. Sings well +when he do oblige." + +"I should have liked to hear the cry once more, though," said Brazier; +and as the words left his lips the horrible noise rang out, apparently +from behind the fire, and without hesitation the little party hurried on +board the boat. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +SHADDY'S REMORSE. + +That last movement was not performed without difficulty, for at this +fresh alarm, urged by a desire for self-preservation, the men had thrust +the boat away from the bank, and were actually in the act of unfastening +the mooring rope, when Rob shouted to Shaddy. + +"What!" he roared, running to the other end where it was fast to a +branch, and then yelling out such a furious tirade of words in their own +tongue that the men shrank back, and the boat was drawn close in among +the boughs that were worn sharp by the action of the stream. + +"Lucky for them," growled Shaddy, as he held the boat's gunwale for the +others to get on board, while the singular silence which had followed +the first cry of the beast was again maintained. "I never did break a +man's neck yet, Master Rob," he whispered, as they took their places on +board, "and I never mean to if I can help it; but if those fellows had +run off and left us in the lurch I'd have gone as far as I could without +doing it quite." + +"First catch your hare," whispered back Rob, who felt better now he was +safe on board, with the boat gliding outward to the full length of the +mooring line. + +"Eh! what hare? No hares about here," said Shaddy. + +"I mean, how would you have managed to punish the men if they had gone +off and left us here?" + +"I never thought of that," said Shaddy, shaking his head; and then they +all sat in the boat listening, and thinking that it was a good thing +they had had enough supper before the interruption. + +There was no fresh alarm for awhile. The birds, insects, quadrupeds, +and reptiles resumed their performances, the boatmen settled down to +sleep, and at last, after watching the fire sinking, rising up as some +piece of wood fell in, and then blazing brightly just beyond the great +root, the hole from which this had been wrenched having been selected by +the crew of the boat as an excellent place for cooking, Rob suddenly +fell asleep, to dream of huge boa constrictors and anacondas twisting +themselves up into knots which they could not untie. + +It only seemed to be a few minutes since Rob had lain down, when he +awoke with a start to gaze about him, wondering where he was and why the +awning looked so light. Then coming to the conclusion that it was +sunrise, and being still weary and drowsy, he was about to close his +eyes again and follow the example of those about him, when he became +conscious of a peculiar odour and a choking smell of burning. + +This completely aroused him, and hurriedly creeping from beneath the +awning without awakening his companions, he found that the boatmen and +Shaddy were fast asleep and a line of fire was rapidly approaching them +from the shore; not with any rush of flame, but in a curious sputtering, +smouldering way, as the touchwood of which the huge trunk, to which they +were tethered, was composed rapidly burned away. + +It was all plain enough: the root had caught fire at last from the +intense heat so near and gradually started the rest, so that as Rob +gazed shoreward there was a dull incandescent trunk where the previous +night there had been one long line of beautiful orchids and epiphytic +plants. + +But there was no time to waste. Waking Shaddy with a sharp slap on the +shoulder, that worthy started up, saw the mischief pointed out, and +shouting, "Only shut my eye because the fire made it ache," he took up a +boat-hook, went right forward, trampling on the boatmen in his +eagerness, and, hauling on the line, drew the boat close up to the +glowing trunk, hitching on to one of the neighbouring branches. It was +only just in time, for the rope gave way, burned through as he got hold, +and the smouldering end dropped into the water, giving a hiss like a +serpent as the glowing end was quenched. + +Brazier and Giovanni were aroused before this, and were fully alive to +the peril which had been averted by Rob's opportune awakening. + +"Why," cried Brazier, "we should have been drifting down the stream, and +been carried miles, and in all probability capsized." + +Shaddy made no reply for the moment, but busied himself in altering the +position of the boat before letting go, and then hooking the bough of +another of the trees, one which did not communicate with the fire, and +to this he made fast before rising up in the boat, taking off his cap, +and dashing it down. + +"Yes," he said harshly, "right, sir. We should have been carried right +down the stream--Be off, you brute!" + +This was to an alligator which was approaching the boat with the +protuberances above its eyes just visible, and as he uttered the +adjuration he made a stroke with the hitcher harpoon fashion, struck the +reptile full on its tough hide, and there was a swirl, a rush, and a +tremendous splash of water full in Shaddy's face as the creature struck +the surface with its tail and then disappeared. + +"Thank ye," growled Shaddy, wiping his face; "but you got the worst of +it, mate. As aforesaid, maybe, Mr Brazier, sir, we should ha' been +carried right down the stream, and run on a sharp root or trunk as would +ha' drove a hole through the boat or capsized us, and there'd ha' been +the end." + +"What could you have been thinking of, Naylor?" cried Brazier angrily; +while Rob looked pityingly and feeling sorry for the staunch, brave man, +who stood there abashed by his position. + +"Warn't thinking at all, sir," he growled. "Only ought to ha' been. +There, don't make it worse, sir, by bullying me. You trusted me, and I +thought I was fit to trust, but there's the vanity o' man's natur'. I +arn't fit to trust, so I'd take it kindly if you'd knock me overboard; +but you'd better knock my stoopid head off first to save pain." + +This was all spoken with the most utter seriousness, and as Shaddy +finished he slowly laid down the boat-hook and looked full in Brazier's +eyes, with the result that Rob burst into a roar of laughter. Joe +followed suit, and after an attempt to master himself and frown Brazier +joined in, the mirth increasing as Shaddy said sternly,-- + +"Oh, it arn't nothing to laugh at! If Master Rob there hadn't woke up +before morning, the 'gators and pirani, without counting the other +critters, would have been having a treat. I tell you I'm ashamed of +myself, and the sooner an end's made of me the better. Why, you ought +to do it, sir, in self-defence." + +"How near are we to morning?" said Brazier. + +"'Tis morning now, sir. Sun'll be up in less an half an hour. No dawn +here." + +"Then we had better have breakfast at once, and start, for this is +anything but a pleasant spot." + +"Ain't you going to knock me overboard, sir?" said Shaddy. + +"No." + +"Well, ain't you going to knock me down?" + +"No; I'm not going to knock you down either, my good fellow. You've +made a mistake. Over-tired, I suppose, and you dropped asleep. It was +terribly neglectful of you, but I hope and trust that such an error may +not be made again." + +"What?" + +"Surely I need not repeat my words. You were overcome by fatigue and +slept. I ask you for all our sakes to be more careful in the future." + +"Here, I say, Master Rob," cried Shaddy huskily, and he gave his eyes a +rub, "am I still asleep?" + +"No, Shaddy, wide awake, and listening to Mr Brazier." + +"Well, then, it's a rum 'un. But, I say, look here, sir; you're never +going to trust me again?" + +"I am going to treat you with full confidence, just as I trusted you +before, Naylor," replied Brazier. + +"Master Rob's asleep too," growled the man. "It can't be true. Here, I +say, Mr Jovanny, give a look at me and tell me, am I awake or no?" + +"Awake, of course," said Joe. + +"Then all I can say is, Mr Brazier, sir," said the guide, "you've made +me ten times more ashamed of myself than I was before, and that hurt I +can't bear it like." + +"Say no more about it, man," said Brazier. "There, it's all over now. +Let's have breakfast, and then start for a long day's collecting." + +"Not say no more about it?" cried Shaddy. + +"Not a word. It is all past and forgotten." + +"Can't be," growled Shaddy. + +"It shall be," said Brazier, turning to get his gun from under the +canvas cabin. + +"One moment--look here, sir," said Shaddy; "do you mean to say that you +forgive me?" + +"Yes, of course." + +"And I am not to say another word?" + +"No." + +"Then I'll think," said Shaddy, "and punish myself that way, Master Rob. +I'll always think about it at night when I'm on the watch. It ain't +likely that I shall ever go to sleep again on dooty with idees like that +on my brain." + +"No more talking; breakfast at once," cried Brazier, issuing from the +cabin. + +"Right, sir," said Shaddy, working the boat in close to the bank. +"Quick, my lads, and get that fire well alight." + +The men were set ashore just as the sun rose and flooded everything with +light, while a quarter of an hour later, as Brazier was patiently +watching one of the tunnel-like openings opposite in the hope of seeing +a deer come down to drink and make them a good meal or two for a couple +of days, Shaddy drew Rob's attention to the black-looking forms of +several alligators floating about a few feet below. + +"The brutes!" said the lad. "Just like efts in an aquarium at home." + +"Only a little bigger, my lad. I say, there he is--one of 'em." + +He pointed down through the clear water, illumined now by the sun so +that the bottom was visible, and there coiled-up and apparently asleep +lay either the anaconda of the previous night or one of its relatives, +perfectly motionless and heedless of the boat, which floated like a +black shadow over its head. + +"Might kill it if we had what sailors call the grains to harpoon him +with," said Shaddy; "but I don't know, he'd be an ugly customer to +tackle. I say, look out, sir," he whispered, "yonder across the river." + +Brazier glanced a little to his left, and directly after his piece rang +out with a loud report and a deer fell dead--not having moved an inch, +when the boat was with difficulty rowed across, and the welcome addition +to their larder secured amidst the chattering of monkeys and the +screaming of great macaws. + +An hour later breakfast was at an end, the boat loosened from the +moorings where the anaconda still lay asleep in ten feet of water, and +they glided down the stream to commence another adventurous day, amidst +scenery which grew more wondrously beautiful with every mile. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +THE LILY LAGOON. + +"Like it, gentlemen? That's right. On'y you are sure--quite sure?" + +"Oh yes, we're sure enough!" replied Rob, as he watched the endless +scenes of beautiful objects they passed. "It's glorious." + +"Don't find it too hot, I s'pose, sir?" + +"Oh, it's hot enough," interposed Giovanni; "but we don't mind, do we, +Rob?" + +"Not a bit. What fruit's that?" + +"Which?" said Shaddy. + +"That, on that tree, high up, swinging in the wind--the dark brown +thing, like a great nut with a long stalk." + +He pointed to the object which had taken his attention. + +"G'long with yer," growled Shaddy. "I thought you was in arnest." + +"So I am," cried Rob, looking at the man wonderingly. "I mean that one. +It isn't a cocoa-nut, because the tree is different, and I know that +cocoanuts grow on a kind of palm." + +"And that kind o' nut don't, eh?" said Shaddy, puckering his face. "Why +you are laughing at me." + +"Nonsense! I am not!" cried Rob. "You don't see the fruit I mean. +There, on that tallest tree with the great branch sticking out and +hanging over the others. There now! can you see?" + +"No," said Shaddy grimly; "it's gone." + +"Yes; how curious that it should drop just at that moment. I saw it go +down among the trees. You did see it?" + +"Oh yes. I see it plain enough." + +"And you don't know what fruit it was?" + +"Warn't a fruit at all, sir." + +"What then? some kind of nut?" + +"No, sir; warn't nut at all. It was a nut-cracker." + +Rob looked at him seriously. + +"Who's joking now?" he said. + +"Not me, sir," replied Shaddy. "That was a nut-cracker sure enough." + +"Is that the native name?" + +Joe burst into a roar of laughter, and Rob coloured, for there was a +feeling of annoyance rising within him at being the butt of the others' +mirth. + +"Have I said something very stupid?" he asked. + +"Why, couldn't you see?" cried Joe eagerly. "It was a monkey." + +"I did not see any monkey," said Rob coldly. "I was talking about that +great brown husky-looking fruit, like a cocoa-nut hanging by a long +stalk in that tree. Look! there are two more lower down!" he cried +eagerly, as the boat glided round a bend into a long reach, two of the +men being at the oars backing water a little from time to time with a +gentle dip, so as to keep the boat's head straight and check her to +enable Brazier to scan the banks through the little binocular glass he +carried, and be rowed close in when he wished to obtain specimens. + +"Yes: there's two more lower down," said Shaddy, with his face puckered +up like the shell of a walnut, and then Rob's mouth expanded into a grin +as wide as that of Joe's, and he laughed heartily. + +"Well," he cried, "that is comic, and no mistake. I really thought it +was some kind of fruit. It _was_ a monkey." + +"You ain't the first as made that mistake, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy. +"You see, they just take a turn with their tails round a branch, draws +their legs up close, and cuddles them with their long arms round 'em, +and then they looks just like the hucks of a cocoa-nut." + +"Like the what?" cried Rob. + +"Hucks of a cocoa-nut." + +"Oh--husk." + +"You may call it `husk' if you like, sir: I calls it `hucks.' Then they +hangs head downwards, and goes to sleep like that, I believe. Wonderful +thing a monkey's tail is. Why I've seen the young ones hold on to their +mother by giving it a turn round the old girl's neck. They're all like +that out here. Ring-tail monkeys we call 'em." + +While they were talking the last two monkeys had swung themselves to and +fro, and then lowered themselves down among the branches to get close to +the river and watch the boat, like a couple of tiny savages stricken +with wonder at the coming of the strange white men, and chattering away +to each other their comments on all they saw. + +The progress made was very slow, for the boat was constantly being +anchored, so to speak, by the men rowing in and holding on by the +hanging boughs of trees, while Brazier cut and hacked off bulb and +blossom in what, with glowing face, he declared to be a perfect +naturalist's paradise. + +They had been floating down a few miles when, right ahead, the stream +seemed to end, the way being blocked entirely by huge trees, and as they +drew nearer there appeared to be a repetition of the entrance from the +great river, where they passed along through the dark tunnel overhung by +trees. + +"Oh, it's all right, sir," said Shaddy, on being appealed to. "Dessay +we shall find a way on." + +"Of course," replied Brazier, who only had eyes for the plants he was +collecting and hardly looked up; "this great body of water must go +somewhere." + +"Look sharp round to the left!" cried Rob, standing up in the boat as +they glided round a bend where the stream nearly turned upon itself and +then back again, forming a complete S; and as they moved round the +second bend Rob uttered a shout of delight, for the banks receded on +either hand, so that they appeared to have glided into a wide opening +about a mile long, floored with dark green dotted with silver, through +which in a sinuous manner the river wound. A minute later, though, the +two lads saw that the river really expanded into a lake, the stream in +its rapid course keeping a passage open, the rest of the water being +densely covered with the huge, circular leaves of a gigantic water-lily, +whose silvery blossoms peered up among the dark green leaves. + +"Look at the jacanas!" cried Joe, pointing to a number of +singular-looking birds like long-necked and legged moorhens, but +provided with exaggerated toes, these being of such a length that they +easily supported their owners as they walked about or ran on the +floating leaves. + +"Wouldn't be a bad place for a camp, sir," suggested Shaddy, when they +were about half-way along the lake, and he pointed to a spot on their +left where the trees stood back, leaving a grassy expanse not unlike the +one at which they had first halted, only of far greater extent. + +"Yes, excellent," replied Brazier; "but can we get there?" + +"Oh yes, sir; I'll soon make a way through the leaves." + +Shaddy seized a pole, said a few words to his men, and stepped right to +the front of the boat, where he stood thrusting back the vegetation as +it collected about the bows, while the men rowed hard forcing the boat +onward, the huge leaves being sent to right and left and others passing +right under the keel, but all floating back to their former positions, +so that as Rob looked back the jacanas were again running over the +vegetation which had re-covered the little channel the boat had made. + +In all probability a vessel had never entered that lake before, and it +caused so little alarm that great fish, which had been sheltering +themselves beneath the dark green disk-like leaves, lazily issued from +their lurking places to stare so stupidly, often even with their back +fins out of water, that the boys had no difficulty in startling a few of +them into a knowledge of their danger by gently placing a hand under and +hoisting them suddenly into the boat, where they displayed their alarm +by leaping vigorously and beating the fragile bottom with their tails. + +"Better hold hard, young gentlemen!" cried Shaddy, as soon as half a +dozen were caught; "them fish won't keep, and we can easily catch more. +Ah! Why, Mr Joe, sir, I did think you knowed better." + +This was to Joe, who had leaned over as far as he could to try and +perform the same feat upon a long dark object floating half hidden by a +leaf, but was met by a quick rush and a shower of water as the creature +twisted itself round and dived down. + +"It was only a little one, Shaddy," said Joe. + +"Little dogs have sharp teeth, my lad; and them small 'gators can bite +like fury. You take my advice, and don't do it again." + +"Hah!" cried Brazier as he leaped ashore, "this is glorious. We can +make quite a collection here. See that the boat is fast, Naylor." + +This was soon done, and the men were about to light a fire, but Brazier +checked them, preferring to make a little expedition for exploration +purposes all about their new camping place, partly to see if there were +noxious beasts at hand, partly to try and secure a few natural history +specimens, especially birds, which abounded, before the noise and the +fire should drive them away. + +"Hand out the guns and cartridge bags," said Brazier; and this being +done the men were left in charge of the boat, and the little party +started, keeping close up to the trees on their left with the intention +of going all round the opening and so returning by the right side to the +boat. + +The walking was hard, for the earth was tangled with dense growth so +that they progressed very slowly, while the heat was intense; but that +passed unnoticed in the excitement caused by the novel objects which met +their eyes at every step--flowers, such as Rob had never before seen, +looking up as if asking to be plucked; butterflies which flapped about +so lazily that they could, he felt, easily be caught, only without net +or appliances it seemed wanton destruction to capture and mutilate such +gorgeously painted objects. There were others too, resembling the +hawk-moths in shape, with thick body and long pointed wing, which were +constantly being taken for humming-birds, so rapid was their darting +flight. As for these latter, they flashed about them here, there, and +everywhere, now glittering in the sunshine, now looking dull and +plum-coloured as they hovered on hazy wings before the long trumpet +blossoms of some convolvulus-like flower whose twiny stems trailed over +or wrapped the lower growth. + +Beetles, too, were abundant in every sun-scorched spot or on the bare +trunks of the trees, though bare places were rare, for the trees were +clothed densely with moss and orchid. + +Rob's fingers itched as bird after bird flew up, and he longed to bring +them down for specimens, whose brilliant colours he could gloat over. +Now it was a huge scarlet-and-blue macaw, now one painted by Nature's +hand scarlet, yellow, and green, which flew off with its long tail +feathers spread, uttering discordant shrieks, and startling the smaller +parrots from the trees which they were stripping of their fruit. + +But Brazier had told him not to fire at the smaller birds, as it was a +necessity to keep their larder supplied with substantial food, the four +boatmen and Shaddy being pretty good trencher-men, and making the deer +meat disappear even without the aid of trenchers. + +"We ought to find a deer here surely," said Brazier, when they were +about half-way round. + +"Well, I don't know, sir," replied their guide; "deer ain't like human +beings, ready to go walking in the hot sunshine in the middle of the +day. They like to lie up in the shade all through the sunny time, and +feed in the morning and evening." + +"Then you think we shall not see a deer?" + +"Can't say, sir; but if a turkey goes up I should make sure of him at +once. So I should if we came upon a carpincho, for this is a likely +place for one of them." + +"But are they good eating?" + +"Capital, sir. Now, look at that." + +He faced round at a loud, fluttering sound, and guns were raised, but +the great bird which had taken flight was far out of shot, and winging +its way higher and higher, so as to fly over the tops of the trees and +away into the forest. + +"Fine great turkey that, sir," said Shaddy. + +"Yes: can we follow it?" + +Shaddy shook his head. + +"Far more sensible for us to walk straight away, sir, through the open +where that turkey got up: we might start another or two." + +"But the going is so laborious," pleaded Brazier; "some of us would be +having sunstroke. No, let's keep on, we may put up something yet." + +"And try for the turkeys toward sundown, sir?" + +"Yes. Come on," said Brazier; "we had better get slowly back now to the +boat. It is too hot." + +He stood wiping the perspiration from his forehead as he spoke, and +then, with Shaddy by his side carrying a spare gun, went on along by the +edge of the forest, Rob and Joe following some distance behind. + +"I might as well have shot some of those beautiful toucans," said Rob; +"I could have skinned them, and they would be delightful to bring out at +home and show people, and remind one of this place in years to come." + +"Yes, we shouldn't have scared away much game," replied Joe. "What's +that they can see?" + +For Shaddy was holding up his hand to stop them, and Brazier, who had +forgotten all about being languid and weary in the hot sunshine, was +hurrying forward bending down and making for one of several clumps of +bushes about half-way between them and the river. + +Rob noted that clump particularly, for it was scarlet with the blossoms +of a magnificent passion-flower, whose steins trailed all over it, +tangling it into a mass of flame colour, looking hot in the sunshine, +which made the air quiver as if in motion. + +The lads stopped at Shaddy's signal and looked intently, but they could +see no sign of any game, and, rightly concluding that the object of +Brazier's movement must be hidden from them at the edge of the forest, +they crouched down and waited for fully five minutes. + +"Here, I'm sick of this," whispered Rob at last; and he rose from his +uncomfortable position. + +"So am I," said Joe, straightening himself. "Hullo! Where's old +Shaddy?" + +"Lying down and having a nap, I expect," replied Rob. "I can't see him +nor Mr Brazier neither. Shall we go on." + +"No: let's wait a bit. They may be seeing a chance for something good +at supper-time." + +They waited another five minutes, ten minutes, and had at last +determined to go on, when Brazier's piece was heard, the sharp report +coming from about three hundred yards farther on toward the river. + +"There's Shaddy running," cried Joe; and they saw now where he had been +crawling, far beyond the scarlet passion-flower, from whose shelter Mr +Brazier had evidently made a long stalk till he was close to the object +of his search, a bird or animal, which had probably fallen, from the +haste being made to reach the spot. + +"Let's make haste," cried Joe, pushing forward. + +"No, thank you; I'm too tired," said Rob. "I was not so fagged before, +but after lying down there so long I'm as stiff as can be. Oh, bother! +something stung me. It's one of those ants. Brush them off." + +Joe performed the kindly duty, and they were on the way to join the +others, when there was a rustling sound just in front, and the young +Italian started back. + +"A snake--a snake!" he panted, as he caught Rob's arm. "Shoot!" + +"Well, you shoot too," said the latter rather sharply, for Joe seemed to +have forgotten that he had a gun in his hand. + +But Rob could not boast, for as the dry grass and scrubby growth in +front moved he raised his piece, and drew first one trigger, then the +other: there was no result--he had forgotten to cock. + +Lowering the gun he rapidly performed this necessary operation, and was +about to raise it again and wait, for in the hurry and excitement he had +been about to obey his companion and deliver a chance shot almost at +random amongst the moving grass--so great was the horror inspired by the +very name of one of the reptiles which haunted the moist swamps near the +riverside. + +But, to the surprise of both, it was no huge anaconda which had been +worming its way toward them; for at the sound of the lock--_click_, +click--a beautiful warm-grey creature bounded lithely out almost to +where they stood, and there paused, watching them and waving its long +black tail. + +"A lion," whispered Joe, who remained as if paralysed by the sudden +bound of the cat-like creature, which stood as high as a mastiff dog, +but beautifully soft-looking and rounded in its form, its ears erect, +eyes dilated, and motionless, all but that long writhing tail. + +In those few moments Rob's powers of observation seemed as if they were +abnormally sharpened, and as he noted the soft hairs toward the end of +the tail erected and then laid down, and again erected, making it look +thick and soft, he noted too that the muzzle was furnished with long +cat-like whiskers, and the head was round, soft, and anything but cruel +and fierce of aspect. + +"Shoot--shoot!" whispered Joe: "the ball--not the small shot." + +But Rob did not stir; he merely stood with the muzzle of the gun +presented toward the beast, and did not raise it to his shoulder. Not +that he was stupefied by the peril of his position, but held back by the +non-menacing aspect of the puma. Had there been a display of its fangs +or an attempt to crouch for a spring, the gun would have been at his +shoulder in a moment, and, hit or miss, he would have drawn the trigger. + +"Why don't you shoot?" whispered Joe again. + +"I can't," replied Rob. "It must be a tame one." + +"Nonsense! You're mad. We're right away in the wilds." + +"I don't care where we are," said Rob, who was growing cool and +confident; "this must be a tame one. I shall go forward." + +"No, no--don't! He'll claw you down." + +"He'd better not. I've got my finger on the trigger. Here! Hallo, old +chap! puss! puss! whose cat are you?" + +"He's mad," whispered Joe as Rob advanced, and the puma stood firm +watching him, till they were so close together that, in full confidence +that they had met with a tame beast, the property of some settler or +Indian, he laid his gun in the hollow of his left arm, and stretched out +his right hand. + +The puma winced slightly, and its eyes grew more dilate; but, as Rob +stood still, the wild look passed slowly away, and it remained +motionless. + +"Don't! pray don't!" cried Joe in a hoarse whisper; "it will seize your +hand in its jaws." + +"Nonsense! It's as tame as an old tom-cat," said Rob coolly. "Poor old +puss, then!" he continued, reaching out a little farther, so that he +could just softly touch the animal's cheek, passing his fingers along +toward its left ear. + +"There, I told you so," he said, with a laugh, for the puma pressed its +head against his hand, giving it a rub in regular cat fashion, while as, +to Joe's horror, Rob continued his caress and began gently rubbing the +animal's head, it emitted a soft, purring noise, rolled its head about, +and ended by closing up and leaning against the lad's leg, passing +itself along from nose to tail, turning and repeating the performance, +and again on the other side. + +"I am glad I didn't shoot," said Rob, bending down to stroke the +animal's back. "I say, isn't he a beauty! Come and make friends. He's +a bit afraid of us yet." + +Joe stood fast, with the loaded gun presented, ready to fire and save +his friend's life the moment the creature seized him, when, to his +astonishment, the puma so thoroughly approved of the first human caress +it had ever received that it lay down, rolled over, wriggling its spine +when all four legs were in the air, rolled back again, scratching the +ground, and finally crouched and looked up as much as to say, "Go on." + +Rob answered the appeal he read in the puma's eyes, and going down on +one knee, he patted and stroked it, when, quick as the movement of a +serpent, it threw itself over on its back, seized the lad's hand between +its bent paws, patted it from one to the other, and then held it tightly +as it brought down its mouth as if to bite, but only began to lick the +palm with its rough tongue. + +"There!" said Rob; "what do you say now? Isn't it a tame one?" + +"I--I don't know yet. Hadn't I better fire and kill it?" + +"You'd better not," cried Rob. "That'll do, old chap; you'll have the +skin off. I say, his tongue is rough. Why, what beautiful fur he has, +and how soft and clean! I wonder whose he is." + +In the most domestic cat-like fashion the puma now curled itself round, +with its forepaws doubled under, and kept up its soft purr as it watched +the lad by its side. But as he rose the animal sprang up too, butted +its head affectionately against his leg, and then looked up as if to +say,-- + +"What next?" + +"Why don't you come and stroke it?" cried Rob. "Because I'm sure it's +wild and fierce," was the reply. "Well, it isn't now." + +"Ahoy!" came from a distance, and the puma looked sharply about, with +ears erect and an intense look, as if it were listening. + +"Ahoy!" shouted back Rob. "Let's go to them. Come along, puss." + +He took a few steps forward, the puma staring at him and twisting its +tail from side to side; but it did not stir. "There, I told you so. It +is wild." + +"Well, it may be, but it's quite ready to make friends, and it will not +hurt us. Come along." + +Joe did not possess his companion's faith, and keeping his face to the +puma as much as he could, he advanced toward where they could see +Brazier waving his hand to them to come on. + +As they advanced Rob kept on stopping and looking back at the puma, +calling it loudly; but the animal made no response. It stood there with +its eyes dilating again, waving and twisting its tail, till they were +thirty or forty yards distant, when, with a sudden movement, it half +turned away, crouched, its hind legs seemed to act like a spring, and it +was shot forward into the low growth and disappeared. + +"Gone!" said Joe, with a sigh of relief. + +"Why, you're actually afraid of a cat," said Rob mockingly. + +"I am--of cats like that," replied his companion. "I've heard my father +say that some of them are friendly. That must be a friendly one, but +I'm sure they are not fit to be trusted. Let's make haste." + +Rob did not feel so disposed, and he looked back from time to time as +they forced their way through the grass and low growth, but there was no +puma visible, and finally, taking it for granted that the animal was +gone, but making up his mind to try and find it again if they stayed, he +stepped out more quickly to catch up to Joe, who was pressing on toward +where he could now see both of their companions and a hundred yards +beyond the boatmen coming to meet them. + +"Hi! What have you shot, Mr Brazier?" cried Rob as he drew nearer. + +"Deer! Very fine one!" came back the reply. + +"Venison for dinner, then, and not `only fish,'" said Rob as he changed +shoulders with his gun. "Shouldn't care to be always tied down to +fresh-water fish, Joe. They're not like turbot and soles." + +"I say, don't talk about eating," said the young Italian testily. + +"Why not?" + +"Makes me so hungry." + +"Well, so much the better. Proves that you enjoy your meals. I say, I +wish that great cat had followed us." + +"Nonsense! What could you have done with it?" + +"Kept it as a pet. Taught it to catch birds for us, and to fetch those +we shot like a dog. Oh, what a beauty!" + +This was on seeing the fine large fat deer which had fallen to Brazier's +gun. + +"Yes," said Brazier, with a satisfied smile; "it was a piece of good +fortune, and it will relieve me of some anxiety about provisions." + +"But it will not keep," said Rob. + +"Yes; cut in strips and dried in the sun, it will last as long as we +want it. You see, we have no means of making up waste in our stores, +Rob, and the more we get our guns to help us the longer our expedition +can be." + +The boatmen and the two lads reached the deer just about the same time, +and the latter stood looking on with rather an air of disgust upon their +countenances as the crew set to work and deftly removed the animal's +skin, which was carried off to the boat to be stretched over the awning +to dry, while those left rapidly went to work cutting the flesh in +strips and bearing it off to the boat. + +"I say, Mr Brazier," said Rob after watching the proceedings for some +time, "hadn't those strips of flesh better be dried on shore somewhere?" + +"Why?" + +"Because they'll smell dreadfully." + +"I hope not," said Brazier, smiling. + +"Not they, sir," put in Shaddy. "Sun soon coats 'em over and takes the +juice out of them. They won't trouble your nose, Master Rob, sir, trust +me; and as to drying 'em on shore, that would be a very good plan in +every way but one." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, that it would be very convenient, sir, and the meat would dry +nicely; but when we wanted it you may take my word it wouldn't be +there." + +"Would some one steal it?" cried Rob. "No; you told me there were no +Indians about." + +"So I did, sir; but there are hundreds of other things would take it." + +"Hang it up in a tree, then." + +"Ready for the vultures to come and carry it off? That wouldn't do, +sir. No; there's no way of doing it but hanging it up in your boat. +The animals can't get at it, nor the ants neither, and the birds are +afraid to come." + +"I did not think of that," said Rob apologetically. + +"No, sir, s'pose not. I used to think as you did. I didn't want to +have anything that might smell on my boat, and I did as you advised till +I found out that it would not do. Don't take too much at a time," he +growled to the man who was loading himself, "and mind and lay out all +the pieces separate. Is the fire burning?" + +The man replied in his own tongue, and went off. + +"I'll get on now, sir," said Shaddy, "and see to the pieces frizzling +for our dinner, if you'll stop and see that the men don't leave before +they are done." + +"How am I to speak to them? I don't know their tongue." + +"No need to speak, sir. If they see you're watching them they won't +neglect anything, but will do it properly. I was only afraid of their +wanting to step off to the fireside to begin broiling bones." + +Shaddy shouldered his gun, and went off after the man who was loaded +with strips of flesh to make what is called biltong, and the two left +worked on very diligently, with the boys wandering here and there in +search of objects of interest and finding plenty--brilliant +metallic-cased beetles, strange flowers which they wanted named, birds +which it was a delight to watch as they busied themselves about the +fruit and flowers of the trees at the forest edge. + +"I shall be glad when they've done," said Joe at last, as they were +walking back to where Brazier stood leaning upon the muzzle of his gun. +"I am so hungry. Wonder whether these berries are good to eat!" + +He turned aside into the bushes to begin picking some bright yellow +fruit, and scaring away a little parrot from the feast. + +"I want something better than those," said Rob contemptuously; and he +went on, expecting that Joe was close behind. + +All at once, when he was about twenty yards away from where Brazier was +standing, Rob saw him start, raise his gun, and cock it as he glared +wildly at his young companion. + +"Anything the matter, sir?" cried Rob, hastening his steps. + +"Yes!" cried Brazier hoarsely. "Stand aside, boy! Take care! Out of +my line of fire! You're being stalked by a wild beast!" + +Rob stared, looked round, and saw at a glance that the puma had +evidently been hiding among the dead grass and thick growth, but had +been following and watching him ever since he had seen it leap into the +bushes. Then the truth dawned upon him that of course Mr Brazier could +not know what had passed, and there he was with his gun raised to fire. + +"Stand aside, boy!" was roared again; and, obeying the stronger will, +Rob sprang aside, but only to leap back. + +"Don't fire! don't fire!" he shrieked, but too late. The gun belched +forth rapidly its two charges, and Rob fell and rolled over upon the +earth. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +FRIGHTENED BY FALSE FIRES. + +"Naylor--Giovanni--help! help!" cried Brazier. "What have I done?" + +As in a voice full of agony Brazier uttered these words, the dense smoke +from the gun which had hidden Rob for the moment slowly rose and showed +the lad lying motionless upon the earth. Shaddy rushed up, dropped upon +one knee and raised the boy's head, while with his keen knife held +across his mouth he looked sharply round for the South American lion, +ready to meet its attack. + +But the animal was not visible, and it was directly after forgotten in +the excitement centred on Rob. + +"Tear off his clothes! Where is he wounded? No doctor! Run to the +boat for that little case of mine. Here, let me come." + +These words were uttered by Brazier with frantic haste, and directly +after he uttered a cry of horror and pointed to Rob's forehead close up +amongst the hair, where a little thread of blood began to ooze forth. + +"That ain't a shot wound," growled Shaddy. "Hi! One of you get some +water." + +One of the boatmen, who had hurried up, ran back toward the stream, and +just then Rob opened his lips said peevishly,-- + +"Don't! Leave off! Will you be quiet? Eh! What's the matter?" + +As he spoke he thrust Brazier's hand from his head, opened his eyes and +looked round. + +"What are you doing?" he cried wonderingly. + +"Lower him down, Naylor," whispered Brazier hoarsely; and Shaddy was in +the act of obeying, but Rob started up into a sitting position, and then +sprang to his feet. + +"What are you doing, Shaddy?" he cried angrily, as he clapped his hand +to his brow, withdrew it, and looked at the stained fingers. "What's +the matter with my head?" + +He threw it back as he spoke, shook it, and then, as if the mist which +troubled his brain had floated away like the smoke from Brazier's gun, +he cried: + +"I know; I remember. Oh! I say, Mr Brazier, you haven't shot that +poor cat?" + +"Rob, my boy, pray, pray, pray lie down till we have examined your +injuries." + +"Nonsense! I'm not hurt," cried the lad--"only knocked my head on a +stump. I remember now: I caught my right foot in one of those canes, +and pitched forward. Where's the cat?" + +He looked round sharply. + +"Never mind the wretched beast," cried Brazier. "Tell me, boy: you were +not hit?" + +"But I do mind," cried Rob. "I wouldn't have had that poor thing shot +on any account." + +"Are you hurt?" cried Brazier, almost angrily. + +"Of course I am, sir. You can't pitch head first on to a stump without +hurting yourself. I say, did you hit the cat?" + +"Then you were not shot?" cried Brazier. + +"Shot? No! Who said I was?" + +"Ourai!" shouted the young Italian, with the best imitation he could +give of an English hurrah. + +"Then I have frightened myself almost to death for nothing," cried +Brazier. "How dare you pretend that you were shot!" + +"I didn't," cried Rob angrily, for his smarting head exacerbated his +temper. "I never pretended anything. I couldn't help tumbling. You +shouldn't have fired." + +"There, hold your tongue, Mr Rob, sir. It's all right, and instead of +you and the guv'nor here getting up a row, it strikes me as you ought +both to go down on your knees and be very thankful. A few inches more +one way or t'other, and this here expedition would have been all over, +and us going back as mizzable men as ever stepped." + +The guide's words were uttered in so solemn and forcible a way that +Brazier took a step or two forward and caught his hand, pressing it +firmly as he looked him full in the eyes. + +Brazier was silent for a few moments, and then, in a voice rendered +husky by emotion, he said,-- + +"You are quite right, Naylor. Thank you, my man, for the lesson. I +deserve all you have said, and yet I am thankful at heart for the--" + +He did not finish his words, but dropped Shaddy's hand, and then turned +to Rob and laid his hand upon the boy's shoulder. + +"Come to the boat, Rob," he said. "I'll sponge and strap up that little +cut. Naylor spoke truly. We have much to be thankful for. I ought not +to have spoken so harshly to you." + +"Nor I to have been so cross, sir. It was my head hurt me, and made me +speak shortly." + +"Say no more now, boy. Come and let me play surgeon." + +"What, for this?" cried Rob, laughing. "It's only a scratch, sir, and +doesn't matter a bit." + +But Brazier insisted, and soon after Rob's forehead was ornamented with +a strip of diachylon plaster, and the injury forgotten. + +The men soon prepared a meal, and the rest of the day was spent in +preparing the deer meat to keep in store; the effect of the hot sun +being wonderful, the heat drying up the juices and checking the +decomposition that might have been expected to succeed its exposure. +But it in no case improved the appearance of the boat. + +Toward evening Brazier did a little collecting, helped by the boys, and +later on the latter fished from the boat, with no small success, so that +there was no fear of the stores being placed too much under contribution +for some days to come. + +The fishing was brought to a close, and their captives hung over the +side in a great bag composed of net, so that they could be kept alive +ready for use when required; and this done, Rob turned to Giovanni. + +"Come ashore, Joe," he said. + +Brazier looked up sharply from where he was taking notes and numbering +his dried specimens of plants. + +"Where are you going?" he said. + +"Only to have a bit of a wander ashore," replied Rob. + +"No, no; be content with your day's work. We shall have some supper +soon, and then turn in for a long night's rest. Besides, I don't care +for you to go alone." + +"Very well, sir," said Rob quietly; "only we couldn't go far and be +lost. Shall we take Shaddy with us?" + +"No; I wish you to stay in the boat this evening, and I'm going to call +the men on board as soon as they have well made up the fire. There are +savage beasts about, and we don't want more trouble than we can help." + +Rob looked disappointed, but he said nothing, and went right forward to +where Shaddy was busy washing out one of the guns; and there the two +lads sat, gazing across the green surface of lily leaves, watching the +birds which ran to and fro, the gorgeous colouring of the sky, and the +many tints reflected by the water where the stream ran winding through. +Then, too, there were splashings and plungings of heavy fish, beasts, +and reptiles to note, and very little to see, for by the time they had +made out the spot where the splash had been made, there was nothing +visible but the heaving of the great lily leaves and a curious motion of +their edges, which were tilted up by the moving creatures stirring +amidst the stems. + +"Head hurt?" said Joe at last, after a long silence, broken only by the +grunts of Shaddy as he rubbed and polished away at the gun-barrel, so as +to remove the last trace of damp. + +"Hurt? No. Only smarts a bit," replied Rob. + +"Why did you want to go ashore again?" + +There was no reply. + +"I didn't; I was too tired. Don't care for much walking in the hot sun. +Did you want to shoot?" + +"No. Wanted to see whether Mr Brazier had shot that poor cat." + +"Poor cat!" said Joe, derisively: "I wonder whether a mouse calls his +enemy a poor cat. Why, the brute could have taken you and shaken you +like a rat, and carried you off in its jaws." + +"Who says so?" retorted Rob, rather warmly. + +"I do." + +"And how do you know you were right?" + +"Well, of course I can't tell whether I'm right," said Joe, "only that's +what lions and tigers do." + +"Seemed as if it was going to, didn't it?" said Rob, who was now growing +warm in the defence of the animal. "Why, it was as tame as tame, and +I'm going ashore first thing to-morrow morning to track it out and find +where it lay down to die. I want its skin, to keep in memory of the +poor thing. It was as tame as a great dog." + +"Won't be very tame 'morrow morning if you find it not dead," growled +Shaddy. + +"Then you don't think it is dead, Shaddy?" cried Rob eagerly. + +"Can't say nothing about it, my lad. All I know is that Mr Brazier +fired two barrels at it, and as the shots didn't hit you they must have +hit the lion." + +"Don't follow," said Rob, with a short laugh. "Couldn't they have hit +the ground?" + +Shaddy rubbed his head with the barrel of the gun he was oiling, and +that view of the question took a long time to decide, while the boys +smiled at each other and watched him. + +"Well," said Shaddy at last, "p'raps you're right, Master Rob. If the +shots didn't hit the lion they might have hit the ground." + +"And you did not find the animal, nor see any blood?" + +"Never looked for neither, my lad. But, tell you what: if you do want +his skin I'll go with you in the morning and track him down. I expect +we shall find him lying dead, for Mr Brazier's a wonderful shot." + +"And not likely to miss," said Rob sadly. "But I should like its skin, +Shaddy." + +"And you shall have it, sir, if he's dead. If he isn't he has p'raps +carried it miles away into the woods, and there's no following him +there." + +Rob gazed wistfully across the opening now beginning to look gloomy, and +his eyes rested on the figures of the boatmen who were busily piling up +great pieces of dead wood to keep up the fire for the night, the +principal objects being to scare away animals, and have a supply of hot +embers in the morning ready for cooking purposes. And as the fire +glowed and the shadows of evening came on, the figures of the men stood +out as if made of bronze, till they had done and came down to the boat. + +An hour later the men were on board, the rope paid out so that they were +a dozen yards from the shore, where a little grapnel had been dropped to +hold the boat from drifting in, and once more Rob lay beneath the awning +watching the glow of the fire as it lit up the canvas, which was light +and dark in patches as it was free from burden or laden with the objects +spread upon it to dry. From the forest and lake came the chorus to +which he was growing accustomed; and as the lad looked out through the +open end of the tent--an arrangement which seemed that night as if it +did nothing but keep out the comparatively cool night air--he could see +one great planet slowly rising and peering in. Then, all at once, there +was dead silence. The nocturnal chorus, with all its weird shrieks and +cries, ceased as if by magic, and the darkness was intense. + +That is, to Rob: for the simple reason that he had dropped asleep. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +FOE OR FRIEND? + +It was still dark when Rob awoke, and lay listening to the heavy +breathing of the other occupants of the boat. Then, turning over, he +settled himself down for another hour's sleep. + +But the attempt was vain. He had had his night's rest--all for which +nature craved--and he now found that he might lie and twist and turn as +long as he liked without any effect whatever. + +Under these circumstances he crept softly out and looked at the cool, +dark water lying beneath the huge leaves, some of which kept on moving +in a silent, secretive manner, as if the occupants of the lake were +trying to see what manner of thing the boat was, which lay so silent and +dark on the surface. + +It had been terribly hot and stuffy under the awning, and the water +looked deliciously cool and tempting. There was a fascination about the +great, black leaves floating there, which seemed to invite the lad to +strip off the light flannels in which he had slept, to lower himself +gently over the side, and lie in and on and amongst them, with the cool +water bracing and invigorating him ready for the heat and toil of the +coming day. + +It would be good, thought Rob. Just one plunge and a few strokes, and +then out and a brisk rub. + +But there were the alligators and fish innumerable, nearly all of which +had been provided by nature with the sharpest of teeth. + +He shuddered at the thought of how, as soon as his white body was seen +in the water, scores of voracious creatures might make a rush for him +and drag him down among the lily stems for a feast. + +"Won't do," he muttered; "but what a pity it does seem!" + +He sat watching the surface, and, as he saw how calm and still it was, +the longing for a bathe increased. It would, he felt, be so +refreshing--so delicious after the hot night and the sensations of +prickly heat. Surely he could get a quick plunge and back before +anything could attack him; and as he thought this the longing increased +tenfold, and plenty of arguments arose in favour of the attempt. There +were numbers of great fish and alligators, he knew, but they were not +obliged to be there now. Fish swam in shoals, and might be half a mile +away one hour though swarming at another. + +"I've a good mind to," he thought, and as that thought came he softly +unfastened the collar of his flannel shirt. + +But he went no farther, for common sense came to the front and pointed +out the folly of such a proceeding, after the warnings he had had of the +dangers of the river teeming as it did with fierce occupants. + +"It will not do, I suppose," he muttered. "I should like to try it, +though." + +He glanced around, but no one was stirring. The men forward were silent +beneath their blankets, and the occupants of the canvas cabin were all +sleeping heavily, as their breathing told plainly enough, so there was +no fear of interruption. + +"I'll try it," said the lad, in an eager whisper. + +"No. There is no one to help me if I wanted any. And yet is there +likely to be any danger? Most likely the alligators would swim away if +they saw me, and would be more frightened of me than I should be of +them. While as to the fish--Bah! I'm a coward, and nothing else. Dare +say the water's as cool as can be, while I'm as hot as any one could get +without being in a fever." + +He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt above the elbow, and, leaning over +the side, thrust it down between the curves of two lily leaves which +overlapped. + +"It is delightfully cool," he said to himself, and he thrust his arm +down farther, when his fingers came in contact with something rough, +which started away, making the water swirl in a tremendous eddy, and +caused the sudden abstraction of the lad's arm, but not so quickly that +he did not feel a sharp pang, and a tiny fish dropped from the skin on +to the bottom of the boat. + +"The little wretch!" muttered Rob; and the lesson was sufficient. He +did not feel the slightest desire to tempt the cool water more, but +applied his lips to the little bite, which was bleeding freely, thinking +the while that if one of those savage little fish could produce such an +effect, what would be the result of an attack by a thousand. + +Day was near at hand as Rob sat there, though it was still dark, and a +cold mist hung over the water; but the nocturnal creatures had gone to +rest, and here and there came a chirrup or long-drawn whistle to tell +that the birds were beginning to stir, instinctively knowing that before +long the sun would be up, sending light and heat to chase away the mists +of night. Now and then, too, there was a splash or a wallowing sound, +as of some great creature moving in the shallows, close up beneath where +the trees overhung the water, and the boy turned his head from place to +place, half in awe, half in eagerness to know what had made the sound. + +But he could make out nothing that was more than twenty or thirty yards +from where the boat swung to her moorings; and, turning his head more +round, he sat thinking of the adventures of the previous day, and +wondered where the puma might be. + +"It was a stupid thing to do to run right before that gun," he said to +himself; "but I hadn't time to think that Mr Brazier would fire, and I +didn't want the poor beast to be killed." + +Rob sat thinking of how gentle and tame the great cat-like creature +seemed, and a curious sensation of sorrow came over him as he thought of +it crawling away into some shelter to die in agony from the effects of +the deadly wounds inflicted by Brazier's gun. + +"And if I had not tumbled down," he said to himself, "it would have been +me instead;" and now he shuddered, for the full truth of his narrow +escape dawned upon him. + +"It would have been horrid," he thought; "I never felt before how near +it was." + +He leaned back and looked around at the misty darkness and then up at +the sky, where all at once a tiny patch began to glow and rapidly become +warmer, till it was of a vivid orange. + +"Morning," said Rob half aloud; and feeling quite light-hearted at the +prospect of daylight and breakfast, he sat up and looked round him at +the positions, now dimly seen, of his companions, and was just thinking +of rousing up the men to see to the fire, when the latter took his +attention, and he turned to see if it was still glowing. + +For some minutes he could not make out the exact spot where it had been +made. It was in a little natural clearing about twenty yards from the +bank, but the early morning was still too dark for him to make out +either bank or clearing, till all at once a faint puff of air swept over +the lake, and as it passed the boat, going toward the forest, there was +a faint glow, as of phosphorescence, trembling in one particular spot, +and he knew that it must be caused by the fanning of the embers. + +That faint light was only visible for a few moments, then all was dark +again, but it was a transparent darkness, gradually growing clearer. +Then a tree seemed to start up on the scene, and a clump of bushes +nearer the fire. Soon after he could make out a great patch of feathery +green, and this had hardly grown clear enough for him to be certain what +it was, when something misty and undefined appeared to be moving along +the bank close to the tree to which the boat was tethered. The next +moment it melted away into the soft darkness. + +"Fancy!" said Rob to himself. But directly after he knew it was not +fancy, for he could hear a peculiar scratching, rending sound, which put +him in mind of a cat tearing with its claws at the leg of a table. + +And now as if by magic there was a soft warm glow diffused around, and, +to his surprise and delight, he saw again the object he had before +noticed, but no longer undefined. It was grey, and looked transparent, +but it was a warm-grey, and grew moment by moment less transparent, +gradually assuming the shape of his friend of the previous day, alive +and to all appearances uninjured, as, with its soft, elastic, cat-like +step and undulating body and tail, it walked slowly down to the edge of +the bank, and stood staring at Rob as if waiting for him to speak. + +For a few moments the lad was silent and motionless, as he strove hard +to detect signs of injury upon the soft, coat of the puma, but nothing +was visible, and the animal remained as motionless as he, save that the +long tail writhed and curled about as a snake might if gently held by +its head. + +The next minute Rob had decided what to do. + +Creeping silently astern, he unfastened and paid out a good deal of the +line which held the boat to the grapnel. Then refastening it, he went +silently forward, and began to haul upon the other line, which was +secured to the tree ashore, thus bringing the boat's head close up to +the bank and within half a dozen yards of the puma, which stood watching +him till the boat touched the bank, when, without hesitation or fear of +consequences, Rob stepped ashore. + +"Fine chance for him if he does mean to eat me!" thought Rob, with a +laugh. But the next moment he did feel startled, for the animal +suddenly crouched, gathered its hind legs beneath it, and he could see +them working as the agile creature prepared to spring. + +Rob's heart beat heavily, and a cry rose to his lips, but was not +uttered, for he felt paralysed, and he would have proved to be an +unresisting victim had the puma's intentions been inimical. But the lad +soon knew that they were friendly, for the great bound the creature gave +landed it at his feet, where it immediately rolled over on to its side, +then turned upon its back, and with touches soft as those of a kitten +pulled at the boy's legs and feet, looking playfully up at him the +while. + +"Why, you are a tame one," said Rob, with a sigh of relief. "There's no +danger in you whatever," and sinking on one knee, he patted and rubbed +the great soft head which was gently moved about in his hand. + +So satisfactory was this to the puma that it rolled itself about on the +ground, pressed its head against Rob's knee, and finally turned over +once more, couched, laid its head against him, and gazed up in his eyes +as he placed his hand upon the soft browny-grey head. + +"Well, there's no mistake about this," said Rob aloud; "you and I are +good friends, and you must be a tame one. The thing is, where is your +master?" + +Rob had hardly uttered the word "tame" before the puma's eyes dilated, +and it uttered a low, deep growl, staring fiercely the while at the +boat. + +Rob followed the direction of the animal's eyes, and saw that it was +watching Brazier, who had just stepped out from the canvas cabin, +holding a gun in his hand. + +"Don't! don't do that!" cried Rob excitedly. "It's quite tame, Mr +Brazier. Look!" + +He was about to bend down and caress the puma again; but as he turned it +was only to see its soft, tawny skin and outstretched tail as it made +one bound into the thick, low growth of bush and feathery grass, and it +was gone. + +"Why, Rob," cried his leader, "how could you be so foolish as to go near +that savage beast?" + +"But it isn't savage," said the lad eagerly; "it's as tame as any cat. +It must belong to some one near." + +By this time Shaddy had heard the talking and risen, rather apologetic +for sleeping so long, and as soon as he had called up his men and sent +them ashore to see to the fire the case was laid before him. + +"Nay, Master Rob," he said, "there's no one about here to tame lions. +It's a wild one sure enough. Dessay he never saw a man or boy before, +and he's a young one perhaps, and a bit kittenish. Wants to make +friends." + +"Friends with a dangerous beast like that, man?" cried Brazier. +"Absurd!" + +"Oh, they're not dangerous, sir; that is, not to man. I never heard of +a lion touching a man unless the man had shot at and hurt him. Then +they'll fight savagely for their lives. Dangerous to monkeys, or dogs, +or deer; but I'm not surprised at its taking to Master Rob here, and +don't see no call to fear." + +"Well, of course your experience is greater than mine, Naylor," said +Brazier; "but I should have thought that at any moment the beast might +turn and rend him." + +"No, sir; no, sir; no fear of that! I daresay the crittur would follow +him anywhere and be as friendly as a cat. The Indians never take any +notice of lions. It's the tigers they're a bit scared about. Lions +hate tigers too; and I've known 'em fight till they were both dying." + +"Ah well, we need not discuss the matter, for the puma has gone." + +"Thought you were going to shoot at it again, sir," said Rob in rather +an ill-used tone, for he was disappointed at the sudden interruption to +his friendly intercourse with the beautiful beast. + +By this time Giovanni was out of the boat, and stared rather at the +account of the morning's adventure; but the announcement soon after that +the coffee was boiling changed the conversation, and for the time being +the puma was forgotten. + +The great natural clearing at the edge of the lake and the opening out +of the river itself gave so much opportunity for Brazier to prosecute +his collecting that he at once decided upon staying in the +neighbourhood--certainly for that day, if not for one or two more, and +in consequence the fire was left smouldering, while the boat was forced +along close in shore, which was no easy task, on account of the dense +growth of lilies. + +The heat was great, but forgotten in the excitement of collecting, and, +with the help of his young companions, Brazier kept on making additions +to his specimens, while Rob's great regret was that they were not +seeking birds and insects as well. + +"Seems such a pity," he confided to Joe. "The orchids are very +beautiful when they are hanging down from the trees, with their petals +looking like the wings of insects and their colour all of such lovely +yellows and blues, but we shall only have the dried, bulb-like stems to +take back with us, and how do we know that they will ever flower again?" + +"If properly dried, a great many of them will," said Brazier at that +moment. + +Rob started. + +"I didn't know you were listening, sir," he said. + +"I was not listening, Rob, but you spoke so loudly, I could not help +hearing your words. I can quite understand your preference for the +brilliant-coloured and metallic-plumaged birds, and also for the lovely +insects which we keep seeing, but specimens of most of these have been +taken to Europe again and again, while I have already discovered at +least four orchids which I am sure are new." + +"But if they do not revive," said Rob, "we shall have had all our +journey for nothing." + +"But they will revive, my boy, you may depend upon that--at least, some +of them; and to my mind we shall have done a far greater thing in +carrying to England specimens of these gorgeous flowers to live and be +perpetuated in our hothouses, than in taking the dried mummies of bird +and insect, which, however beautiful, can never by any possibility live +again." + +"I didn't think of that," said Rob apologetically. + +"I suppose not. But there, be content to help me in my collecting; you +are getting plenty of adventure, and to my mind, even if we take back +nothing, we shall carry with us recollections of natural wonders that +will remain imprinted on our brains till the end of our days." + +"He's quite right," thought Rob as he sat alone some time after; "but I +wish he wouldn't speak to me as if he were delivering a lecture. Of +course I shall help him and work hard, but I do get tired of the +flowers. They're beautiful enough on the trees, but as soon as they are +picked they begin to fade and wither away." + +The conversation took place at the end of the lake, just where the river +issued in a narrow stream, walled in on either side by the trees as +before, and the intention was to cross this exit and go back by the +other side, round to the wide clearing where they had passed the +previous night. + +Plans in unknown waters are more easily made than carried out. + +They had halted for a short time at the foot of a majestic tree, one +evidently of great age, and draped from where its lower boughs almost +touched the water right to the crown with parasitic growth, much of +which consisted of the particular family of flowers Brazier had made his +expedition to collect. + +Here several splendid specimens were cut from a huge drooping bough +which was held down by the men while the collector operated with a handy +little axe, bringing down as well insects innumerable, many of which +were of a stinging nature, and, to the dismay of both boys, first one +and then another brilliantly marked snake of some three feet long and +exceedingly slender. + +These active little tree-climbers set to at once to find a hiding-place, +and at once it became the task of all the band to prevent this +unsatisfactory proceeding, no one present looking forward with +satisfaction to the prospect of having snakes as fellow-travellers, +especially poisonous ones. But they were soon hunted out and thrown by +means of a stick right away into the water, but not to drown, for they +took to it, swimming as actively and well as an eel. + +"Why, that last fellow will reach one of those boughs and get back into +a tree again," cried Joe. + +"If a fish does not treat him like a worm," said Rob; and he did not +feel at all hopeful about the little reptile's fate. + +But the next minute he had to think of his own. + +One minute the boat was being propelled gently through the still waters +amongst the great lily leaves; the next they were in sight of the exit, +and something appeared to give the boat a sudden jerk. + +"Alligator?" asked Rob excitedly. + +"Stream!" growled Shaddy, seizing an oar and rowing with all his might +just as they were being swept rapidly down the lower river, the trees +gliding by them and the men appearing to have no power whatever to check +the boat's way as it glided on faster and faster, leaving the open lake +the next minute quite out of sight. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +IN A TROPIC STORM. + +Rob and Joe looked at each other quite aghast as the boat was literally +snatched away out of the boatmen's control and went tearing down the +river. For, beside the alteration in their plans, there was the fire +waiting, all glowing embers, that would cook to perfection; there were +wild fruits which the two lads had noted from the boat; and there was +the puma, whose society Rob felt a strong desire to cultivate. + +Then, too, there was something startling in being suddenly robbed of all +power to act and being swept at a headlong speed along a rapid, for +aught they knew, toward some terrible waterfall, over which they would +be hurled. So that it was with no little satisfaction that they saw +Shaddy seize the boat-hook and, after urging the crew to do their best +to pull the boat toward the trees, stand up in the bows and wait his +turn. + +The crew worked hard, and kept the boat's head up stream, and by degrees +they contrived to get it closer to the side, while Shaddy made three +attempts to catch hold of a branch. In each case the bough snapped off, +but at the fourth try the bough bent and held, though so great was the +shock that when the hook caught, the strong-armed man was nearly drawn +over the bows into the river, and would have been but for one of the +boatmen's help. + +It was a sharp tussle for a few moments, and then two of the men caught +hold of hanging branches as the boat swung within reach. The next +minute a rope was passed round a branch, and the boat was safely moored. + +"Mind looking to see whether I've got any arms, Mr Rob?" said Shaddy. +"Feels as if they were both jerked out of their sockets." + +"Are you hurt much?" asked the boys in a breath. + +"Pootty tidy, young gents; but I ain't going to holler about it. +There's no time. I don't mind going fast, you know, either in a boat or +on horseback, but I do hate for the boat or the horse to take the bit in +its teeth and bolt as this did just now." + +"What do you propose doing, Naylor?" said Brazier. "It is impossible to +get back, and yet I should have liked a few hours more at that +clearing." + +"And them you shall have, sir, somehow. I'm not the man to be beaten by +a boat without making a bit of a fight for it first. Let's get my +breath and my arms--ah! they're coming back now. I can begin to feel +'em a bit." + +He sat rubbing his biceps, laughing at the boys, Brazier looking up and +down-stream uneasily the while. + +"Do you know exactly where this river runs, Naylor?" he said at last. + +"Well, not exactly, sir. I know it goes right through the sort of +country you want to see, and that was enough for me; but I've a notion +that it goes up to the nor'-west, winding and twisting about till it +runs in one spot pootty nigh to the big river we left, so that we can +perhaps go up some side stream, drag the boat across a portage, and +launch her for our back journey over the same ground or water as we came +up." + +"But we shall never get back to the lake," said Rob, as he glanced at +the running stream which glided rapidly by, making the boat drag at its +tethering rope as if at any moment it would snatch itself free. + +"Never's a long time, Mr Rob. We'll see." + +He turned to his men, gave them a few instructions in a low tone of +voice, and three seated themselves on the port side, while Shaddy and +the fourth, a herculean fellow with muscles which bulged out like huge +ropes from his bronzed arms, stood in the bows, the latter with the +boat-hook and Shaddy with the rope. + +"Praps you young gentlemen wouldn't mind putting a hand to the branches +when you get a chance," said Shaddy; "every pound of help gives us a +pound of strength." + +Then, renewing his orders, he seized the light rope, hauled upon it, the +man beside him making good use of his hook, and between them they +dragged the boat a few feet and made fast the rope, hauled again, cast +off the rope, and made fast again--all helping wherever a bough could be +caught. + +And so they slowly fought their way back against the gigantic strength +of the rapid stream, but not without risks. Rob was hauling away at a +bough with all his might, when it suddenly snapped, and he would have +gone overboard had not Joe thrown himself upon him and held on just as +he was toppling down without power to recover his balance. + +"That was near," said Rob as he gazed on the young Italian's ghastly +face. "I say, don't look scared like that." + +Joe shuddered and resumed his work, while Rob put a little less energy +into his next movements for a few minutes, but forgot his escape +directly after, and worked away with the rest. + +It was toil which required constant effort, and they won their way +upward very slowly. Twice over they lost ground by the giving way of +the branch to which the rope had been attached, and once the boat-hook +slipped from the Indian's hand and floated down-stream past the boat, +the heavy iron end causing it to keep nearly upright. For a few moments +it disappeared, but came gently to the surface again just as it was +passing the stern, when the boys gave a ringing cheer, for, leaning out +as far as he could, Brazier secured it and passed it back to the man. + +Of minor troubles there were plenty. At one moment they would be +covered with insects which were rudely shaken from the boughs; at +another some branch beneath which they were passing would threaten to +sweep the canvas cabin out of the boat; and once it was Joe, whose +flannel was caught by a snaggy end and hung there with the boat passing +from under him till a chorus of cries made the stalwart boatman cease +his efforts and look back at the mischief he was causing as he hauled. + +But, in spite of all difficulties, the boat was slowly drawn over the +ground lost in the wild race downward, till at last the lake was +reached, and a few sturdy efforts sufficed to drag it once more into +still water. + +"Once is enough for a job like that, Master Rob," said Shaddy, as he +wiped his dripping brow with the back of his hand. + +"It was hard work," replied Rob. + +"Ay, 'twas; and if you wouldn't mind saying you were so hungry you +didn't know what to do, it would be doing us all a kindness, and make +Mr Brazier think about meat instead of vegetables." + +He gave his head a nod sidewise at Brazier's back, for as the men rested +under the shade of a tree the naturalist was busy hauling down some +lovely clusters of blossoms from overhead. + +"You mean you want some dinner, Shaddy?" + +"That's it, sir. This here engine will soon stop working if you don't +put on more coal." + +"I'll give him a hint," said Rob, laughing; and he did, the result being +that Brazier gave the word for the men to row right across toward the +clearing--a task they eagerly commenced in spite of the heat and the +sturdy effort required to force a way through the dense covering of +broad green leaves. They had the river to cross on their way, and as +the clear stream was neared a long way above its exit from the lake the +men, as if moved by one impulse, ceased rowing, and paused to take their +breath before making a sturdy effort to cross it without losing ground. + +It was a necessary precaution, for the moment the bows of the boat +issued from among the dense growth the stem was pressed heavily +downward, and the opposite side of the stream was reached after quite a +sharp fight. Then the long, steady pull was commenced again, and, with +the leaves brushing against the side, they forced their way onward till +the clearing came in view. + +The faint curl of bluish smoke encouraged the men to fresh efforts, all +thinking of broiled deer meat and a fragrant cup of coffee, both of +which afforded grateful refreshment soon after they touched the shore. + +"Will it be safe to attempt to continue our journey down that part of +the river?" Brazier asked as they were seated afterward in the shade. + +"Oh yes, sir, safe enough," replied Shaddy. + +"But suppose we have to come back the same way?" + +"Well, sir, we can do it, only it will take time." + +"You will not mind, Mr Brazier?" said Joe, smiling. + +"Indeed I shall, for the work is terrible. Why did you say that?" + +"Because you will have such a chance to collect, sir. I saw hundreds of +beautiful blossoms which I thought you would like to get, and you could +gather them while the men rested." + +"Ay, to be sure, sir. Don't you mind about that river being swift! +Only wants contriving, and for you to know what's coming, so as to be +prepared. Now I know what to expect, I can manage. I shall just set +two of the fellows to pull gently, and go down starn first, and always +sit there ready with the boat-hook to hitch on to a tree if we are going +too fast. You trust me, sir, spite of all that's gone before, and I'll +do my best for you and the young gents till your journey's done, though +I don't see any coming back this way." + +"Of course I shall trust you," said Brazier. "What's the matter?" + +"Trust me now then, sir," cried Shaddy, who had leaped up, and was +looking sharply round. "Get aboard, all of you. Now, boys!" he roared +to his men, and he pointed to the sky. + +Shaddy's orders were obeyed, and though there seemed to be no reason for +the preparations made, the guide was so confident of the coming of a +heavy storm that the waterproof sheet brought for such an emergency was +quickly drawn over the canvas roof of their little cabin and made fast; +the boat was moored head and stern close up to the bank and beneath a +huge, sheltering tree, the balers were laid ready for use in the +fore-part and the stern; and when this was all done, and the greatest +care taken to keep powder and bedding dry, Brazier turned and looked at +Shaddy. + +"Well," he said, "is not this a false alarm?" + +"No, sir; there's a storm coming. We shall have it soon. Good job we'd +got the cooking done." + +"But I can't see a cloud," said Rob. + +"Don't matter," replied Joe, who was also looking keenly round. "I've +seen the heavy rain come streaming down when the sky has been quite +clear, and the water has felt quite warm. Look at those fellows; they +know the storm's coming, or they would not do that." + +He pointed toward the boatmen, who were throwing a tarpaulin across the +bows, ready for them to creep under as soon as the rain came. + +"False alarm, boys!" said Brazier. + +Shaddy overheard him, and wrinkled up his face in a curious grin as he +looked hard at Rob. It was as much as to say, "All right! Just you +wait a bit and see who's right and who's wrong." + +"My word, how hot!" cried Rob the next minute, for the sun appeared to +be shining down through a kind of transparent haze so dense that it +acted like a burning glass. + +"Yes, this is fierce," said Joe, drawing back into the shade afforded by +the great tree. + +"It would give one sunstroke, wouldn't it, if we stopped in the full +blaze?" + +"I suppose so. But I say, Shaddy's right. We are going to have a +storm." + +"How do you know?" + +"By the sun gleaming out like that." + +"Oh, I don't think that's anything," said Rob. "Here, let's get up into +this tree and collect some orchids for Mr Brazier." + +He looked up into the large forest monarch as he spoke--a tree which on +three sides was wonderfully laden with great drooping boughs. +Consequent upon its position at the western corner of the clearing where +the boat was moored, the boughs formed a magnificent shelter for their +boat down almost to the water, while on the side of the opening they +pretty well touched the ground. + +But Rob paid little heed to this, his attention being taken up by the +fact that, though there was perfect silence, the tree was alive with +birds and monkeys, which were huddled together in groups, as if their +instinct had taught them that a terrible convulsion of nature was at +hand. As a rule they would have taken flight or scampered about through +the branches as soon as human beings had come to the tree, but now, as +if aware of some great danger, they were content to share the shelter +and run all risks. + +"See them, Master Rob?" said Shaddy, with a grin. "No mistake this +time! Look out; I daresay there'll be snakes dropping down there +by-and-by, but so long as you don't touch 'em I don't s'pose they'll +touch us. Shouldn't wonder if we get something else." + +Just then Brazier called him to draw his attention to some of the +covering, and they heard him say,-- + +"Don't see as we can do any more, sir. Things are sure to get wet; you +can't stop it. All we can do is to keep 'em from getting wetter than we +can help." + +The sun still shone brilliantly, streaming down, as it were, through the +leaves of the great tree like a shower of silver rain, but the silence +now was painful, and Rob strained his ears to catch the peculiar +modulation of one of the cricket-like insects which were generally so +common around. But not one made a sound, and at last, as if troubled by +the silence, the boy cried half jeeringly, "All this trouble for +nothing! I say, Joe, where's the storm?" + +"Here!" was the reply in a whisper, as all at once out of the clear sky +great drops of rain came pattering down, then great splashes; and +directly after, with a hissing rush, there were sheets of rushing water +streaming through the branches and splashing upon the tarpaulin +coverings of the boat. + +"I say, I never saw it rain like this before," cried Rob as he sheltered +himself beneath the tarpaulin and canvas. "Will it thunder--" + +He was going to say, "too," but the word remained unspoken, and he +shrank back appalled by a blinding flash of vivid blue lightning, which +seemed to dash through beneath their shelter and make every face look of +a ghastly bluish-grey. + +Almost simultaneously there was a deafening peal of thunder, and, as if +by an instantaneous change--probably by some icy current of air on +high--the moisture-laden atmosphere was darkened by dense mists whirling +and looking like foam, clouds of slaty black shut out the sun, and the +rain came down in a perfect deluge, streaming through the tree and +pouring into the lake with one incessant roaring splash. + +One moment beneath the awning it was black as night, the next it was all +one dazzling glare, while in peal after peal the mighty thunder came, +one clap succeeding another before it had had time to die away in its +long metallic reverberations, that sounded as if the thunder rolled away +through some vast iron tunnel. + +No one attempted to speak, but all crowded together listening +awe-stricken to the deafening elemental war, one thought dominating +others in their minds, and it was this: "Suppose one of these terrible +flashes of lightning strikes the tree!" + +Reason and experience said, "Why shelter beneath a tree at a time like +this?" but the instinct of self-preservation drove them there to escape +the terrible battering of the rain and the rushing wind. + +For they had ample knowledge of the state of the lake, though, save in +momentary glances, it was invisible beneath the black pall of cloud and +rain, for waves came surging in, making the boat rise and fall, while +from time to time quite a billow rushed beneath the drooping boughs, +which partially broke its force ere it struck against the side of the +boat with a heavy slap and sent its crest over the covering and into the +unprotected parts. + +There was something confusing as well as appalling in the storm, which +was gigantic as compared to anything Rob had seen at home, and as he +crouched there listening in the brief intervals of the thunder-claps, +the rain poured down on the tarpaulin roof with one continuous rush and +roar as heavily as if the boat had been backed in beneath some +waterfall. + +All at once from out of the darkness a curious startling sound was +heard, which puzzled both lads for some minutes, till they suddenly +recollected that Shaddy had placed tin balers fore and aft, and any +doubt as to their being the cause of the peculiar noise was set at rest +by Shaddy, who suddenly thrust in his head at the end of a deafening +roar and shouted,-- + +"How are you getting on, gentlemen? Water got in there yet?" + +"No, no," was shouted back, "not yet." + +"That's right. We're pumping it out here as quick as we can. Comes in +fast enough to most sink us." + +Shaddy then went on working away out in the pelting rain, and a minute +later they made out that his chief man was hard at work forward. + +And still the rain came down, and the lightning kept on flashing through +the dark shelter; while, if there was any change at all in the thunder, +it was louder, clearer, and more rapid in following the electric +discharge. + +"I say, Joe," whispered Rob at last, with his lips close to his +companion's ear, "how do you feel?" + +"Don't know: so curious--as if tiny pins and needles were running +through me. What's that curious singing noise?" + +"That's just what I want to know. I can feel it all through me, and my +ears are as if I had caught a bad cold. Like bells ringing; singing you +call it." + +Just then Shaddy's voice was heard in an interval between two peals of +thunder shouting to his men in a tone of voice which indicated that +something was wrong, and Brazier thrust out his head from the opening at +one end of the awning to ask what was the matter. + +"Matter, sir? Why, if we don't get all hands at the pumps the ship'll +sink." + +"Is it so bad as that? We'll all come at once." + +"Nay, nay. I've got a strong enough crew, only we must use buckets +instead of balers." + +"But--" + +"Go inside, sir, please, out of the wet, and see to your things being +kept dry. I was 'zaggerating, being a bit excited; that's all. I don't +want you, and I daresay the storm's nearly over now." + +The sound of dipping water and pouring it over the side went on merrily +in the darkness and brilliant light alternately, for, in spite of the +guide's words, there seemed to be no sign of the storm abating, and +while the men were busy outside Brazier and the two boys set to work +piling the various objects they wished to keep dry upon the barrels +which had been utilised for their stores, for the water had invaded the +covered-in part of the boat to a serious extent, and threatened more +damage every moment. + +A few minutes later, though, the efforts of the men began to show, and +Shaddy appeared again for one moment, his face being visible in the +glare of light, but was hidden the next. + +"Getting the water down fast now, sir," he said. "Hope you haven't much +mischief done." + +"A great many things soaked." + +"That don't matter, sir, so long as your stores are right. Sun'll dry +everything in an hour or two." + +"But when is it coming, Shaddy?" + +"'Fore long, sir." + +They did not see him go, but knew from the sound of his voice the next +minute that he was in the fore-part of the boat, ordering his men to +take up some of the boards. + +Ten minutes later the rain ceased as suddenly as it had begun. There +was a vivid flash of lightning, a long pause, and then a deep-toned +roar, while all at once the interior of the little cabin became visible, +and a little later the sun came out to shine brilliantly on what looked +like a lake of thick mist. + +"Will one of you young gents unfasten the stern rope?" cried Shaddy, +"and we'll get out from under this dripping tree." + +"All right!" cried Rob, and he turned to throw open the stern end of the +awning, while Brazier and Joe went in the other direction to where the +men were still baling, but scraping the bottom hard at every scoop of +the tins they were using. + +The stern end of the canvas was secured by a couple of straps, similar +to those used in small tents, and these were so wet that it was not easy +to get them out of the buckles, but with a little exertion this was +done, and Rob parted the ends like the curtains of a bed, peered out at +the dripping foliage, and shut them to again, startled by what he saw. + +After a few moments' hesitation, he was roused to action by a shout from +Shaddy. + +"Can't you get it undone, sir?" + +"Yes, I think so. Wait a moment," cried Rob huskily, and opening the +canvas curtain once more, he stepped out boldly and faced that which had +startled him before, this being nothing less than the puma. For it had +either leaped from the shore into the boat or crept out along one of the +great horizontal boughs of the tree and then dropped lightly down to +take its place right in the stern, where it was sitting up licking its +drenched coat as contentedly as some huge cat. + +It looked so different in its soaked state that for the moment Rob was +disposed to think it another of the occupants of the forest, but his +doubts were immediately set aside by the animal ceasing its occupation +and giving its head a rub against him as, hardly knowing what to do, the +boy unfastened the rope in obedience to orders, set the boat free, and +then wished he had not done so till the puma had been driven ashore. + +"All right, sir?" shouted Shaddy, who was hidden, like the rest, by the +intervening cabin-like structure. + +"Yes," cried Rob, as the puma set up its ears and looked angrily in the +direction from which the voices came, while the boat began to glide out +through the dripping boughs, and the next minute was steaming in the hot +sunshine. + +"What shall I do?" thought Rob, who was now in an agony of perplexity, +longing to call to his companions and yet in his confusion dreading to +utter a word, for the fear was upon him that the moment the puma caught +sight of Brazier it would fly at him. And again he mentally asked the +question, "What shall I do?" + +Meanwhile the puma had continued contentedly enough to lick its coat, +sitting up on the narrow thwart at the end once more exactly like a cat, +and in such a position that Rob felt how easy it would be to give the +creature a sharp thrust and send it overboard, when it would be sure to +swim ashore and relieve him of his perplexity. + +While he was hesitating, the word "Oh!" was uttered close behind him, +and looking sharply round, there was the wondering face of Joe thrust +out between the canvas hangings, which he held tightly round his neck, +being evidently too much startled to speak or move. + +"It came on board, Joe, during the storm," whispered Rob; "whatever +shall we do?" + +The lad made no answer for a few moments, and then in a hurried +whisper-- + +"Call Mr Brazier to shoot it." + +This roused Rob. + +"What for?" he said angrily; "the poor thing's as tame as can be. +Look!" + +He took a step toward the great cat-like creature, and it ceased licking +itself and leaned sideways as if to be caressed. + +At that moment Joe popped back his head, and Brazier's voice was +heard:-- + +"They want the grapnel lowered, Rob, my lad. Can you--Why, whatever is +this?" + +The aspect of the puma changed in an instant. Its ears went down nearly +flat upon its head, and it started upon all-fours, tossing its tail +about and uttering a menacing growl. + +Brazier started back, and Rob knew for what. + +"No, no, Mr Brazier," he cried; "don't do that. The poor thing came on +board during the storm. It's quite tame. Look here, sir, look." + +As he spoke in quite a fit of desperation, he began patting and soothing +the animal, and when Brazier peered out again, in company with a loaded +gun, the puma was responding to Rob's caresses in the most friendly way. + +"Anything the matter, sir?" said Shaddy from beyond the cabin. "Can't +you get the grapnel overboard?" + +"Come and look here," whispered Brazier; and their guide crept into the +cabin and peered out behind, his face puckering up into a grin. + +"What is to be done?" whispered Brazier; "I can't fire without hitting +the boy." + +"Then I wouldn't fire, sir," replied Shaddy. "'Sides, there ain't no +need. The thing's quite a cub, I think, and tame enough. I don't +suppose it'll show fight if we let it alone." + +"Stop, man! What are you going to do?" + +"Go to 'em," replied Shaddy coolly. + +"But it will spring at you. It turned threateningly on me just now." + +"Don't seem to on Master Rob, sir, and I don't think it will. What do +you say to going first, Mr Jovanni?" + +"No," said the lad shortly. "I don't like animals." + +"Well, then, here goes," said Shaddy coolly. "Don't shoot, sir, unless +the crittur turns very savage, and then not till I say, `Now!'" + +He thrust the two canvas curtains apart quietly and stepped into the +little open space astern, when once more the puma's aspect changed and +it turned upon the new-comer menacingly. + +"Pat him again, Master Rob," said Shaddy quietly. "I want to make +friends too. Here, old chap," he continued, sitting down, as Rob +hurriedly patted and stroked the animal's head, "let's have a look at +you. Come, may I pat you too?" + +He stretched out his hand, but the puma drew back suspiciously, and, +with the others watching the scene, he remained quiet while Rob +redoubled his caresses, and the puma began to utter its low, rumbling, +purring sound. + +"Only wants time, Mr Brazier, sir," said Shaddy quietly. "I don't +think the brute's a bit savage. Only thinks we mean mischief and is +ready to fight for himself. I could be friends with him in an hour or +two. What's best to be done--get him ashore?" + +"Yes, as soon as possible." + +"All right, sir; you go and tell the men to back the boat in to where we +landed before." + +The canvas hangings dropped to, and Shaddy sat perfectly still, watching +the actions of their strange visitor and talking in a low voice to Rob, +while a low creaking began as two of the men forward thrust out their +oars and backed water. + +Slight as the sound was, that and the motion of the boat startled the +animal, which began to look about uneasily, but a touch or two from Rob +calmed it directly, and after responding to his caresses it turned to +look curiously at Shaddy, taking a step forward and then stopping. + +"Well, what do you think of me, puss, eh?" said Shaddy quietly. "I say, +Mr Rob, you and I had better keep him and set up as lion-tamers." + +The rough voice had its effect upon the animal, which ceased its purring +sound and backed away close to Rob, against whom it stood, and began +watching the bank toward which the boat was being thrust. + +"How are we to get it ashore?" said Rob at last. + +"You want it to go, then?" + +"No," replied Rob, "I don't. It is so very tame, I should like to keep +it, but it does not care for anybody else." + +"Don't mind me seemingly," said Shaddy. "Well, the best thing will be +for you to jump ashore as soon as we're close in, and then it strikes me +he'll come after you, and if you kept on petting him he'd follow you +anywhere." + +"You think so, Shaddy?" + +"Feel sure of it, sir, but it ain't like a dog. You can't make a +companion of a scratching thing like that." + +"Why not? A dog's a biting thing," said Rob shortly. + +"Well, yes, sir, but here we are. Better get him ashore. There ain't +room for him aboard here. There might be a row, for he ain't ready to +make friends with everybody." + +Rob stepped on to the gunwale rather unwillingly, for, in a misty way, +he was beginning to wonder whether it was possible for him to retain the +puma as a companion, though all the time he could see the difficulties +in the way. + +He leaped ashore, and, as Shaddy had suggested, the puma immediately +made a light effortless bound and landed beside him, pressing close up +to the lad's side and rubbing one ear against his hand, while the +occupants of the boat looked wonderingly on. + +"What am I to do next?" asked Rob. "If I jump back on board, he'll come +too." + +"Safe," said Shaddy; "and there's no more room for passengers. Here, +stop a moment; I have it." + +"What are you going to do?" said Brazier, who was watching the movements +of the puma with anxiety on Rob's behalf, but with keen interest all the +same, as he saw the active creature suddenly throw itself down by the +boy's feet and, playful as a kitten, begin to pat at first one boot and +then the other, ending by rubbing its head upon them, watching their +owner all the time. + +"I'm going to get Mr Rob aboard without that great cat, sir, and this +seems best way." + +He drew his knife, raised the tarpaulin, and cut off a good-sized piece +of the deer meat; then, bidding the men to take their oars and be ready +to row at the first command, he turned to Rob. + +"Look here, sir," he said, "I'll pitch you the piece of dried meat. You +catch it and then carry it a few yards, and let the lion smell it. Give +it him behind one of those bushes, and as soon as he is busy eating it +dodge round the bush and come aboard. We'll soon have the boat too far +for him to jump." + +He threw the piece of dry meat to the boy, who caught it and walked as +directed, the puma following him eagerly and sniffing at the food. + +The next minute those in the boat saw Rob disappear behind a clump of +low growth, and directly after he reappeared running toward them just +as, uneasy at his being out of sight with the fierce creature, Brazier +had called upon Giovanni to bring his gun and accompany him ashore. + +But Rob's reappearance of course stopped this, and the next minute he +was on board and being rowed away from the shore. + +"It seems too bad," cried Rob, "just as if one was cheating the poor +thing. Look, there it is." + +For just then the puma stalked out from behind the bushes and stood +tossing its tail and looking round as if in search of Rob, ending by +walking quickly down to the edge of the lake and standing there gazing +after the boat, which was now being rowed slowly down once more toward +the scene of their adventure with the swift current, Brazier having +decided to stay one more day at the lower part of the lake before +descending the river farther; and the object now in view was the +discovery of a fresh halting-place for the night. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +AN INTERNATIONAL QUARREL. + +"What's the matter, Rob?" said Brazier, as he turned suddenly from where +he had been laying various articles of clothing out in the warm sunshine +to dry and found the two lads seated together in silence, Rob with his +elbows on the side of the boat and his chin in his, hands, gazing back +ashore. + +"I can't get a word out of him, sir," said Joe. "I think it's because +the lion was left behind." + +"Nonsense! Rob is not so childish as to fret after a toy he cannot +have. Come, my lad, there is plenty to do. We must make use of the +evening sun to get everything possible dry. Come and help. Wet clothes +and wet sleeping-places may mean fever." + +Rob looked reproachfully at Joe, and began to hurry himself directly, +his movement bringing him in contact with Shaddy, who was dividing his +time between keeping a sharp look-out along the shore for a good +halting-place suitable for making a fire, giving instructions to his +men, and using a sponge with which to sop up every trace of moisture he +could find within the boat. + +"There, Mr Rob, sir," he said as he gave the sponge a final squeeze +over the side, "I think that'll about do. It's an ill wind that blows +nobody any good. That storm has done one thing--given the boat a good +wash-out--and if we make a big fire to-night and dry everything that got +wet, we shall be all the better for it. Don't see storms like that in +England, eh?" + +"No," said Rob shortly, and he took down and began rubbing the moisture +from his gun. + +"Ah, that's right, my lad; always come down sharp on the rust, and stop +it from going any further. Why, hullo! not going to be ill, are you?" + +Rob shook his head. + +"You look as dumps as dumps, Mr Rob, sir. I know you're put out about +that great cat being left behind." + +Rob was silent. + +"That's it. Why, never mind that, my lad. You can get plenty of things +to tame and pet, if you want 'em, though I say as we eight folks is +quite enough in one boat without turning it into a wild beast show." + +Rob went on rubbing the barrel of his gun. + +"What do you say to a nice young pet snake, sir?" said Shaddy, with his +eyes twinkling, till Rob darted an angry glance at him, when he changed +his tone and manner. + +"Tell you what, sir, I'll get one of my boys to climb a tree first time +I see an old one with some good holes in. He shall get you a nice young +parrot to bring up. You'll like them; they're full of tricks, and as +tame as can be. Why, one of them would live on the top of the cabin, +and climb about in a way as would amoose you for hours." + +Rob darted another angry look at him. + +"And do you think I want a parrot to amuse me for hours?" he said +bitterly. + +"Have a monkey," said Joe, who had heard the last words. "Shaddy will +get you a young one, and you can pet that and teach it to play tricks +without any risk to anybody, if you must have a plaything." + +He accompanied this with so taunting a look that it fired Rob's temper, +just at a time when he was bitterly disappointed at the result of his +adventure. Joe's words, too, conveyed the boy's feeling, which was +something akin to jealousy of the new object which took so much of the +young Englishman's thoughts. + +Stung then by his companion's words and look, Rob turned upon him and +said sarcastically,-- + +"Thank you: one monkey's enough on board at a time." + +The young Italian's eyes flashed, as, quick as lightning, he took the +allusion to mean himself, and he turned sharply away without a word, and +went right aft to sit gazing back over the water. + +"Well, you've been and done it now, Mr Rob, and no mistake," whispered +Shaddy. "You've made Master Jovanni's pot boil over on to the fire, and +it ain't water, but oil." + +"Oh, I am sorry, Shaddy," said Rob in a low tone, for all his own anger +had evaporated the moment he saw the effect of his words on the +hot-blooded young Southerner. + +"Sorry, lad? I should think you are. Why, if I said such a thing as +that to an Italian man, I should think the best thing I could do would +be to go and live in old England again, where there would be plenty of +policemen to take care of me." + +"But I was not serious." + +"Ay, but you were, my lad, and that's the worst of it. You said it in a +passion on purpose to sting him, and he's as thin-skinned as a silkworm. +He has gone yonder thinking you despise him and consider he's no better +than a monkey, and if you'd set to for six hundred years trying to think +out the nastiest thing you could invent to hurt his feelings you +couldn't have hit on a worse." + +"But it was a mere nothing--the thought of the moment, Shaddy," +whispered Rob. + +"O' course it was, dear lad, but, you see, that thought of the moment, +as you call it, has put his back up. For long enough now English folk +have said nasty things to Italians, comparing 'em to monkeys, because of +some of 'em going over to England playing organs and showing a monkey at +the end of a string. You see, they're so proud and easily affronted +that such a word feels like a wapps's sting and worries 'em for days." + +"I'll go and beg his pardon. I am sorry." + +"Won't be no good now, sir. Better wait till he has cooled down." + +"I wish I hadn't said it, Shaddy." + +"Ay, that's what lots of us feels, sir, sometimes in our lives. I hit a +man on the nose aboard a river schooner once, and knocked him through +the gangway afterwards into the water, and as soon as I'd done it I +wished I hadn't, but that didn't make him dry." + +"I wish he had turned round sharply and hit me," said Rob. + +"Ah, it's a pity he didn't, isn't it?" said Shaddy drily. "You wouldn't +have hit him again, of course. You're just the sort o' young chap to +let a lad hit you, and put your fists in your pockets to keep 'em quiet, +and say, `Thanky,' ain't you?" + +"What do you mean--that I should have hit him again?" + +"Why, of course I do, and the next moment you two would have been +punching and wrestling and knocking one another all over the boat, till +Mr Brazier had got hold of one and I'd got hold of the other, and +bumped you both down and sat upon you. I don't know much, but I do know +what boys is when they've got their monkeys up." + +"Don't talk about monkeys," whispered Rob hotly; "I wish there wasn't a +monkey on the face of the earth." + +"Wish again, Mr Rob, sir, as hard as ever you can, and it won't do a +bit o' good." + +"Don't talk nonsense, Shaddy," said Rob angrily. + +"That's right, sir; pitch into me now. Call me something; it'll do you +good. Call me a rhinoceros, if you like. It won't hurt me. I've got a +skin just as thick as one of them lovely animals. Go it." + +"I do wish you would talk sense," cried Rob, in a low, earnest whisper. +"You know I've no one to go and talk to about anything when I want +advice." + +"No, I don't," said Shaddy gruffly. "There's Muster Brazier." + +"Just as if he would want to be bothered when his head's full of his +specimens and he's thinking about nothing else but classifying and +numbering and labelling! He'd laugh, and call it a silly trifle, and +tell us to shake hands." + +"Good advice, too, my lad, but not now. Wait a bit." + +"I can't wait, knowing I've upset poor old Joe like that. I want to be +friends at once." + +"That's good talk, my lad, only it won't work at present." + +"Ah, now you're talking sensibly and like a friend," said Rob. "But why +will it not do now?" + +"'Cause Mr Jovanni ain't English. He's nursing that all up, and it +isn't his natur' to shake hands yet. Give the fire time to burn out, +and then try him, my lad; he'll be a different sort then to deal with." + +Rob was silent for a few minutes. + +"That's good advice, Mr Rob, sir, and so I tell you; but I mustn't stop +here talking. It'll soon be sundown, and then, you know, it's dark +directly, and 'fore then we must be landed and the lads making a good +fire. I wish Mr Brazier would come and give more orders about our +halting-place to-night." + +"He's too busy with his plants, Shaddy; and I ought to be helping him." + +"Then why don't you go, my lad?" + +"How can I, with Joe sitting there looking as if I had offended him for +life? I'll go and shake hands at once." + +"No, you won't, lad." + +"But I will." + +"He won't let you." + +"Won't he?" said Rob firmly. "I'm in the wrong, and I'll tell him so +frankly, and ask him to forgive me." + +"And then he won't; and, what's worse, he'll think you're afraid of him, +because it is his natur' to." + +"We'll see," said Rob; and going round outside the canvas awning by +holding on to the iron stretchers and ropes, he reached the spot where +Joe sat staring fixedly astern, perfectly conscious of Rob's presence, +but frowning and determined upon a feud. + +Rob glanced back, and could see Brazier through the opening in the +canvas busily examining his specimens, so as to see if any had grown +damp through the rain. Then, feeling that, if he whispered, their +conversation would not be heard, Rob began. + +"Joe!" + +There was no reply. + +"Joe, old chap, I'm so sorry." Still the young Italian gazed over the +lake. "I say, Joe, it's like being alone almost, you here and I out +there. We can't afford to quarrel. Shake hands, old fellow." + +Joe frowned more deeply. + +"Oh, come, you shall," whispered Rob. "I say, here, give me your hand +like a man. I was put out about losing the puma, because I was sure I +could tame it; and it would have made such a jolly pet to go travelling +with. It could have lived on the shore and only been on board when we +were going down the river. It put me out, and I said that stupid thing +about the monkey." + +Joe started round with his eyes flashing. + +"Do you want me to strike you a blow?" he hissed angrily. + +"No; I want you to put your fist in mine and to say we're good friends +again. I apologise. I'm very sorry." + +"Keep your apologies. You are a mean coward to call me a name like +that. If we were ashore instead of on a boat, I should strike you." + +"No, you wouldn't," said Rob sturdily. + +"What! you think I am afraid?" + +"No; but you would be a coward if you did, because I tell you that I +should not hit you again." + +"Because you dare not," said the young Italian, with a sneer. + +Rob flushed up angrily, and his words belied his feelings, which +prompted him, to use his own expression, to punch the Italian's head, +for he said,-- + +"Perhaps I am afraid, but never mind if I am. You and I are not going +to quarrel about such a trifle as all this." + +"A trifle? To insult me as you did?" + +"Don't be so touchy, Joe," cried Rob. "Come, shake hands." + +But the lad folded his arms across his breast, and at that moment there +was the sharp report of Brazier's gun and a heavy splashing in the water +among the lily leaves close up to the drooping trees which hid the cause +of the turmoil. + +There was a little excitement among the men as the boat was rowed close +in under the trees, and there, half in the water, lay one of the curious +animals known as a water-pig, or carpincho. + +A rope was immediately made fast to tow the dead animal to the +halting-place to cut up for the evening meal, but before they had rowed +far Shaddy shouted to the men to stop. + +"That won't do," he cried. + +"What's the matter, Shaddy?" + +"Matter?" growled the guide; "why, can't you see, sir? There won't be a +bit left by the time we've gone a mile. Look at 'em tearing away at it. +Well, I never shall have any sense in my head. To think of me not +knowing any better than that!" + +He unfastened the rope hanging astern, and hauled the dead animal along +the side to the bows of the boat, with fish large and small dashing at +it and tugging away by hundreds, making the water boil, as it were, +with, their rapid movement. + +"Tchah! I'm growing stoopid, I think," growled Shaddy as he hauled the +water-pig in over the bows, the fish hanging on and leaping up at it +till it was out of reach; and then their journey was continued till a +suitable halting-place was reached, where by a roaring fire objects that +required drying were spread out, while the meat was cooked and the +coffee made, so that by the time they lay down to rest in the boat there +was not much cause for fear of fever. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +A CATASTROPHE. + +The next morning the sun was drinking up the mists at a wonderful rate +when Rob opened his eyes, saw Joe close by him fast asleep, and raised +his hand to give him a friendly slap, but he checked himself. + +"We're not friends yet," he said to himself, with a curious, regretful +feeling troubling him; and as he went forward to get one of the men to +fill him a bucket of water for his morning bath, for the first time +since leaving England he felt dismal and low-spirited. + +"Morning, sir!" said Shaddy. "Mr Joe not wakened yet?" + +"No." + +"Did you two make friends 'fore you went to sleep?" + +"No, Shaddy." + +"Then I lay tuppence it wasn't your fault. What a pity it was you let +your tongue say that about the monkey!" + +"Yes, Shaddy," said Rob as he plunged his head into the pail and had a +good cool sluice. "I wish I hadn't now. It was a great pity." + +"True, sir, it was. You see, there ain't no room in a boat for +quarrelling, and if it came to a fight you'd both go overboard together +and be eaten by the fish afore you knew where you were. And that would +not be pleasant, would it?" + +"Don't talk nonsense, Shaddy," said Rob shortly as he plunged his head +into the bucket again. + +"Certinly not, sir," replied the man seriously. "You see, I know how it +would be as well as can be. 'Talian lads don't fight like English lads. +They can't hit out straight and honest, but clings and cuddles and +wrastles. Soon as ever you began he'd fly at you, and tie his arms and +legs about you in knots, and hamper you so that you couldn't keep your +balance, and as there's no room in the boat, you'd be ketching your toe +somewhere, and over you'd go. If I were you, Mr Rob, sir, I wouldn't +fight him." + +"Will you leave off talking all that stupid nonsense, Shaddy?" cried Rob +angrily as he began now polishing his head and face with the towel. +"Who is going to fight? I suppose you think it's very clever to keep on +with this banter, but I can see through you plainly enough." + +Shaddy chuckled. + +"All right, sir; I won't say no more. Give him time, and don't notice +him, and then I daresay he'll soon come round." + +"I shall go on just as if nothing had happened," said Rob quietly. "I +apologised and said I was sorry, and when his annoyance has passed off +he'll be friends again. What a glorious morning after the storm!" + +"Glorious ain't nothing to it, sir. Everything's washed clean, and the +air shines with it. Even looks as if the sun had got his face washed, +too. See how he flashes." + +"I can feel, Shaddy," said Rob, with a laugh. + +"That's nothing to what's coming, my lad. Strikes me, too, that we +shall find a little more water in the stream, if Mr Brazier says we're +to go down the river to-day. Hear the birds?" + +"Hear them?" cried Rob. "Why, they are ten times as lively to-day." + +"That they are, sir. They're having a regular feast on the things +washed out of their holes by the rain. As for the flowers, Mr Brazier +will have no end of beauties to pick. They'll come out like magic after +this rain. He won't want to go on to-day." + +"Yes, I shall, Naylor," said Brazier, stepping out from under the +awning. "We may as well go on, beautiful as all this is. Ah," he +continued as he gazed round and took a long, deep breath, "what +gloriously elastic air! What a paradise! Rob, my lad, there can be +nothing fairer on earth." + +"Don't you be in a hurry, sir!" growled Shaddy. "I'm going to show you +places as beat this hollow." + +"Impossible, my man!" said Brazier. + +"Well, sir, you wait and see. Bit o' breakfast before we start?" + +"Yes," said Brazier, and the men just then stirred the fire together, +and called from the shore that the water was boiling and the cakes in +the embers baked. + +The sensation of delicious comparative coolness after the storm as they +sat under the trees, and the fragrance borne from myriads of flowering +plants was so delightful to the senses that Rob looked with dismay at +the idea of leaving the place for the present. The thirsty ground had +drunk up the rain, and only a little moisture remained where the sun +could not penetrate, while the sky was of a vivid blue, without a speck +of cloud to be seen. + +But, though Brazier did not notice it, there was a jarring element in +the concord of that glorious morning, for the young Italian was heavy +and gloomy, and hardly spoke during the _alfresco_ meal. + +"What's that?" said Rob suddenly as there was a slight rustling among +the boughs and undergrowth a short distance away. + +"Might be anything, sir," said Shaddy. "Some little animal--monkey +praps. It won't hurt us. Maybe it's a snake." + +In spite of an effort to seem unconcerned, Rob could not resist the +desire to glance at his comrade at the mention of the monkey, and, as he +fully expected, even though he could not check it, there was Joe glaring +at him fiercely. + +Rob dropped his eyes, feeling that Joe fully believed he was doing it to +annoy him, and that Shaddy had the same intention. + +Meanwhile the sound had ceased, and was forgotten by the time they were +all on board once more, the rope which had moored them to a tree being +cast off. + +"Now, my lads, away with you!" growled Shaddy, and the oars dropped +among the lily leaves with a splash, startling quite a shoal of fish on +one side and a large reptile on the other, which raised quite a wave as +it dashed off with a few powerful strokes of its tail for deeper water. + +They were about fifty yards from the shore, when Shaddy suddenly laid +his hand upon Rob's shoulder and pointed back to the place they had just +left. + +"See that, my lad?" + +"No. What?" cried Rob hastily. "Bird? lizard?" + +"Nay; look again." + +Rob swept the shore eagerly, and the next moment his eyes lit upon +something tawny standing in a shady spot, half hidden by the leaves. + +"The puma!" he cried excitedly, and as the words left his lips the +animal made one bound into the undergrowth near the trees, and was gone. + +"Or another, one, Rob," said Brazier. "It is hardly likely to be the +same. There are plenty about, I suppose, Naylor?" + +"Oh yes, sir. Can't say as they swarm, but they're pootty plentiful, +and as much like each other as peas in a pod." + +"But I feel sure that is the same one," cried Rob excitedly. "It is +following us down the lake." + +"Maybe," grumbled Shaddy, "but you couldn't tell at this distance." + +Rob was going to speak again, but he caught sight of Joe's face, with a +peculiar smile thereon, and he held his peace. + +An hour later they were drawing close to the mouth of the river, where +it quitted the lake, and Shaddy pointed to the shores on either side. + +"Look at that," he said in a low tone. "I 'spected as much." + +"Look at what?" said Rob. + +"The trees. Water's two foot up the trunks, and the river over its +banks, lad. We shall go down pootty fast it I don't look out." + +But he did "look out," to use his own words, and getting the boat round, +he set the four men to back stern foremost into the stream, keeping a +long oar over the side to steer by and giving orders to the men to pull +gently or hard as he gave instructions, for the river ran like a +mill-race. It was swift enough before, but now, thanks to the +tremendous amount of water poured into it through the previous night's +storm, its speed seemed to be doubled. + +Rob stood close by the steersman, while Joe was beside Mr Brazier, who, +after the first minute or two of startled interest in their rapid +descent, became absorbed in the beauty of the overhanging plants, and +had no eyes for anything else. + +"We're going along at a tidy rate, Master Rob," said Shaddy. + +"Yes; the trees glide by very quickly." + +"Ay, they do, sir," said the man, who did not take his eyes from the +surface of the river before them. "I did mean to make the boys pull so +that we could go down gently, but it wouldn't be much good, and only +toil 'em for nothing." + +"There's no danger, I suppose, Shaddy?" + +"No, sir, no, not much, unless we run on a sharp snag or trunk of a +tree, or get swept into a corner and capsized." + +"What?" cried Rob. + +"Capsized, sir. That would make an end of our expedition. Now, lads," +he shouted to the men, "pull your best." + +He gave his own oar a peculiar twist as the men obeyed, and Rob caught +sight of the danger ahead for the first time. It was a huge tree which +had been undermined by the water during the past few hours and fallen +right out into the stream, its top being over a hundred feet from the +shore and showing quite a dense tangle of branches level with the water, +to have entered which must have meant wreck. + +But Shaddy was too much on the _qui vive_, and his timely order and +careful steering enabled him to float the craft gently by the outermost +boughs. + +They were going onward again at increased speed, when Brazier shouted,-- + +"Stop! I must have some of those plants." + +Shaddy did not stir. + +"Do you hear, man? Stop! I want to collect some of those epiphytic +plants." + +By this time they were nearly a hundred yards past, and Shaddy looked at +the enthusiastic collector with a comical expression on his face. + +"Always glad to obey orders, sir," he said drily; "but how can I stop +the boat now? Look at the water." + +"But you should have caught hold of one of the boughs, man." + +"When we were fifty yards away, sir?" + +"Then pull back to the tree." + +Shaddy smiled again. + +"It ain't to be done, sir, no, not if I'd eight oars going instead of +four. There's no making head against the river now it's running like +this." + +"Then we've made a mistake in coming to-day," cried Brazier anxiously. + +"Well, no, sir, because before night we shall have made a big run right +into the country you want to see, without tiring my lads, and I want to +save them up. But there's no stopping to-day for collecting." + +"But shall we be able to land somewhere?" + +"Hope so, sir. If we can't we shall have to go on. But you leave it to +me, sir, and I'll do my best. Don't talk to me now, because I've got to +steer and look out against an upset, and, as you know, bathing ain't +pleasant in these waters." + +Brazier looked uneasy, and went and sat down in the stern, to become +absorbed soon after in the beauty of the scene as they raced down the +silvery flashing river, while Joe, who was near him, appeared to be +looking at the birds and wondrous butterflies which flapped across from +shore to shore, but really seeing nothing but one of a company of +monkeys, which, after the fashion of their kind, were trying to keep +pace with the boat by bounding and swinging themselves from tree to tree +along the shore. + +That seemed to the young Italian's disordered imagination, blurred, as +it were, by rankling anger, like the monkey to which his companion had +compared him, and his annoyance grew hotter, not only against Rob, but +against himself for refusing to shake hands and once more be friends. + +Meanwhile Rob stayed in the fore-part of the boat talking to Shaddy, who +stood on one of the thwarts, so as to get a better view of the river +ahead over the cabin roof, and kept on making an observation to the boy +from time to time. + +"Easy travelling this, my lad, only a bit too fast." + +"Oh, I don't know; it's very delightful," said Rob. + +"Glad you like it, my lad; but I wish Mr Jovanni wouldn't sit on the +starn like that. He ought to know better. Least touch, and over he'd +go." + +"Look: what's that, Shaddy?" cried Rob, pointing to a black-looking +animal standing knee-deep in water staring at them as they passed. + +Shaddy screwed his eye round for a moment, but did not turn his head. + +"Don't you get taking my 'tention off my work!" he growled. "That's a-- +that's a--well, I shall forget my own name directly!--a +what-you-may-call-it--name like a candle." + +"Tapir," cried Rob. + +"That's him, my lad. Any one would think you had been born on 'Merican +rivers. Rum pig-like crittur, with a snout like a little elephant's +trunk, to ketch hold of grass and branches and nick 'em into his mouth. +I say--" + +"Well, what, Shaddy?" said Rob. The man had stopped to bear hard upon +his oar. + +"Pull, my lads," he growled to his men. "Hold tight, every one. I +didn't see it soon enough. Tree trunk!" + +Rob seized one of the supports of the cabin roofing and gazed over it at +what seemed like a piece of bark just before them, and the next moment +there was a smart shock, a tremendous swirl in the water, and a shower +of spray poured over them like drops of silver in the bright sunshine, +as something black, which Rob took for a denuded branch, waved in the +air, and Joe plumped down into the bottom of the boat. + +Shaddy chuckled and wiped the water out of his eye. + +"I'm thinking so much about trees washed from the bank that I can't see +anything else." + +"But it was only a small tree, Shaddy, and did us no harm." + +"Warn't a tree at all, lad, only a 'gator fast asleep on the top of the +water going west and warming his back in the sun same time." + +"An alligator?" + +"Yes, my lad. Didn't you see what a flap he gave with his tail! But +now just look there at Mr Jovanni. I call it rank obstinit. Just as +if there was no other place where he could sit but right on the starn! +There, you're friends, and he'll take it better from you. Go through +the cabin and ask him to get off. I don't want him to go overboard." + +"Neither do I, Shaddy, but we are not friends, and if I ask him he will +stop there all the more." + +"Then I must," said Shaddy. "Hi, Mr Jovanni, sir! Don't sit there; it +ain't safe." + +"Oh yes, I'm quite safe," cried the boy sharply. "Never mind me." + +"Hark at him! Don't mind him! What'll his father say to me if I go +back without him? Pull, lads, pull!" + +Shaddy's order was necessary, for a huge tree--unmistakably a tree this +time--lay right across their way just where the river made a sudden bend +round to their left. + +The better way would have been to have gone to the right, where there +was more room, but, the curve of the river being of course on that side +greater, there would not have been time to get round before the boat was +swept in amongst the branches, so perforce their steersman made for the +left. + +This took them close in to where the bank should have been, but which +was now submerged, and the boat floated close in to the great wall of +trees marking the edge of the stream, and so little room was there that, +to avoid the floating tree-top, the boat was forced close in shore, +where the stream at the bend ran furiously. + +"Look out!" roared Shaddy. "Heads down!" and Rob, who had been watching +the obstacle in their way, only just had time to duck down as, with a +tremendous rushing and crackling sound, they passed right through a mass +of pendent boughs which threatened to sweep the boat clear of cabin and +crew as well, as the stream urged it on. + +The trouble only lasted a few seconds, though, and then they were +through and floating swiftly round the inner curve toward an open patch +of the shore which rose all clear of water and tree. + +"Anybody hurt?" cried Brazier from inside the cabin; "I thought the +place was going to be swept away after I had dived in here." + +"No, sir; we're all right," cried Rob. "I nearly lost my cap, though, +and--Oh! where's Joe?" + +"Eh?" cried Shaddy, looking forward. "Why, he was--gone!" + +All faced round to look back just in time to catch an indistinct glimpse +of their companion apparently clinging to a bough overhanging the +stream; but the next moment the intervening branches hid him from their +sight, and a look of horror filled every face. + +"Did--did you see him, Shaddy?" panted Rob. + +"Thought I did, sir, but couldn't be sure," growled Shaddy, and then +furiously to his men, "Row--row with all your might!" + +The men obeyed, making their oars bend as they tugged away with such +effect that they advanced a few yards. But that was all. The current +was too sharp, and they lost ground again. Then, in spite of all their +efforts, the most they could do was to hold their own for a minute +before having to give way, pull in shore, and seize the overhanging +boughs to which Shaddy and Brazier now clung to keep the boat from +drifting. + +"Better land, sir," cried Shaddy. "We can't reach him this way." + +"Reach him?" cried Rob piteously, and then to himself, "Oh! Joe, Joe, +why didn't you shake hands?" + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +A FRESH PERIL. + +Shaddy's advice was easier to give than to execute. For though by +holding on to the boughs they were able to anchor the boat, it proved to +be a difficult task to force it in among the submerged stems to the spot +where the clear space of elevated ground offered a satisfactory +landing-place. + +Thanks to the skill of the boatmen, however, a landing was at last +achieved, and as soon as Brazier leaped ashore he was followed by Rob +and Shaddy, the latter giving his men a few sharp orders before joining +the others, who were trying to force their way back along the bank +toward where they had last seen their companion. + +This was difficult, but possible for a short distance, and they pressed +on hopefully, for, consequent upon the sudden turn of the river here +forming a loop, they had only to cross this sharp bend on foot, not a +quarter of the distance it would have been to row round. + +But before they had gone fifty yards the high-and-dry land ended, and +Rob, who was, thanks to his activity, first, was about to wade in and +continue his way among the submerged roots. + +But Shaddy roared at him,-- + +"No, no, my lad; don't make matters worse! You mustn't do that. The +things have moved out of the river in here to be away from the rush and +to get food. We don't want you pulled under." + +"But we must go on, Naylor," cried Brazier in agony. + +"It ain't the way to help him, getting ourselves killed, sir," retorted +Shaddy. "Let's get more in. Water don't go far." + +He was quite right, for after about ten minutes' struggle along the edge +they found themselves as nearly as they could guess about opposite to +the spot where their unfortunate companion had been swept out of the +boat, but about a hundred yards inland and separated from the regular +bed of the stream by a dense growth of trees, whose boughs interlaced +and stopped all vision in every direction, more especially toward the +river. + +"You see, we must wade," cried Rob; and he stepped into the water with a +plash, but Shaddy's strong hand gripped him by the shoulder and drew him +back. + +"I tell you it's madness, boy. If he's alive still you couldn't reach +him that way." + +"If he's alive!" groaned Rob. + +"If he's alive," said Shaddy, repeating his words. "Steady a moment! +He may be up in one of the boughs, for he's as active as a monkey in +rigging and trees." + +Then, putting his hands to his mouth, he shouted in stentorian tones,-- + +"Ahoy! ahoy!" + +But there was no response, and Rob and Brazier exchanged glances, their +faces full of despair. + +"Ahoy!" shouted Shaddy once more. + +Still no reply, and a cold chill ran through Rob and his eyes grew dim +as he thought of the bright, handsome, dark-eyed lad who had been his +companion so long, and with whom he had been such friends till the +miserable little misunderstanding had thrust them apart. + +"It must be farther on," said Brazier at last, when shout after shout +had been sent up without avail. + +"Think so, sir?" said Shaddy gloomily. "I thought it was about here, +but p'r'aps you're right. Come on. River made a big twist there, and +it's hard to tell distance shut up half in the dark among the trees. I +did hope," he continued, as he forced his way in among the trees and +held boughs aside for them to follow, "that the poor lad had swung +himself up and would have made his way like a squirrel from branch to +branch till he reached dry land, but it don't seem to be so. There, +sir, we must be 'bout opposite where we saw him. Can't be no farther. +Ahoy! ahoy! ahoy!" + +They all listened intently after this, but there was no sound of human +voice, only the shrieking of parrots and chattering of monkeys. + +Shaddy shouted again, with the result that he startled a flock of birds +which were about to settle, but rose again noisily. + +They all shouted together then, but there was no response, and feeling +that their efforts were useless, they went on a short distance, and +tried once more without result. + +"He'd have answered if he had been anywhere near, sir," said Shaddy +gloomily. "I'll go on if you like, but take my word for it he ain't +here." + +Rob looked at both despairingly, but he was obliged to take the guide's +words for those of truth, and, feeling utterly crushed, he slowly +followed the others as they began to return, feeling the while that if +it had not been for the edge of the water by which they walked it would +have been impossible to find their way back through the dense +wilderness. + +Their guide returned by their outward steps as accurately as he could, +but it was not always possible, for in coming out the bushes had been +forced on in the same direction and then sprung back together, after the +fashion of the withes in a fish-trap, and presenting their points, +thorns, and broken stems in a perfect _chevaux de frise_. + +In these cases Shaddy had to select a different path, the exigencies of +the way forcing him more inland, and at last, in spite of his +experience, he stopped short, looked about him and then upwards, seeking +to make out the sky, but it was completely shut off, and they stood in a +twilight gloom. + +"What's the matter, Shaddy?" said Rob at last, after looking at the +man's actions wonderingly; but there was no reply. + +"For goodness sake, man, don't say that you have lost your way," cried +Brazier excitedly. + +Shaddy still remained silent, and took off his hat to scratch his head. + +"Do you hear me, man? Have you lost your way?" + +"Don't see as there's any way to lose," growled Shaddy. "I ain't seen +no path. But I have gone a bit wrong." + +"Here, let me--" began Brazier, but Shaddy interrupted him. + +"Steady, sir, please! Don't wherrit me. I shall hit it off directly. +You two gents stand just as you are, and don't move. Don't even turn +round, or else you'll throw me wrong worse than I am. You see, the +place is all alike, and nothing to guide you. One can't tell which way +to turn." + +"But tell me," said Brazier, "what are you going to do?" + +"There's only one thing to do, sir: find the river, and I'm going to +make casts for it. You both stand fast and answer my whistles; then I +shall know where you are and can come back and start again. If we don't +act sensible we shall lose ourselves altogether and never get out of +it." + +"And then?" said Brazier. + +"Oh, never mind about _then_, sir. I've lost my way a bit, and I'm +going to find it somehow, only give me time." + +"Which way do you think the river lies?" said Rob gloomily. + +"I'm going to try out yonder, sir. You see we've turned and doubled so +that I can't tell where we are." + +"But it's out that way, I'm sure," said Rob, pointing in the opposite +direction. + +"Why are you sure, sir?" + +Rob shook his head. + +"Ah, to be sure, dear lad!" said the guide; "you only think it's out +that way, and I daresay Mr Brazier here thinks it's out another way." + +"Well, I must confess," said Brazier, "that I thought the river lay +behind us." + +"Yes, sir, that's it. I've been lost before with half a dozen, sir, and +every one thought different. One wanted to go one way; one wanted to go +another. Fact is, gentlemen, we neither of us know the way. It's all +guesswork. Once lost, there's nothing to guide you. I can't recollect +this tree or that tree, because they're all so much alike, and it's as +puzzling as being in the dark. There's only one way out of it, and that +is to do as I say; you stand fast, and I'll cast about like a dog does +after losing the scent till I find the right track. Only mind this: if +I don't have you to guide me back with whistle and shout I shall be lost +more and more." + +"You are right, Naylor," said Brazier; "we leave ourselves in your +hands. Go on." + +"Cheer up, Mr Rob, sir; don't be down-hearted. I shall find the way +out of it yet." + +"I was not thinking about myself, Shaddy," said Rob in a choking voice. +"I was thinking about poor Joe." + +"Ah!" said Shaddy in a suppressed voice. Then sharply, "I shall whistle +at first, and one of you keep answering. By-and-by I shall shout like +this." + +He uttered a peculiarly shrill cry, and they all started, for it was +answered from a distance. + +"Why, that's Joe," cried Rob joyfully. "Ahoy! ahoy!" he cried, and +paused to listen. + +"Nay, sir, that wasn't Mr Jovanni, but one of the wild beasts. Sounded +to me like one of them little lions. Stop a bit, though; let's try a +shout or two to see if the boys in the boat can hear us now." + +He hailed half a dozen times at intervals, but there was no reply. + +"Thought not," he said. "Only waste of breath. We've wandered away +farther than I thought, and the trees shuts in sound. Stand fast, +gentlemen, till I come back." + +He paused for a few moments, and then forced his way in amongst the +trees in a direction which Rob felt to be entirely wrong, but in his +despondent state he was too low in spirit to make any opposition, and +after marking the spot where Shaddy had disappeared, he turned round +suddenly, placed his arm across a huge tree trunk, rested his brow +against it, and hid the workings of his face. + +"Come, come, Rob, be a man!" cried Brazier, laying his hand upon the +lad's shoulder. "Never despair, my boy, never despair!" + +"Joe! Joe!" groaned Rob; "it is so horrible!" + +"Not yet. We don't know that he is lost." + +"He must be, sir, he must be, or he would have answered our hails." + +At that moment there was a shout from out of the forest, and Rob started +round as if thinking it might be their young companion, but the cry was +not repeated; a shrill whistle came instead. + +Brazier answered it with a whistle attached to his knife. + +"It was only Shaddy," groaned Rob. "Mr Brazier, you don't know," he +continued. "We two had quarrelled, and had not made friends, and now, +poor fellow, he is gone." + +"No, I will not believe it yet," cried Brazier; "for aught we know, he +may have escaped. He is too clever and quick a lad not to make a +desperate effort to escape. We shall run up against him yet, so cheer +up. Ahoy!" he cried in answer to a hail, and followed it up with a +whistle. + +"Naylor said he should whistle for a time and then hail," said Brazier, +trying to speak cheerfully. "Come, lad, make a brave fight of it. You +are getting faint with hunger, and that makes things look at their +worst, so rouse up. Now then, answer Naylor's signal." + +"I can't, not yet," said Rob huskily. "I am trying, Mr Brazier, and I +will master it all soon." + +Just then the peculiar cry they had first heard rang out again from a +distance. + +"Was that Joe?" whispered Rob, with a ghastly look. "He must be in +peril." + +"No, no; it was a jaguar, I think. There goes Naylor again! Whistle! +whistle!" + +Rob only gazed at him piteously, and Brazier responded to the signal +himself. + +"Come, come, Rob," he whispered, "be a man!" + +The lad made a tremendous effort to conquer his weakness, and turned +away from the tree with his lips compressed, his eyes half closed, and +forehead wrinkled. + +"That's right," cried Brazier, clapping him on the shoulder. "Who says +our English boys are not full of pluck?" + +He whistled again in response to a signal from Shaddy, and then they +listened and answered in turn for quite half an hour, during which the +guide's whistles and cries came from further and further away, but +sounded as if he were at last keeping about the same distance, and +working round so as to come back in another direction. + +Then for a time all signals ceased, and they heard the cry of the wild +beast, followed by quite a chorus of shrieks and chatterings, which +ceased as suddenly as they had begun. + +"He has gone too far, Mr Brazier," cried Rob suddenly, a complete +change having come over him, for he was once more full of excitement and +energy. + +"I hope not." + +"But he is not signalling." + +"I'll try again." + +Brazier raised the little metal whistle to his lips and gave out a +shrill, keen, penetrating note. + +Then they listened, but there was no answer. + +Brazier's brow wrinkled, and he refrained from looking at Rob as he once +more raised the whistle to his lips, to obtain for answer the +unmistakable cry of some savage, cat-like creature--jaguar or puma, he +could not tell which. + +"No guns! no guns!" he muttered; and moving away from Rob, he opened the +long, sharp blade of his spring knife, one intended for hunting +purposes, and thrust it up his sleeve. + +Just then Rob whistled as loudly as he could, and they both listened, +when, to their intense relief, there came a reply far to their left. + +"Hurrah!" cried the boy excitedly, and then, "Oh, Mr Brazier, what a +relief!" + +Brazier drew a long, deep breath. + +"Whistle again, boy," he said; but before Rob could obey there was +another distant whistle, and on this being answered the signals went on +from one to the other for quite half an hour, and at last there was a +breaking and crashing noise, and Shaddy came within speaking distance. + +"Hear that lion prowling about?" he shouted. + +"Yes, several times." + +"Ah, I began to feel as if a gun would be handy. He came too close to +be pleasant." + +"What have you found--the river?" cried Brazier. + +"No, sir, not yet. I went far enough to be sure it ain't that way." + +A few minutes later he forced his way to their side, looking hot and +exhausted. + +"Why didn't you answer me when I whistled and shouted?" he cried. + +"We did, Shaddy, every time we heard you." + +"Nay, my lad, didn't seem to me as if you did. S'pose the trees kep' it +off at times. But all right, gentlemen, I shall soon hit it off, and +we'll get to the boat, have a good feed, and go to work again. Don't +look down, Mr Rob, sir! How do we know as Mr Jovanni isn't there +already waiting for us?" + +Rob shook his head. + +"Ah, you don't know, sir. Seems queer, don't it, to get so lost! but it +ain't the fust time. I've known men go into the forest only a score of +yards or so and be completely gone, every step they took carrying 'em +farther away and making 'em lose their heads till their mates found +'em." + +"Stop! Which way are you going now?" + +"This way," said Shaddy. + +"But that's back--the way we came." + +Shaddy laughed, and without another word forced his way again in among +the trees. + +"I give up," said Brazier in despair. "It is too confusing for ordinary +brains. I could have taken an oath that he was wrong." + +He answered a whistle, and they stood waiting till the crackling and +rustling made by their guide's passage ceased. + +"I couldn't have believed that we came so far," said Rob, breaking the +silence. + +"I don't think we did come very far, Rob," replied Brazier; "it is only +that the place is so hopelessly puzzling and intricate. Time is getting +on, too. We must not be overtaken by the night." + +Rob could hardly repress a shudder, and, to make the dismal look of the +narrow space, darkened by close-clustering trees, more impressive, the +peculiar exaggerated cat-like call of the beast they had heard or +another of its kind rang out hollowly apparently not very far-away. + +Almost simultaneously, though, came Shaddy's whistle, and this was +answered and repeated steadily at some little distance, but at last +growing quite faint. + +As they were waiting for the next call there was a rustling sound +overhead, which took their attention, but for some time nothing but +moving leaves could be made out in the subdued light, till all at once +Brazier pointed to a spot some fifty feet above them, and at last Rob +caught sight of the object which had taken his companion's attention. + +"Looking down and watching us," he said quickly, as he gazed at the +peculiar little dark, old-looking face which was suddenly withdrawn, +thrust out again, and finally disappeared. + +"There is quite a party of monkeys up there, Rob," said Brazier; "and +the tree-tops are thoroughly alive with birds, but they are silent +because we are here. Ahoy!" he shouted as Shaddy now hailed from +somewhere nearer, and after a few shouts to and fro they heard him +say,-- + +"Found it!" + +A thrill of joy ran through Rob, but it passed away and he felt +despondent again as they started to rejoin their guide, for the thoughts +of poor Joe were uppermost, and he began thinking of the day when they +should go back and join the schooner to announce the terrible accident +that had befallen the captain's son. + +But he had to toil hard to get through the trees, and this work took +away the power of thinking much of anything but the task in hand. +Shaddy, too, had stopped short, waiting for them to come to him, and +they had to squeeze themselves between trees, climb over half-rotten +trunks, and again and again start aside and try another way as they +found themselves disturbing some animal, often enough a serpent. + +"'Bliged to stop here, gen'lemen, and mark the direction," rang on their +ears all at once. "You see, one can't travel in a straight line, and I +was afraid of losing my way again." + +"How far is the river away?" + +"Not quarter of a mile if you could go straight, my lad, but it'll be +half a mile way we have to twist about. But come along. Once we get to +the water's edge, we'll soon make the boat." + +He turned, and led on slowly and laboriously, the difficulties +increasing at every step, and more than once Rob was about to break +down. The last time he took hold of a tree to support himself, and was +about to say, "I can go no further," when, looking up, there was Shaddy +pointing down at the water, which had flooded over right in among the +trunks. + +Rob dropped upon his knees directly, bent down, placed his lips to the +water, and drank with avidity, Brazier following his example. + +The discovery of a guide which must lead them to the spot where they had +left the boat, and the refreshment the river afforded, gave Rob the +strength to follow Shaddy manfully along the margin of the flood over +twice the ground they had traversed in the morning--for their wanderings +had taken them very much further astray than they had believed--and the +result was that just at sundown, after being startled several times by +the cries of the jaguar or puma close on their left apparently, Shaddy +suddenly gave a hoarse cheer, for he had emerged upon the clearing at +whose edge the boat was moored. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +A TERRIBLE SURPRISE. + +Shaddy looked sharply round as they crossed the clearing, all three +breathing more freely at being once more in the open and without the +oppression of being completely shut in by trees on all sides, while the +dense foliage overhead completely hid the sky. This was now one +glorious suffusion of amber and gold, for the sun was below the horizon, +and night close at hand, though, after the gloom of the primeval forest, +it seemed to Rob and his companions as if they had just stepped out into +the beginning of a glorious day. + +"Don't see no fire," growled Shaddy. "We're all horribly down about +losing poor Mr Jovanni. But we must have rest and food, or we can't +work. Here, my lads, where are you?" he shouted in the dialect the men +best understood. + +They were about half-way across the opening in the forest as he shouted +to the men, and the river was running like a stream of molten gold; but +the boat had been probably moored somewhere among the trees, so as to be +safer than in the swift current, for it was not visible. + +"D'ye hear, you?" roared Shaddy fiercely, for he was out of temper from +weariness with his exertions during the day. "Are you all asleep? +There's going to be about the hottest row over this, Mr Brazier, as +ever them lazy half-breed dogs got into. You pay them well to work, and +instead of there being a good fire, and cooked meat and fish, and hot +cake, and boiling water, they're all fast asleep in that boat." + +He stopped short and looked about him; then, placing both hands to his +mouth to make a trumpet, he uttered a stentorian roar, which echoed from +the tall bank of trees on the opposite side of the river. + +The only answer was the shriek of a macaw from across the water, where a +pair of the long-tailed birds rose from a tall tree and winged their way +over the tops. Directly after there was a sharp yell, evidently the +call of some cat-like beast. + +"I'll go over yonder and look among the trees, Mr Brazier, sir," said +Shaddy, after waiting for some more satisfactory reply, "and I'll take +it kindly if you and Mr Rob will have a look among them standing in the +water that side. I dessay the boat's run up close as they can get it +one side or the other." + +Brazier nodded, and went to one side of the clearing, while Shaddy +forced his way through the low growth toward the other, Rob following +close upon his leader's steps till they reached the submerged trees and +worked along their edge, peering in amongst them as rapidly as they +could, for there was no time to be lost. Night was coming on with +tropical swiftness, and already the glorious amber tint was paling in +the sky, and the water beneath the trees looking black. + +"See anything of them, Rob?" cried Brazier again and again; but the +answer was always the same: a low despondent "No." + +All at once there was a loud shout, and they looked back to see Shaddy +waving his cap and beckoning to them. + +"Found them?" cried Rob as he ran to meet their guide. + +"No, my lad; they're not here. Might have known it by there being no +fire. Hi, Mr Brazier, sir!" + +The latter came panting up, for it required no little exertion to get +through the dense bushes and thick grass. + +"What is it? Where are they?" + +"That's what I want to know, sir. But look here, I'm so fagged out that +my head won't go properly. I mean I can't think straight." + +"What do you mean, man?" + +"This, sir: look round, both of you, 'fore it gets darker. I'm all +doubty, and I've got thinking that we've come to the wrong place." + +"What?" cried Rob excitedly. + +"I say I've got a fancy that this ain't the right place, for there's no +one here, and no boat, and there ain't been no fire." + +"How do you know, Shaddy?" + +"'Cause, if the boys had made a fire, they would nat'rally have put it +there under that patch of bushes near the trees." + +"Why there, and not anywhere else?" + +"'Cause that's the place any one used to making fires on the rivers +would pick at once. It's shaded from the wind, handy to the trees, so +as to get plenty of dead wood, and nigh the river to fetch water." + +"But the other side would have done as well," said Rob excitedly. + +"No, it wouldn't, sir, for the wind ketches there, and the sparks and +smoke would be blowing all over the place. I say, is this the place +where we left the boat this morning?" + +"I--I dare not say, Naylor," replied Brazier, after a little hesitation. +"I am so faint and worn-out that I too cannot be certain." + +"I'm sure it is," said Rob quickly. + +"There's some one who can think, then," cried Shaddy. "Stop a moment, +though, Mr Rob, sir. Tell me how is it you are sure?" + +"Because I noticed that big tree on the other side of the water--that +one out of which those two big birds flew. There, you can see it +plainly against the sky." + +"Bah! nonsense, my lad! There are thousands of those great trees +about." + +"But not like that, Shaddy," said Rob eagerly. "Look there against the +light. It's just like a man's face, a giant's, as if he were lying on +his back, and you can see the forehead, nose, and chin, and a big beard +quite plainly." + +"Well, it do look like it, cert'nly," growled Shaddy. + +"Then, too, I remember the shape of the bank, and look how the river +bends round and comes in a curve. Of course this is the place; I'm +quite sure it is." + +"Right, my lad! so was I, quite sure," cried Shaddy dismally; "but I was +hoping and praying that I might be wrong, because if you are right, +sir--No, I won't say it." + +"Yes, you will, Naylor," cried Brazier sternly. "Speak out." + +"What! if it's very bad, sir?" + +"Yes, my man; this is no time for trifling. Tell me the worst." + +"There's Mr Rob here, sir," said the guide, in a tone full of protest. + +"I want to know the worst, too, Shaddy," said Rob resignedly. + +"Then I'll tell you, gentlemen, only don't blame me for making your +hearts as sore as mine is now." + +"Tell us everything, my man. For bad or good, in this journey we must +work together for our mutual help and protection, not merely as master +and paid servant, but as Englishmen in a strange country, as brothers in +a foreign land." + +"And that's how I'm trying to work for you, Mr Brazier, sir," said +Shaddy huskily, "and it goes hard with me to tell you what I'm 'fraid +on." + +"And that is?" said Brazier, while Rob bent forward listening with +throbbing heart. + +"Either those lads of mine have met with a bad accident, or they have +gone off with the boat and left us to starve and die." + +"Taken--the boat--the stores--the guns?" faltered Rob. + +"My collection and the means of prosecuting my researches?" cried +Brazier. + +"Yes, sir; that's it, I'm afraid, but I hope I'm wrong." + +The two collectors stood silent for a few moments, for the announcement +was appalling, and it took time to grasp all the horrors of their +position. For to all intents and purposes they were as much cut off +from help as if they had been upon some tiny islet in mid-ocean, the +river being useless without a boat, and three days' experience alone +sufficient to show them the madness of attempting to travel through the +forest. In addition they were without food and wanting in the means of +obtaining a meal, let alone subsistence from day to day. + +Silence then, and with it darkness, fell upon the startled group, till +Rob said sturdily,-- + +"We're all too tired to do anything or think anything till we have +rested and had some food. I'm ready to drop." + +"Them's wise words," said Shaddy. "No one could have said better. This +way, gen'lemen, please!" + +He turned sharply round and led them toward the side of the opening in +the forest which had been the scene of his search. + +"What are you going to do, Naylor?" asked Brazier. + +"What every man does first, sir, when night comes on in the wilds: light +a fire to keep off the wild beasts." + +A thrill of dread passed through Rob at this, for he had been too intent +upon the discovery they had made to think anything of their danger. But +now he glanced uneasily round, and saw the eyes of wild beasts glaring +at them from the dense forest in all directions, till he was ready to +laugh at his folly, for the gleaming eyes were fire-flies. + +Meanwhile Shaddy led them straight to the spot he had notified as being +the one likely to be selected by a halting party for their fire, and +here, with the help of the others, sufficient dead wood was collected to +start a very small blaze, by whose light they proceeded to collect more +and more from the edge of the forest beyond where the river had risen. +But it was slow and arduous work for weary people, and they were +constantly finding wood that was too small or else that which was too +heavy to stir. Still they persevered, and at last so good a fire was +burning that there was no fear of an attack by any prowling beast, and +as its flames rose higher their task grew less difficult, and by joining +hands a good pile of dead limbs was laid ready for keeping up the blaze. + +"Something cheery 'bout a fire!" said Shaddy when it was decided that +they had enough wood to last the night. "Next thing ought to be supper, +gentlemen." + +"And we have nothing," said Rob despairingly. + +"On'y water," said Shaddy, "plenty of that." + +"_Qui dort dine_, Rob," said Brazier quietly. + +"Speak to me, sir?" said Shaddy. + +"No, but I will, my man," replied Brazier. "The French say that he who +sleeps dines." + +"That's true, sir," said Shaddy, "on'y it's disappointing when you wake. +I've lain down to go to sleep lots of times like this, tired out and +hungry, and dropped asleep directly; and as soon as I've been asleep +I've begun to dream about eating all kinds of good things. It's very +nice in the dreaming, but it don't keep up your courage." + +"There is nothing that we could possibly get to eat, is there, Shaddy," +said Rob,--"no berries nor fruit?" + +"Couldn't find 'em to-night, sir. In the morning I daresay I can get +some berries; might manage a fish, too, to roast at daybreak." + +"But the ground! it is so damp," said Rob. + +"A few boughs will keep off the damp, Mr Rob, sir; so I say, let's all +sleep." + +"But oughtn't we to keep watch in turns, Naylor?" said Brazier. + +"In an ordinary way, sir, yes, one would say it's a duty--what a man +should do," replied the guide gravely; "and I don't deny there's dangers +about. But we've done all we can do, as men without weapons, by +lighting that fire. I shall wake up now and then to throw on some +branches and then lie down again. We can do no good more than we have +done, and at a time like this I always think it is a man's duty to say, +`Can I do anything else?' and, if he feels he can't, just say his bit of +prayer and leave it to One above to watch over him through the dark +hours of the night." + +"Amen," said Brazier solemnly, and half an hour after, a pile of freshly +broken-off boughs had been laid near the fire, and all lay down in +perfect faith and trust to sleep and wait for the next day. + +Shaddy dropped off at once, while Brazier lay talking in a low tone to +Rob, trying to instil some hopefulness. + +"Please God," he said at last, "day will bring us help and counsel, my +lad, and perhaps give prospects of finding poor Joe." + +He ceased speaking, and directly after Rob knew by his regular breathing +that he too was asleep. But that greatest blessing would not come to +the boy, and he lay gazing now at the dancing flames, now trying to +pierce the darkness beyond, and ever and again seeing dangers in the +apparently moving shadows cast by the fire. + +There were the noises, too, in the forest and along the river bank, +sounding more appalling than ever, and as he listened and tried to +picture the various creatures that howled, shrieked, and uttered those +curious cries, he fully expected to hear that peculiar terror-inspiring +sound which had puzzled even Shaddy, the old traveller and sojourner in +the forest wilds. + +The horrible cry did not come, but as Rob lay there, too weary to sleep, +too much agitated by the events of the day to grow calm and fit for +rest, that sound always seemed to the lad as if it were about to break +out close to where he lay, and the fancy made his breath come short and +thick, till the remembrance of his boy-comrade once more filled his +mind, and he lay trying to think out some way by which it was possible +that Joe had escaped that day. These thoughts stayed in his mind as the +fire died out from before his heavy eyes, and at last, in spite of all, +he too slept heavily, and dreamed of the young Italian coming to him +holding out his hand frankly and then in foreign fashion leaning toward +him and kissing him on the cheek. + +At the touch Rob leaped back into wakefulness, rose to his elbow, and +looked sharply round, perfectly convinced that his cheek had been +touched, and that, though in his sleep, he had felt warm breath across +his face. + +But there was nothing to see save the blazing fire, whose snapping and +crackling mingled with the croaking, hissing, and strange cries from the +forest. Fire-flies glided here and there, and scintillated about the +bushes; Brazier and Shaddy both slept hard; and the peculiar cry of a +jaguar or other cat-like animal came softly from somewhere at a +distance. + +"Fancy!" said Rob softly as he sank down, thinking of Shaddy's last +words that night. The troubles of the day died away, and he dropped off +fast asleep again, to begin once more dreaming of Joe, and that they +were together in the cabin of the boat side by side. + +And it all seemed so real, that dream; he could feel the warmth from the +young Italian's body in the narrow space, and it appeared to him that +Joe moved uneasily when there was a louder cry than usual in the forest +and crept closer to him for protection, even going so far as to lay an +arm across his chest, inconveniencing him and feeling hot and heavy, but +he refrained from stirring, for fear of waking him up. + +Then the dream passed away, and he was awake, wondering whether he +really was in the cabin again, with Joe beside him. No; he was lying on +the boughs beside the fire, but so real had that dream seemed that the +fancy was on him still that he could feel the warmth of Joe's body and +the boy's arm across his chest. + +"And it was all a dream," thought Rob, with the bitter tears rising to +his eyes, as he gazed upward at the trees, "a dream--a dream!" + +No, it was no dream. He was awake now, and there was a heavy arm across +his chest and a head by his side. + +"Joe! Oh, Joe!" cried Rob aloud; and he grasped at the arm, touched it, +felt its pressure for an instant, and then it was gone, while at his cry +both Shaddy and Brazier sprang up. + +"What is it?" + +"I--I--think I must have been dreaming," said Rob excitedly. "I woke +with a start, fancying Joe had come back, and that he was lying down +beside me." + +"A dream, Rob, my lad!" said Brazier, with a sigh. "Lie down again, +boy; your brain is over-excited. Try once more to sleep." + +Rob obeyed, feeling weak and hysterical; but after a few minutes sleep +came once more, and it was morning when he reopened his eyes. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +"WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY." + +A glorious, a delicious morning, with the mists passing away in wisps of +vapour before the bright sunshine, the leaves dripping with dew, and +bird and insect life in full activity. + +But it was everything for the eye and nothing for the inner man. Waking +from a most restful sleep meant also the awakening to a sensation of +ravenous hunger, and directly after to the terrible depression caused by +the loss sustained on the previous day and their position--alone, and +without the means of obtaining food. + +When Rob started up he found Brazier in earnest conversation with +Shaddy, and in a few minutes the boy learned that their guide had been +about from the moment he could see to make up the fire, and then he had +been searching in all directions for traces of their companions. + +"And you feel sure that they have gone?" Brazier was saying when Rob +joined them. + +"Certain sure, sir." + +"But I still cling to the belief that we have blundered into the wrong +place in our weariness and the darkness last night. Why, Naylor, there +must be hundreds of similar spots to this along the banks of the river." + +"Might say thousands, sir; but you needn't cling no more to no hopes, +for this is the right spot, sure enough." + +"How do you know?" cried Rob. + +"'Cause there's the mark where the boat's head touched ground, where we +landed, and our footmarks in the mud." + +"And those of the men?" cried Brazier hastily. + +"No, sir; they none of them landed. There's your footmarks, Mr Rob's, +and mine as plain as can be, and the water has shrunk a bit away since +we made 'em yesterday. No, sir, there's no hope that way." + +"Then what ever are we to do, man?" cried Brazier. + +"Like me to tell you the worst, sir?" + +"Yes, speak out; we may as well know." + +Shaddy was silent for a few moments, and then said,-- + +"Well, gen'lemen, those fellows have gone off with the boat and all in +it. The guns and things was too much for 'em, and they've gone to feast +for a bit and then die off like flies. They'll never work enough by +themselves to row that boat back to Paraguay river, for one won't obey +the other. They'll be like a watch without a key." + +"Then they have gone down the river?" said Rob. + +"Yes, sir, wherever it takes them, and they'll shoot a bit and fish a +bit till they've used all the powder and lost their lines. So much for +them. Let's talk about ourselves. Well, gentlemen, we might make a +sort of raft thing of wood and bundles of rushes,--can't make a boat for +want of an axe,--and we might float down the stream, but I'm afraid it +would only be to drown ourselves, or be pulled off by the critters in +the water." + +"But the land, Shaddy!" cried Rob. "Can't we really walk along the bank +back to where we started?" + +"You saw yesterday, sir," said Shaddy grimly. + +"But couldn't we find a way across the forest to some point on the great +river, Naylor?" said Brazier. + +"No, sir, and we've got to face what's before us. No man can get +through that great forest without chopping his way with an axe, and he'd +want two or three lifetimes to do it in, if he could find food as he +went. I'm talking as one who has tried all this sort o' thing for many +years, and I'm telling you the simple truth when I say that, situated as +we are, we've either got to stop here till help comes, or go down the +river on some kind of raft." + +"Then why not do that and risk the dangers?" cried Rob. + +"Yes," said Brazier. "Why not do that? No help can possibly come here +unless Indians pass by in a canoe." + +"Which they won't, sir, and if they did they'd kill us as they would +wild beasts. I don't believe there's an Indian for a hundred miles." + +"Then what do you propose doing first?" asked Brazier. + +"Trying to kill the wolf, sir." + +"What! hunger?" + +"Yes, sir. He's a-gnawing away at me awful. Let's see what berries and +fruit we can find, and then try whether we can't get hold of a fish." + +"But we are forgetting all about poor Joe," said Rob in agonised tones. + +"That we ain't, sir. I know you're not, and if you'll show me what I +can do more than I did last evening and afternoon to find the poor boy, +here's Shadrach Naylor ready to risk his life any way to save him. But +set me to do it, for I can't see no way myself. Can you?" + +Rob was silent, and Brazier shook his head. + +"You see, it's like this, sir," continued Shaddy: "people as have never +been in these woods can't understand what it means, when it's just this: +Shut your eyes and go a dozen yards, turn round, and you're lost. +There's nothing to guide you but your own footsteps, and you can't see +them. You may live for a few days by chewing leaves, and then it's lie +down and die, wishing you were a monkey or a bird. That's the truth, +gentlemen." + +"Then you give up in despair, Naylor?" said Brazier angrily. + +"Not I, sir--not the sort o' man. What I say is, we can't do no good by +wasting our strength in looking for Mr Joe. We've got to try and save +our own lives by stopping where we are." + +"And what shall we do first?" + +"Use our brains, sir, and find something to eat, as I said afore. +There's fruit to find, fish, birds, and monkeys to catch. Snakes ain't +bad eating. There's plenty of water, and--Oh, we're not going to die +yet. Two big men and a small one, and all got knives; so come along, +and let's see what we can do." + +Shaddy turned to the fire, taking out his knife and trying the edge. + +"First thing I want, Mr Rob, is a bit of hard half-burnt wood--forked +bit, out of which I can make a big fish-hook, a long shank and a short +one. It must be hard and tough, and--Why, hullo! I didn't see these +here before." + +"What?" asked Rob and Brazier in a breath, and their companion pointed +down at the earth. + +"Fresh footmarks, gen'lemen," said Shaddy. + +"Joe's?" cried Rob. + +"Nay, my lad; it's a lion's, and he has been prowling round about our +fire in the night." + +Rob started, and thought of his realistic dream, but he was faint, +confused in intellect, and could not fit the puzzle together then. + +"Well, he hasn't eaten either of us," said Shaddy, with a grim smile, +"and he'd better mind what he's about, or we'll eat him. Ah, here we +are!" he exclaimed, pouncing upon a piece of burning wood. "Now you +take your cap, Mr Rob, and hunt all round for any fruit you can find. +Don't be wasteful and pick any that ain't ripe. Leave that for another +day. We shall want it. And don't go in the forest. There's more to be +found at the edge than inside, because you can't get to the tops of the +trees; and don't eat a thing till I've seen it, because there's plenty +poisonous as can be." + +"All right!" said Rob, and he turned to go. + +"And cheer up, both of you," said their companion. "We won't starve +while there's traps to be made, and bows and arrows, and fishing tackle. +Now, Mr Brazier, please, you'll sit down on that dead tree, take off +that silk handkercher from your neck, and pull out threads from it one +by one, tie 'em together, and wind 'em up round a bit of stick. Soon as +I've made this big rough wooden hook, I'll lay the silk up into a line." + +"But you've no bait," said Brazier, who was already taking off his +necktie. + +"No bait, sir? Mr Rob's going to find some wild oranges or sour sops, +or something, and if he don't I still mean to have a fish. Why, if I +can't find nothing else I'll have a bait if I come down to cutting off +one of my toes--perhaps one o' Mr Rob's would be tenderer or more +tempting--or my tongue p'r'aps, for I do talk too much. Work, both of +you; I'll soon have a bait, for I want my breakfast like mad." + +Rob hurried off, but did not reach the great trees which surrounded the +open spot, for at the third clump of bushes he came upon an +orange-coloured fruit growing upon a vine-like plant in abundance. It +seemed to be some kind of passion-flower, and, in spite of Shaddy's +warning, he tasted one, to find it of a pleasant, sweetish, acid +flavour. + +Gathering a capful, he returned at once to where his companions in +misfortune were hard at work. + +"Hullo!" growled Shaddy. "Soon back! What have you got, my lad? Kind +o' granadillas, eh? Well, they're good to eat, but not much to make a +breakfast of. Better wait till I've done a bit o' conjuring and turned +some of 'em into a fish. There, what do you say to that for a hook?" + +He held up his piece of wood carving, which was about four inches long +and two across, something in this shape:-- + +"Not much of a hook, Mr Rob, sir, but tough enough to hold a fish if we +can coax him to swallow it by covering it with the fruit. We can get +three of them juicy things on the shank and point. So now for the line! +How are you getting on, Mr Brazier, sir?" + +"Very slowly, Naylor," said Brazier, with a sigh. + +"All the more surer, sir. You help, Mr Rob, sir, and I'll lay up some +of my cotton handkercher for the snood. No; second thoughts is best. +I'll make a loose hank of it, so that the fish's teeth may go through if +he tries to bite the line, which of course he will." + +The result was that in an hour or so a silk line of about twenty yards +in length was twisted up and attached to the loose cotton bottom secured +to the hook. This was baited, and, after selecting a suitable spot, +Shaddy climbed out upon a half-fallen tree whose trunk projected over +the river, and dropped his line into a deep eddying pool, where the +water ran round and round in a way which made Rob feel giddy. + +There was a steep slope just here, so that the bank was not flooded, and +hence the angler was able to drop his line at once into deep water, +where the action of the whirling current sufficed to suck the bait right +down, while Brazier and Rob looked on with the interest of those who +depended upon success to give them the food from the want of which they +were suffering keenly. + +"Now then," said Shaddy cheerfully, "if the bait don't come off, if a +fish takes it, if there are any here, if the hook don't break and the +line give way, I may catch our breakfast. Plenty of ifs, Mr Rob, sir! +Remember the big doradoes we caught up yonder?" + +"Oh, if you could catch one now!" replied the lad. + +"Ah, if I could, sir! Perhaps I shall, but I don't want a big one. Now +for it!" + +A quarter of an hour passed away, during which time Shaddy pulled up and +examined his bait twice, to see if it was safe, but there was no sign of +fish there, though out in mid-stream and toward the farther shore there +was evidently abundance, the water being disturbed and some big fellow +springing out every now and then, to come down with a mighty splash, +scattering the sparkling drops in all directions. + +"I shall have to come down to a toe, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy grimly. +"The fish don't seem to care for fruit so early in the morning. It's +all very well for dessert, but they like a substantial meal first. Now +then, get your knife ready. Whose is it to be? Shall we pull straws +for the lot?" + +"Try a little farther this way, Shaddy," said Rob, ignoring the remark. + +"Right, sir! I will," said Shaddy, shifting the position of his bait, +"but it strikes me we've got into a 'gator hole, and consequently +there's no fish." + +"Do you think they can see you?" + +"No, sir. Water's too thick. Look yonder." + +"What at?" + +"Monkeys in that tree watching us. Now if you'd got a bow and arrows +you might bring one or two down." + +"What for?" + +"What for, my lad?" cried the guide in astonishment. "And he asks what +for, when we're all starving. Why, to eat, of course." + +"Ugh! I'm not so hungry as that!" cried Rob, with a shudder. + +"You ain't? Well, my lad, I am, and so I tell you. They're capital +eating. Why, I remember once when I was up the river with a party we +all had--A fish! a fish!" he cried as upon raising his line, to see if +the bait were all right, he suddenly felt a fierce tug; and the next +minute the pool began to be agitated in a peculiar way. + +"Here, Mr Rob, I'm going to hand you the line, and you've got to run +him out at once upon the bank. If I try to play him he's sure to go. +There, I'll ease him down, and he'll think it's all right and be quiet. +Then you draw in gently, and as soon as he feels the hook run him right +out, and you, Mr Brazier, sir, stand ready at the water's edge to mind +he don't get back. Mind, I don't say it ain't a small 'gator all the +same." + +He passed the end of the line to Rob as the captive, whatever it was, +now lay quiet, but as soon as the lad began to draw the line ashore +there was another heavy tug. + +"Run him out, sir, not hand over hand; run and turn your back," shouted +Shaddy, and as fast as he could get over the tangled growth amongst the +trees Rob obeyed, with the result that he drew a large golden-scaled +fish right out of the river and up the bank a couple of yards, when +something parted, and Shaddy uttered a yell as he saw the captive +flapping back toward the pool. + +"Gone! gone!" cried Rob in dismay. "I knew--" + +He said no more for the moment, and then uttered a shout of delight as +he saw the efficacy of their guide's arrangements, for before the fish +reached the edge Brazier had thrown himself upon it, and paying no heed +to slime, spines, or sharp teeth, he thrust his hands beneath, and flung +it far up toward where Rob in turn carried on the attack. + +The next minute Shaddy was beside them, knife in hand, with which he +rapidly killed, cleaned, and scaled the fish, finding the tough hook +broken in two before chopping off a couple of great palm-like leaves, in +which he wrapped his prize as he trotted toward the fire. Then with a +half-burned branch, he raked a hole in the glowing embers, laid down the +fish, raked the embers over again, and said,-- + +"Not to be touched for half an hour. Who'll come and try for more solid +fruit?" + +If Rob's spirits had not been so low he would have been amused by the +boyish manner of their companion as he led them here and there. At the +edge of the forest he mounted and climbed about a tree till he was well +out on a great branch, from which he shook down a shower of great fruit +that looked like cricket-balls, but which on examination proved to be +the hard husks of some kind of nut. + +"What are these?" cried Rob. + +"Don't you know 'em?" said Shaddy as soon as he had descended. + +"No." + +"Yes, you do, my lad. You've seen 'em in London lots of times," and +hammering a couple together, he broke open one and showed the contents: +to wit, so many Brazil nuts packed together in a round form like the +carpels of an orange. + +"I never knew they grew like that," cried Rob eagerly. + +"And I must confess my ignorance, too," said Brazier. + +"Ah, there's lots to learn in this world, gen'lemen," said Shaddy +quietly. "Not a very good kind o' nut, but better than nothing. Bit +too oily for me, but they'll serve as bread for our fish if we get a +couple of big stones for nutcrackers. They're precious hard." + +"Then we shan't starve yet," cried Rob as he loaded himself with the +cannon-ball-like fruit--pockets, cap, and as many as he could hold in +his arms. + +"Starve? I should think not," cried Shaddy, "and these here outsides'll +have to serve for teacups." + +"Without tea, Shaddy?" + +"Who says so, my lad? You wait, and we'll find cocoa and mate, and who +knows but what we may hit upon coffee and chocolate? Why, I won't swear +as we don't find sugar-cane. 'T all events, we're going to try." + +"Well, Naylor, you are putting a different complexion on our prospects," +said Brazier, who had joined them. + +"Yes, sir, white one instead of a black one. Next thing is to get a +roof over our heads ready for the heavy rains, and then we've got to +save all the feathers of the birds we catch or shoot for feather beds. +We shall have a splendid place before we've done, and you can mark out +as big an estate as you like. But come along; I'm thinking that fish +must be done." + +Upon Shaddy sweeping its envelope clean of the embers, he found it was +quite done, and soon served it out brown and juicy upon a great +banana-like leaf. + +"Now, gentlemen, grace! and fall to," said their cook merrily. "Nuts +afterwards when I've found two big stones." + +There was not much of the delicious fish left when a quarter of an hour +had passed, and then Rob uttered a grumble. + +It was very good, he said, only they had no salt. + +"If you'd only spoken a bit sooner, Master Rob, I could have got you +some pepper," said Shaddy, "but salt? Ah, there you beat me altogether. +It's too far to send down to the sea." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +BRAVE EFFORTS. + +That same afternoon after a quiet discussion of their position, the +result of which was to convince Brazier and Rob of the utter +hopelessness of any attempt to escape, they joined with Shaddy in the +most sensible thing they could do, namely, an attempt to forget their +sorrow and misery in hard work. + +"If we want to be healthy," Shadrach had said, "we must first thing get +a shelter over our heads where we can sleep at nights, clear of the +heavy dews, and which we can have ready next time it comes on to rain." + +A suitable position was soon found high up where no flood was likely to +reach, and presenting several attractions. + +First, it was at the head of the clearing exactly facing the river, so +that a passing boat could be seen. Secondly, it was between two great +trees, apparently twins, whose smooth columnar trunks ran up some twenty +feet without a branch; after that they were one mass of dense foliage, +which drooped down nearly to the ground and looked thick enough to throw +off, as the leafage lay bough above bough, any fall of rain short of a +waterspout. + +The trees were about twelve feet apart, and from a distance the boughs +had so intermingled that they looked like one. + +"That's the spot, sir!" Shaddy exclaimed. "Now then, the first thing +is to find a branch that will do for a ridge pole." + +That first thing proved to be the most difficult they could have +undertaken, for a long search showed nothing portable at all likely to +answer the purpose; and though palm after palm was found, all were too +substantial to be attacked by pocket-knives. They were getting in +despair, when Rob hit upon one close down to the river, which the united +strength of all three, after Rob had climbed it and by his weight +dragged the top down within reach, sufficed to lever out of the +saturated ground. + +As soon as the young palm was down, Shaddy set Brazier and Rob to cut +off the roots and leaves, which latter they were told to stack ready for +use, from where they hung six or eight feet long, while he--Shaddy-- +knife in hand, busied himself in cutting long lianas and canes to act as +ropes. + +An hour later they had the young palm bound tightly to the trees about +six feet from the ground, after which branches were cut and carried, so +that they could be laid with the thick ends against the ridge pole and +the leaves resting upon the ground from end to end. + +This done, others were laid on in the same way, the leaves and twigs +fitting in so accurately that after a busy two hours they had a strong +shed of branches ready for stopping up at one end with thorns and more +boughs, while Rob had to climb up the slope and thatch the place with +the palm leaves, forming a roof impervious to any ordinary rain. + +"That will do for sleeping, eh, gen'lemen?" said Shaddy. "We'll finish +it another time. We can rest in shelter. Now then for getting our +wages--I mean a decent supper." + +Rob had been conscious for some time past of sundry faint sensations; +now he knew that they meant hunger, and as they left the hut they had +made he did not look forward with any great feelings of appetite to a +meal of nuts. + +But it soon became evident that Shaddy had other ideas, for he went to +the fire again to obtain a hardened piece of wood for fashioning into a +hook, when an idea struck Rob, and he turned to their guide eagerly. + +"Did you ever sniggle eels?" he said. + +"Did I ever what, sir?" + +"Sniggle eels." + +Shaddy shook his head. + +"No. I've bobbed for 'em, and set night lines, and caught 'em in +baskets and eel traps after storms. Is either of them sniggling?" + +"No," cried Rob eagerly, "and you might catch fish perhaps that way. +I'll show you; I mean, I'll tell you. You take a big needle, and tie a +piece of strong thin silk to it right in the middle." + +"Ay, I see," said Shaddy. + +"Then you push the needle right into a big worm, and stick the point of +the needle into a long thin pole, and push the worm into a hole in a +bank where eels are." + +"Yes, I see." + +"Then one of the eels swallows the worm, and you pull the line." + +"And the worm comes out." + +"No, it does not," said Rob. "As it's tied in the middle, it is pulled +right across the eel's throat, and you can catch it without being +obliged to use a hook." + +"That's noo and good," said Shaddy eagerly. "I could fish for doradoes +that way, but I've got no needle." + +"Wouldn't this do, Shaddy?" said the lad, and he took a steel +needle-like toothpick out of the handle of his pocket-knife. + +"The very thing!" cried Shaddy, slapping his leg, and, after tying his +newly made line to the little steel implement in the way described, he +bound over it with a silken thread a portion of the refuse of the fish +they had previously caught. Going to his former place, he cast in his +line, and in five minutes it was fast to a good-sized fish, which after +a struggle was landed safely, while before long another was caught as +well. + +"Man never knows what he can do till he tries," cried Shaddy merrily. +"Why, we can live like princes, gentlemen. No fear of starving! Fish +as often as we like to catch 'em, and then there's birds and other +things to come. You don't feel dumpy now, Mr Rob, do you?" + +"I don't know, Shaddy. I'm very hungry and tired." + +"Wait till we've had supper, my lad, and then we'll see what we can do +about making a bow and arrows." + +As he spoke he rapidly cleaned the fish, treated them as before, and +placed them in the embers, which were glowing still. + +While the fish cooked Shaddy busied himself in crushing some of the nuts +by using one stone as a hammer, another as an anvil, and some of them he +set to roast by way of a change. + +By the time the fish were ready the sun was rapidly going down, and when +the meal was at an end--a meal so delicious, in spite of the +surroundings, that it was eaten with the greatest of enjoyment--it was +too dark to see about bows and arrows, and the disposition of all three +was for sleep. + +So the boughs collected on the previous night were carried in beneath +the shelter and made into beds, upon which, after well making up the +fire, all stretched themselves, and, utterly wearied out by the arduous +toil of the day, fell asleep at once, in spite of the chorus of +nocturnal creatures around, among which a couple of cicadas settled in +their rudely made roof and kept up a harsh chirping loud enough to have +kept awake any one who had not gone through as much work as two ordinary +men. + +"But it can't be morning," thought Rob as he was awakened by Shaddy +touching him on the shoulder, and then he uttered his thought aloud. + +"Well, if it ain't, my lad, the sun's made a mistake, for he'll be up +directly. Coming out?" + +"Yes; wait till I wake Mr Brazier." + +"Nay; let him be till we've got breakfast ready, my lad. He looked +regularly done up last night. He can't bear it all like young chaps +such as we." + +Rob laughed, and then a cloud came over him as he stepped out into the +soft grey morning, for he had caught sight of the hurrying river, and +this brought up the boat and the loss of his companion and friend. + +"Look here, Mr Rob," said Shaddy, changing the current of the boy's +thoughts directly, "I've been thinking out that bow and arrow business." + +"Yes, Shaddy." + +"And I've found out some splendid tackle for making arrows." + +"What! this morning? Then you have been out and about!" + +"Yes, soon as I could see my way. I found a bed of reeds which will +make capital arrows with a point of hard wood a bit burned, and there's +no end of 'em, so there's our shot all straight as--well, as arrows. +Now you and I are going to get a fish and put him to cook, and after +that we'll try and find a bit of wood good enough for a bow." + +"And where's your string, Shaddy?" + +"Round your neck, sir. You don't think you're going to indulge in such +luxuries as silk han'kerchers at a time like this, do you? Because, if +you do, I don't; so you'll have to pull out all the threads and wind 'em +up, like Mr Brazier did. His han'kercher will do for fishing-lines. +Yours shall be bow-strings. Why, who knows but what we may get a deer? +Anyhow we may get one of them carpinchos, and not bad eating, either." + +The fish was soon caught in the swift clear water, but all attempts to +take another failed. It was, however, ample for their meal, and after +it had been placed in the fire, which had never been allowed to go out +since first lit, Rob's companion pointed out more footprints of a puma, +and soon after those of a deer, both animals having evidently been in +the opening within the last few hours, from the freshness of the prints. + +The reeds for the arrows were cut, and proved to be firm, strong, and +light, but the selection of a branch for the bow proved to be more of a +task. One was, however, decided upon at last, roughly trimmed, and +thrown on the fire for a few minutes to harden, and it was while the +pair were busy over this task, watching the tough wood carefully, that +Brazier found them, apologising for his so-called idleness and eagerly +asking what he should do to help. + +"Nothing, sir, at present, but have your breakfast. Would you mind +picking a few plates and a dish, Mr Rob? Let's have the green pattern +again." + +Rob smiled as he went to the arum-like plant which had supplied him +before, and returned to the fire just as Shaddy was apologising +seriously for its being fish again for breakfast and promising a change +before night. + +The apology was uncalled for, the freshly caught, newly roasted fish +proving to be delicious; and roasted nuts, though they were not +chestnuts and were often flavoured with burned oil, were anything but a +bad substitute for bread. + +"There, gen'lemen," said Shaddy as they finished, "next thing seems to +be to go down to the waterside and have a good drink of nature's own tea +and coffee. Worse things than water, I can tell you. I always think to +myself when I've nothing else that what was good enough for Adam and Eve +ought to be good enough for me." + +"Water's delicious," cried Rob as they reached a convenient place and +lay down to scoop up the cool clear fluid with their hands and drink +heartily. + +"So it is, Mr Rob, sir, 'llcious," said Shaddy; "but wait a bit, and +you shall have something to put in the water, if it's only fruit juice +to flavour it. But what I want to find is some of those leaves they +make into South American tea." + +Just then Shaddy smiled and rose to his knees, watching Brazier, who had +moved off thirty or forty yards away. + +"What are you laughing at?" asked Rob. + +"Mr Brazier's want of good manners, sir. Don't seem the thing for a +gen'leman like him to go washing his face and hands in his tea and +coffee-cup; now do it?" + +"Plenty of room, Shaddy!" said Rob. "I'm going to follow his example." + +He stretched out over the water from the bank, reached down his hands, +and began to bathe his face, the water feeling deliciously cool to his +brow and eyes as he scooped up handsful, and he was just revelling in an +extra good quantity, when he uttered an ejaculation of alarm, for he +felt himself seized by the collar as if he were about to be hurled into +the river, but it proved only to be Shaddy snatching him away. + +"Why did you do that?" cried Rob angrily, as he pressed the water out of +his eyes and darted a resentful look at the big rough fellow, who stood +looking at him coolly. + +"'Cause we wanted you to be useful, my lad, and because you didn't want +to go below yonder and feed the fishes," replied Shaddy, laughing. +"Didn't you see that 'gator?" + +"No. Where? Was it near me?" + +"Pretty near, sir. I happened to look, and saw him coming slowly nearer +and nearer, ready for making a dash at you, and as I'd neither gun nor +spear to tackle him, I had to pull you out of the way." + +"Was it big?" said Rob, with a shudder. + +"No, sir, only a little one, about six foot long, but quite strong +enough to have hung on and overbalanced you into the water, where there +would have been plenty more to help him. Now I tell you what, sir, Mr +Brazier had better be told to be careful," continued Shaddy. "Ah, he +sees danger; so it's all right." + +For Brazier suddenly shrank away from the edge of the river, rose, and +called to them. + +"Take care, Rob!" he shouted; "the water here swarms with alligators. +One little wretch was coming at me just now." + +"Yes, sir, better mind!" cried Shaddy. "We've just had one here." Then +turning to Rob,-- + +"Now, Master Rob, sir, what do you say to our spending the day making +bows and arrows?" + +"I'm ready." + +"And perhaps, Mr Brazier, sir, you wouldn't mind trying for another +fish for dinner, in case we don't get our shooting tackle ready." + +Brazier nodded, and soon after prepared to fish, but even in their +peculiar strait he could not refrain from looking longingly at plant, +insect, and bird, especially at a great bunch of orchids which were +pendent from a bough. + +He did not seem likely to have much success in the pool or eddy where +the other fish had been caught, and soon after moved off to another +place, but meanwhile Rob and Shaddy were busy in the extreme, the latter +making some half-charred pieces of wood from the fire into little +hardened points ready for Rob to fix into the cleft he split in the end +of each reed and then binding them tightly in, making a notch for the +bow-string at the other end, and laying them down one by one finished +for the sheaf he had set himself to prepare. + +These done, Rob began upon the silken bow-string, pulling out the +threads from his neckerchief and tying them together till he had wound +up what promised to be enough, afterwards doubling and twisting them +tightly, while Shaddy was whistling softly and using his pocket-knife as +if it were a spoke-shave to fine down the thick end of the piece of wood +intended for the bow. + +"Strikes me, Mr Rob," he said, "that we shall have to use this very +gingerly, or it will soon break. I know what I wish I had." + +"What?" asked Rob. + +"Rib of an old buffalo or a dead horse." + +"What for?" + +"To make a bow, my lad. It would only be a short one, but wonderfully +strong. You'd have to use short arrows, and it would be hard to pull, +but with a bow like that you could send an arrow through a deer. But as +we haven't got one, nor any chance of finding one, we must do the best +with this." + +Rob watched with the greatest of interest the progress of the bow, +busying himself the while with the string, which was finished first; and +as it displayed a disposition to unwind and grow slack, it was +thoroughly wetted and stretched between two boughs to dry. + +"Shall you succeed in getting a bow made?" said Brazier, coming up. + +"Oh yes, sir, I think so," said the guide; "better bow than archer, I'm +thinking, without Mr Rob here surprises us all by proving himself a +clever shot." + +"Don't depend upon me," said Rob mournfully, for his thoughts were upon +Joe and his sad end, and when by an effort he got rid of these +depressing ideas, his mind filled with those of the Indians turning +against them in so cowardly a way, leaving them to live or die, just as +it might happen, while they escaped with the plunder in the boat. + +"What are you thinking about, Rob?" said Brazier, after speaking to him +twice without eliciting an answer. + +"Of the men stealing our boat. It was so cruel." + +"Don't you fret about it, Mr Rob! They'll soon get their doo of +punishment for it. Worst day's work they ever did in their lives. +You'd think that chaps like they would have known better, but they're +just like children. They see something pretty, and they'll do anything +to get hold of it, and when they've got it they find it's of no use to +'em and are tired of it in an hour. I'll be bound to say they're +wishing they hadn't gone and were back along of us." + +"Then they may repent and come?" said Brazier. + +Shaddy uttered a low chuckling sound. + +"And I shall save my collection after all." + +"Don't you think it, sir!" said Shaddy seriously. "They couldn't get +back, as I said; and if they could they daren't, on account of you and +me. They've got a wholesome kind of respect for an Englishman, and no +more dare face us now than fly." + +Brazier sighed. + +"Oh, never mind, sir!" said Shaddy cheerily. "Things might be worse +than they are. We're alive, and can find means to live. We don't know +but what we may get away all right after all. If I might give you my +advice--" + +"Give it, by all means," said Brazier. + +"Well then, sir, seeing that you came out to collect your flowers and +plants, I should say, `Go on collecting just as you did before, and wait +in hopes of a boat coming along.'" + +"But it might be years first." + +"Very well, sir; wait years for it. You'd have made a fine collection +by that time." + +Brazier smiled sadly as he thought of his dried-up specimens. + +"Me and Mr Rob here will find plenty of some sort or another for the +kitchen, so as you needn't trouble about that. What do you say?" + +"That you teach good philosophy, and I'll take your advice. Not much +virtue in it, Rob," he said, smiling, "for we cannot help ourselves. +There, I will do as you suggest as soon as we have made a few more +arrangements for our stay." + +"You leave them to us, sir," said Shaddy. "Mr Rob and I are quite +strong enough crew for the job, and I saw some wonderful fine plants +right at the edge of the forest yonder. I'd go and try for 'em now, +sir." + +"Shaddy's afraid that some one will come along and pick them first," +cried Rob, laughing. + +"No fear, sir, unless it's some big, saucy monkey doing it out of +imitation and mischief. What do you say?" + +"I say yes," replied Brazier. "It would be wrong to despair and foolish +to neglect my chance now that I am thrown by accident among the natural +history objects I came so many thousand miles to find." + +As he spoke he moved off in the direction pointed out by their guide, +while Shaddy chuckled directly they were alone. + +"That's the way, Mr Rob," he said; "give him something to think about +and make him busy. `A merry heart goes all the day; a sad one tires in +a mile,' so the old song says. Mind, I don't mean he's merry, but he'll +be busy, and that's next door to it. Now then, I'm ready. Let's get +the string on and bend our bow." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +A SUDDEN ALARM. + +The silken string Rob had twisted was found to be quite dry, and pretty +well kept its shape as it was formed into a loop and passed over the end +of the bow nicked for its reception, and after bending secured with a +couple of hitches over the other. + +"Now, Mr Rob, sir, try it, and send one of your arrows as far as you +can. Never mind losing it; we can soon make plenty more. That's the +way! Steady! Easy and well, sir! Now then, off it goes!" + +_Twang_! went the bow-string, and away flew the arrow high up toward the +river, describing its curve and falling at last without the slightest +splash into the water. + +"Well done!" cried Shaddy, who had watched the flight of the arrow, +shading his eyes with his hand. "That's good enough for anything. A +little practice, and you'll hit famously." + +"Oh, I don't know, Shaddy." + +"Well, but I do, sir. If Indians can kill birds, beasts, and fish with +their bows and arrows, surely a young Englishman can." + +"I shall try, Shaddy." + +"Of course you will, and try means win, and win means making ourselves +comfortable till we are taken off." + +"Then you think we shall be some day?" + +"Please God, my lad!" said Shaddy calmly. "Look! Yonder goes Mr +Brazier. He's forgetting his troubles in work, and that's what we've +got to do, eh?" + +Rob shook his head. + +"Ah, you're thinking about poor young Jovanni, sir," said Shaddy sadly, +"and you mustn't. It won't do him no good, nor you neither. Bring that +bow and arrows along with us. I'm going to try and get a bamboo to make +a spear thing, with a bit of hard wood for a point, and it may be useful +by-and-by." + +Rob took up the bow and arrows, but laid the larger part of his sheaf +down again, contenting himself with half a dozen, and following Shaddy +along the edge of the forest to what looked like a clump of reeds, but +which proved to be a fringe of bamboos fully fourteen feet high. + +Shaddy soon selected a couple of these suitable for his purpose, and had +before long trimmed them down to spear shafts nine feet in length. + +"There, sir," he said, "we'll get a couple of heads fitted into these +to-night. First thing is to get something else to eat, so let's try for +fruit or a bird. Now, if we could only come upon a deer!" + +"Not likely, as we want one," responded Rob, who was looking round in +search of Mr Brazier, and now caught sight of him right at the far end +of the clearing, evidently engaged in cutting down some of his favourite +plants. + +"Mr Brazier is busy," said Rob; "but isn't it a pity to let him waste +time in getting what can never be wanted?" + +"How do we know that?" replied Shaddy. "Even if they're not, I did it +for the best." + +"But is it safe to leave him alone?" + +"Safe as it is for us to go out here alone into the forest." + +"Are we going into the forest?" + +"Must, my lad--a little way." + +"But are there likely to be any Indians about?" + +"I should say not, Mr Rob, so come along." + +Shaddy led the way to where the clearing ceased and the dense growth of +the primeval forest began, and after hesitating a little and making a +few observations as to the position of the sun--observations absolutely +necessary if a traveller wished to find his way back--the guide plunged +in amongst the dense growth, threading his way in through the trees, +which grew more and more thickly for a short distance and then opened +out a little, whereupon Shaddy halted and began to reconnoitre +carefully, holding up his band to enforce silence and at the end of a +few minutes saying eagerly to Rob,-- + +"Here you are, my lad! Now's our chance. There's nearly a dozen in +that big tree to the right yonder, playing about among the branches, +good big ones, too. Now you steal forward a bit, keeping under cover, +then lay all your arrows down but one, take a good long aim, and let it +go. Bring one down if you can." + +"What birds are they?" whispered Rob. + +"Who said anything about birds?" replied Shaddy sourly; "I said +monkeys." + +"No." + +"Well, I meant to, my lad. There: on you go." + +"Monkey--a little man," said Rob, shaking his head. "No, I couldn't +shoot one of them." + +"Here, give us hold of the bow and arrow, then, my lad," cried the old +sailor. "'Tisn't a time for being nice. Better shoot a monkey and eat +it than for me and Mr Brazier to have to kill and eat you." + +Rob handed the newly made weapons, and Shaddy took them grumblingly. + +"Not the sort of tackle I'm used to," he said. "Bound to say I could do +far better with a gun." + +He fitted the notch of the arrow to the string and drew the bow a little +as if to try it; then moving off a few yards under cover of the trees, +Rob was about to follow him, but he turned back directly. + +"Don't you come," he said; "better let me try alone. Two of us might +scare 'em." + +But Shaddy did not have any occasion to go further, for all at once, as +if in obedience to a signal, the party of monkeys in the forest a short +distance before them came leaping from tree to tree till they were in +the one beneath which the two travellers were waiting, stopped short, +and began to stare down wonderingly at them, one largish fellow holding +back the bough above his head in a singularly human way, while his face +looked puzzled as well as annoyed. + +"Like a young savage Indian more than an animal," said Shaddy softly, as +he prepared to shoot. "Now I wonder whether I can bring him down." + +"Don't shoot at it, Shaddy!" said Rob, laying his hand upon his guide's +arm. + +"Must, my lad. Can't afford to be particular. There, don't you look if +you don't like it! Now then!" + +He raised the bow, and, after the fashion off our forefathers, drew the +arrow right to the head, and was about to let it fly after a long and +careful aim; but being, as he had intimated, not used to that sort of +tackle, he kept his forefinger over the reed arrow till he had drawn it +to the head, when, just as he had taken aim and was about to launch it +at the unfortunate monkey, the reed bent and snapped in two. + +Probably it was the sharp snap made by the arrow which took the monkey's +attention, for it suddenly set up a peculiarly loud chattering, which +acted as a lead to its companions, for the most part hidden among the +boughs, and it required very little stretch of the imagination to +believe it to be a burst of derisive laughter at the contemptible nature +of the weapons raised against their leader's life. + +"Oh, that's the way you take it, is it, my fine fellow?" cried Shaddy, +shaking the bow at the monkey. "Here, give us another arrow, Mr Rob, +sir; I'll teach him to laugh better than that. I feel as if I can hit +him now." + +Rob made no attempt to hand the arrow, but Shaddy took one from him, +fitted it to the string, raised it to the required height, and was about +to draw the reed to its full length, but eased it back directly and left +go to rub his head. + +"See him now, Mr Rob, sir?" + +"No," said Rob, looking carefully upward among the branches; and, to his +great satisfaction, not one of the curious little four-handed animals +was visible. + +"Right!" said Shaddy. "He has saved his skin this time. Here, take the +bow again. It may be a bird we see next." + +"Hadn't we better go back to the river?" said Rob. "Perhaps I should be +able to shoot a duck if I saw one swimming about." + +"Daresay you would, my lad," said the old sailor drily, "send the arrow +right through one; but what I say is, if the 'gators want a duck killed +they'd better kill it themselves." + +"I don't understand you," said Rob. + +"Understand, my lad? Why, suppose you shoot a duck, it will be on the +water, won't it?" + +"Of course!" + +"Then how are you going to get it off?" + +"I forgot that," said Rob. "Impossible, of course." + +"Come on, then, and don't let's waste time. We'll keep along here and +get some fruit, perhaps, and find birds at the same time." + +Their journey through the forest was very short before they were +startled by a sudden rush and bound through the undergrowth. So sudden +was it that both stopped short listening, but the sound ceased in a few +moments. + +"What's that?" whispered Rob. + +"Deer, I thought at first, my lad; but it could not have been, because a +deer would have gone on racing through the forest, and one would have +heard the sounds dying away, not end suddenly like those did. You see, +there was a sudden rustle, and then it stopped, as if whatever it was +had been started up by our coming and then settled down again to hide +and watch us." + +"Indian?" whispered Rob uneasily. + +"Nay, more like some great cat. Strikes me it was one of the spotted +tigers, and a hardened arrow's not much good against one of those +beasts. I say, let's strike off in the other direction, and try if we +can find something there. Cats are awkward beasts to deal with even +when they're small. When it comes to one as strong as a horse, the best +way to fight 'em is to get out of their way." + +Shaddy took a few steps forward so as to be able to peer up through a +green shaft among the trees to the sunshine and satisfy himself as to +their position, and then led off again. + +"Can't be too particular, Mr Rob, sir," he said; "stitch in time saves +nine. Bit of observation now may save us hours of walking and fighting +our way through the tangle." + +Rob noted his companion's careful management, and that whenever they had +to pass round a tree which stood right in their way Shaddy was very +exact about starting afresh exactly straight, and after a time in making +off again to their left, so as to hit the river near the clearing. But +for some time they found nothing to take their attention. + +"And that's the way of it," said Shaddy in reply to an observation of +Rob's. "You generally find what you are not looking for. Now, if we +wanted plenty of fine hardwood timber, here it is, and worth fortunes in +London town, and worth nothing here. I'd give the lot, Mr Rob, for one +of our fine old Devonshire apple-trees, well loaded down with +yellow-faced, red-cheeked pippins, though even then we've no flour to +make a dumpling." + +"And no saucepan to cook it in." + +"Oh, we could do without that, my lad. Worse things than baked +dumplings." + +"Are we going right, Shaddy?" said Rob suddenly. + +The old sailor took an observation, as he called it, before he answered, +so as to make sure. + +"Yes," he said thoughtfully, "and if we keep straight on we shall hit +the clearing. Strikes me that if we go pretty straight we shall come +upon Mr Brazier loaded down to sinking point with plants, and glad of a +bit of help to carry 'em. Don't you be down-hearted, sir! This is a +bit of experience; and here we are! something at last." + +As he spoke he pointed to a tree where the sun penetrated a little, and +they could see that it was swarming with small birds evidently busy over +the fruit it bore. Shaddy was pressing forward, but Rob caught his arm. + +"What is it, lad?" + +"Look!" whispered Rob. "What's that?" + +"Eh? Where? See a tiger?" + +"No, that horrible-looking thing walking along the branch. It has gone +now." + +"Ugly monkey?" + +"Oh no," whispered Rob, "a curious creature. Alligators don't climb +trees, do they?" + +"Never saw one," said Shaddy. "Might if they were taught, but it +wouldn't be a pleasant job to teach one. Well, where is it?" + +"Gone," whispered Rob. "No; there it is on that branch where it is so +dark." + +"I see him," said Shaddy in a subdued tone. "Ought to have known. Now +then, your bow and arrows! That's a skinful of good meat for us. You +won't mind shooting that?" + +"No," said Rob, quickly fitting an arrow to the string, "I don't mind +shooting that. But not to eat, thank you." + +"You will not be so particular soon. That's iguana, and as good as +chicken. Ready?" + +Rob nodded. + +"Keep behind the trees, then, and creep slowly forward till you are +pretty close--I daresay you'll be able to--and then aim at his shoulder, +and send the arrow right through." + +"I will," said Rob drily, "if I can." + +"Make up your mind to it, my lad. We want that sort of food." + +"You may," thought Rob as he began to stalk the curious old-world, +dragon-like beast, which was running about the boughs of a great tree in +complete ignorance of the neighbourhood of human beings, probably even +of their existence. + +The lad's heart beat heavily as he crept from tree to tree in full want +of faith as to his ability to draw a bow-string with effect; for his +experience only extended to watching ladies shooting at targets in an +archery meeting; and as he drew nearer, stepping very softly from +shelter to shelter and then peering out to watch the reptile, he had an +admirable opportunity for noting its shape and peculiarities, none of +which created an appetite for trying its chicken-like flesh. He gazed +at a formidable-looking animal with wide mouth, a hideous pouch beneath +its jaw, and a ridge of sharp-looking, teeth-like spines along its back +ending in a long, fine, bony tail. These, with its fierce eye and scaly +skin, and a habit of inflating itself, made it appear an object which +might turn and attack an aggressor. + +This struck Rob very strongly as he stopped at last peering round the +bole of a huge tree. He was about thirty yards from the lizard now, and +in a position which commanded its side as it stood gazing straight +before it at some object, bird or insect, in front. + +It was just the position for resting the bow-arm against the tree for +steadiness of aim, and feeling that he could do no better, but doubtful +of his skill and quite as doubtful of the likelihood of the wooden +arrow-head piercing the glistening skin of the iguana, Rob took a +careful aim, as he drew his arrow to his ear in good old archer style, +and let his missile fly. + +Roughly made, unfeathered, and sent by a tyro, it was no wonder that it +flew far wide of the mark, striking a bough away to the left and then +dropping from twig to twig till it reached the undergrowth below. + +Where it struck was some distance from the lizard, and the sound and the +falling of the reed gave it the idea that the danger point was there, so +that it directed its attention in that quarter, stood very erect, and +swelled itself out fiercely. + +This gave Rob ample time to fit another arrow to his string, correct his +aim, and loosen the shaft after drawing it to the head. This one +whizzed by the iguana, making it flinch slightly; but treating it as if +it had been a bird which had suddenly flashed by, the lizard fixed its +eyes on the spot where this second arrow struck. + +"I shall never hit the thing," thought Rob as he fitted another arrow +and corrected his aim still more, but this time too much, for the arrow +flew off to the lizard's right. + +"Three arrows gone!" muttered the lad as he prepared for another try, +took a long aim, and, to his great delight, saw the missile strike the +bough just below where the iguana stood, but only for it to make a rush +forward out of his sight. + +"But I should have hit it if I had only aimed a little higher," he +thought. + +The lizard being invisible, he was about to return to Shaddy, thinking +of his companion's disappointment, when, to his surprise, he suddenly +saw the reptile reappear upon a lower branch, where it stood watchful +and eager, and once more presenting a splendid opportunity for a skilled +archer. + +"It's of no good," thought Rob. "I must practise every day at a mark," +and once more taking aim without exercising much care, but more with an +idea of satisfying his companion if he were watching his actions than of +hitting his mark, he drew the arrow quickly to the head, gave one glance +along the slight reed at the iguana, the bow-string twanged, and the +next moment the reptile was gone. + +"That settles it," said Rob as he listened to the rustling of the leaves +and twigs; "but I must have gone pretty near for it to have leaped off +the bough in such a hurry. I'll be bound to say poor old Joe would have +made a better shot. Italian! Genoese archers!" he continued +thoughtfully. "No, they were cross-bow-men. Poor old Joe, though! Oh, +how shocking it does seem for a bright handsome lad like he was to--" + +"Here! hi! T'other way, my lad! He dropped down like a stone." + +"No, no; leaped like a deer off the branch. I saw him." + +"Well, so did I," cried Shaddy, hurrying up. "The arrow went clean +through him." + +"Nonsense!" + +"Nonsense, sir? What do you mean?" + +"I did not go near him." + +"What? Why, you shot him right through the shoulder. I haven't got +much to boast about except my eye, and I'll back that against some +people's spy-glasses. That iguana's lying down there at the bottom of +the tree dead as a last year's butterfly, and I can put my foot right on +the place. Come along." + +Rob smiled, raised his eyebrows a little, and followed. + +"Better let him convince himself," he thought; and as Shaddy forced back +the low boughs and held them apart for his companion to follow, he went +on talking. + +"I knew you could do it by the way you handled your bow and arrow. Your +eyes are as straight as mine is, and I watched you as you sent an arrow +first one side and then another till you got the exact range, and then +it was like kissing your hand: just a pull of the string, off goes the +arrow, and down drops the lizard, and a fine one, too. Round that +trunk, my lad! There you are, and there he lies, just down in that tuft +of grass." + +"Where?" said Rob banteringly. "Why, Shaddy, I thought your eye was +better than spy-glasses." + +Shaddy made a dash at the tuft of thick growth beneath the bough where +the iguana had stood, searched about, and then rose and took off his cap +to give his head a scratch. + +"Well, I never!" he said in a tone full of disappointment; "I was as +sure as sure that you hit that thing right through." + +He looked round about, and then all at once made a rush at a spot whence +came a faint rustling; and the next minute he returned dragging the +iguana by the tail, with the half of the arrow through its shoulder. + +"Now then," he cried, "was I right, or was I wrong? He made a big +scramble to get away, and hid himself in that bush all but his tail. My +word, Mr Rob, sir, what a shot you will make!" + +"Nonsense, Shaddy!" said the lad, looking down with a mingling of +compunction and pride at his prize. + +"Ah, you may call it nonsense, Mr Rob. I calls it skill." + +"Why, it was a mere accident." + +"Hark at him!" cried Shaddy, looking round at the trees as if to call +their attention to the lad's words. "Says it was an accident when I +told him to aim straight at the thing's shoulder, and there's the arrow +right through it from one side to the other, and the poor brute dead as +dead." + +"But I hardly aimed at it, Shaddy," protested Rob. + +"Of course you didn't. A good shot just makes up his mind to hit a +thing, and he hits it same as you did that lizard. Well, sir, that's +one trouble off my mind; and I can say thankfully we shan't starve. +There'll be times when the river's so flooded that we can't fish, and +then we might have come worst off; but you can shoot us birds and +beasts. Then we can find eggs, and lay traps, and search for fruit. +Why, Mr Rob, sir, we're going to have our bread buttered on both sides, +and we can keep Mr Brazier going while he collects. It looked very +black indeed time back, but the sun's shining in on us now. We shall be +a bit like prisoners, but where are you going to find a more beautiful +prison for people who want to study natural history? Hooray I look +here, too--mushrooms." + +"What, those great funguses?" + +"To be sure: they're good eating. I know 'em, sir. Found 'em before, +and learnt to eat 'em off the Indians. Here, wait a moment; let's take +enough of 'em for supper, and then get back to the kitchen and have a +turn at cooking. That's enough," he continued, picking up from the +mouldering stump of a huge decaying tree a great cluster of fungi; +"those others'll do for another time." + +"I hope you will not be disappointed in my shooting next time," said +Rob, taking the cluster of mushroom growth and thrusting an arrow +through it like a skewer. "I have very little faith in it myself, +Shaddy." + +"More likely to do good, and I believe in you all the more, Mr Rob," +said the man, seizing the lizard, tying its legs together with a band of +twisted twigs, thrusting his bamboos through, and swinging the prize +over his shoulder. "If you went puffing and blowing about and saying +you was going to shoot this, and hit that, I should begin to wonder how +ever we were to get our next dinner. Never you mind about feeling +afraid for yourself. `Modesty's the best policy,' as the old saying +goes, or something like it. Now then, best foot foremost! Tread in my +steps, and I think I can lead you straight for the head of the clearing, +pretty close to home, sweet home. D'yer mind what I say?" he continued, +with a queer smile. "Think. I ain't quite sure, my lad, but I'll try." + +Shaddy took a fresh observation, and then gave a satisfied nod of the +head. + +"Forrard!" he said; and he made off as if full of confidence, while Rob +followed behind, taking care of his mushrooms and watching the nodding +head of the iguana low down at Shaddy's back in a curiously grim +fashion, and thinking that it looked anything but attractive as an +object for the cook's art. + +They had been walking nearly an hour, very slowly--for it was difficult +work to avoid the tangled growth which hemmed them in--when Shaddy, who +had been chatting away pleasantly about the trees and their ill-luck in +not finding more fruit out in the forest, warning his companion, too, +every now and then about ant-hills and thorns, suddenly exclaimed, +"Wonder what luck Mr Brazier's had?" and almost directly after as they +entered an open place where orchids were growing, some of which had +suggested the man's last speech, he cried, "Why, hullo! Look here, Mr +Rob; look here," and as he pointed down at the dead leaves beneath their +feet, Rob started back with a shudder of horror, and looked wildly round +for the cause of that which he saw. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +A GAP IN THE RANKS. + +That which Shaddy pointed out was startling enough to cause Rob a +shudder; for, plainly seen upon a broad leaf, trampled-down amongst +others that were dead and dry, were a few spots of blood. + +But after the momentary feeling of dread caused by the discovery there +came a reaction, and Rob exclaimed eagerly, "Some wild beasts have been +fighting;" and then as his companion shook his head, the boy uttered a +forced laugh, and, to carry off the excitement, said: + +"I know what it is, Shaddy: two monkeys coming home from school have had +a fight, and one made the other's nose bleed." + +"Wish I could laugh and joke about it like you do, squire," said Shaddy +sadly, as he peered about. "It's serious, my lad. Something very +wrong, I'm afraid." + +"Don't say that, Shaddy," cried Rob huskily. "I only tried to turn it +off because I felt afraid and didn't want to show it. Do you really +think there's something very serious?" + +"I do, my lad." + +"Not that Mr Brazier has been here?" + +"That's just what I do think, my lad; and I feel as if it was my fault +for sending him hunting and collecting by himself, instead of us waiting +on him and watching him." + +"Shaddy, don't say anything has happened to him!" cried Rob in horror. + +"I don't say as there is," said Shaddy; "I don't say as there ain't, my +lad: but you see that," he said, pointing down, "and you know that Mr +Brazier's a fine brave English gentleman, but, like all the natural +history people I ever see, so full of what he's doing that he forgets +all about himself and runs into all kinds of danger." + +"But what kind of danger could he have run into here?" + +"Don't know, my lad--don't know. All I do know is that he has been here +and got into trouble." + +"But you don't know that he has been here," cried Rob passionately. + +"What's this, then?" said Shaddy, holding out a piece of string, which +he had picked up unnoticed by his companion. "Mr Brazier had got one +of his pockets stuffed full of bits o' spun yarn and band, like that as +we used to tie up his plants with, and it looks to me as if he'd dropped +this." + +"But couldn't--Oh no, of course not--it's impossible," cried Rob; "no +one else could have been here?" + +"No, sir; no one else could have been here." + +"Yes, they could," cried Rob excitedly: "enemies!" + +Shaddy shook his head as he peered about, stooping and examining the +trampled-down growth. + +"Wish I could track like an Indian does, Mr Rob, sir. He has been here +sure enough, but I can't make out which way he has gone. There's our +footmarks pressing down the twigs and moss and stuff; and there's his, I +fancy." + +"And Indians?" + +"Can't see none, sir; but that means nothing: they tread so softly with +their bare feet that a dozen may have been here and gone, and we not +know it." + +"Then you do think he has been attacked by Indians, Shaddy?" cried Rob +reproachfully. + +"Well, sir, I do, and I don't. There's no sign." + +"Then what could it have been,--a jaguar?" + +"Maybe, Mr Rob." + +"Or a puma!" + +"Maybe that, sir; or he may have come suddenly upon a deer as gave him a +dig with its horns. Here, let's get on back to camp as quickly as we +can." + +"But he may not be there," cried Rob excitedly, as he looked round among +the densely packed trees. "Let's try and find some track by which he +has gone." + +"That's what I've been trying to do, and couldn't find one, sir. If +he's been wounded, somehow he'd nat'rally make back for the hut, so as +to find us and get help. Come along." + +"Oh, Shaddy, we oughtn't to have left him. We ought to have kept +together." + +"No good to tell me that, Mr Rob, sir; I feel it now, but I did it all +for the best. There, sir, it's of no use to stay here no longer. Come +on, and we may hit upon his backward trail." + +Rob gave another wild look round, and then joined Shaddy, who was +carefully studying the position of the sun, where a gleam came through +the dense foliage high above their heads, and lightened the deep green +twilight. + +"That's about the course," he muttered, as he gave the iguana a hitch +over to his right shoulder. "Now then, Mr Rob, sir, let's make a swift +passage if we can, and hope for the best. Pah! Look at the flies +already after the meat. No keeping anything long here." + +The remark struck Rob as being out of place at such a time, but he was +fain to recall how he had made speeches quite as incongruous, so he +followed his companion in silence, trusting to him implicitly, and +wondering at the confidence with which he pressed on in one direction, +with apparently nothing to guide him. In fact, all looked so strange +and undisturbed that Rob at last could not contain himself. + +"Mr Brazier cannot have been anywhere here, Shaddy," he cried +excitedly. "Two wild beasts must have been fighting." + +"For that there bit o' string, sir?" said the man, drily. "What do you +call that, then, and that?" + +He pointed up to a bough about nine feet above him, where a cluster of +orchids grew, for the most part of a sickly, pallid hue, save in one +spot, where a shaft of sunlight came through the dense leafy canopy and +dyed the strangely-formed petals of one bunch with orange, purple and +gold, while the huge mossy tree trunk, half covered with parasitic +creepers, whose stems knotted it with their huge cordage, showed traces +of some one having climbed to reach the great horizontal bough. + +"That looks like Mr Brazier, his mark, sir, eh?" + +"Yes, yes," cried Rob eagerly. + +"Come on then, sir: we're right." + +"But did he make those marks coming or returning?" + +"Can't say, sir," said Shaddy, gruffly; and then, to himself, "That +ain't true, for he made 'em coming, or I'm a Dutchman." + +He made another careful calculation of their position, and was about to +start again, when he caught sight of something about Rob, or rather its +absence, and exclaimed,-- + +"Why, where's them mushrooms?" + +"Mushrooms, Shaddy! I--I don't know." + +"But, Master Rob!" + +"Oh, who's to think about eating at a time like this? Go on, pray; I +shall not feel happy till I see Mr Brazier again." + +Shaddy uttered a low grunt, gazed up at the shaft of light which shone +upon the cluster of flowers, and then shifted the iguana again, and +tramped on sturdily for about an hour, till there was a broad glare of +light before them, and he suddenly stepped out from the greenish +twilight into sunshine and day. + +"Not so bad, Mr Rob, sir, without a compass!" he said, with a smile of +triumph. + +But Rob, as he stepped out, was already looking round for their +fellow-prisoner in the forest, but looking in vain. There was no sign +of human being in the solitude; and a chilly feeling of despair ran +through the lad as he forgot his weariness and made a move for the hut, +about a hundred yards away. + +It was hard work to get through the low tangled growth out there in the +sunlight; and before he was half-way there he stumbled and nearly fell, +but gathered himself up with a faint cry of fear, for there was a low +growl and a rush, as something bounded out, and he just caught a glimpse +of the long lithe tawny body of a puma as it sprang into a fresh tangle +of bush and reed, while Rob stood fast, and then turned to look at +Shaddy. + +The man's face was wrinkled up, and for the moment he evidently shared +the boy's thoughts. Stepping close to him, he began to peer about +amongst the thick growth from which the animal had sprung, while Rob +felt sick as his imagination figured in the puma's lair the torn and +bleeding body of his friend; and as Shaddy suddenly exclaimed, "Here's +the place, sir!" he dared not look, but stood with averted eyes, till +the man exclaimed: + +"Had his nest here, sir, and he was asleep. Bah! I ought to have +known. I never heard of a puma meddling with a man." + +"Then Mr Brazier is not there?" said Rob faintly. + +"Why, of course he ain't," replied the man sourly. "Come along, sir, +and let's see if he's in the hut." + +They rushed to their newly thatched-in shelter, and Rob seized the side +and peered in, where all was black darkness to him, coming as he did +from the brilliant sunshine. + +"Mr Brazier," he cried huskily; but there was no reply. "Mr Brazier," +he shouted, "why don't you answer?" + +"'Cause he ain't there, my lad," said Shaddy gruffly. "Here, wait till +I've doctored this iguana thing and hung it up. No, I'll cover it with +grass here in the cool, and then we must make back tracks and find Mr +Brazier before night." + +"Oh, Shaddy!" cried Rob in an anguished tone, "then he has been horribly +hurt--perhaps killed!" + +The man made no reply, but hurriedly cut open and cleaned the lizard at +some distance from the hut, then buried it beneath quite a pile of +grass, dead leaves and twigs, before stepping back to his companion in +misfortune. + +"Oh, why did you stop to do that," cried Rob, "when Mr Brazier may be +lying dying somewhere in the forest?" + +"Because when we find him, we must have food to eat, lad, and something +for him too. That thing may save all our lives. Don't you think I +don't want to get to him, because I do. Now then, sir, we've got to go +straight back the way we came, and find him." + +"You'll go right back to where the spots--I mean, where we found the +piece of string?" whispered Rob, whose feeling of weariness seemed to +disappear at once. + +"Yes, sir, straight back as an arrow, and it's of no use to hide facts; +you must take your place as a man now, and act like one, having the hard +with the soft, so I shall speak plainly." + +"You need not, Shaddy," said Rob sadly. "You are afraid he has been +badly hurt and carried off by Indians--perhaps killed." + +"Nay, my lad; that's making worse of it than I thought. My ideas was +bad enough, but not so bad as yours, and I think mine's right." + +"Then what do you think?" said Rob, as after a sharp glance round they +made for the spot where they had re-entered the clearing from the +forest. + +"Tell you what I _don't_ think first, my lad," replied Shaddy: "I don't +think it's Indians, because I haven't seen a sign of 'em, and if I had I +fancy they'd be peaceable, stupid sort of folk. No: he's got into +trouble with some beast or another." + +"Killed?" + +"Nay, nay; that's the very worst of all. There's hundreds of ways in +which he might be hurt; and what I think is, that he has started to come +back, and turned faint and laid down, and perhaps gone to sleep, so that +we passed him; or perhaps he has lost his way." + +"Lost his way?" cried Rob, with a shiver of dread. + +"Yes, my lad. It's of no use to hide facts now." + +"Then we shall never find him again, and he will wander about till he +lies down and dies." + +"Ah! now you're making the worst of it again, sir. He might find the +way out again by himself, but we've got to help him. Maybe we shall be +able to follow his tracks; you and me has got to try that: an Indian or +a dog would do it easily. Well, you and me ought to have more stuff in +us than Indians or dogs, and if we make up our minds to do it, why, we +shall. So, come along, and let's see if we can't muster up plenty of +British pluck, say a bit of a prayer like men, and with God's help we'll +find him before we've done." + +He held out his hand to Rob, who made a snatch at it and caught it +between his, to cling to it tightly as he gazed in the rough, +sun-blackened face before him, too much oppressed by emotions to utter a +word. + +But words were not needed in the solemn silence of that grand forest. +Their prayer for help rose in the midst of Nature's grandest cathedral, +with its arching roof of boughs, through which in one spot came a ray of +brilliant light, that seemed to penetrate to Rob's heart and lighten him +with hope; and then once more they swung round and plunged into the +forest depths. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +THE WOODLAND FOES. + +They took the same path without much difficulty, Shaddy tracing it +carefully step by step; and for a time Rob eagerly joined in the +tracing, every now and then pointing out a place where they had broken a +twig or displaced a bough; but after a time the gloom of the forest +began to oppress him, and a strange sensation of shrinking from +penetrating farther forced him to make a call upon himself and think of +the words uttered before they recommenced their search. + +For there was always the feeling upon him that at any moment danger +might be lurking thus in their way, and that the next moment they might +be face to face with death. + +"But that's all selfishness," he forced himself to think. "We have to +find Mr Brazier." + +This fresh loss to a certain extent obliterated the other trouble, and +there were times when poor Giovanni was completely forgotten, though at +others Rob found himself muttering,-- + +"Poor Joe! and now poor Mr Brazier! Whose turn will it be next? And +those at home will never know of our fate." + +But it generally happened that at these most depressing times something +happened to make a fresh call upon his energies. Now it would be a +fault in the tracking, their way seeming to be quite obliterated. Now +Shaddy would point out marks certainly not made by them; for flowers of +the dull colourless kind, which flourished so sickly here in these +shades, had been broken-off, as if they had been examined, and then been +thrown aside: convincing proofs that Brazier had been botanising there, +collecting, and casting away objects unworthy of his care. + +At one spot, unnoticed on their return, quite a bunch of curious growths +lay at the foot of a huge buttressed tree, where there were indications +of some one having lain down for a time as if to rest. Farther on, at +the side of a tree, also unnoticed before, a great liana had been torn +away from a tree trunk, so that it looked as if it had been done by one +who climbed; and Shaddy said, with a satisfied smile,-- + +"He's been along here, Mr Rob, sure enough. Keep a good heart, sir; +we're getting cleverer at tracking." + +On they went in silence, forcing their way between the trees, with the +forest appearing darker than ever, save here and there, where, so sure +as a little light penetrated, with it came sound. Now it was the hum of +insect life in the sunshine far above their heads; now it was the +shrieking or twittering of birds busy feasting on fruit, and twice over +an angry chattering told them that they had monkeys for their companions +high overhead; but insect, bird, and the strangely agile creatures which +leaped and swung among the boughs, were for the most part invisible, and +they toiled on. + +All at once Rob raised the bow he carried, and touched Shaddy sharply on +the shoulder. + +"Eh? what's the matter, my lad?" cried the man, turning quickly. + +"Look! Don't you see?" whispered Rob. "There, by that patch of green +light? Some one must have climbed up that green liana which hangs from +the bough. It is swinging still. Do you think a monkey has just been +up it, or is it some kind of wild cat?" + +Shaddy uttered his low chuckling laugh as he stood still leaning upon +his bamboo staves. + +"If it had been a cat we should have seen a desperate fight, my lad," he +replied. "If it was a monkey I'm sorry for him. He must have gone up +outside and come down in. Why, can't you see what it is?" + +"A great liana, one of those tough creeper things. Look how curiously +it moves still! Some one's dragging at the end. No, it isn't. Oh, +Shaddy, it's a great serpent hanging from the bough!" + +"That's more like it, my lad. Look! You can see its head now." + +In effect the long, hideous-looking creature raised its head from where +it had been hidden by the growth below, twisted and undulated about for +a few moments, and then lifted it more and more till it could reach the +lower part of the bough from which it hung, and then, gradually +contracting its body into curves and loops, gathered itself together +till it hung in a mass from the branch. + +"Not nice-looking things, Mr Rob, sir. Puts me in mind of those we saw +down by the water, but this looks like a different kind to them." + +"Will--will it attack us?" said Rob in a hoarse whisper. + +"Nay, not it. More likely to hurry away and hide, unless it is very +hungry or can't get out of the road. Then it might." + +"But we can't pass under that." + +"Well, no, Mr Rob, sir; it don't look like a sensible sort of thing to +do, though it seems cowardly to sneak away from a big land-eel sort of a +thing. What do you say? Shall we risk it and let go at my gentleman +with our sticks if he takes any notice of us, or go round like cowards?" + +"Go round like cowards," said Rob decisively. + +"Right!" said Shaddy, who carefully took his bearings again, and, in +order to have something at which he could gaze back so as to start again +in the direction by which they had come, he broke a bough short off with +a loud crack. + +The effect was instantaneous on the serpent. + +The moment before the whole body had hung in heavy loops from the bough, +but at the first snap every part of it appeared to be in motion, and, as +dimly seen, one fold glided slowly over another, with a curious rustling +sound. + +Rob made a start as if to dash off, but checked himself, and glanced at +Shaddy, who was watching him; and the boy felt the colour flush into his +cheeks, and a curious sense of annoyance came over him at the thought +that his companion was looking upon him as a coward. + +"It's all right, my lad," said the guide quietly; "you needn't mind me. +You're a bit scared, and nat'rally. Who wouldn't be if he wasn't used +to these things? I was horribly afraid of the one I first saw, and, for +the matter of that, so I was about the next; but I've seen so many big +snakes that, so long as I can keep at a little distance, they don't +trouble me much. You see, they're not very dangerous to man, and always +get out of his way if they have a chance. There's been a lot said about +their 'tacking folk; and if you were to rouse that gentleman I daresay +he'd seize you, and, if he got a hold for his tail, twist round and +squeeze you to death; but you leave him alone and give him anything of a +chance, he'll show you the tip of his tail much sooner than he'll show +you his head. Look here!" + +Shaddy looked round and picked up a short piece of a branch, which he +was about to throw, but the boy caught his arm. + +"Don't make it angry," he said in a whisper. "The horrible thing may +come at us." + +"I'm not going to make it angry," said Shaddy; "I'm going to make it +afraid," and he hurled the piece of mouldering wood with so good an aim +that it struck the branch near where the serpent was coiling itself more +closely and flew to pieces. + +The serpent threw itself down with a crashing sound amongst the dense +undergrowth beneath, and disappeared from their sight. + +"There," said Shaddy, "that's the way, you see. Gone?" + +"No, no. Look out, Shaddy; it's coming this way," cried Rob excitedly, +as a rustling was heard, and directly after there was a low hiss; and +the movement among the twigs and dried leaves told that the creature was +coming toward them. + +Whether it was coming straight for where they stood neither of them +stopped to see, but hurried off onward in the direction of the spot +where they had seen the marks upon the leaf, and in a very short time +the forest was silent again. + +"Was not that a very narrow escape, Shaddy?" said Rob at last. + +"No, my lad, I think not. Some people would say it was, and be ready to +tell no end of cock-and-bull stories about what that serpent was going +to do; but I've never known them play any games except once, and then +the creature only acted according to its nature. It was in a sort of +lake place, half pool, half river, and pretty close to the sea. It was +near a gentleman's plantation, and the black folk used to go down every +day to bathe. This they did pretty regularly till one day while they +were romping about in the shallow water, which only came up to their +middles, one of them shouted for help, saying that a 'gator had got hold +of her, and then laughed. The others took no notice, because it was a +'sterical sort of laugh, as they call it, and thought she was playing +tricks; but all at once they saw that she was struggling hard and being +drawn backwards. That was enough. They all made a rush and caught hold +of her arms just as she was being slowly drawn down lower, and when they +dragged her nearer the shore, whatever it was that held her yielded a +little, though it still hung on to the poor girl; while as they got her +nearer a shriek rose, and every one nearly let go, for the head of a big +snake was drawn right out of the water, but at the next snatch it loosed +its hold and dropped back with a splash." + +They were by this time approaching the spot where they had seen the +marks, and Shaddy advanced more cautiously, scanning every leaf and twig +before he stepped forward for signs of him they sought. Here and there +he was able to point out marks such as Mr Brazier might have made-- +marks that had been passed over during their journey in the other +direction. For there were places where he had evidently torn down +leaves, mosses, and curious shade-loving growths, some of which he had +carelessly tossed aside, and in one case the fragment thrown down was +about half of the bulb of an orchid, whose home had been upon the mossy +limb of a great tree overhead. + +"He has been by here, sure enough, Mr Rob," said Shaddy in a subdued +voice; "and, between ourselves, it was quite a bit of madness for him to +come right out here alone. Now then, sir, keep a sharp look-out, and +let's see if we can't find the spots straight off. They were pretty +nigh, I think." + +"Just there, I think," said Rob, looking excitedly round and pointing to +a darker patch of the great forest where they were. + +"Nay, it wasn't dark like that, my lad," replied Shaddy. "It was more +hereabouts." + +"Are you sure, Shaddy?" + +"Pretty tidy, sir. No, I'm not. Seems to me that you are right, and +yet it was this side of that great tree. I remember it now, the one +with the great branch hanging right to the ground." + +"I don't remember it, Shaddy," said Rob. "But I do, sir. It had a +bunch of those greeny-white, sickly-looking plants growing underneath +it, and we shall know it by them." + +"Then it isn't the right one, Shaddy; we must try again." + +"But it is the right one, my lad. It's bad enough work to find a tree +in this great dark place. Don't say it isn't right when I've found it. +Come now, look. Ain't I right?" + +"Yes, Shaddy, right," said Rob as he looked up and saw the faded orchids +hanging beneath the branch. "Then the place is close here somewhere." + +"You're almost standing upon it, Mr Rob," said Shaddy. "You see, I +have hit the spot," he continued, with a look of triumph. "There, I +will not be proud of it, for it comes very easy to find your way like +this after a bit of practice. There you are, you see; so now where to +go next?" + +"I don't know," cried Rob despondently. "Can't you see any fresh traces +for us to follow?" + +Shaddy set off, with his face as near to the ground as he could manage, +and searched all round the spot where the stained leaf lay, but without +effect; and after a few moments' examination he started off again, +making a wider circle, but with no better result. + +"Can't have been anything to do with a wild beast, my lad," he said in a +low, awe-stricken voice, "or some signs must have been left. It's a +puzzler. He was here--there's no doubt about that--and we've got to +find him. I'll make a bigger cast round, and see what that will do." + +"Can you find your way back here?" asked Rob anxiously. + +"I must," replied Shaddy, with quiet confidence in his tones. "It won't +do to lose you as well." + +He started again, walking straight on for a couple of hundred yards +through the trees and then striking off to his left to form a fresh +circle right outside the first, and at the end of five minutes Rob, who +stood by the great tree listening for every sound and wondering whether +his companion would find his way back, and if he did not what he would +do, heard a cry. + +For the moment he thought it was for help, but it was repeated, and +realising that it was an animal's, he started forward in the direction +of the sound, though only to halt the moment after in alarm and look +back. At the end of a few seconds he set it down to fancy and went on +again, but only to stop once more, for there was a rustling sound behind +him; and he awoke at once to the fact that the noise could only have +been made by some wild beast stealing softly after him, stalking him, in +fact, and preparing to make a spring and bring him down. + +Rob felt the perspiration ooze out of every pore as he stood looking +back in the direction of the sound, which ceased as soon as he halted. +He would have given anything to have held a gun in his hands and been +able to discharge it amongst the low growth where the animal was hidden, +but he was as good as helpless with only the bow and an arrow or two; +and he stood waiting till he started, for he heard Shaddy's cry again, +and in a fit of desperation he shouted aloud in answer, and sprang +forward to try and reach his side. + +But as he made his way onward there again was the soft stealing along of +his pursuer, whatever it was, for though he tried hard to pierce the low +growth, the gloom was so deep that he never once obtained a glimpse of +the animal. + +Again Shaddy shouted, and he answered, the cry sounding not a hundred +yards away; and in the hope that their voices might have the power of +scaring the enemy, he shouted again, and was answered loudly and far +nearer, making him give a rush forward in his desperation, and following +it up with a gasp of agony, for there was a fierce roar through the +forest on his left. + +It seemed as if the animal, in dread of losing him by his forming a +junction with his friend, had bounded on to get between them and crouch +ready to spring upon him; but Rob could not hold back now, and pressed +forward. + +"Shaddy," he shouted--"Shaddy, there is some wild beast close here." + +"Wait a bit, my lad," was shouted back; and the crushing and rustling of +boughs told of Shaddy's coming, while Rob faced round now, staring +wildly at a dark part among the trees where he thought he saw the +undergrowth move but not daring to stir, from the feeling that if he did +turn his back the beast would spring upon him and bring him down. + +Thought after thought flashed like lightning through his brain, and in +imagination he saw himself seized and bleeding, just as Mr Brazier must +have been, for he felt sure now that this had been his fate. + +It was a nightmare-like sensation which paralysed him, so that, though +he heard Shaddy approaching and then calling to him, he could neither +move nor answer, only stand crouching there by a huge tree, with the bow +held before him and an arrow fitted ready to fly, fascinated by the +danger in front. + +He could not see it, but there was no doubt of its presence, and that it +was hiding, crouched, ready to bound out, every movement suggesting that +it was some huge cat-like creature, in all probability a jaguar, nearly +as fierce and strong as a tiger. For at every rustle and crash through +the wood made by Shaddy there was a low muttering growl and a sound as +if the creature's legs were scratching and being gathered together for a +spring. + +Rob felt this, and stood motionless, thinking that his only chance of +safety lay in gazing straight at the creature's hiding-place and +believing that as long as he remained motionless the animal would not +spring. + +"Hi! where are you, my lad?" said Shaddy, from close at hand; but Rob's +lips uttered no sound. He felt a slight exhilaration at the proximity +of his companion, but he could not say, "Here!" and the next minute +Shaddy spoke again, depressing the lad's spirits now, for the voice came +from farther away. Again he shouted, "Hi! why don't you answer? Where +are you, lad?" but Rob heard the earth being torn up by the fierce +animal's claws, and now even heard its breathing, and his voice died +away again as a choking sensation attacked his throat. + +And there he crouched, hearing the help for which he had called come +close to him, pass him, and go right away till Shaddy's anxious cries +died out in the solemn distance of the forest, leaving him alone to face +death in one of its most terrible forms. + +He knew he could launch the arrow at the beast, and that at such close +quarters he ought to, and probably would hit it, but a frail reed arrow +was not likely to do more than spur the creature into fierce anger. + +He could see it all in advance. A jaguar was only a huge cat, and he +would be like a rat in its claws, quite as helpless; and he shuddered +and felt faint for a few moments. But now that he was entirely alone, +far from help, and self-dependent, a change came over him. He knew that +he must fight for life; he felt as if he could defend himself; and, with +his nerve returning, his lips parted to utter a shout. + +But he did not cry, for he knew that Shaddy was too far off to hear him, +and with a feeling of desperation now as he recalled that he had his +keen knife in his pocket, he loosened his hold of his arrow and thrust +in his hand to withdraw the weapon, seized the blade in his teeth, and +dragged it open. + +"He shall not kill me for nothing," he thought, and he stood on his +guard, for his movements excited the animal to action, and with a roar +and a rush it sprang right out from the undergrowth to within three +yards of him, but, instead of crouching and springing again, it stood up +before him, with its back slightly arched, lashing its sides gently with +its long tail. + +It was no spotted jaguar, with teeth bared, but, as dimly seen there in +the semi-darkness of the forest, a noble-looking specimen of the puma +family, and, to Rob's astonishment, it made no sign of menace, but +remained in the spot to which it had sprung, watching him. + +And here for quite a minute they stood face to face, till, with a faint +cry of wonder, the lad exclaimed,-- + +"Why, it must be my puma! And it has followed us all along by the banks +to here." + +Then came thought after thought, suggesting that it must have been the +footprints of this beast which they had seen over and over again by the +side of their fire; that it was this animal which had crept to him when +he was asleep; that it kept in hiding when he was with his companions, +but that it had been tracking him till he was alone, and that after all +he had nothing to fear. + +But still he was afraid and uncertain, so that some time elapsed during +which the puma stood writhing its tail, watching him before he could +summon up courage enough to take a step forward. + +He made that step at last, knowing that if he were mistaken the animal +would at once draw back and make for a spring; but, instead of moving, +the puma raised its tail erect, making the three or four inches at the +end twine a little, and the next minute Rob was talking to it softly, +with his hand upon its head, when the animal began to give forth a +curious sound somewhat resembling a purr and pressed up against him. + +"Poor old chap, then!" cried Rob; "and I was frightened of you, when all +you wanted to do was to make friends. Why, you are a fine fellow, +then." + +His words were accompanied by caresses, and these were evidently +approved of, the puma crouching down and finally lying on its side, +while Rob knelt beside it and found that he might make free with it to +any extent. + +Then, suddenly recollecting how Shaddy was hunting for him and their +object, he sprang to his feet, and placing his hands to his mouth, sent +forth as loud a shout as he could give. + +As he sprang up the puma also leaped to its feet, watching him in a +startled way. + +Rob shouted again, and as a reply came from not far distant a low growl +arose from the animal by his side. + +But he shouted again, and an answer came from much nearer, when with one +bound the animal sprang out of sight amongst the trees, and though Rob +called to it again and again in the intervals of answering Shaddy's +cries, there was not a sound to suggest the creature's presence. + +"It's afraid of Shaddy," Rob concluded, and feeling bound to continue +his signals, he kept on till his companion joined him. + +"Why, my lad," cried the latter, "I thought I'd lost you too," and as +soon as Rob had explained the reason for his silence, "Enough to make +you, lad. But that's right enough. He's took a fancy to you. Only +hope he won't show fight at me, because if he does I shall have to hit +hard for the sake of Shadrach Naylor; but if he's for giving the +friendly hand, why so am I. But come along; we mustn't be belated here. +I've found fresh signs of Mr Brazier while I was hunting you." + +"You have?" cried Rob joyfully. + +"Yes, my lad, not much; but I came upon a spot where he had been +breaking down green-stuff." + +"Since he--met with that accident?" said Rob hesitatingly. + +"Ah, that's what I can't say, Mr Rob, sir. Let's get to it, and try +and follow up his trail. No; we can't do it to-day. We must get back +to the hut to-night, and all we can do is to take the spot I came to on +the way. We shall only get there before dark as it is." + +"Oh, but we can't leave him alone in the forest--perhaps wounded and +unable to find his way out." + +"But we must, my lad," said the guide firmly. "We can do him no more +good by sleeping here than by sleeping there under cover." + +"Who can think of sleeping, Shaddy, at a time like this?" + +"Natur' says we must sleep, Mr Rob, and eat too, or we shall soon break +down. Come along, my lad; there's always the hope that we may find him +back at camp after all." + +"But he must be wanting our help, Shaddy," said Rob sadly. + +"Yes, my lad, and if he can, camp's the place where he'll go to look for +it, isn't it?" + +"Yes, of course." + +"Then we ought to be there to-night in case he comes to it. So now then +let's start at once. Sun goes down pretty soon, and I've got to take +you by a round to where he broke down those flowers. Ready?" + +"Yes," said Rob sadly; and they made a fresh start. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +IN PAINFUL QUEST. + +At the end of a few minutes Shaddy turned his head and spoke over his +shoulder. + +"Hear anything of your puss, Mr Rob?" + +"I have fancied I heard him twice." + +"Then he's after us, safe--depend upon it. These sort of things go +along on velvet, and can get under the trees and branches for hours +without your knowing anything about their being so near. Let's be +friends with him, my lad. We're lonely enough out here, and he'll get +his own living, you may depend upon that." + +Shaddy pressed on as rapidly as he could, for the evening was drawing +nigh, and, as he said, it would be black night in there directly the sun +went down; but it was a long way, and Rob was growing weary of seeing +his companion keep on halting in doubt, before, with a look of triumph, +he stopped short and pointed to a broken-down creeper, a kind of +passion-flower, which had been dragged at till a mass of leafage and +flower had been drawn down from high up in the tree it climbed, to lie +in a heap. + +"There you are, Mr Rob, sir." + +"No, no, Shaddy; that might have been dragged down by a puma or jaguar," +said Rob sadly. + +"Then he must have carried a good sharp knife in his pocket, my lad," +replied the old hunter. "Look at this." + +He held up the end of the stem, for Rob to see that it had been divided +by one clean chop with a big knife. + +"Yes, of course. He must have been here," cried Rob joyfully. "Now +then, we must find his trail and follow it on." + +"We must make straight for camp, Mr Rob, sir," replied Shaddy, "hoping +to find him there, for in less than an hour's time we shall have to feel +our way." + +"Oh, Shaddy!" + +"Must, sir, and you know it. We must try all we know to get back, and I +tell you it's as much as I can do to find the way there. I'm sure I +can't follow Mr Brazier's trail." + +Rob looked at him sternly. + +"Fact, sir. You know I'm doing my best." + +"Yes," said Rob, reproach sounding in his tones; but he could not help +feeling that he was a little unjust, as he tramped steadily on behind +his companion, who was very silent for some time, working hard to make +his way as near as possible along the track by which they had come. + +Rob was just thinking that from the tone of the gloom around him the sun +must be very low, when Shaddy turned his head for a moment. + +"Don't think you could find your way, do you, Mr Rob?" + +"I'm sure I couldn't," was the reply. + +"So am I, my lad." + +"But you have it all right?" + +"Sometimes, my lad; and sometimes I keep on losing it, and have to make +a bit of a cast about to pick it up again. We're going right, my lad, +so don't be down-hearted. Let's hope Mr Brazier is precious anxious +and hungry, waiting for us to come to him." + +"I hope so, Shaddy." + +"But you don't think so, my lad." + +Rob shook his head. + +"Heard your cat, sir?" + +"No." + +"More have I. Scared of me, I suppose. Rec'lects first meeting." + +They went on again in silence, with the gloom deepening; but the forest +was a little more open, and all at once Shaddy stopped short, and +holding one hand behind him signed to Rob to come close up. + +"Look!" he whispered: "just over my shoulder, lad. I'd say try your bow +and arrow, only we've got plenty of food in camp, and had better leave +it for next time." + +"What is it, Shaddy? I can't see. Yes, I can. Why it's a deer. +Watching us too." + +The graceful little creature was evidently startled at the sight of +human beings, and stood gazing ready to spring away at the slightest +motion on their part. The next instant there was a sudden movement just +before them, as a shadow seemed to dart out from their right; and as the +deer made a frantic bound it was struck down, for a puma had alighted +upon its back, and the two animals lay before them motionless, the +puma's teeth fast in the deer's neck, and the former animal so flattened +down that it looked as if it were one with the unfortunate creature it +had made its prey, and whose death appeared to have been almost +instantaneous. + +"Why, it must be my puma!" cried Rob. + +"That's so, my lad, for sartain," replied Shaddy. "Now, if we could get +part, say the hind-quarter of that deer, for our share, it would be +worth having. What do you say?" + +Rob said nothing, and Shaddy approached; but a low, ominous growling +arose, and the great cat's tail writhed and twined about in the air. + +"He'll be at me if I go any nearer," said Shaddy. "What do you say to +trying, Mr Rob, sir?" + +"I don't think I would," said the lad; and he stepped forward, with the +result that the puma's tone changed to a peculiar whining, remonstrant +growl, as it shifted itself off the dead deer, but kept its teeth buried +in its neck, and began to back away, dragging the body toward the spot +from which it had made its bound. + +"Let it be, Mr Rob, sir. The thing's sure to be savage if you meddle +with its food. We can do without it, and there's no time to spare. +Come along." + +There was a fierce growl as Shaddy went on, and Rob followed him; but on +looking back he saw that the puma was following, dragging the little +deer, and after a few steps it took a fresh hold, flung it over its +back, followed them for a few minutes, and then disappeared. + +They had enough to do to find their way now, for darkness was coming on +fast, and before long Shaddy stopped short. + +"It's of no use, my lad," he said. "I'm very sorry, but we've drove it +too late. The more we try the farther we shall get in the wood." + +"What do you mean to do, then?" said Rob, wearily. + +"Light a fire, and get some boughs together for a bed." + +"Oh, Shaddy, don't you think we might reach camp if we went on?" cried +Rob, despairingly. + +"Well, we'll try, Mr Rob, sir; but I'm afraid not. Now, if your friend +there would be a good comrade and bring in our supper, we could roast +it, and be all right here, but he won't, so we'll try to get along. We +shall be no worse off farther on, only we may be cutting ourselves out +more work when it's day. Shall we try?" + +"Yes, try," said Rob; and he now took the lead, on the chance of finding +the way. A quarter of an hour later, just as he was about to turn and +give up, ready for lighting a fire to cook nothing, but only too glad of +the chance of throwing himself down to rest, Shaddy uttered a cheery +cry. + +"Well done, Mr Rob, sir!" he said. "You're right. Camp's just ahead." + +"What! How do you know?" + +"By that big, flop-branched tree, with the great supports like stays. I +remember it as well as can be. Off to the right, sir, and in a quarter +of an hour we shall be in the clearing." + +"Unless that's one of thousands of trees that grow like it," said Rob +sadly, as he pressed on. + +"Nay, sir, I could swear to that one, sir, dark as it is. Now, you look +up in five minutes, and see if you can't make out stars." + +Rob said nothing, but tramped on, forcing his way among trees which he +only avoided now by extending his bow and striking to right and left. + +Five minutes or so afterwards he cast up his eyes, but without expecting +to see anything, when a flash of hope ran through him, and he shouted +joyfully,-- + +"Stars, Shaddy, stars!" and as a grunt of satisfaction came from behind, +he raised his voice to the highest pitch he could command, and roared +out, "Mr Brazier I Mr Brazier! Ahoy!" + +Shaddy took up the cry in stentorian tones-- + +"Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!" and the shout was answered. + +"There he is!" cried Rob, joyfully. "Hurrah!" + +Shaddy was silent. + +"Didn't you hear, Shaddy? Mr Brazier answered. You are right: he did +get back, after all." + +Still Shaddy remained silent, only increasing his pace in the darkness, +lightened now by the stars which overarched them, so as to keep up with +Rob's eager strides. + +"Why don't you speak, man? Let's shout again: Mr Brazier! Ahoy!" + +"Mr Brazier! Ahoy!" came back faintly. + +"I don't like to damp you, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy, sadly, "but you +don't see as we're out in the clearing again. That's only the echo from +the trees across the river. He isn't here." + +"No," said Rob, with a groan; "he isn't here." + +Just then there was a rustling sound behind them, and a low growl, +followed by a strange sound which Rob understood at once. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +THE FOUR-FOOTED FRIEND. + +The lad said nothing, so great was the change from hope to despondency; +and he hardly noticed the sound close beside him, as Shaddy said +gruffly-- + +"Well, if any one had told me that, I wouldn't have believed it!" + +"Is it any use to shout again, Shaddy?" said Rob, as he looked down at +the indistinctly-seen shape of the dull tawny-coated puma, which had +carried its captive after them to the clearing, and had now quietly lain +down to its feast. + +"No, Mr Rob, sir; if he's here, it's in the shelter-place we made, +utterly done up with tramping. Let's go and see." + +It was no easy task to get even there in the darkness, but they soon +after stood at the end, and Rob convinced himself in a few moments that +they were alone. + +"Oh, Shaddy!" he cried piteously, "he hasn't come back. What can we do +to find him?" + +"I'll show you, sir," said the man, quietly. "First thing is to make up +the fire." + +"For him to see? Yes; that's right." + +"Man couldn't see the fire many yards away in the wood, Mr Rob, sir. I +meant for us, so as to roast a bit of that deer, if the lion'll let us +have it." + +"I must do something to help Mr Brazier!" said Rob, angrily. + +"That's helping him, my lad--having a good meal to make us strong. +After that we'll have a good sleep to make us rested." + +"Oh, no! no!" cried Rob, angrily. + +"But I say yes, yes, yes, sir!" said Shaddy, firmly. "I know what you +feel, my lad, and it's quite nat'ral; but just hark ye here a moment. +Can we do anything to find him in that black darkness to-night?" + +"No," said Rob, in despair; "it is, I know, impossible." + +"Quite right, my lad. Then as soon as it's daylight oughtn't we to be +ready to go and help him?" + +"Of course, Shaddy." + +"Then how can we do most good,--as half-starved, worn-out fellows, +without an ounce of pluck between us, or well-fed, strong, and +refreshed, ready to tramp any number of hours, and able to carry him if +it came to the worst? Answer me that." + +"Come and light the fire, Shaddy," said Rob, quietly. + +"Ah!" ejaculated the old sailor, and he led the way to where the embers +lay, warm still, and with plenty of dry wood about. Five minutes after +the fire was blazing merrily and illumining the scene. + +"Now," cried Shaddy, "if your Tom would play fair, and let us have the +hind-quarters of that deer, we might have it instead of the lizard. +He'll only eat the neck, I daresay. Shall we try him? I don't think +he'd show fight at you, sir." + +"Let's try," said Rob, quietly. "I don't think I'm afraid of him now." + +"Not you, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy; and they went together to where +they had left the puma feasting upon the deer, but, to the surprise of +both, there lay the carcass partly eaten about the throat and breast, +and the puma had gone. + +"He can't have had enough yet," growled Shaddy, dropping upon his knees, +knife in hand; and, seizing hold of the deer, he drove his blade in just +across the loins, separating the vertebrae at the first thrust, but +started back directly, as a low and fierce growl came from the edge of +the forest, where they could see a pair of fiery eyes lit up by the +blaze they had left behind. + +"I know," cried Shaddy; "he was scared off by our fire, but he don't +want to lose his supper. What shall we do, Mr Rob? Two more cuts, and +I could draw the hind-quarters away. I'll try it." + +The puma was silent, and Shaddy slowly approached his hand, thrust in +his knife, and made one bold cut which swept through the deer's flank; +but another growl arose, and there was a bound made by the puma--which, +however, turned and crept slowly back to cover, where it stood watching +them, with the fire again reflected in its eyes. + +"He don't mean mischief, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy. "I'll have another +try. I may get through it this time." + +"No, no, don't try; it's dangerous." + +"But you don't fancy that lizard thing, my lad; and I want you strong +to-morrow. Now, look here: I'll get close again, and risk it; and if, +just as I say `Now,' you'd speak to the beast quiet like, as you would +to a dog, it might take his attention, and so we'd get the hind part +clear off." + +"Yes," said Rob, quietly. "Shall I walk to it?" + +"No, I wouldn't do that, but go a little way off sidewise, just keeping +your distance, talking all the while, and he'd follow you with his +eyes." + +Rob nodded, and turned off, as Shaddy crept close once more and +stretched out his hand. + +"Now!" he said; and Rob began to call the beast, fervently hoping that +it would not come, but to his horror it did; and he could just dimly +make out its shape, looking misty and dim in the firelight, with its +eyes glowing and its tail writhing, as it slowly approached, while Rob +walked farther away from his companion still. + +All at once the puma stopped short, swung itself round, and, to Rob's +horror, crouched, bounded back toward where the carcass lay, leaping +right to it, and burying its jaws in the deer's neck with a savage +snarl. + +"Run, Shaddy," shouted Rob. + +"It's all right, my lad," came from a little distance: "I did. I've got +our half, and he's got his. Speak to him gently, and leave him to his +supper. We won't be very long before we have ours." + +"Got it?" cried Rob, eagerly, as he hurried after his companion. + +"Yes, my lad--all right;" and a few minutes later pieces of the tender, +succulent flesh, quite free from marks of the puma's claws, were +frizzling over the clear embers and emitting an appetising odour, which +taught the boy how hungry he was; and as they were cooking, Shaddy +talked of how tame he had known pumas to be, and of how they seemed to +take to man. + +"I wouldn't trust a tiger the length of his tail," he said, as they +raked hot coals nearer to the roasting meat; "but I should never feel +skeart of a lion, so long as I didn't get fighting him. Strikes me that +after a fashion you might get that chap kind of tame. Shouldn't wonder +if, when he's done, he comes and lies down here for a warm." + +Rob thought of his former night's experience, when something came and +nestled near him; and the next minute he was doing the same as the +puma--partaking of the nourishing meat, every mouthful seeming to give +him fresh strength. + +It was a rough, but enjoyable meal, nature making certain demands which +had to be satisfied; and for the moment, as he fell to after his long +fast, Rob forgot his boyish companion and the second loss he had +sustained. But as soon as he had finished, the depression came back, +and he felt ashamed of himself for having enjoyed his food instead of +dwelling upon some means of finding out where Mr Brazier had strayed. + +His attention was taken off, though, directly by Shaddy, who said +slowly: + +"That's better. Nothing like a good honest meal for setting a man going +again and making him ready to think and work. I say, look yonder at +your tom-cat." + +The fire had just fallen together, and was blazing up so as to spread a +circle of light for some distance round; and upon looking in the +direction of the puma Rob could see it lying down feasting away upon its +share of the deer, apparently quite confident that it was in the +neighbourhood of friends, and not likely to be saluted with a shot. + +It struck Rob that the animal must be pretty well satisfied now with +food, and in consequence less likely to be vicious, so he rose. + +"Where are you going, Mr Rob, sir?" said Shaddy. + +"Over to the puma." + +"I wouldn't. Oh, I don't know. Best time to make friends--after +dinner. I'd be careful, though, my lad." + +"Yes; I'll take care," said Rob, who felt a strong desire to find +another friend out there in the wilderness, now that his companions were +dropping away; and thinking that the time might come when he would be +quite alone, he walked slowly toward where the puma was crunching up +some of the tender bones of the deer. + +Rob kept a little to one side, so that his shadow should not fall upon +the animal, which paid no heed to his approach for a few moments; then +uttered a low fierce snarl and laid down its ears, making the boy stop +short and feel ready to retreat, as the animal suddenly sprang up and +stood lashing its tail and licking its lips. But it made no further +menacing sign, and walked quietly toward him and then stood waiting. + +Rob hesitated. Nature suggested flight, but Rob wanted to tame the +beast, and mastering his dread he advanced, and in spite of a warning +admonition from Shaddy, took another step or two and stopped by the +puma, which stared at him intently for a few moments. It then set all +doubts as to its feelings at rest by suddenly butting its head against +Rob's leg, and as the lad bent down and patted it, threw itself on one +side, and with the playful action of a kitten curved its paws, made dabs +with them at the lad's foot, and ended by holding it and rubbing its +head against his boot. + +"Well done, beast tamer!" cried Shaddy; and the puma threw up its head +directly and stared in the direction of the sound; but a touch from +Rob's hand quieted it, and it stretched itself out and lay with its eyes +half closed, apparently thoroughly enjoying the caresses of its human +friend. + +"Better get to the shelter, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy suddenly; and +after a final pat and stroke, the boy turned away from the puma and +walked back to the fire, finding that the animal had sprung up and +followed him directly for about half the distance, but only to stop +short and stand there, handsome and lithe, watching them and the fire, +while its tail played about and the fine hairs glistened. + +"He don't know what to make of me, Mr Rob, sir; and as we've no dog I +may as well be friends too. Try and bring him up. He won't be a bad +companion, 'specially if he hunts deer for us like he did to-night. +He'll be good as a gun." + +"He doesn't seem to like you, Shaddy." + +"No, sir. I'm old and tough; you're young and tender," said the guide +grimly. "He's cunning, as all cats are; and some day, when he's hungry +and is enjoying you, he'll say to himself--`This is a deal better than +that tough old sailor, who'd taste strong of tar and bilge.' Here, what +are you going to do?" + +"Try and fetch him here," said Rob, smiling as he went close up to the +puma, which crouched again at his approach; and full of confidence now, +the lad went down on one knee, patting and stroking the beast for a +minute, talking softly the while. + +The result was that as he rose the puma leaped up, bounded round him, +and then followed close up to the fire, but met all Shaddy's advances +with a low growl and a laying down of its ears flat upon its head. + +"All right," said Shaddy, "I don't want to be friends if you don't, +puss; only let's have a--what-you-may-call-it?" + +"Truce," suggested Rob. + +"That's it, sir. I won't show fight if he won't. Now then, sir, let's +make up the fire; and then--bed." + +Shaddy quickly piled up a quantity of wood on the embers, beating and +smothering it down, so that they might have it as a protection against +enemies and as a ready friend in the morning. Then, shouldering the +portion left of the deer, he led the way to the rough hut, hung the meat +high up in a tree and crept in, Rob following and wondering whether the +puma would stop near them. + +But the animal hung back as Rob followed his companion into the dark +triangular-shaped space, where, after a short time devoted to +meditation, he threw himself upon his bed of leaves to lie and think of +his two lost companions. + +At least, that was his intention, but the moment Rob rose in the +darkness from his knees and lay down with a restful sigh, he dropped +into a deep dreamless sleep, from which he half awoke once to stretch +out his hand and feel it rest upon something furry and warm, which he +dimly made out to be the curled-up body of the puma. Then he slept +again till broad daylight showed in through the end of the bough, but +half shut away by the figure of the guide, who said roughly: + +"Now you two: time to get up." + +At that moment Rob's hand rested upon a round, soft head, which began to +move, and commenced a vibratory movement as a deep humming purr filled +the place. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +THE END OF THE QUEST. + +It was hard work to be dull and low-spirited in the midst of the +beautiful scene which greeted Rob as he stepped out and followed Shaddy +down to the fire. The clearing was one mass of glorious colour, the sky +gorgeous with the sunrise tints, and the river flushed with orange, blue +and gold. Birds sang, piped, and shrieked loudly, butterflies were +beginning to flutter about, and a loud chattering from the nearest tree +roused Rob to the fact that the puma had been following him, for it +suddenly made three or four leaps in the direction of the sounds, and +then crouched down to gaze at a party of monkeys, which were leaping +about, scolding, shrieking and chattering angrily at the enemy watching +their movements. Directly after, though, the puma returned to Rob's +side, uttering a sound strongly suggestive of the domestic cat. + +"Going to have a dip, Mr Rob, sir?" said Shaddy. And then--"I'd be +very careful, sir; you know how full of biting varmin the river is. +Look sharp; breakfast's ready, and as soon as we've done we'll go and +find Mr Brazier." + +"Try to," cried the boy sadly. + +"Find him, Mr Rob, sir. Bah! who's going to say die on a lovely +morning in a lovely place like this?" + +Rob thought of his companion's words as he turned down to the edge of +the water and bathed, with the puma sitting near watching him, +apparently with wonder. Then, refreshed and invigorated, he hastened +back to where there was the appetising odour of roasting meat, while the +puma returned to the remains of its last night's feast. + +Half an hour after, armed with rough spear, bow and arrows, and a big +package of roasted meat, consisting of deer legs, and the best parts of +the iguana which Shaddy had taken out and begun cooking while Rob still +slept, they were threading their way amongst the trees once more, with +the puma somewhere behind them, for they could hear it utter a curious +cry from time to time, though they never once caught sight of it in the +dense growth. + +"Feel as if I was right, don't you, my lad?" said Shaddy, as they +tramped on. "Couldn't have got through the trees like this without rest +and food." + +"You were quite right," replied Rob. "Where are you making for?" + +"The place I showed you last night. I think we'll start from there." + +It was a long time before they reached the spot, and examined it +carefully, to find more traces of Mr Brazier having been there and +stopping. So they shouted and whistled again and again, but there was +no response, and trying to pick up the trail they started again--now +utterly baffled and ready to return, now gathering fresh hope on +suddenly coming upon a scrap of orchid or a bunch of woodland flowers, +which had been carefully gathered and thrown down, apparently by some +one wearied out. Then Rob uttered a cry of excitement, for he stumbled +suddenly upon a spot which was comparatively open, so that the sunshine +penetrated. It was no doubt the work of a hurricane, for great trees +lay prostrate, decaying fast, and fresh flowery growths had sprung up. +Birds and insects were plentiful, and the spot looked lovely after the +gloom of the forest shades. Here was the crushed-down growth where he +they sought had lain down to sleep, unless it was the resting-place of +an Indian. + +Rob suggested it and Shaddy replied angrily: + +"Look here, youngster, if ever you want a nickname call yourself Wet +Blanket. What a fellow you are for making the worst of everything! +Some one lay down to rest here, didn't he?" + +"Yes, I think so." + +"And I'm sure. Now look at the places where the flowers have been +snapped off. I know what you're saying to yourself: `wild beast or +Indian!' Now, I ask you, sir, as a young English gent who has been to +school and can read and write, do wild beasts and Indians go about +picking flowers or collecting anything that isn't good to eat?" + +"Ah, Shaddy," said Rob sadly, "you beat me at arguing. I'm afraid to +hope that we shall find him alive, but you're quite right, and I will +try and believe." + +"Bravo, Mr Rob, sir! Three cheers for that! Never fear, we'll find +him alive yet; weak and done up, but keeping himself going. He has +found bits of fruit and nuts, and when he couldn't find them there's +something in the tops of tender grasses. Cheer up, sir! Now then, +let's give a big shout here." + +Shaddy set the example, and at the tremendous yell he sent forth there +was a rush of wings from one of the trees a short distance away, where +all had been perfectly still the moment before; and as a flock of birds +hidden by the leaves dashed off, quite a little shower of fruit was +dropped by them among the leaves. + +"There, sir--that was food," cried Shaddy; "and a gentleman who knows +all about such things, as Mr Brazier does, would find them and keep +himself going. Now it's your turn. Shout, sir." + +Rob uttered as loud a cry as he could, and then twice over imitated the +Australian "cooee," following it up with a shrill piercing note from a +little silver whistle; but the only response was the cry of an _ara_, +one of the great scarlet and blue long-tailed macaws, whose harsh shriek +came softened from the distance. + +"Not right yet, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy, quietly; "but we're not +going to despair, boy. I aren't a religious man your way, but after my +fashion I trust in God and take the rough with the smooth. What is to +be will be, so don't let's kick against it. We've got our duty to do, +my lad, and that's to keep on trying. Now then, what do you say to a +bit of a snack?" + +"No, no--not yet, Shaddy; let's go on." + +"Right, my lad." + +They started again, and pressed on through the breathless heat of the +woods, but without finding further sign of any one having passed that +way; and at last Shaddy stopped short on the banks of a running stream, +which impeded farther progress, and whose waters offered refreshing +draughts to those who were getting in sore need. + +"We're off his track, Mr Rob. He's not likely to have crossed a river +like this; but welcome it is, for it shows us the way back just when I +was getting a bit muddled." + +"How does it?" said Rob, wonderingly. + +"Because it must flow into the big river somewhere below our camp." + +"Then you have seen no traces of him lately?" + +"Nothing, my lad, since we left that open patch where the birds flew out +of the trees." + +"Then we must go back at once, Shaddy." + +"Not until we've trimmed the lamps again, my lad. Sit down on that old +trunk--No, don't; I daresay it's full of stinging ants and things, and +perhaps there's a snake or two. We'll sit on this root and have a good +feed, and then take up our track again." + +Rob seated himself sadly down, while the guide unpacked his store of +meat wrapped in green leaves; and the boy felt annoyed with himself for +his want of forethought on seeing how carefully his companion put back +and bound up some of the best, nodding, as he caught Rob's eyes fixed +upon him. + +"For Mr Brazier," he said. "He'll be glad enough of a bit o' meat when +we find him." + +They began eating directly, washing down the savoury roast with handfuls +of clear water scooped up from the stream which bubbled and foamed by in +its rocky bed. + +"Well, now look at that!" cried Shaddy the next minute, as with one +tremendous bound the puma alighted just before them, and stood looking +at Rob and lashing its tail. "Why, he must have come after us all the +time. Trust an animal for smelling meat." + +Rob shared his portion with the great cat, which also crunched up the +bones. Then once more they began their search, taking up their own +trail backward, and with no little difficulty following it to the +opening, from whence they kept on making casts, till night was once more +approaching. They tramped back to the hut just in time to save their +fire; but they had nothing to cook, the remains of the iguana being too +far gone, and their meal consisted of nuts and water; though the puma +feasted well. + +The next morning they were off again soon after daylight, after +breakfasting off fish secured by Shaddy as soon as it was light, while a +couple more were roasted and taken with them. + +This time they tried a fresh direction, trusting more to chance; and as +they toiled on Shaddy grew more and more serious while forcing his way +through the trees, and his manner was softer and gentler to his +companion, who rarely spoke now save to the puma, which grew hourly more +confident, and kept close at Rob's heels, giving his leg a rub whenever +he stopped short to glance about him through the solemn shadows of the +forest. + +For this was the third day of their search, and it was impossible to +help feeling that it was the very last upon which they could cling to +hope. + +It passed as the others had done--in one weary tramp and struggle, but +without a single sign of the lost one to give them encouragement to +proceed; and at last, when they were bound to return if they intended to +sleep again in camp, Shaddy said suddenly: + +"God help him, my lad: we've done all we can. Let's get back now. I +may think out something fresh by to-morrow morning. I can't do anything +to-night, for my head's like my legs--dead beat out." + +Rob answered with a sigh, for his heart was very heavy now; and as his +companion stood calculating for a few minutes which way they should go, +he waited, and then followed behind him without a word. + +They were a little earlier this time, but the sun had gone down before +they got out of the forest at the extreme corner on the right of their +hut; and as they trudged back the puma made two dashes at prey unseen by +the travellers, but without success, returning after each cautious crawl +and final bound to walk quietly along behind Rob, who, in a dull, heavy, +unthinking way, reached back to touch the beast, which responded with a +friendly pressure and rub of its head against the extended hand. + +And as they crept slowly on, with the trees crowding round them as if to +hinder their progress, and the darkness of the umbrageous foliage +seeming to press down upon their heads, their journey was made with +greater difficulty than ever; for the spirit or energy had gone out of +Shaddy, who tramped on as if he were asleep. + +It struck Rob once that this was the case, and he increased his own rate +so as to try and get ahead of his companion, but as soon as he drew +close up his comrade stopped. + +"Like to go first, my lad?" + +"No, no," said Rob hurriedly. "Are you sure of the road?" + +"No, my lad, because there isn't one. I'm only pretty sure that we are +in the right direction." + +It proved that he was correct when in due time they stood out in the +clearing, with the darkness falling fast; and then Shaddy said suddenly, +and as if with an effort: + +"Come, Mr Rob, sir, we mustn't give up. Let's have some food, or we +shall be done. No deer meat to-night, no iguana. Get the fire going +while I go and try for a fish; there'll just be time." + +Rob tramped heavily to the fire, and the guide went to the tree where he +had hung the line, baited it from the remains of the food, and strode +down to his favourite spot for fishing; while Rob busied himself raking +the fire together with a half-burned branch, and then, as it began to +smoke, piled on it the partly-burned brands, and upon them the pieces +industriously heaped together. + +The blaze began to creep up and lick the twigs and branches as the blue +smoke rose. Then the fire increased to a ruddy glow; and feeling chilly +after the heat to which he had been exposed, Rob sat listlessly down +gazing at the increasing flames, which lit up his sun-browned face as he +thought and thought of his boyish comrade, then of Mr Brazier, and at +last of himself. + +They were sad thoughts, for he felt that he should never see home again, +that he would be the next to be struck down by some savage beast, bitten +by a poisonous snake, or lost in the forest, where he would be too weak +to find his way back. And as he thought he wondered what Shaddy would +do when he was gone--whether he would be picked up by some passing boat, +or live on in a kind of Robinson Crusoe life to a good old age. + +Rob started involuntarily as he reached this point, for something +touched him; and turning sharply, he found that the puma was rubbing its +head against his shoulder, the beautiful creature uttering its peculiar +purring sound as Rob threw an arm round its neck and began to caress it, +ready as he was out there to cling to anything in his weariness and +desolation. + +He was thus occupied when the puma started away, for there was a step +behind him. + +"Tired, my lad? Only got one, but he's a fine fellow," said Shaddy, who +rapidly chopped off the head and a good-sized piece of the tail of a +fine dorado. + +"Not so very; only low-spirited." + +"Not you, my lad: hungry's the word. That's what's the matter with me. +Here, I say, squire, if you're anything of a cat you'll like fish," he +continued, as he threw the head, tail, and other portions of the fish +toward the puma, which hesitated for a few moments and then secured and +bore them off. + +Meanwhile, to help his companion more than from any desire for food, Rob +had risen and cut some big palm leaves, laid them down, and then raked a +hole in the heap of embers ready for the fish. + +"That's better," said Shaddy, as he lifted the great parcel he had made +of the fish; and depositing his load in the embers, he took the rough +branch they used for a rake and poker in one, and covered the packet +deeply. + +"There, Mr Rob, sir; that's the best thing for our low spirits. We +shall be better after that physic." + +"Hush!" cried Rob excitedly. + +"Eh! What? Did you hear something?" + +"Yes: a faint cry." + +"No!" + +"But I did. And look at the puma: he heard it too. Didn't you see it +start and leave the fish?" + +"Yes, but I thought I startled it. He's very suspicious of me, and I +don't suppose we shall ever be good friends." + +"No, it was not that," whispered Rob, whose voice trembled as if he were +alarmed. + +"Then it was some beast in the forest. There they are, any number of +them. Frog perhaps, or an owl: they make very queer sounds." + +Rob shook his head. + +"I say, don't look so scared, my lad, just as if you were going to be +ill. I tell you what it was: one of those howling spider monkeys at a +distance." + +"There again!" cried Rob, starting up,--an example followed by the +guide, who was impressed by the peculiar faint cry; and as Rob seized +his companion's arm, the latter said, with a slight suggestion of +nervousness in his tone: + +"Now, what beast could that be? But there, one never gets used to all +the cries in the forest. Here, what's the matter? Where are you going, +my lad?" + +"To see--to see," gasped Rob. + +"Not alone, Mr Rob, sir. I don't think it is, but it may be some +dangerous creature, and I don't want you to come to trouble. Got enough +without. Hah! there it goes again." + +For there was the same peculiar smothered cry, apparently from the edge +of the forest, close to where they had raised their hut. + +"Come along quickly," whispered Rob, in a faint, panting voice. + +"Yes, but steady, my lad. Let's try and see, our way. We don't want to +be taken by surprise. Get ready an arrow, and I may as well have my +knife." + +"No: come on; don't you know what it was? It was close here somewhere. +Can't you tell?" + +"No, my lad, nor you neither. I've been a little longer in the woods +than you." + +"How can you be so dull?" cried Rob. "Now, quick: it must have been +somewhere here. I heard `Help' as plainly as could be." + +"What?" + +Just then the cry arose again, not fifty yards away; and unmistakably +that word was uttered in a faint, piteous tone: + +"Help!"--and again, "Help!" + +The pair sprang forward together, crashing recklessly among the branches +in the direction of the sound; but as they reached the place from whence +it seemed to have come all was still, and there was no response to their +cries. + +"All a mistake, my lad," said Shaddy. "We're done up, and fancied it." + +"Fancied? No, it was Mr Brazier," cried Rob excitedly. "I'm sure of +it; and--Yes, yes, quick; this way. Here he lies!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +FRIEND AND PATIENT. + +They had sought in vain for the lost man; and when in utter despair they +had been on the point of giving up the search, he had struggled back to +them, his last steps guided by the fire when he had felt that he must +lie down utterly exhausted, to die. + +"Mr Brazier! At last!" cried Rob; and he went down upon his knee and +grasped his leader's hand, but there was no response, and the fingers he +held were cold as ice. + +"Here, lend a hand, Mr Rob, sir," cried Shaddy roughly, "and help me to +get him on my back." + +"Let me help carry him." + +"No, sir; my way's easiest--quickest, and will hurt him least. He's +half dead of starvation, and cold as cold. Quick, sir! let's get him +down by the fire. It will be too dark in the hovel to do anything." + +Rob helped to raise the wanderer, Shaddy swung him on his back lightly +and easily, and stepping quickly toward the fire, soon had the poor +fellow lying with his feet exposed to the blaze, while water was given +to him a little at a time, and soon after a few morsels of the tender +fish, which he swallowed with difficulty. + +They had no rest that night, but, with the strange cries and noises of +the forest around them, mingled with the splashings and +danger-threatening sounds of the river, they tended and cared for the +insensible man, giving him food and water from time to time, but in +quantities suggestive of homoeopathic treatment. Still they felt no +fatigue for the great joy in both their hearts, for neither of them had +the faintest hope of ever seeing their leader again. + +Once or twice during the night Mr Brazier had seemed so cold and rigid +that Rob had glanced wildly at the guide, who replied by feeling the +insensible man's feet. + +"Only sleep, my lad!" he said softly. "I daresay he will not come to +for a couple of days. A man can't pass through the horror of being lost +without going off his head more or less." + +"Do you think he'll be delirious, then?" + +"Off his head, my lad? Yes. It will be almost like a fever, I should +say, and we shall have to nurse him a long time till he comes round." + +The guide was quite right. The strong man was utterly brought down by +the terrible struggle of the past three days, and as they looked at his +hollow eyes and sunken cheeks it was plain to see what he had suffered +bodily from hunger, while his wanderings told of how great the shock +must have been to his brain. + +The mystery of the blood was explained simply enough by his roughly +bandaged left arm, on which as they examined it, while he lay perfectly +weak and insensible, they found a severe wound cleanly cut by a knife. + +"He must have been attacked, then," cried Rob as he looked at the wound +in horror, while in a quiet, methodical way Shaddy proceeded to sew it +together by the simple process of thrusting a couple of pins through the +skin and then winding a thread of silk round them in turn from head to +point, after which he firmly bandaged the wound before making a reply to +Rob's words. + +"Yes, my lad," he said; "right arm attacked his left. He must have been +making a chop at some of the plants on a branch, and the tool slipped. +You take out his knife and open it, and see if it ain't marked." + +Shaddy was quite right, for there on the handle were some dried-up +traces of how the wound must have bled. + +It was a week before the patient began to show tokens of amendment, +during which time Rob and Shaddy had been hard pressed for ways to +supply his wants. There were endless things necessary for the invalid +which they could not supply, but, from old forest lore and knowledge +picked up during his adventurous life, the guide was able to find the +leaves of a shrub, which leaves he beat into a pulp between two pebbles, +put the bruised stems into the cup of a water flask, added water, and +gave it to the patient to drink. + +"It is of no use to ask me what it is, Mr Rob, sir," said the guide; +"all I know is that the Indians use it, and that there isn't anything +better to keep down fever and get up strength." + +"Then it must be quinine," said Rob. + +"No, my lad; it isn't that, but it's very good. These wild sort of +people seem to have picked up the knack of doctoring themselves and of +finding out poisons to put on their arrows somehow or another, and +there's no nonsense about them." + +The prisoners in the vast forest--for they were as much prisoners as if +shut up in some huge building--had to scheme hard to obtain their +supplies so as to make them suitable to their patient. Fish they +caught, as a rule, abundantly enough; birds they trapped and shot with +arrows; and fruit was to be had after much searching; but their great +want was some kind of vessel in which to cook, till after several +failures Rob built up a very rough pot of clay from the river bed by +making long thin rolls and laying one upon the other and rubbing them +together. This pot he built up on a piece of thin shaley stone, dried +it in the sun, and ended by baking it in the embers--covering it over +with the hot ashes, and leaving it all one night. + +Shaddy watched him with a grim smile, and kept on giving him words of +encouragement, as he worked, tending Mr Brazier the while, brushing the +flies away and arranging green boughs over him to keep him in the shade, +declaring that he would be better out there in the open than in the +forest. + +"Well done, my lad!" said the old sailor as Rob held up the finished pot +before placing it in the fire; "'tis a rough 'un, but I daresay there +has been worse ones made. What I'm scared about is the firing. Strikes +me it will crack all to shivers." + +To Rob's great delight, the pot came out of the wood ashes perfectly +sound, and their next experiment was the careful stewing down of an +iguana and the production of a quantity of broth, which Shaddy +pronounced to be finer than any chicken soup ever made; Rob, after +trying hard to conquer his repugnance to food prepared from such a +hideous-looking creature, said it was not bad; and their patient drank +with avidity. + +"There," said Shaddy, "we shall go on swimmingly in the kitchen now; and +as we can have hot water I don't see why we shouldn't have some tea." + +"You'd better go to the grocer's, then, for a pound," said Rob, with a +laugh. + +"Oh no, I shan't," said Shaddy; "here's plenty of leaves to dry in the +sun such as people out here use, and you'll say it ain't such bad tea, +neither; but strikes me, Mr Rob, that the sooner you make another pot +the better." + +Rob set to at once, and failed in the baking, but succeeded admirably +with his next attempt, the new pot being better baked than the old, and +that night he partook of some of Shad's infusion of leaves, which was +confessed to be only wanting in sugar and cream to be very palatable. + +That day they found a deer lying among the bushes, with the neck and +breast eaten, evidently the puma's work, and, after what Shaddy called a +fair division, the legs and loins were carried off to roast and stew, +giving the party, with the fruit and fish, a delightful change. + +The next day was one to be marked with a red letter, for towards evening +Mr Brazier's eyes had in them the look of returned consciousness. + +Rob saw it first as he knelt down beside his friend, who smiled at him +faintly, and spoke in quite a whisper. + +From that hour he began to amend fast, and a week after he related how, +in his ardour to secure new plants, he had lost his bearings, and gone +on wandering here and there in the most helpless way, sustaining life on +such berries and other fruits as he could find, till the horror of his +situation was more than his brain could bear. Face to face with the +fact that he might go on wandering there till forced by weakness to lie +down and die, he said the horror mastered him all at once, and the rest +was like some terrible dream of going on and on, with intervals that +were full of delight, and in which he seemed to be amongst glorious +flowers, which he was always collecting, till the heaps crushed him +down, and all was horror, agony, and wild imagination. Then he awoke +lying beneath the bower of leaves, shaded from the sunshine, listening +to the birds, the rushing sound of the river, and, best of all, the +voices of his two companions. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +AN UNEXPECTED ENEMY. + +Mr Brazier's recovery took a month from the day of his regaining the +balance of his reason, and even then he was weak; but he was about +again, and, though easily fatigued, took his part in the many little +duties they had to fulfil to sustain life in their forest prison. All +thought of escape by their own efforts had been given up, and they had +all taken the good course, roughly put by Shaddy as "making the best of +things." + +In fact, the horror and shock of their position had grown fainter, the +loss of poor Giovanni a softened memory, and the cowardly desertion of +the Indians with the boat a matter over which it was useless to murmur. +For the human mind is very plastic, and, if fully employed, soon finds +satisfaction in its tasks. + +It was so here. Every day brought its work, for the most part in +glorious sunshine, and scarcely a night arrived without one of the three +having something to announce in the way of discovery or invention for +the amelioration of their lot. + +"There is always the possibility of our being sought out and escaping," +Mr Brazier said; "and in that hope I shall go on collecting, for the +plants here are wonderful; and if I can get specimens home to England +some day there will be nothing to regret." + +In this spirit he went on as he grew stronger; and as for some distance +inland in the triangle of miles, two of whose sides were the greater +river and its tributary, they had formed so many faint trails in their +hunting and fruit-seeking expeditions, the chances of being "bushed," as +the Australians call it, grew fewer, plenty of collecting expeditions +were made, at first in company with Shaddy and Rob, afterwards alone. + +One evening a tremendous storm of wind and rain, with the accompaniments +of thunder and lightning of the most awe-inspiring nature, gave them a +lesson in the weakness of their shelter-place, for the water swept +through in a deluge, and after a terrible night they gazed in dismay at +the river, which was running swiftly nearly up to the place where they +kept their fire going. That the flood was increasing they had not the +slightest doubt, and it promised before long to be right over where they +stood, fortunately now in the brilliant sunshine, which rapidly dried +their clothes and gave them hope as well. + +"We shall have to go inland and seek higher ground," Mr Brazier said at +last. + +"And where are you going to find it, sir?" said Shaddy rather gruffly. +"There's high land away back on the far side of the river, but we can't +get there, and all out as far as I've been on this is one dead level. +Look yonder; there's a lesson for us what to do if it gets much worse," +he continued, pointing toward a great tree at the edge of the forest. + +"Yes," said Rob as he watched a little flock of green-and-scarlet +parrots circling round and perching in the upper branches, "but we have +no wings, Shaddy." + +"No, my lad, and never will have; but I didn't mean that. Look a bit +lower." + +"Oh, you mean in that next tree. Ugh! how horrible!" cried Rob, with a +shudder. "Has that been driven here by the water?" + +"I don't know what you're talking about, sir. I mean that tree I +pointed to. Look there in the fork." + +"Yes; I can see it, Rob," said Mr Brazier. "It's comfortably asleep. +We must do as it does. Not the first time an animal has given men a +lesson." + +Rob stared from one to the other as if wondering why they did not see +with his eyes. + +"Can't you see it, Rob--your puma?" + +"Eh? Oh yes, I see him now, but I meant in the other tree. Look! the +great brute is all in motion. Why, it's a perfect monster!" + +"Phew!" whistled Shad; "I didn't see it. Look, Mr Brazier, sir. That +is something like a snake." + +He pointed now to where a huge serpent was worming its way about the +boughs of one of the trees in a slow, sluggish way, as if trying to find +a spot where it could curl up and be at rest till the water, which had +driven it from its customary haunts, had subsided. + +"What shall we do, Shaddy?" whispered Rob. "Why, that must be nearly +sixty feet long." + +"It's nearer two foot long, Mr Rob, sir. My word! how people's eyes do +magnify when they're a bit scared." + +"But it is a monstrously huge serpent," said Brazier, shading his eyes, +as he watched the reptile. + +"Yes, sir, and as nigh as one can judge, going round his loops and +rings, a good five-and-twenty foot, and as big round as my thigh." + +"We can't stay here, then!" cried Rob excitedly. + +"Don't see why not, sir. He hasn't come after us, only to take care of +himself; and I'm beginning to think it's a bad sign." + +"That it does mean to attack us?" said Brazier. + +"Not it, sir. I mean a bad sign about the flood, for somehow, stupid as +animals seem, they have a sort of idea of when danger's coming, and try +to get out of its way. I should say that before long the waters will be +all up over where we are, and that it's our duty to get up a bit, too, +and take enough food to last till the flood's gone down." + +"And how long will that be?" Rob asked. + +"Ah! that's what I can't say, sir. Let's get together all we can, and +I'm sorry to say it ain't very much, for we punished the provisions +terribly last night." + +"Yes, we are low," said Brazier thoughtfully. + +"There's some nuts on that tree where the lion is, so we'll take to +that," said the old sailor thoughtfully. "He'll have to turn out and +take to another, or behave himself. Now what's to be done beside? We +can't get any fire if the flood rises much, and for certain we can't +catch any fish with the river like this. What do you say to trying to +shoot the big boa with your bow and arrows?" + +"What?" cried Rob, with a look of disgust. + +"Oh! he's not bad eating, my lad. The Indians feast on 'em sometimes, +cutting them up into good stout lumps, and it isn't so much unlike eel." + +"What, have you tasted it?" + +"Oh yes, sir; there's precious few things used for food when men are +hungry that I haven't had a taste of in my time." + +Just then Mr Brazier pointed to the place where they kept their fire, +and over which the water was now lapping and bearing off the soft grey +ashes, which began to eddy and swim round the little whirlpools formed +by the swift current, before the light deposit from the fire was swept +right away. + +By this time, as Rob kept his eyes upon it, the great serpent had +gradually settled itself down upon one of the far-spreading horizontal +boughs of the huge monarch, which, growing upon the edge of the forest, +found ample space for its spreading branches, instead of being kept back +on all sides by fellow-trees, and so directing all its efforts in the +way of growth upward toward the sun. + +Brazier noticed Rob's looks, and laid his hand upon the lad's shoulder. + +"I don't think we need fear any attack from that, Rob," he said, "for +the water, if it goes on rising like this, will soon be between us, and +I don't suppose the serpent will leave one tree to get up into another." + +"Not it, sir," interposed Shaddy; "and, excuse me, let's be sharp, for +the water's coming down from miles away on the high ground, and it will +be over here before long. Look at that!" + +They were already looking at a great wave sweeping down the furious +river, which was covered with boughs and trees, the latter rolling over +and over in the swift current, now showing their rugged earth and +stone-filled roots, now their boughs, from which the foliage and twigs +were rapidly being stripped. + +"Why, it's right over our kitchen now." + +"And will carry away my pots!" cried Rob, running away to save the +treasures which had caused him so much trouble to make. + +"Look sharp, sir!" cried Shaddy; "here's quite a torrent coming. We'll +make for the tree at once, or we shall be lost once more." + +"All right!" cried Rob, as he ran to the far edge of their fireplace, +where the boughs and pieces of wood collected for fuel were beginning to +sail away, and he had just time to seize one great rough pot as it began +to float, when a wave curled over toward the other and covered the lad's +feet. + +But he snatched up the vessel and hurried toward the tree in which the +puma was curled up, Brazier and Shaddy following, with the little food +they had left, and none too soon. They handed Rob's two pieces of +earthenware up to him, and then joined him in the fork of the tree. + +The water was by now lapping softly about its foot, but from time to +time a wave came sweeping down the river as if sudden influxes of water +kept on rushing in higher up to increase the flood, and in consequence +ring after ring or curve of water swept over the land, gliding now up +amongst the trees of the forest, penetrating farther and farther each +time, and threatening that the whole of the country through which the +river passed would be flooded for miles. + +The puma snarled and looked fierce as the two men followed Rob, but it +contented itself with a fresh position, higher up in a secondary fork of +the tree, where it crouched, glaring down at those below, but hardly +noticed, for, after recovering their belongings, the attention of those +on the fork was divided between the rising of the water and the uneasy +movements of the great occupant of the next tree. + +"I suppose we may confess to being afraid of a reptile like that," said +Brazier, measuring the distance between the trees with his eyes and +looking up to see if the branches of either approached near enough to +enable the reptile to make its way across. + +"No fear, sir!" said Shaddy, with a smile, as he read his companion's +thoughts. "We've only the water to trouble us now." + +"But it will never get up so high as this?" cried Rob in alarm, as he +thought of the trees which he had seen swept down the river, forest +chiefs, some of them, which had been washed out by floods. + +"I hope not, sir; but we have to be ready for everything in this +country, as you've found out already." + +This set Rob thinking as he watched the waves coming down the river, +each sweeping before it a mass of verdure, pieces at times taking the +form of floating islands, with the low growth upon them keeping its +position just as the patches had broken away from undermined banks. + +"Don't you wonder where it all goes, Mr Rob?" said Shaddy suddenly. + +"Yes; does it get swept out to sea?" + +"Not it, sir. Gets dammed up together in bends and corners of the +river, and makes it cut itself a fresh bed to right or left. This +country gets flooded sometimes for hundreds upon hundreds of miles, so +that you can row about among the trees just where you like. Ah! it +would be a fine time for Mr Brazier when the flood's at its height, for +we could row about just where we liked--if we had a boat," he added +after a pause. + +Just then the puma gave a savage growl. + +"Here, what's the matter with you?" cried the guide sharply. + +The puma snarled again and showed its teeth, but they saw that it was +staring away from the tree. + +"He can see the serpent," said Rob eagerly; and they now saw the reason, +for, evidently aware of their proximity, and from a desire to escape, +the great reptile was all in motion, its fore-part beginning slowly to +descend the tree, the head and neck clinging wonderfully to the +inequalities of the bark for a part of the way, and then the creature +fitted itself in the deep groove between two of the buttress-like +portions, which ran down right away from the main trunk. + +They all watched the reptile with curiosity, for its actions were +singular, and it was exciting to see the way in which the whole length +of the animal was in action as the head, neck, and part of the body +glided down in a deliberate way, with the tongue darting out and +flickering about the hard, metallic-looking mouth, while the eyes +glistened in the sunshine, which threw up the rich colours and pattern +of the scaly coat. + +"He don't like it, and is going to swim off," said Shaddy suddenly, as +the head of the serpent was now approaching the surface of the water. +"I never saw one of this kind take to the water before. Say, Mr Rob!" + +Rob turned to him. + +"You had better get your cat down here, in case he means coming across +to this tree.--No: there won't be any need. I don't think he could swim +against this current: it might sweep him away." + +Rob drew a breath full of relief as he glanced at Brazier, whose face, +pallid with his late illness, certainly looked paler, and his eyes were +contracted by his feeling of horror. But their companion's last words +relieved him from his dread, and he sat there upon the huge branch that +was his resting-place watching the actions of the serpent, which still +glided on, and moved with its head close to the groove in the trunk till +it was close to the water slowly rising to meet it, and a length of +quite twelve feet reached down from the fork, like the stem of some +mighty climbing fig which held the tree in its embrace. + +"Yes, he's going to swim for it," said Shaddy eagerly. "Fancy meeting a +thing like that on the river! I thought it was only the anacondas which +took to the water, and--Well, look at that!" + +The man's exclamation was caused by the action of the serpent, for just +as its head reached the surface of the flood one of the waves came +rushing inland from the river, leaped up the tree three or four feet, +deluging the head and neck of the serpent and sinking down again almost +as quickly as it had risen. The reptile contracted itself as rapidly, +drawing back, and, evidently satisfied with the result of its efforts to +escape, began to climb again, holding on by its ring-like scales as it +crept up and up till its head was back in the great fork of the tree, +and the anterior part of the body hung down in a huge loop, which was +gradually lessened as the great creature resumed its place. + +There was nothing to fear from the serpent, to the great relief of those +who watched; but it had begun to be questionable how long their present +position would be safe, for the water was rising now with wonderful +rapidity, great waves tearing down the river from time to time, bearing +enormous masses of tangled tree and bush and sending out masses of foam, +sweeping over the clearing with an angry rush, which changed into a +fierce hiss as of thousands of serpents when the wave reached the edge +of the forest and ran an among the trees with a curious wail till it +died away in the distance. + +When the waves struck the tree amongst whose branches the party were +ensconced, the puma growled at the heavy vibrations, and began to tear +at the bark with its claws. As one, however, worse than usual struck +the trunk, it gathered itself together, uttered a harsh growl, and was +about to spring off and swim, as if it feared being crushed down by the +branches of the washed-out tree; but a few words from Rob pacified it, +and it settled down once more, half hanging, as it were, across the +fork, where it was swinging its tail to and fro and gazing down at the +human companion it had chosen. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +A FOREST FEUD. + +The little party sat there waiting patiently for the next event, their +eyes being mostly directed across the waste of water toward the +well-marked course of the stream, with its rush, swirl and eddy; and +before long there was another heaving up, as if a liquid bank descended +the river, spread across the opening, and directly after struck the tree +with a blow which made it quiver from root to summit. + +"Will it hold fast, Naylor?" said Brazier, rather excitedly. + +"Hope so, sir. I think it's safe, but it's growing in such soft soil, +all river mud, sand, and rotten wood, that the roots are loose, and it +feels as if it would give way at last. I daresay this was a bend of the +river once." + +"But if it does give way, what are we to do?" cried Rob excitedly. + +"Swim for the next tree, sir." + +"But that has a great snake in it." + +"Can't help that, Mr Rob. Rather have a snake for a mate than be +drowned. He's too much frightened to meddle with us. Look out, every +one, and try to keep clear of the boughs, so as not to be beaten under." + +This was consequent upon the rushing up in succession of three great +waves, which struck the tree at intervals of a few seconds, the last +sending the water splashing up to where they sat, and at the same time +deluging the serpent in the next tree, making it begin to climb higher, +and exciting the puma so that Rob could hardly keep it from leaping off. + +"The roots must be undermined," cried Brazier. "Look--look!" + +He pointed at the effect of the waves on the forest, for from where they +sat the whole side was a ridge of foam, while the tree-tops were waving +to and fro and undulating like a verdant sea as the water rushed on +among their trunks. + +"Can't get much worse than this, I think," said Shaddy, when the water +calmed down again to its steady swift flow; "only it's spoiling our +estate, which will be a bed of mud when the flood goes down." + +"But will it go down?" asked Rob excitedly. + +"Some time, certain," replied Shaddy. "The rivers have a way in this +country of wetting it all over, and I daresay it does good. At all +events, it makes the trees grow." + +"Yes, but will it sweep them away?" said Rob, looking round nervously. + +"It does some, Mr Rob, sir, as you've seen to-day, but I think we're +all right here." + +Rob glanced at Brazier, whose face was very stern and pale; and, +consequent upon his weakness, he looked ghastly as another wave came +down the river, and swept over the deeply inundated clearing, washing +right up to the fork of the tree, and hissing onward through the +closely-packed forest. + +Another followed, and then another, each apparently caused by the +bursting of some dam of trees and _debris_ of the shores; but they were +less than those which had preceded them, and an hour later the water was +perfectly calm and motionless, save in the course of the river, where it +rushed onward at a rapid rate. + +"We've passed the worst," said Shaddy; and after glancing at him +quickly, to see if he meant it or was only speaking to give him +encouragement, Rob sat looking round at the watery waste, for as far as +his eyes could penetrate there was no sight of dry land. Everywhere the +trees stood deep in water, that was still as the surface of a lake +through which a swift river ran, with its course tracked by rapid and +eddy, and dotted still with the vegetation torn out from the banks. + +As the boy turned to the great tree beside him he could not keep back a +shudder, for the monstrous serpent was in restless motion, seeking for +some means of escape; and though there was no probability of its +reaching their resting-place, the idea would come that if the writhing +creature did drop from the tree, overbalancing itself in its efforts to +escape, it might make a frantic struggle and reach theirs. + +As he thought this he caught sight of the guide watching him. + +"What is it, my lad?" he whispered; and the lad, after a little +hesitation, confided in the old sailor, who chuckled softly. "You +needn't be alarmed about that," he said. "If such a thing did happen +your lion would be upon his head in a moment, and in a few minutes +there'd be no lion and no snake, only the mud stirred up in the water to +show which way they'd gone." + +"The water is sinking, Naylor," cried Brazier just then, in an excited +tone. + +"Yes, sir, but very slowly." + +"How long will it take to go down?" + +"Days, sir. This place will not be dry for a week." + +"Then what about food and a place to rest?" + +"We've got enough to last us two days with great care," said the man +slowly, "and we shan't want for water nor shelter from the sun. Rest we +must get as we can up here, and thankfully too, sir, for our lives are +safe. As to what's to come after two days I don't know. There is, I +say, no knowing what may happen out here in two days." + +"No," said Brazier sadly. "In one hour we lost our young companion and +my first collection; in one minute I was hopelessly lost; and now this +morning all my second collection has been swept away. As you say, +Naylor, we do not know what a couple of days may bring forth." + +"No, sir," replied the old sailor; "and there's plenty of time yet. +Every day brings its own trouble." + +"Yes," said Brazier solemnly; "and every morning brings with it fresh +hope." + +"Hope!" thought Rob; "hope, shut up here in the middle of this waste of +water--in this tree, with a little food, a wild beast, and that horrible +serpent looking as if it is waiting to snatch us all away one by one. +How can a fellow hope?" + +It was a time to think about home and the chances of ever getting back +in safety, and Rob found it impossible to help wishing himself on board +the great river boat as the evening drew near. At last, after standing +up to talk to the puma, which accepted his caresses as if they were +comforting in such a time of peril, the question arose as to how they +would settle themselves for the night. + +"I needn't say one of us must keep watch," said Brazier sadly, "for I +suppose that no one will wish to sleep." + +"Couldn't if we wanted to," said Rob, in rather an ill-used tone; and +Shaddy chuckled. + +"Oh, I don't know, Mr Rob, sir. Nice elevated sort o' bedroom, with a +good view. Plenty o' room for swinging hammocks if we'd got any to +swing. There, cheer up, my lad,--there's worse disasters at sea; and +our worst troubles have come right at last." + +Rob looked at him reproachfully, for he was thinking of Giovanni being +snatched away from them, and then of the loss of the boat. + +Brazier read his face, and held out his hand, which Rob eagerly grasped. + +"Cheer up, my lad," said Shaddy, following suit. "One never knows +what's going to happen; so let's look at the best side of things. +There, gen'lemen, it's going to be a fine warm time, and we know it +might have been a drowning storm like it was last night; so that's +better for us. It will be very tiring, but we must change our position +now and then, and spend the night listening to the calls in the forest +and trying to make out what they are." + +So as not to be left longer than they could help without food, they +partook of a very small portion that night, and then settled themselves +down; the puma became more watchful as the darkness approached, and +whined and snuffled and grew uneasy. Now it was making its way from one +bough to another, and staring hard at the tops of the trees away from +the river; now its attention was fixed upon the great coiled-up serpent, +which lay with fold heaped over fold and its head invisible, perfectly +still, and apparently sleeping till the flood had subsided. + +But Rob thought with horror of the darkness, and the possibility of the +great reptile rousing up and making an effort to reach them, though he +was fain to confess that unless the creature swam it was impossible. + +Then the stars began to appear and the noises of the forest commenced; +and, as far as Rob could make out, they were as loud as ever. + +"One would have thought that nearly everything had been drowned," he +said in an awe-stricken whisper to his companions. + +Brazier was silent, so after waiting for a few moments Shaddy replied: + +"We're used to floods out here, Mr Rob, sir; and the things which make +noises live in the water as well as in the trees. I don't suppose many +of 'em get drowned in a flood like this. Deer and things of that sort +make for higher ground when there's a chance of the water rising; the +cats get on the trees, and the monkeys are already there, with the +insects and birds sheltered under the big leaves; and the snakes crawl +up too, so that there isn't much left to drown, is there?" + +Rob made no reply, but changed his position, for he was stiff and weary +from sitting so long. + +"Take care, Mr Rob, sir, or you may slip down. No fear of your being +swept away, but it's as well not to get a wetting. Warm as it is, you +might feel cold, and that would bring on fever." + +"I'll take care," said Rob quietly; and in spite of hunger only half +appeased, weariness, and doubt as to their future and the length of +their imprisonment, he could not help enjoying the beauty of the scene. +For the water around was now one smooth mirror-like lake, save where the +river rushed along with a peculiar hissing, rushing sound, augmented by +a crash as some tree was dashed down and struck against those at the +edge of the forest which rose above the water. In the smooth surface +the stars were reflected, forming a second hemisphere; but every now and +then the lad saw something which raised his hopes, and he was after a +silence about to speak, when Brazier began. + +"What is it keeps making little splashes in the water, Naylor?" + +His voice sounded strange in the midst of the croaking, chirping, and +crying going on, but it started conversation directly. + +"I was just going to speak about it, sir, to Mr Rob here. Fish--that's +what it is. They're come up out of the deep holes and eddies where they +lie when the river's in flood, and spread all about to feed on the worms +and insects which have been driven out by the water. If we only had the +fishing-line there'd be no fear of getting a meal. Oh, there is no fear +of that. We shall be all right till the water goes down, and be able to +provide for the cupboard somehow." + +"Hush! what's that?" whispered Rob, as a terrible and mournful cry rang +out from somewhere among the trees--a cry which made the puma move +uneasily. + +"Monkey," said Shaddy. "One of those long spider-like howlers. I +daresay it was very pleasant to its friends--yes, hark: there's another +answering him." + +"And another, and another," whispered Rob, as cries came from a +distance. "But it does not sound so horrible, now that you know what it +is." + +Then came the peculiar trumpet-like cry of a kind of crane, dominating +the chirping, whistling, and croaking, while the shrieking sounds over +the open lake-like flood and beneath the trees grew more frequent. + +There was plenty to take their attention and help to counteract the +tedium of the night; but it was a terribly weary time, and not passed +without startling episodes. Once there was the loud snorting of some +animal swimming from the river over the clearing toward the forest. It +was too dark to make it out, but Shaddy pronounced it to be a hog-like +tapir. At another time their attention was drawn to something else +swimming, by the peculiar sound made by the puma, which suddenly grew +uneasy; but the creature, whatever it was, passed on toward the trees. + +Several times over Rob listened to and spoke of the splashings and heavy +plunges about the surface. + +"'Gators," said Shaddy, without waiting to be questioned. "Fish ain't +allowed to have it all their own way. They came over the flooded land +to feed, and the 'gators came after them." + +It was with a wonderful feeling of relief that Rob heard Brazier say, +"Morning can't be far distant," and the guide's reply: + +"Daylight in less than an hour, sir. Croakers and squeakers are all +going to sleep fast till darkness comes again." + +"Hist! listen!" whispered Rob excitedly. + +"Yes, I hear it, sir. Something moving towards us." + +"What is it?" + +"Don't know, sir. May be a deer. If it is, so much the better for us, +even if it has to be eaten raw. But it's more likely some kind of cat +making for the trees. Hark at your lion there; he's getting uneasy. +Mate coming to keep him company, perhaps." + +They could see the reflections of the stars blurred by the movements of +the swimming animal, and that it was going on past them; but it was too +dark for them to distinguish the creature, which apparently was making +for the forest, but altered its course and began to swim for the tree +where the party had taken refuge. + +"Oh, come: that will not do," cried Shaddy; "we're full here. That's +right: drive him away." + +This last was to the puma, which suddenly sprang up with an angry snarl, +and stood, dimly seen against the stars, with its back arched, tail +curved, and teeth bared, uttering fiercely savage sounds at the swimming +creature approaching. + +"Some kind of cat," said Shaddy in a low voice. "Can't be a mate, or it +would be more friendly. Hi! look out," he said sharply, his voice full +of the excitement he felt. "It's a tiger as sure as I'm here. Out with +your knives: we mustn't let him get into the tree. No, no, Mr Brazier; +you're too weak yet. I'll tackle him. There's plenty of room in the +other trees. We can't have the savage brute here." + +As the man spoke, he whipped out and opened his keen-bladed Spanish +knife, and, getting flat down on his chest to have his arms at liberty, +he reached out the point of his knife like a bayonet. + +"Take care, Shaddy," cried Rob hoarsely, as, knife in hand and holding +on by the nearest bough, he peered forward too. + +"Trust me, sir. Perhaps if I can get first dig at him before he claws +me, he may sheer off. Ah, mind, sir! you'll have me off. Oh! it's you, +is it?" + +The first was a fierce shout of warning, but the second was in a tone of +satisfaction. + +"I thought it was you come down on my back," growled Shaddy; "but this +is as it should be. You never know who's going to help you at a pinch." + +For without warning the puma had silently made one bound from its perch, +and alighted upon the flattish surface presented by the old sailor's +back. Then planting itself with outstretched paws firmly on his +shoulders, and lowering its head, it opened its jaws and uttered a +savage yell, which was answered from the golden-spangled water where the +new-comer was swimming. + +"It is a tiger, and no mistake," said Shaddy in a low voice; "and we'd +better let our lion do the fighting, so long as they don't claw me. +Mind, old fellow! That's right. I've got fast hold now." + +As he was speaking he took a firm grip of a bough by his side, and with +breathless suspense Rob and Brazier waited for the next phase in the +exciting episode, for they were in momentary expectation of the jaguar, +if such it was, reaching the tree, climbing up, and a fierce battle +between the two savage creatures ensuing, with a result fatal to their +companion, unless in the darkness, while they were engaged in a deadly +struggle, he could contrive to direct a fatal blow at the bigger and +fiercer beast. + +They could now dimly make out its shape as it swam to and fro, +hesitating about coming up; for the puma, generally so quiet, gentle and +docile, had now suddenly become a furious snarling and hissing creature, +with its ears flat to its head and paw raised ready to strike. + +"I don't know what's going to happen next," said Shaddy in a low voice, +"for this is something new to me. I did think I'd gone through pretty +well everything; but being made into a platform for a lion and a tiger +to fight out a battle's quite fresh. Suppose you gentlemen get your +knives out over my head, so as to try and guard it a bit. Never mind +the lion; he won't touch you while that thing's in front of him. He +can't think of anything else. I can't do anything but hold on. That's +right, messmate," he cried, as the puma made a stroke downward with one +paw. "You'll do the business better than I shall." + +"It will be light soon," whispered Brazier, as he leaned forward as far +as he could, knife in hand. + +"Look out, gentlemen; he's going to land now!" + +For the jaguar made a dash forward, after drawing back a bit, and came +close up, so that they could see the gleaming of its eyes in its +flattened, cruel-looking head. + +The puma struck at it again with a savage yell, but it was beyond the +reach of its powerful paw, and the jaguar swam to and fro again in front +of their defender, evidently feeling itself at a disadvantage and warily +waiting for an opportunity to climb up the tree. + +This, however, it could not find, and it continued its tactics, swimming +as easily and well as an eastern tiger of the Straits, while the puma +shifted its position from time to time on Shaddy's back, making that +gentleman grunt softly: + +"That's right: never mind me, messmate. Glad you've got so much +confidence in me. Keep him off, and give him one of those licks on the +side of the head if he does come within reach. You'll be too much for +him, of course. Steady!" + +By this time Rob had shifted his position, and was crawling down on the +other side of the puma, ready to make a thrust with his knife. + +Still the jaguar did not come on, but swam warily to and fro, as a faint +light began to dawn upon the strange scene; and the change came rapidly, +till there before them was the fierce creature, which paused at last and +seemed to float out slowly, raising its paws, while its long tail waved +softly behind it on the surface of the water like a snake. + +"Now," cried Rob, "he's going to spring." + +He was quite right, for the jaguar gathered itself together, and made a +dash which shot it forward; but there was water beneath its powerful +hindquarters instead of solid earth, and instead of its alighting from +its bound right upon the puma it only forced itself within reach of the +tawny animal's claws, which struck at it right and left with the +rapidity of lightning on either side of its neck, and drove it under +water. + +It rose to the surface to utter a deafening roar, which was answered +with savage defiance by the puma from its post of vantage upon Shaddy; +but the jaguar was satisfied of its powerless position, and turned and +slowly swam toward the huge tree upon their left. + +"Why, it's going to climb up there by the serpent!" cried Rob, in a +voice husky with excitement. + +At that moment the puma leaped from Shaddy's back up one of the great +branches nearest to the next tree, whence he poured down a fierce +torrent of feline defiance upon his more powerful enemy; while Shaddy +rose and shook himself just as the rising sun sent a glow of light in +the heavens, and illuminated the savage drama commencing in the +neighbouring tree. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +"OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN INTO THE FIRE." + +For all at once, as the jaguar reached the huge trunk, and rapidly +clawed its way to the fork, bleeding from both sides of its head, the +serpent awoke to the presence of the intruder; its scaly folds glistened +and flashed in the morning light, as it quivered in every nerve and +coiled itself fold over fold, and the head rose up, the neck assumed a +graceful, swan-like bend, and the jaws were distended, displaying its +menacing sets of teeth, ready to be launched forward and fixed with +deadly tenacity in an enemy's throat. + +"I'm thinking that we're going to get rid of an unpleasant neighbour," +said Shaddy slowly, as the jaguar, reaching the fork of the trunk, +seemed for a moment to be about to spring upon its fellow-prisoner in +the tree, and then bounded to a great bough and ran up three or four +yards. Here it was right above the serpent, with the large bough +between them, round which it peered down at its enemy, as it crouched so +closely to the rugged bark that it looked like some huge excrescence. + +The serpent shrank back a little, lowering its head, but keeping it +playing about menacingly, as its eyes glittered in the sunlight. + +Then there was a pause, during which the puma crouched down above Rob's +head, uttering from time to time a low growl, as it watched the jaguar, +which began passing its paws alternately over its wounded head and +licking them, exactly as a cat would have done on a rug before the fire. + +"Doesn't look like a fight now," whispered Rob. + +"Not just now, sir; he has hauled off to repair damages, and he wants +all his strength and lissomeness to tackle a great worm like that. Wait +a bit, and you'll see." + +As he waited, Rob climbed up to where he could reach the puma, +hesitating a little before he attempted to touch it, for the animal's +fur was erect, and it was growling and lashing its tail angrily. + +But at the sound of the boy's voice it responded by giving a low +whimpering cry, turned to him, and gave its head a roll, as if in answer +to a friendly rub. + +"That's right," said Rob gently; "you're good friends with me, aren't +you?" and he patted and rubbed the beautiful creature's head, while it +let it lie on the branch, and blinked and purred. + +All of a sudden, though, it raised its head excitedly, and Rob could +feel the nerves and muscles quivering beneath its soft, loose skin. + +Just at the same moment, too, Brazier and Shaddy uttered warning cries +to the lad to look out, for the war had recommenced in the next tree, +the jaguar having ceased to pass its paws over its head, and assumed a +crouching position, with its powerful hind legs drawn beneath it and its +sinewy loins contracted, as if preparing to make a spring. + +The serpent had noticed the movement, and it too had prepared itself for +the fray by assuming as safe a position for defence and menace as the +limited space would allow. + +Then came another pause, with the jaguar crouching, its spine all in a +quiver, and a peculiar fidgeting, scratching movement visible about its +hind claws, while the serpent watched it with glittering eyes, its +drawn-back head rising and falling slightly with the motion of its +undulating form. + +"Do you think the jaguar will attack it, Naylor?" whispered Brazier. + +"Yes, sir; they're nasty spiteful creatures, and can't bear to see +anything enjoying itself. There's room in the tree for both of them, +and you'd think that with the flood underneath they'd be content to wait +there in peace till it was gone. But if the snake would the tiger won't +let him: he's waiting for a chance to take him unawares, and so not get +caught in his coils, but I don't think he'll get that this time. My +word! Look!" + +For as he was speaking the jaguar seemed to be shot from the bough, to +strike the serpent on the side of the head, which it seized just at the +thinnest part of the neck, and held on, tearing the while so fiercely +with its hind claws that the reptile's throat was in a few moments all +in ribbons, which streamed with blood. The weight of the jaguar, too, +bore down the serpent, in spite of its enormous strength, and it +appeared as if victory was certain for the quadruped; but even as Rob +thought this, and rejoiced at the destruction of so repellent a monster, +the serpent's folds moved rapidly, as if it were writhing its last in +agony, and the next instant those who watched the struggle saw that the +jaguar, in spite of its activity, was enveloped in the terrible embrace. +There was a strange crushing sound, a yell that made Rob's fingers go +toward his ears, and then a rapid movement, and the water was splashed +over where they sat. + +For the tree was vacant, and beneath it the flood was being churned up +in a curious way, which indicated that the struggle was going on beneath +the surface. Then a fold of the serpent rose for a moment or two, +disappeared, and was followed by the creature's tail. This latter +darted out for an instant, quivered in the air, and then was snatched +back, making the water hiss. + +During the next five minutes the little party in the tree sat watching +the water where they had last seen it disturbed; but it had gradually +settled down again, and, for aught they could tell to the contrary, +their two enemies had died in each other's embrace. + +But this was not so; for all at once Shaddy uttered an ejaculation, and +pointed along the edge of the submerged trees, to where something was +moving about in the bright morning's light. + +It was right where the beams of the freshly risen sun gilded the +rippling water, sending forth such flashes of light that it was hard to +distinguish what it was. But directly after, there, before them, +swimming slowly and laboriously, in undulatory motion, was the serpent, +which they watched till it passed in among the branches of the submerged +trees and disappeared. + +"Then the tiger was killed?" cried Rob, excitedly. + +"Yes, sir; I thought it was all over with him when the snake made those +half hitches about his corpus and I heard his bones crack. Ah! it's +wonderful what power those long sarpentiny creatures have. Why, I've +known an eel at home, when I was a boy, twist itself up in a regular +knot that was as hard and close as could be, and that strong it was +astonishing." + +"But surely that serpent can't live?" said Brazier. + +"It's sartain, sir, that the tiger can't," replied the old sailor. "You +see, beside his having that nip, he was kept underneath long enough to +drown him and all his relations. As to the sarpent--oh yes, he may +live. It's wonderful what a good doctor Nature is. I've seen animals +so torn about that you'd think they must die, get well by giving +themselves a good lick now and then, and twisting up and going to sleep. +Savages, too, after being badly wounded, get well at a wonderful rate +out here without a doctor. But now let's see what the river's doing." + +He bent down and examined the trunk of the tree, and came to the +conclusion that the flood was about stationary; and as all danger of its +rising seemed to be at an end, Shaddy set to work with his knife, +lopping off branches, and cutting boughs to act as poles to lay across +and across in the fork of the tree, upon which he laid an abundance of +the smaller stuff, and by degrees formed a fairly level platform, upon +which he persuaded Brazier and Rob to lie down. + +"I'll keep watch," he said, "and as soon as you are rested I'll have my +spell below." + +They were so utterly wearied out that they gladly fell in with the old +sailor's plan, and dropped off almost as soon as they had stretched +themselves upon the boughs. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +REALITY OR A DREAM? + +It was evening when Rob awoke, and found the guide waiting as he had +left him when he lay down. + +"Only gone down about an inch, Mr Rob, sir," he said. "Feel as if you +could do your spell at the watch now?" + +"Of course. But, Shaddy, I'm terribly hungry." + +"So am I, sir. To-morrow morning we must see if we can't do something +to catch some fish." + +"Why not to-night?" + +Shaddy shook his head, lay down, and in a moment or two was breathing +heavily in a deep sleep. + +"I can't watch all night without food," thought Rob, as he looked round +at the waste and wondered how soon the flood would go down. He knew +what food there was, and how it would have to be served, and longed for +his share; but felt that unless the others were present he could not +take his portion, though how he would be able to wait till morning was +more than he felt able to tell. + +He looked up at the puma, to see that it had carefully lodged itself on +the upper fork, and was asleep. So was Mr Brazier. Only he was awake +and hungry. Yes, Brazier was, too, for he woke about then with a start, +to question Rob about the advance of time, and their position; ending, +as he heard that the flood had hardly sunk at all, by saying that they +would be compelled to watch fasting that night, so as to make the +provisions last longer. + +Rob gave him an agonised look, and, plucking a twig, began to pick off +the leaves to chew them. + +"I don't feel as if I could wait till to-morrow," he said faintly. + +"It is a case of _must_," said Brazier. "Come, try a little fortitude, +my lad." + +"But a little fortitude will not do," said Rob drily. "It seems to me +that we shall want so much of it." + +"You know our position, Rob. There, lad; let's be trustful, and try and +hope. We may not have to wait longer than to-morrow for the subsiding +of the flood." + +How that night passed neither of them knew, but at last the sun rose to +show that the waters, which had seemed to be alive with preying +creatures, had sunk so that they could not be above four feet in depth; +and just as they had concluded that this was the case Shaddy sprang up, +and sat staring at them. + +"Why!--what?--Have I slept all night?" he cried. "Oh, Mr Rob!" + +"We both felt that you must have rest, Naylor," said Brazier quietly. + +"That's very good of you, sir; but you should have been fairer to +yourselves. Did you--?" + +He stopped short. + +"Hear anything in the night?" asked Rob. + +"Well, no, sir, I was going to say something else, only I was 'most +ashamed." + +"Never mind: say it," said Brazier. + +"I was going to ask if you had left me a little scrap of the prog." + +Rob looked at him sharply and then at Brazier, who did the same, but +neither of them replied; and the old sailor put his own interpretation +upon their silence. + +"All right, gentlemen," he said; "you must have both been terrible +hungry. Don't say anything about it. Now, how could I manage to catch +a fish?" + +"After breakfast, Shaddy, please," said Rob merrily. "Mr Brazier +thought we ought to wait for you." + +"What! You don't mean to say you haven't had any?" + +"When three people are situated as we are, Naylor, a fair division of +the food is necessary. Get it at once." + +"Well!" ejaculated the old sailor, as he took down the packet from where +he had secured it in the upper branches; and again, as he placed it on +the loose platform, "Well!" Then--"There, gentlemen, I can't tell you +how thankful I am to you for being such true comrades. But there, let's +eat now. The famine's over, and I mean to have some more food soon." + +"How, Shaddy?" said Rob, with his mouth full; "you can't wade because of +the reptiles, and the piranas would attack you." + +"No, sir, I can't wade unless I could make stilts, and I can't do that. +It will be a climb for fruit, like the monkeys, for luncheon if the +water doesn't go down." + +To the despair of all, the day passed on till it was getting late in the +afternoon, and still the water spread around them right into the forest; +but it was literally alive with fish which they could not see their way +to catch. + +Rob and Shaddy set to work making a fishing-line. A piece of the +toughest wood they could find was fashioned into a tiny skewer sharpened +at both ends and thrust into a piece of fruit taken from high up the +tree, where Rob climbed, but soon had to come back on account of the +puma following him. + +Then they angled, with plenty of shoals swimming about the tree, as they +could see from the movement of the muddy water; but so sure as a fish +took the bait there was a short struggle, and either the line broke or +the apology for a hook gave way, till first one and then the other gave +up in sheer despair, and sat looking disconsolate, till Shaddy's +countenance expanded into a broad grin. + +"I don't see anything to laugh at," said Rob. "Here we have only a few +scraps to save for to-morrow, and you treat it all as if it were a +matter of no consequence." + +"Warn't laughing at that, Mr Rob. I was only thinking of the fox and +the grapes, for I had just said to myself the fish ain't worth ketching, +just as the fox said the grapes were sour." + +"But unless the waters go down ours is a very serious position," said +Brazier. + +"Very, sir. And as to that bit of food, strikes me that it will be good +for nothing soon; so I say let's wait till last thing to-night, and then +finish it." + +"And what about to-morrow?" said Rob gloomily. + +"Let to-morrow take care of itself, sir. Plenty of things may happen +to-morrow. May be quite dry. If not, we must kill the puma and eat +it." + +"What!" cried Rob in horror. + +"Better than killing one of ourselves, sir," said the man grimly. "We +must have something to eat, and we can't live on wood and water." + +The result was that they finished the last scrap of food after Shaddy +had spent the evening vainly looking out for the carcass of some drowned +animal. Then night came once more, and all lay down to sleep, but only +to have a disturbed night through the uneasy wanderings of the hungry +puma, which kept climbing from branch to branch uttering a low, +muttering cry. Sometimes it curled up beside Rob and seemed to sleep, +but it soon rose again and crawled down the most pendent branch till it +could thrust its muzzle close to the surface of the water and quench its +thirst. + +"We shall have to shove it off to swim ashore," said Shaddy the next +morning. + +"Why?" cried Rob. "The fish and alligators would attack it." + +"Can't help it, sir," replied the old sailor. "Better eat him than he +should eat us." + +"Why, you don't think--" began Rob. + +"Yes, I do, sir. Wild beasts of his kind eat enough at one meal to last +'em a long time; but when they get hungry they grow very savage, and he +may turn upon us at any time now." + +Rob looked at the puma anxiously, and approached it later on in the day, +to find the animal more gentle than ever; though it snarled and ruffled +up the hair of its back and neck whenever there was the slightest +advance made by either of the others. + +That day passed slowly by--hot, dreamy, and with the water keeping +exactly to the same depth, so that they were hopelessly prisoned still +on their tree. They tried again to capture a fish, but in vain; and +once more the night fell, with the sounds made by bird, insect, and +reptile more weird and strange to them than ever. + +Rob dropped asleep from time to time, to dream of rich banquets and +delicious fruits, but woke to hear the croaking and whistling of the +different creatures of the forest, and sit up on the pile of boughs +listening to the splash of the various creatures in the water, till day +broke, to find them all gaunt, wild-eyed, and despairing. + +"We must try and wade to shore, and chance the creatures in the water," +said Brazier hoarsely, for, on account of his weakness, he seemed to +suffer more than the others. "Where's shore, sir?" said Shaddy gruffly. +"Well, the nearest point, then." + +"There ain't no nearest point, sir," said the man. "Even if we could +escape the things swarming in the muddy water, we could not wade through +the forest. It's bad enough when it's hard; now it's all water no man +could get through the trees. Besides, the land may be a hundred miles +away." + +"What can we do, then?" cried Rob in desperation. "Only one thing, sir: +wait till the water goes down." + +"But we may be dead before then--dead of this terrible torture of +hunger." + +"Please God not, sir," said the old sailor piously: and they sat or lay +now in their terrible and yet beautiful prison. + +From time to time Shaddy reached out from a convenient branch, and +dipped one of Rob's vessels full of the thick water, and when it had +been allowed to settle they quenched their burning thirst; but the pangs +of hunger only increased and a deadly weakness began to attack their +limbs, making the least movement painful. + +For the most part those hours of their imprisonment grew dreamy and +strange to Rob, who slept a good deal; but he was roused up by one +incident. The puma had grown more and more uneasy, walking about the +tree wherever it could get the boughs to bear it, till all at once, +after lying as if asleep, it suddenly rose up, leaped from bough to +bough, till it was by the forest, where they saw it gather itself up and +spring away, evidently trying to reach the extreme boughs of the next +tree; but it fell with a tremendous splash into the water, and the +growth between prevented them from seeing what followed. + +Rob uttered a sigh, for it was as if they had been forsaken by a friend; +and Shaddy muttered something about "ought not to have let it go." + +They seemed to be very near the end. Then there was a strange, misty, +dreamy time, from which Rob was awakened by Shaddy shaking his shoulder. +"Rouse up, my lad," he said huskily. "No, no: let me sleep," sighed +Rob. "Don't--don't!" + +"Rouse up, boy, I tell ye," cried the old sailor fiercely. "Here's help +coming, or I'm dreaming and off my head. Now; sit up and listen. +What's that?" + +Rob struggled feebly into a sitting position, and fancied he could hear +a sound. There was moonshine on the smooth water, and the trees cast a +thick shade; but he closed his eyes again, and began to lower himself +down to drop into the sleep from which there would be no waking here on +earth. + +"Ask--Mr Brazier--to look," he muttered feebly, and closed his heavy +eyes. + +"No, no: you," cried Shaddy, who was kneeling beside him. "He's asleep, +like. He can't move. Rouse up, lad, for the sake of home and all you +love. I'm nearly beat out, but your young ears can listen yet, and your +eyes see. There's help coming, I tell you." + +"Help?" cried Rob, making a snatch at his companion's arm. + +"Yes, or else I'm dreaming it, boy. I'm off my head, and it's all +'mazed and thick. That's right, listen. Hold up by me. Now, then, +what's that black speck away yonder, like a bit o' cloud? and what's +that noise?" + +"Oars," said Rob huskily, as he gave a kind of gasp. + +"What?" + +"Oars--and--a boat," cried the boy, his words coming with a strange +catching of the breath. + +"Hurray! It is--it is," cried Shaddy; and collecting all his remaining +strength, he uttered a hoarse hail, which was supplemented by a faint +harsh cry from Rob, as he fell back senseless in their rough nest of +boughs in the fork of that prison tree. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +ALL FOR THE BEST. + +Shaddy had preceded him, and neither of them heard the regular beat of +oars and the faint splashing of water as four rowers, urged on by one in +the stern, forced their way toward the spot from whence the hail had +come, till the boat went crashing among the drooping boughs, was secured +to the huge trunk, and after water and a little sopped bread had been +administered, the three sufferers were carefully lowered down and laid +under the shed-like awning. + +Three weary days of delirium ensued before the first of the sufferers +unclosed his eyes, illumined by the light of reason, and had the bright +semicircle of light facing him eclipsed for the moment by a slight +figure which crept in beneath the awning to give him food. + +And then two more days elapsed before Rob could say feebly,-- + +"Tell me, Joe, have I been asleep and dreaming?" + +"I hope so," said the young Italian, pressing his hand. + +"Then you are not dead?" + +"Do I look like it? No; but I thought you were. Why, Rob, old chap, we +only got back to you just in time." + +"But I thought--we thought that--" + +Rob ceased speaking, and Giovanni, who looked brown, strong, and well, +finished his companion's sentence after turning to where the two +famine-pinched feeble men lay listening for an explanation of the events +of the past. + +"You thought I had been drowned, and that the men had carried off the +boat while you were all looking for me?" + +Rob's eyes said, "Yes," as plainly as eyes could speak. "Of course you +would," said Joe, laughing merrily. "You couldn't help thinking so; but +I wasn't drowned, and the men didn't steal the boat. What say, Shaddy?" + +For there was a husky whisper from where the old sailor lay--a ghost of +his former self. + +"Say?" whispered the guide sourly,--"that we can see all that." + +"Tell us how it was," said Rob, holding out his hand, which Joe grasped +and held, but he did not speak for a few minutes on account of a choking +sensation in his breast as the sun glanced in through the ends of the +awning, after streaming down like a silver shower through the leaves of +the huge tree beneath which the boat was moored, while the swift river, +once more back within its bounds, rippled and sang, and played against +the sides. + +"The men told me," said Joe at last, with a slight Italian accent in the +words, now that he was moved by his emotion--"they told me all about +what horror and agony you showed as you all went off to rescue me, while +there I was perched up in the branches of the great tree, expecting +every moment that it would be rolled over by the river, unless I could +creep up to the next bough and the next, all wet and muddy as they were, +and I knew that I could not keep on long at that. But all at once, to +my horror, we began to glide down--oh, so swiftly, but even then I felt +hopeful, for the tree did not turn, and I was far above the water as we +went on swifter and swifter, till all at once I caught sight of the +boat, moored some distance onward, with the four men in it sitting with +their backs to me. I made up my mind to leap into the water and swim to +them, but the next minute I knew that it would be impossible, and that +the branches would stop me, entangle me, and that I should be drowned. +Then the tree began to go faster and drift out toward the middle, but it +was caught by an eddy and swept in again toward the shore, so that I +felt I should be carried near to the boat, and I shouted to them then to +throw me a rope." + +"No good to try and throw a rope," growled Shaddy faintly. + +"Go on, my lad," whispered Brazier, for Joe had stopped. + +"They saw me for the first time, and gave a shout, but they all stood up +directly, horrified, for the fierce stream now bore me swiftly on right +down upon them, and before we could all realise it the boughs were under +and over the boat, and it was carried away from where it was moored. +And there it was just beneath me, with the boughs going more and more +over and under it, and our speed increasing till I began to wonder +whether we should roll right over and force it down, or the lower boughs +lift and raise it right up. Then there was another thing to consider-- +whether I ought to try and drop down into the boat, or they ought to +climb up to me." + +"Ah!" ejaculated Rob, heaving a long sigh and then breathing hard. + +"And all this time," continued Joe, "we were being swept down the stream +at a tremendous rate, too frightened to do anything, making up our mind +one way one minute, altering it the next; while, to my great delight, +the tree kept in just the same position, which, I have since supposed, +must have been because the roots were so laden with earth and stones +that it served as a balance to the boughs. + +"We went on down like this for hours, expecting every minute would be +our last, for so sure as the tree touched bottom or side it must have +been rolled over by the swift current, but the water was so deep that we +kept on, and, at last gaining courage, I lowered myself a little and got +upon another bough, which was very near to the boat, and there I stood +upright. + +"`Shall I jump?' I said, and they stood up ready to catch me, but I +hesitated for a few moments before making a spring, which would take me +through some thin twigs between us. + +"In my hurry and excitement, I jumped with all my force, but caught one +foot against a little branch, and was jerked forward so violently into +the boat that in their efforts to save me they made her give a great +lurch, and she began to rock violently, and nearly sent two of them +overboard. The next minute we saw that she had been driven clear of the +boughs which held her and was floating away, but at the same moment the +branches above us began to descend slowly, for the tree was rolling +over, the buoyancy of the boat wedged in among the branches having kept +it stationary so long. + +"Our position was now terribly dangerous, for the size and force of the +boughs were sufficient, with the impetus they now had from being in +motion, to drive us right under, an accident which meant death if we +could not escape, but in their desperation the men seized the oars, and +by pushing against the tree thrust the boat so far toward the clear +water that we were only brushed by the outer twigs and thinnest parts as +we were caught by the swift stream and went on down at a tremendous +rate. + +"It was not until night was drawing near that we thought of making fast +to a tree at the side where we could rest for the time and then start +back in the morning to reach you again as soon as we possibly could, for +I knew you would be fancying still that I was dead, and that the men had +forsaken you. So we had a meal, and I set the watches, meaning to see +to the men taking their turn. Then, feeling tired out, I lay down for a +few minutes to rest, but--I dropped asleep." + +"'Course you did," said Shaddy sourly. + +"And when I awoke in a fright the sun was shining, the men were all +asleep at the bottom of the boat, and we were spinning down the river as +hard as we could go." + +"Sarved you all right if you'd been upset," growled Shaddy. "That would +have woke some of you up." + +"Don't scold me, Shaddy," said the lad humbly. "I know I ought not to +have gone to sleep, but I thought I could trust the men." + +"Thought you could trust them?" cried the old sailor. "Why, you +couldn't even trust yourself!" + +"No," said Joe humbly. + +"Why, Mr Brazier, the pains I've took to make a seaman of that young +chap, no one knows. I only wonder as they weren't all wrecked and +drowned," protested Shaddy. + +"Let him go on, Naylor." + +"Ay, go on, Mr Jovanni. If there's anything more you ought to be +ashamed on, speak it out and get it over. You'll be better after." + +"Isn't he hard upon me, Rob?" said Joe, smiling. + +"Yes, but it all turned out for the best," said his companion. + +"I didn't think so then," continued Joe, "when I began to find that we +must have been gliding down the river fast all that night, and what I +had begun to find out then I knew more and more as we tried to work our +way back. We couldn't pole because the water was too deep, and we had +to work our way along by the trees, sometimes getting a little way up +the river and then making a slip and being swept down again for far +enough, till I gave it up in despair. The men worked till they could +work no longer. And all the time you were left alone without the guns +and fishing tackle and food, and it used to make me mad to have to use +any of the stores; so I made them fish all I could, and I did a little +shooting, so that we didn't use much." + +"Oh, come," said Shaddy in a more agreeable tone, "that's the best thing +we've heard you say yet, Mr Jovanni. That's where my teaching comes +out, but don't you never say a word to me again about your seamanship!" + +"But you are keeping him from telling us how he came and saved us just +as he did in the nick of time, Shaddy," said Rob. + +"All right, sir, all right! won't say another word," cried the old +sailor querulously, "only don't let him get bragging no more about his +seamanship and management of a crew." + +"I never will, Shaddy, and I hope I shall never be placed in such a +predicament again." + +"How did you manage to get up the river?" asked Rob. + +"Oh, that was easy enough as soon as the flood came; we should never +have got to you without; but as soon as the land was all flooded, I +found that we could get right away from the swift stream and keep along +at a distance, poling generally. Then we were able to take short cuts +across the bends. We did get caught now and then and swept back a bit, +but every day we made a good many miles, and at last as we were rowing +steadily on over the flooded land, which is a good deal more open below, +we neared the opening, and thought it was a good deal altered; but the +men said I was wrong. I felt sure that I was right, and had just come +to the conclusion that you must all have been swept away and drowned, +when I heard the hail, and you are all safe once more." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +PEACE IN THE FOREST. + +The three sufferers had no illness to fight against, and began to regain +their normal strength very rapidly, while nature was hiding the +destruction wrought upon the face of the land at a rapid rate. Tropical +showers washed the mud left by the flood from leaf and twig, and the +lower boughs, which had been stripped of leaves by the rushing waters, +put forth new ones, so that in a very few days' time not many traces of +the flood were visible, save where banks had crumbled in and great gaps +of broken earth stood out. + +Fully equipped once more, Brazier, as he regained his strength, went on +adding to his collection of choice plants, which had come back to him +intact; and as they dropped on and on down the river, finding clearings +at pretty frequent intervals, greater and greater grew the natural +stores of botanical treasures, so that the collector was more than +satisfied with Shaddy's guiding. + +"But what I want to know is how we are to get back," Rob said over and +over again. "We shall never be able to pull the boat up again." + +Shaddy chuckled. + +"Might have another big storm and a flood, Mr Rob," he said, "and get +back as Mr Jovanni did." + +"But you don't mean to go back that way?" + +"Right, sir! I don't. But you go on with your fishing and shooting, +and let Mr Brazier do his vegetables up in his baskets. Leave the rest +to me." + +The task was left to him, and they went on down the river day after day +till one evening they rounded a bend, and, in obedience to their +leader's orders, the boat was rowed into a narrow stream which joined +that which they had left, the junction being plainly marked by the +distinct colour of the waters. + +"Going up this, Naylor?" asked Brazier wonderingly. + +"Yes, sir. It's the place I've been making for, and I'm thinking you'll +find something quite fresh along here, for it leads up into higher +ground on and on into the mountains, where the trees and flowers are +quite different." + +"Of course--yes," said Brazier eagerly. "Let's go up it." + +"But there's one thing to be said, sir." + +"What's that?" + +"We shall have to be careful." + +"Is the river dangerous?" + +"Tidy, sir; but we can get over that. It's the Indians." + +"Indians?" + +"Yes, sir; some of them may be along the side, but if we are on the +watch and take care, being well armed and a fairly strong party, I think +they are not likely to interfere with us much." + +Rob pricked up his ears at this as they began gliding up the stream, +noting the difference directly, for it was far less powerful, the men +having no difficulty at all in forcing the boat along, save here and +there where they encountered a rapid, up which they thrust the boat with +poles. + +"Did you hear what old Shaddy said?" Rob whispered to his companion. + +"Yes. We shall have to look out then and have our guns ready." + +"But have the Indians guns?" + +"No, spears and blowpipes, through which they send poisoned arrows." + +"Ugh!" ejaculated Rob uneasily. + +"Horrid things! Shaddy has often told me about them," said Joe. + +"What has he often told you about, my lad?" + +The boys started, for the old sailor had approached them unheard. + +"Indians' blowpipes," said Joe. + +"Ah, yes; they're not nice things, my lads. Can't say as I would like +to be killed by one of their arrows." + +"Why?" said Rob. "What are they like?" + +"Stop a moment, my lad, and I'll tell you." + +He left them to give some instructions to the men as to the use of their +poles, but returned directly. + +"Know what we're doing now?" he said, with one of his dry quaint smiles +on his weather-beaten face. + +"Yes, going up this river." + +"Right, my lad! But we're going upstairs like. You'll see we shall +keep on rowing along smooth stretches where the water seems easy; then +we shall come to rapids and have to pole on against a swift rush of +water, and every time we get to the top of the rapid into smooth water +we shall have gone up one of my water steps, and so by degrees get right +up into the mountains." + +"Why are we going up into the mountains? Is it to get back to the main +river?" said Rob. + +"Wait a bit, my lad, and you'll see. Besides, Mr Brazier'll get plants +up here such as he never saw before. But you were talking about the +Indians and their blowpipes. I don't mind the blowpipes; it's the +arrows." + +"Poisonous?" + +"Horrid, my lad. They're only little bits of things with a tuff of +cotton at one end and the wood at the other sharpened into a point, but +they dip it into poison, and just before they shoot it out of the +blowpipe they hold it nipped between the jaws of one of those little +sharp-toothed piranis, then give it a bit of a twirl with their fingers, +and the teeth saw it nearly through." + +"What's the use of that?" asked Rob. + +"Makes it so that the arrow breaks off and leaves the point in the +wound. Anything don't live very long with one of those points left in +its skin." + +"Think we shall meet any Indians, Shaddy?" said Joe. + +"Maybe yes, my lad; maybe no. You never know. They come and go like +wild beasts--tigers, lions, and such-like." + +"Do you think my lion will follow us, Shaddy?" said Rob eagerly. + +"No, my lad; I don't. He had a long swim before him to get to shore; +and it's my belief that he would be 'tacked and pulled under before he +had gone very far." + +"How horrible!" + +"Yes, my lad; seems horrid, but I don't know. Natur's very curious. If +he was pulled under to be eaten it was only to stop him from pulling +other creatures down and eating them. That's the way matters go on out +in these forests where life swarms, and from top to bottom one thing's +killing and eating another. It's even so with the trees, as I've told +you: the biggest and strongest kill the weak 'uns, and live upon 'em. +It's all nature's way, my lads, and a good one." + +"Well, we don't want the Indians to kill us, Shaddy," said Rob merrily. + +"And they shan't, my lad, if I can help it. Perhaps we mayn't see any +of them, and one side of the river's safe, so we shall keep that side; +but if they come any of their nonsense with us they must be taught to +keep to themselves with a charge or two of small shot. If that don't +teach them to leave respectable people alone they must taste larger +shot. I don't want to come to bullets 'cept as a last resource." + +"I should have liked to have found the puma again," said Rob after a +time. + +"Perhaps it's as well not, my lad," said their guide. "It was all very +well, and he liked you, but some day he'd have grown older, and he'd +have turned rusty, and there would have been a fight, and before he was +killed you might have been badly clawed. Wild beasts don't tame very +well. You can trust dogs and cats, which are never so happy as when +they are with human folk; but I never knew any one who did very well +with other things. Ah, here's another of my steps!" + +He went to his men again, for they were rowing along a smooth-gliding +reach, at the end of which rough water appeared, and all hands were +called into requisition to help the boat up the long stretch of rapids, +at the end of which, as they glided into smooth water again, Shaddy +declared that they had mounted a good twenty feet. + +Day after day was spent in this steady journeying onward. The weather +was glorious, and the forest on either side looked as if it had never +been trod by man. So full of wonders, too, was it for Brazier, that +again and again as night closed in, and they moored on their right to +some tree for the men to land and light their fire and cook, he thanked +their guide for bringing him, as the first botanist, to a region where +every hour he collected treasures. + +"And some folk would sneer at the pretty things, and turn away because +they weren't gold, or silver, or precious stones," muttered Shaddy. + +All this time almost imperceptibly they were rising and climbing +Shaddy's water steps, as he had called them. They fished and had +success enough to keep their larder well stocked. Birds were shot such +as were excellent eating, and twice over Shaddy brought down iguanas, +which, though looked upon with distrust by the travellers, were welcomed +by the boatmen, who were loud in their praise. + +It was a dream-like existence, and wonderfully restful to the lads who +had passed through so many troubles, while the boat presented an +appearance, with its load of drying specimens, strongly suggestive of +there being very little room for more. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +WAR. + +They had literally climbed a long rapid one morning, and entered a broad +reach of the river which resembled a lake in its extent. The water here +was smooth, and had a current that was barely perceptible, hence their +progress was swift, and as they were rowing round a bend the question +arose where they should halt for the midday rest, when suddenly an +ejaculation escaped from their guide's lips, and the men ceased pulling, +leaving the boat to drift slowly on over the glowing mirror-like +surface, which was as if of polished steel. + +"What is it, Shaddy?" cried Rob quickly. "Are we going wrong?" But as +he spoke he caught sight of the reason for the sudden stoppage, for +there right in front, ashore and in canoes, were about twenty Indians, +standing up and apparently watching them in speechless astonishment. + +"Indians!" cried Rob. + +"Yes, my lad, and we've done pretty well to come all these hundreds of +miles without hitting upon them before. Don't hurry, Mr Brazier, sir, +and don't let them think that we mind 'em, but lay the guns ready, and +the ammunition, so that we can give them as good as they send, and mind, +if it comes to fighting, every one's to lie down in the boat and keep +under cover." + +"Perhaps there will be no trouble," said Brazier quietly. "They seem to +be peaceable enough." + +"Yes, sir, seem to be; but you can't trust 'em." + +Just then the Indians ceased staring at the party in the boat, and went +on with the pursuit in which they were engaged as the boat swept round +the bend. This was shooting at some object in the water, apparently for +practice, but in a peculiar way, for the lads saw the men take aim high +up in the air, so that their arrows turned far on high and fell with +lightning-like rapidity upon certain shiny spots just flush with the +surface of the water; and while Rob was wondering the guide whispered,-- + +"Shooting turtles! They're wonderful clever at it. If they fired +straight, the arrows would start off. This way they come down, go +through the rough hide, and kill the turtle." + +Of this they had proof again and again as they rowed slowly on, their +course taking them close to one canoe whose owner had gone off from near +the shore to recover a turtle that he had shot. + +This Shaddy tried to obtain, offering something by way of barter, but +the man bent down to his paddle with a face full of mistrust, and forced +his light vessel toward where his companions had gathered to watch the +strangers. + +"I don't like that," muttered Shaddy in Rob's hearing, and at the same +moment Joe whispered,-- + +"They don't mean to be friends, and we shall have to look out." + +As he spoke he stretched out his hand for his gun, and began to examine +it carefully, a proceeding that was imitated by the others, but in a +quiet unostentatious way, so as not to take the attention of the +Indians. + +A few moments' counsel ended in a determination not to try again to make +advances, by no means to halt for the midday rest, but to keep steadily +on without paying any heed to the Indians, who followed slowly as the +oars were plied, and at a respectful distance. + +"How far does this smooth water go, Naylor?" asked Brazier. + +"Six or seven miles, sir." + +"And is there a long rapid at the end?" + +"Yes, sir, as long as any we have passed." + +"Where they could take us at a disadvantage?" + +"Yes, sir," said Shaddy, grimly indeed. "If it's to come to a fight, we +had better have it out here in the open, where we can shelter ourselves +in the boat." + +"Then you think it will come to an encounter?" + +"I'm afraid so, sir, if you must have the truth." + +"What about your men?" + +"Oh, they'll fight for their lives if they're driven to it, sir; but the +worst of it is, these sort of fellows fight in a cowardly way, either +with poisoned arrows or by shooting their arrows up straight in the air +so that they come down upon you when you least expect it and can't +shelter against them." + +"A false alarm!" cried Rob joyously, for the Indians had all ceased +paddling, and after a minute or two, as if by one consent, turned the +heads of their canoes to the shore and went straight away, disappearing +at last amongst the trees which overhung the river bank. + +Shaddy made no reply to the speaker, but, the way being clear, bade his +men to row steadily on for another half-hour, when a halt was called, +and refreshments served round in the boat, but with orders for them to +be hastily eaten. + +After this the rowing was resumed till the afternoon was far advanced, +and the end of the lake-like reach was still apparently far-away. The +broad expanse had for a long time past been entirely free from all signs +of the Indians, and Rob was congratulating himself upon their escape, +when Joe pointed straight back along the broad river-lake to where a +canoe suddenly shot round a corner; then another came into view, and +another, and another, till there were between thirty and forty visible, +each bearing four or five men, and a chill of horror shot through Rob as +he felt that this must mean war, and that they would be helpless in the +extreme if so large a body of men made a determined attack. + +"I was afraid of that," said Shaddy quietly, "Strange as they can't +leave us alone." + +"What do you propose doing, Naylor?" said Mr Brazier eagerly. + +"There ain't no proposing, sir. It's all driving to do what is for the +best. We must face 'em." + +"Why not land and try and find shelter in the woods?" + +"Because, sir, they'd destroy our boat and follow us and shoot us down +like so many wild beasts. Our only hope is to keep on as long as we +can, and if the chance comes take to the rapid and get on it. They +mightn't care about venturing in their light boats. But we shall see." + +There was a very stern look in Brazier's countenance, a look that seemed +to have been reflected from that of the old sailor, as weapons were once +more examined. + +"I don't like fighting, boys," he said, "but if we are driven to it, we +must defend our lives." + +Then turning to Shaddy, "Can't you depend upon your men to help us, +Naylor?" he said. + +"I'm going to depend upon 'em to row, sir," said the old sailor sternly. +"We can kill quite enough people without their help. They're the +engines, sir, to take us out of danger, while we keep the enemy at a +distance." + +Meanwhile the boat was being steadily propelled toward the end of the +lake-like enlargement of the river, where a few low hills rose, showing +where the rapids would be which they had to surmount; but it soon became +evident that the light canoes would be alongside before the exit from +the lake could be reached, and Rob said so. + +"Yes, sir, you're quite right, unless we can scare them off," said the +guide, who had been busy making a rough barricade in the stern by piling +boxes and barrels one upon another, leaving openings through which they +could fire, saying, "It isn't strength we want so much as shelter to +baulk their aim, for they're terribly clever with their bows and arrows, +Mr Rob, sir." + +But very little was said in those anxious minutes, with the little +party, after their many struggles with nature, now called upon to +prepare to face man in his savage form. + +"Feel frightened, Joe?" whispered Rob as the two boys lay together by a +couple of loopholes, well sheltered beneath the awning. + +"Shall you laugh at me if I say yes?" + +"Not likely, when I own to it too. I say, I wish they'd leave us +alone." + +"Look here, Mr Brazier, sir," said the old sailor just then, after +admonishing his men to pull their best, "I'm going to ask you to let me +manage this." + +"No," said Brazier sternly; "I wish to avoid all the bloodshed +possible." + +"So do I, sir--specially ours," said Shaddy drily; "and mine would be +the way." + +"Quick, then: explain," said Brazier, as the boys listened eagerly. +"Make haste, for the enemy are very near." + +"Soon done," said Shaddy, "only what I proposed, sir: you folk keep me +supplied with guns, and I'll try 'em with gentle measures first, and +rough ones after. I'm a tidy shot, eh, Mr Jovanni?" + +"Yes, excellent," said the lad. + +"Very well, then, you shall try to stop them," replied Brazier, "but I +warn you that if I am not satisfied I shall take the lead myself." + +"All right, sir, but don't you make the mistake of giving up and +trusting these people! That means death for all of us. _They must be +beaten off_." + +There was something very startling in Shaddy's tones as he uttered these +words, and Brazier looked at him wonderingly. + +"We shall have to come back this way, so why not retreat at once with +the stream?" + +"Because we don't come back this way, sir; that's all. Didn't the lads +tell you? I'm going to take you into the big river another way." + +"I say, look out!" cried Rob excitedly, as he saw the water flashing +behind at the rapid dip of the Indians' paddles and noticed the stolid +look in the heavy round faces of the men astern, who sat ready with +their bows and arrows, the spears of the paddlers projecting from the +front. + +Almost directly after the intentions of the Indians were shown not to be +peaceful, for a straggling flight of arrows came whistling through the +air, several of the missiles falling just astern, some in front, but for +the most part striking the boat and sticking in the awning and the +shelter made astern. + +"Any one hurt?" shouted Shaddy sternly, and receiving an answer in the +negative, he muttered as he thrust the double gun he held through an +opening,-- + +"That's because they're on the move and we're on the move. If we'd been +standing still, and them too, every shot would have told. Look out; +they're going to fire again. My turn first. Pull, my lads; don't you +mind me." + +As the words left his lips he fired at intervals of about a quarter of a +minute both barrels of the fowling-piece; and at the flash of fire, +followed by smoke curling up slowly and hiding the boat, the Indians +stopped paddling and sat watching. + +"That has beaten them off," cried Rob eagerly. "Was it blank cartridge, +Shaddy?" + +"Yes, my lad. Next's going to be number six if they come on after us." + +The men pulled hard and increased the distance between them and the +canoes rapidly, while the travellers' hopes grew high. But all of a +sudden there was a yell, paddles splashed again, and satisfied of the +harmlessness of the fire and smoke, the Indians took up the pursuit +again. + +"Oh, very well, if you will be hurt," said Shaddy, "it's your fault, not +mine," and he thrust the barrels once more through the opening in the +barrier of boxes. + +"How long will it take us to reach the next rapid, Naylor?" asked +Brazier excitedly. + +"Half 'hour, sir, but we must beat 'em off before we can land, or +they'll stick us so full of arrows, we shall look like hedgehogs. Hi! +sit and lie close, every one. Look out! Arrows!" + +But the flight was not discharged until the Indians had gained a good +deal more ground. Then the whistling was heard, accompanied or followed +by sharp raps, but again, in answer to Shaddy's inquiry, there came a +cheery "No!" + +"Now then," he said, "let's see what they say to us, sir, and how far +the charge will scatter and carry." + +As he spoke he took careful aim a little to his right and fired quite +low, changed the position of his piece, and fired again a little to his +left. + +The smoke hung so heavily for a minute or two that there was quite a +screen between them, beyond which shouts, savage yells, and cries of +pain could be heard, while upon rowing beyond the smoke and into full +view of the fleet of canoes the fugitives could see that the paddling +had again ceased, and men were standing up gesticulating, while others +were evidently in great pain from the stinging shots. + +"Now you know that we can bite as well as bark," growled Shaddy, "and if +you'll all take my advice you'll go back home and leave us alone, +because if you don't I shall use buckshot, and some of you mayn't be +able to handle a paddle again." + +The babble of voices sounded strange as the oars dipped fast, and for a +time they were allowed to pursue their way in peace, but at last it was +seen that the wounded had all been transferred to certain of the canoes, +and with a fierce yell the Indians came on again, with paddles beating, +and the water splashing; while another flight of arrows whistled about +the travellers, fortunately without hurting a soul. + +"I shall have to give them a stronger dose this time," said Shaddy. +"I'll try swan shot first," and inserting a couple of cartridges loaded +with heavy pellets, he took careful aim, and fired twice. + +This time there were loud shrieks mingled with the fierce, defiant +cries, and as the smoke was left behind it was plain to see that there +was consternation in the little fleet, and for some time they did not +pursue. + +"What are you two about?" said Shaddy suddenly as he caught sight of Rob +and Joe making some preparation. + +"Wait a minute, and you'll see," said Rob, and he went on with his task, +which was the preparation of something in the fashion of a torpedo, for +about a pound of powder had been transferred from their keg to a small +tin canister, in whose lid they drove a hole, and passed through it a +slow match, made by rubbing a strip of rag with moistened gunpowder, +which dried up at once in the hot evening sunshine. At the bottom of +the canister a charge of shot had been placed, and upon trying it in a +bucket the tin floated with about an inch of its top out of water. + +"Now," said Rob when he had finished, Brazier nodding his head in +approval--"it's quite calm, and when the enemy comes on again I'm going +to stick a wax match in the hole with the end touching the slow match, +set light to it, and let it float down towards the Indians. The wax +match will burn nearly a minute, and I want them to paddle up round it +to see what the floating light means, and then if we're in luck it will +go off bang and give them a startler." + +"And suppose it goes off while you are lighting it, and gives you a +startler, and sends us all to the bottom, how then?" + +"Oh, we must risk that," said Rob coolly. + +"I'm willing, if Mr Brazier is," said the old sailor quietly. + +"Rob will be careful," said Brazier, and they waited with the +contrivance ready, but all hoping that Shaddy's last shots had produced +the desired effect. + +It was a vain hope, for once more the canoes tore on to make up for lost +ground, and at last, when Brazier and Shaddy made ready to fire at the +enemy, Rob gave the word for the men to cease rowing, and as the boat +steadied he told Joe to light a match and lowered the canister into the +water. + +"Be careful, Rob," cried Mr Brazier. "See that there is no powder +loose." + +"Be quick, my lad, or they'll be on to us." + +_Crack_! went the match, and as it blazed up it was applied to one stuck +upright in the top of the canister. This blazed in turn, and the flame +flickered a little and threatened to go out as the nearly submerged tin +glided away with the stream; but directly after the flame burned up +steadily, and as Rob gave the word to row once more the dangerous +contrivance was left behind. A minute later they had the satisfaction +of seeing the canoes gather round the tiny light and their occupants +cease rowing as they sat evidently wondering what was the meaning of the +fire burning in the midst of the water--a perfect novelty to them. + +"No go!" said Shaddy suddenly. "Match has gone out." + +"Burned out," said Brazier. + +"All the same, sir, and hasn't started the touch-rag. Wish it had +answered, because it was clever and would have given the beggars a good +lesson not to meddle with respectable people. Here, we shall have to +fire, sir. They're coming on again." + +But they were not, for the whole fleet was gathered about the canister, +which, unseen by the occupants of the boat, was emitting a sputtering +little fire as the touch-rag burned slowly; and the wonder of this going +on from a round, silvery-looking object just above the surface of the +water kept the ignorant enemy at a respectable distance. + +"Pull, my lads," shouted Shaddy. "We may get into a better place if we +reach the next rapid." + +As he spoke there was a deafening roar, a column of water rose in the +air, and a dull concussion struck the boat, while a cloud of smoke hung +over the group of canoes, and, lifting, showed half of them to be +swamped, and dozens of the Indians swimming about trying to reach the +boats which floated still. + +As far as the little party could make out, no one had been hurt, but the +consternation was terrible. No further efforts were made in pursuit, +and for the next half-hour the boat was rowed on and reached the rapid +before the enemy was seen again. + +"Now then," said Brazier, as the rough, swift water of the river was +once more reached, "shall we wait to give them another lesson or go on?" + +"Go on," said Shaddy firmly. "They may not follow us up now. Mind, I +only hope that; but we shall see." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +THE LAST DAYS. + +Food was served out, the men drank eagerly of the water passed to them, +and poling, wading, and tracking with a rope, the boat began to ascend +the rapid, while the long lake-like reach was left behind, a turn or two +completely hiding the enemy from sight; and though twice over they heard +their shouts and yells, the scare created by the explosion had been +sufficient to make them give the party what Shaddy called "a wide +berth." + +"How far have we to go up this river?" asked Brazier as the men toiled +on, wading and tracking in a part that was one furious torrent, which +threatened to swamp the boat. + +"Ah, that's what I can't tell you, sir," answered the old sailor. "I've +only got notions, you see." + +"Notions, man?" + +"Yes, sir: that if we go right up to the head of this stream we can make +a portage somewhere, and strike another, which will lead us down east, +and so hit the Paraguay again." + +Rob laughed, and the man gave him an inquiring look. + +"Make a portage," he said, "and strike this stream and hit that? Not +very plain English, Shaddy." + +"Then I don't know what is," growled the old sailor, who held up his +hand and listened for a few moments. "Thought I heard 'em coming up +after us," he said. "Strikes me, Mr Rob, that you'd better have +another of them powder tins ready, so that we could contrive to let it +off and startle 'em, if they come nigh. We've plenty of powder, and +it's better than shooting the poor wretches, who don't know any better. +They're used to seeing one thing kill another, and I suppose they think +they ought to do the same, and we can't teach 'em any better." + +It was rapidly getting dark now, but they reached the top of the +torrent, passing again into comparatively smooth water, along which the +boat was rowed for some distance before a suitable spot was found for +the night's shelter--a night full of anxiety, during which careful watch +was kept. + +But day broke without there being any sign of the enemy, and as soon as +a hurried meal had been despatched, at which they had to dispense with +freshly made bread and tea, the men, too, with their mate, a new start +was made, and another rapid ascended, after which for many miles the +river wound, with plenty of deep water, through valley after valley. + +All this time they were on the alert for pursuing Indians, but by +degrees they were able to feel confidently that they had journeyed +beyond the territory occupied by the inimical people, and Brazier began +his collecting once more, and the boys their fishing and shooting. + +"It's absurd, Rob," said Brazier one evening, when the crisp cool air +told that they must during the past week have attained to far above the +dense forest regions. "I could have filled this boat a dozen times +over." + +"Yes," said Rob, peering hard at the stacks of dried and half-dried +plants around them; "but you have got a great many." + +"A mere nothing, boy, as compared to what there is about us! Why, up +here we are surrounded by quite a different growth of flowers and +plants." + +"And the birds are different, too, and the insects, and fish, specially +the latter," said Rob drily. + +"Indeed? I did not notice anything about the fish." + +"Good reason why," said Rob, laughing merrily: "there haven't been any +to notice." + +Two days after, when they were in quite a desolate region, where the +trees and shrubs were thin and poor, Shaddy came to Mr Brazier to +announce that he and two of the men were going to leave them camped for +a few hours, while they sought out the most likely course for their +portage. + +"But surely it will be impossible to work the boat along overland," said +Brazier. "We shall have to go back." + +"To meet the Indians, sir? No, that wouldn't do. Perhaps I'm wrong, +but we're up here now where several streams begin, and if we can only +find one, no matter how small, that flows to the east, we're all right." + +The men set off the next morning as soon as it was light, and the party +in camp shot, collected, kept up the fire, and waited impatiently for +the return of the little expedition, but waited in vain; and at last in +alarm Rob and Joe set off in search of them, tramping till midday and +stopping to rest by a fount which bubbled out of the earth and flowed +away. After resting a while they started again to tramp here and there +for hours in the beautiful region near the camp, to which they returned +without having seen a sign of those they sought. + +It must have been toward morning that Rob, who was keeping watch, heard +distant voices, and hailing, to his great delight heard an answer. + +Ten minutes later the guide and his two companions staggered up to the +fire utterly exhausted, for they had finished their supply of food, and +were worn-out with their exhausting tramp. + +"Well," said Mr Brazier, after the men had taken a good long rest, +"have you found the river to which we are to take the boat?" + +"No, sir. I'm all wrong, and we shall have to go back. There isn't a +stream runs toward the east anywhere near here." + +"That there is," cried Joe, "for we found one yesterday." + +"Eh? What? Where?" cried Shaddy, springing up, utterly forgetful of +his weariness; and following the two lads, who warned him that the water +was of no use for a boat, the fount was reached, and, after a very brief +examination, Shaddy cried,-- + +"There, I'm growing old and worn-out. You two lads found directly what +we three men, used to the country, couldn't see." + +"But this place is of no use!" cried Rob. + +"What?" + +"There are only a few inches of water." + +"Well, they'll help carry the boat, won't they? and the water flows our +way." + +"But you can't get the boat along." + +"Eh? Eight of us, and not get that boat half a mile downhill? Wait a +bit, my lad, and you'll see." + +The lads did see, for after three or four days' arduous labour expended +in getting the boat up a long slope, she was guided into a great groove +in the mountain side pieces of wood placed beneath her, and from that +hour it was not a question of dragging, but of holding back the vessel, +till the stream was struck far below its source. + +Here there was no smooth water to float her, but still, as Shaddy said, +enough to help lift her over the shallows, with here and there a good +stretch of deep channel, along which they floated merrily before there +was any need for fresh toil. + +At the end of a couple of days several tiny streams had increased the +body of water, and soon after they had rapids to descend, while at the +end of another day so many had been the additions that the little river +had grown to be of respectable size. + +It was all steady descent now till a lake was reached, across which an +outlet was found leading exactly in the right direction, Shaddy +declared. The river proved to be fairly smooth and deep, so that the +work grew very light, and the only one on board who bemoaned their fate +was Brazier, who had to pass endless specimens which he could not have +for want of room. + +"If I'm right in my calculations, Mr Rob, sir," said the old sailor one +morning, after many days' journey, "we shall hit the big river before +to-night, and not very far from the falls." + +"What falls?" asked Rob. + +"The great cat'ract which comes down a big gorge, which hasn't been +explored yet, and which we might as well try if Mr Brazier thinks good, +for I should say there's a deal to be seen in a land like that, where no +man has been as I've ever heered on." + +"I'll ask Mr Brazier, and hear what he says," said Rob. But the +naturalist thought they had done enough for one trip. + +The guide was right, for as evening drew near a peculiar dull, heavy +roar came to them on the wind, and this increased till it was felt to be +prudent to moor the boat for the night. The next morning the roar which +had been in their ears all night increased, and long before noon they +had glided imperceptibly into the great river, which here rushed along +so impetuously that much care was necessary in the navigation of their +overladen craft. + +But the weather was calm, and the guide's knowledge of the management of +a boat as near perfection as could be, so that in due course, after +three or four more halts, they rowed one day close up among the shipping +lying off the city from which they had started, and here, while waiting +for an opportunity to take passage, with the great packages of plants +they had prepared, they found time to make short expeditions up the +river, one of which was to the mouth of the swift stream which swept off +west through the great veil of trees, and from which they had struck out +north and made quite a circuit through an unknown land. + +A month later Brazier and Rob were once more on board Captain Ossolo's +great orange schooner, which, deeply laden as it was, found room for the +specimens collected amidst so much peril and care. + +The hours and days flew swiftly now amid rest and ease, use making them +pay little heed to the constant ether-like odour of the orange cargo. +Then, after checks on sandbanks and hindrances from pamperos, Buenos +Ayres was touched at, then Monte Video, with its busy port. + +Here there was a long halt before a passage could be taken east, and Rob +and Brazier had plenty of opportunity for studying the slaughter of +cattle, salting of hides, and to visit the home of the biscacho, that +troublesome burrower of the pampas and layer of traps for unwary +horsemen. + +At last the vessel by which they were to return was loaded up, and +good-bye said to the worthy Italians, father and son, the former being +warm in his thanks for the care taken of his boy. + +"What," cried old Shaddy as he stood on the deck of the great vessel the +day they were to sail, "good-bye? Not a bit of it, Mr Rob, sir! All +being well, if you and Mr Brazier don't run out to try and find a way +up the gorge where the great falls rush down, I'm coming over to the old +country to see you. But there, you'll be out our way again soon." + +"What did Naylor say?" asked Brazier that evening. + +"That he could take us to fresh places where you would find plants more +worthy of your notice than those you found." + +"Ah! Yes," said Brazier thoughtfully as he watched the fading shore. +"I should like to go again in spite of all we suffered. As for you, +Rob, I suppose you would not care to go again?" + +"Not care to go again!" cried Rob; and his eyes grew dim as he half +closed them and recalled to memory the great rivers, the glorious trees, +and the many wonders of those untrodden lands. "I could go back now," +he said, "and face all the fight again;" but even as the words left his +lips other memories came floating through his brain, and from that hour +his thoughts were directed eastward to his kindred and his native land. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Rob Harlow's Adventures, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROB HARLOW'S ADVENTURES *** + +***** This file should be named 21365.txt or 21365.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/3/6/21365/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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