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diff --git a/42688-0.txt b/42688-0.txt index 5a24bee..a5da674 100644 --- a/42688-0.txt +++ b/42688-0.txt @@ -1,34 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Red Lure, by Roy J. Snell - -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: The Red Lure - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: May 19, 2013 [EBook #42688] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED LURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42688 *** _Mystery Stories for Boys_ @@ -5856,360 +5826,4 @@ Here are the titles of the Snell Books: End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Red Lure, by Roy J. 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Snell</title> @@ -147,43 +147,7 @@ p.t15,div.t15,.t15 { margin-left:19em;text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-b </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Red Lure, by Roy J. Snell - -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: The Red Lure - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: May 19, 2013 [EBook #42688] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED LURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42688 ***</div> <div id="cover" class="img"> <img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="The Red Lure" width="500" height="711" /> @@ -6093,380 +6057,6 @@ a wide and interesting scope.</p> <li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li> <li>Relocated promotional material to the end of the book, and completed the list of books in the three series (using other sources).</li></ul> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Red Lure, by Roy J. Snell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED LURE *** - -***** This file should be named 42688-h.htm or 42688-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/6/8/42688/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - -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. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - -</pre> - +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42688 ***</div> </body> </html> diff --git a/42688.txt b/42688.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e2b94d5..0000000 --- a/42688.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6216 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Red Lure, by Roy J. Snell - -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: The Red Lure - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: May 19, 2013 [EBook #42688] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED LURE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - _Mystery Stories for Boys_ - - - - - The Red Lure - - - _By_ - ROY J. SNELL - - - The Reilly & Lee Co. - Chicago - - - _Printed in the United States of America_ - - Copyright, 1926 - by - The Reilly & Lee Co. - _All Rights Reserved_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I The White Gleam 9 - II Sudden Catastrophe 23 - III Mysterious Sounds 38 - IV Tree Hay and a Jaguar 47 - V Narrow Escapes 58 - VI Lost in the Jungle 65 - VII Peril in the Dark 77 - VIII Death Ahead 87 - IX "It's Death an' Destruction" 100 - X Johnny's Ghost Walks 114 - XI Provisioned for a Long Journey 128 - XII A Bronze Beauty 135 - XIII Purring Shadows 151 - XIV Forgotten Tribes 159 - XV The Hidden City 169 - XVI Pant Sets a Trap 177 - XVII The Spanish Girl Reappears 185 - XVIII Pant Springs the Trap 191 - XIX Capturing a Black Shadow 199 - XX Century Old Caverns 209 - XXI Trapped 218 - XXII Magic Power 228 - XXIII The Passing of the Ghost 237 - XXIV Blind Drifting 242 - XXV The Battle of Rio Hondo 252 - - - - - THE RED LURE - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE WHITE GLEAM - - -As Johnny Thompson bent over the black waters of the river he thought he -heard a stealthy movement behind him. Before he could decide whether or -not his eyes had deceived him he caught the reflection of a sudden white -gleam on the dark surface of the water. At the same time something told -him to dive, and dive he did. With the rocket-like speed that was his, he -shot straight into the water, then away beneath the surface. He rose some -ten yards downstream. After one deep, silent breath, he grasped a red -mangrove branch for support, then paused to listen. - -He did not listen long, for there came a sudden wild swirl of water close -beside him. - -"Alligator!" he breathed, as with a sudden and mighty tug at the mangrove -branch he threw himself clear of the water and out upon the bank. - -Here he paused to listen again. Catching no sound, he began creeping back -toward his first position, the foot of the path that had been cut to the -river. - -All this time his mind was working on double-quick time. What had caused -that sound behind him there on the bank--man or beast? What was the white -gleam? Was it, after all, only a product of his overwrought mind? The -whole day had seemed full of brooding menace. - -"No," he told himself stoutly, "it was not all imagination. The sound -might have been--but the white gleam? No. I saw that. After all, though, -it might have been only the reflection of a white heron in silent -flight." - -Night was coming on. It would soon be dark. He did not care for that. His -flashlight was in his pocket. As he crept forward through the thick -tangled brush he seemed to feel the swift power of the dark old river. -Rio Hondo, they called it--Black River. And black it was. Johnny had -never before seen water that could so perfectly reproduce the black gleam -of polish ebony. And yet, somehow, he had come to think of the river as -his friend. That was how he came to be there now. Pant, his pal, was -away. The thirty black and brown faces about camp had seemed singularly -strange and unfriendly, so he had come to the river for comfort. And now, -how had it repaid him? Had it in that white gleam given him a friendly -warning, or had it tricked him into a place of great peril, into danger -of being eaten by an alligator? - -Suddenly his thoughts came to an end. Sooner than he expected he broke -through the "bush" into the path. Starting back, he stared for a second -in silence. - -"No one here," he whispered. "But wait; some one has been here." - -In astonishment he picked up a long-bladed, gleaming knife. It was a -machete, the tool and weapon of the bushman of Central America. - -"Looks like Petillo's machete," he breathed. What could it mean? - -Just then he caught a sudden sound from the water. It was like a startled -cry for help. He thought he caught sight of a head above the black -waters. He might have been mistaken. It was growing dark. He drew his -flashlight from his pocket. It was water-logged, short circuited, -useless. - -Again came the strange cry and at the same time a great swirl of water. - -"The alligator!" he breathed. - -For an instant he thought of throwing himself in the water to go to the -rescue. This he knew was madness. There were other alligators. Grim, -terrible, man-eating beasts were these sharp nosed alligators of British -Honduras, Central America. - -So, as he sat there, crowded well back in the bushes, silent, motionless, -listening and thinking, darkness came and blotted out all, both good and -bad, that might have been seen upon the surface of the Rio Hondo. - -A deep feeling of foreboding and gloom settled down upon him as darkness -hid the river. - -Picking up the machete that lay at his feet, he felt of its edge. - -"Keen as a razor," he murmured. "Did some one try to kill me with it? If -so, I wonder why? Well, he didn't, and won't. Providence took a hand. -Must have lost his balance and fallen in. Bad swimmer. Current carried -him out and a 'gator got him. That's the way it looks. Can't tell, -though." - -He shuddered at the thought; the 'gator might have gotten him, too. - -Johnny was in a strange land, the strangest he had ever seen. In other -days, as you will know if you have read our other stories of the -adventures of Johnny Thompson, fate had led him over the frozen trails of -Alaska, down the timber roads of the Cascades and out over the sea. Now -here he was far up a tropical river, in the heart of the "bush," alone. - -It is not pleasant to be alone in a tropical jungle at night. Johnny rose -to go. His flashlight gone, there was nothing left but to grope his way -back over the machete-hewn trail to camp. It was some distance--all of a -mile. - -As he took his first step, off to the right a twig snapped. His heart -skipped a beat and his face felt strangely cold. Had he been watched? Now -the creature was going on before him. Was it a man, or a jaguar? (Natives -called them tigers.) He preferred the word "tiger." - -Gripping the keen edged machete, he struck away straight down the trail. - -There came no further sound. Slowly, steadily, he advanced. Half the -distance was covered. He was breathing more easily when a sudden hoarse -sound brought him to a stand. - -Then he laughed. Off to the right he caught the gleam of two small red -balls of fire. And again that hoarse bark broke the silence of the night. - -"'Gator," he said with a chuckle. "Forgot there was one in a pool over -there." - -He did not laugh five minutes later as he heard, off to the left, the -pu-pu-pu of a jaguar. These great cats were dangerous. They had been -known to kill a horse and swim a river with the carcass. The golden balls -that now peered at him from the first branch of a great Santa Maria tree -were not reassuring. - -Redoubling his pace, he hurried on toward camp. Five minutes later, with -a sigh of satisfaction, he broke through the brush into a clearing. - -Here he paused in astonishment. The place was silent, more silent than he -had known it even in the dead of night. The gleam of coals on the cooking -platform and the dim bulk of cabins looming in the dark were the only -signs that men lived here. - -"Hello there!" he shouted. - -To his utter bewilderment there came no answer. - -An hour before he had left thirty men here. Now there was not one. What -could it mean? Again cold dread gripped his heart. - -Turning, he hurried down a logging road to the edge of a broad creek. -There the white bulk of a large flat-bottomed boat greeted him. - -"They didn't take the _Maria Theresa_, anyway." There was a comfort in -that. "Fellow'd sure be up against it a hundred miles from the coast -without a boat." - -Even as he thought this, his ears caught the steady dip-dip of pit-pan -paddles. - -"Hello! Hello there!" he shouted. - -Again there came no answer. Even the paddles, if paddles there had been, -were silent. - -"Huh!" - -He turned and walked slowly back to camp. There he groped about until he -had found a bench. This he leaned against the side of a cabin, and -burying his back in the soft cohune nut thatch, pressed his brow with -both hands in an endeavor to think sanely and clearly. - -Time passed. The coals on the cooking platform growing dimmer and dimmer, -at last blinked out. The darkness appeared to grow more intense, the -night more silent. - -"They said it couldn't be done," he muttered at last, "and perhaps it -can't. But there was the red lure. The red lure," he repeated softly. - -The red lure! He had heard of it first in a little cabinetmaker's shop in -Chicago. In that shop an old man wrought wonders with precious -woods--rosewood and ebony and mahogany. Strange tales this old man had to -tell, and he told them as he worked. Tales they were of tropical isles, -of green rivers and dense forests. - -One day as he put the last touch to a bit of wood that gleamed red as a -western sunset, he had exclaimed: - -"The red lure, Johnny! The red lure! That's what's beckoned men on, and -times enough to their death!" - -Then, after laying the bit of wood down as gently as if it had been a -priceless porcelain top, he had added: - -"And, Johnny, I know where the lure ends. Far up a tropical river, a big -black river. It's there, Johnny, and unscarred by the hand of man." - -"Why?" Awed by the old man's tones, Johnny had whispered the word. - -"That's it, Johnny." The old man had half closed his eyes. "That's what -the owner of that land would like to know. Three times he has sent men in -boats up the Rio Hondo. Three times they came back empty handed; that is, -the ones that came back at all. Why? Who knows. Who can solve all the -mysteries of the tropics? Who can guess the trickery and intrigue that -lies hidden in a Spaniard's mind? The red lure is still there. Men have -died for it; but there it stands. The red lure, Johnny. The red lure!" - -He had turned once more to his work, but Johnny had not forgotten. -Something within him had been stirred to the depths. He had heard the -call of the wilderness, had felt the challenge of the impossible. - -In time, having sought out his partner of many adventures, "Panther Eye," -or "Pant" as he was called, he had gone in search of the owner of the red -lure. He had found him to be a rich business man. - -At first this capitalist, Roderick Grayson, had merely laughed at the -proposition which the two boys made--that they be given a try at the red -lure. In time he had come to take them more seriously. - -At last he had made them a proposition. - -"I'm tired of having you about," he growled good-naturedly. "I'll give -you a chance. You go to Belize, the Capitol of Honduras. That's a city of -twelve thousand. Plenty of men and boats there. I'll instruct my agent -there to furnish you with motor boats and pay for thirty men. You may -have them a hundred days, not a day more. At the end of that time you -must show me a profit from your expedition or you lose this concession. -Is that plain? And satisfactory?" - -"Quite." - -"Then good-bye." - -The rich man had bowed them out, and that is how it happened that on this -particular night Johnny was far up the Rio Hondo. - -"And now this!" Johnny said to himself. "A bolt out of the blue! An -apparent attempt at my life. My men vanish. What is to be the end of it -all?" - -Suddenly he realized that he was alone in the dark; that perils lurked in -every corner of the jungle. - -"Well enough to have some sort of light," he told himself. - -There was a flashlight on a beam in the very cabin against which his -bench rested. To secure that and to try it out by a flash on the floor -was but the work of a moment. - -Upon returning to the bench he felt a little more secure. As he sat down -his foot struck something and sent it to the ground with a thud. - -"The machete," he thought. - -Picking it up, he examined it curiously. On the horn handle of this -bushman's sword he discovered the initials, S. P. - -"Seperino Petillo," he said with a start. "So it was Petillo. I was not -mistaken." - -His mind was in a whirl. Petillo, a half-caste Spaniard, had been his -foreman. Surely, this was a strange land. The very man to whom he had -given position and standing among his people had, apparently, tried to -kill him. - -For some time he sat there thinking and his thoughts were long, long -thoughts. - -The red lure was all about him. The smell of it was in his nostrils. - -Yet, less than a third of their work was done. To establish a camp, to -build cabins from the trunks and leaves of the cohune nut tree, to cut -paths and roads, all this had taken time. A few weeks more and they would -have been drifting silently downstream with their red treasure. - -"And now this has happened!" he groaned. - -And yet, what had happened? He could not tell--could only guess. - -Hearing a sound to the right, he turned to listen. Catching it again, he -threw his powerful flashlight on the spot. - -To his astonishment the light fell full upon the face and figure of a -girl. - -She was a short, brown-eyed, bare-footed, Spanish girl, about sixteen -years of age. Too startled to move, she stood there for an instant, -blinking in the light. Then she turned and fled down the path. - -Too much surprised to follow at once, Johnny sat in his place, wondering. - -"There's not such a girl within fifty miles. I am sure of that," he told -himself. "Must have come over from Quintanaroo." - -Beyond the Rio Hondo lay Quintanaroo, a land of many mysteries. - -Rising, he followed down the path to the creek's edge. There he sent the -gleam of his flashlight shooting down the creek. He was just in time to -see a slender canoe disappear round a clump of red mangrove. - -"That's where she came from," he assured himself. "I wonder why?" - -As he turned to retrace his steps he caught the long drawn, hoarse call -of a jaguar. There were empty, palm thatched cottages up the river. -Rumors were afloat of a man-eating "tiger" who had carried away the -former owners of these cabins. Could it be that he had been mistaken -about the plot? Had he misjudged the action of the unfortunate one at the -river bank? Had his men become frightened by tales of the man-eater, and -fled? Who could tell? - -"Oh, well," he sighed, "morning will come, and with it the light." - - - - - CHAPTER II - SUDDEN CATASTROPHE - - -As if loath to disturb the perfect silence of a night, dawn lingers in -the tropical jungle. Off somewhere in the distance a wild parrot screams; -nearer at hand a long tailed tropical black-bird begins for the -thousandth time to practice the song he will never learn. Swinging from -limb to limb, a monkey chatters at a snake. Faint and from far away, like -a young puppy calling for his breakfast, an alligator barks. Trunks of -trees, gray bulks of cabins, green clusters of ferns take shape and then, -with a sudden burst of light, day arrives. - -The sound that awakened Johnny Thompson to dull reality of a hapless -yesterday was the braying of a burro. He had remained seated on his bench -all night. At first he had not dared to sleep. At last, overcome by -fatigue, he had fallen asleep. - -At first, only half awake, he imagined himself in Belize. Burros were -common enough there. - -"No," he declared, shaking himself, "I am not in Belize. This is the -jungle. There are no burros. I was dreaming." - -Leaping to his feet, he shook himself free of the last vestige of sleep. - -As if to deny his last assertion, there struck his ears, clear and -defiant, a loud, laughing "He-haw!" - -"Well, I'll be a donkey myself!" he exclaimed, turning and racing down -the path that led to the creek. The sound appeared to come from there. - -When he had covered two-thirds of the distance, he paused in -astonishment. Before him in the path was the skinniest, boniest, most -dilapidated and dejected specimen of animal kind it had ever been his -privilege to meet. Yet, it was unmistakably a burro. - -At that moment, as if to proclaim his species, the creature stuck his -nose in the air and brayed once again. - -In spite of his great dilemma, Johnny sat down on a fallen mahogany tree -trunk and rocked with laughter. - -"Well now," he exclaimed, his fit of laughter over, "where did you come -from, and how? Did you walk or swim, or both?" - -Without an attempt at an answer, the creature paused in the path, hung -his head and put on such a droll and mournful look as set the boy off -into another fit of laughter. - -Johnny was once more regaining control of himself when he caught a yellow -gleam through the branches. The next moment a huge bunch of bananas -appeared, and beneath them was Pant. - -"Johnny, meet my new friend Rip Van Winkle," smiled Pant. "Call him Rip -for short. He's just slept twenty years down there by a deserted cabin. I -woke him up and brought him along." - -"What a pity! Why didn't you let him sleep?" grinned Johnny. - -"Why should I? He was bound to wake up sooner or later. He'd been -lonesome if there'd been no one around. - -"But honest, Johnny," Pant's tone became serious, "what would you think -of a native who would leave a poor old fellow like that to starve!" - -"I'd think he was a pig of a dog. But how much better can we do? What'll -we feed him on? Bananas?" - -"Easy. There's a tree up here that raises grass on its branches instead -of leaves--bread-nut tree, they call it. I saw one up the river two days -ago. Burros and cattle get fat on it. We'll get a native to climb a few -trees and gather a ton of this hay." - -"Natives?" said Johnny slowly. "That reminds me--there aren't any." - -"What!" exclaimed Pant, setting down his bananas so suddenly that many of -them broke from the stem. - -"Skipped. Vamoosed. All gone." Johnny threw out his arms in a wide -gesture. - -"No!" - -"Yes, I tell you." - -"Why?" - -Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "You tell me. All I know is they're gone. -They told us in New Orleans that this red lure was a hoodoo. They told us -the same thing in Belize. Maybe it is. Who knows?" - -"It isn't!" Pant sprang to his feet. "We'll go to Belize and get another -crew!" - -"And if they leave us?" - -"There are a thousand men in Belize." - -"Pant," said Johnny slowly, "I think one of them tried to kill me. I--I -think it was Petillo." - -Johnny seated himself on a log and told of his night's experiences, from -his narrow escape on the bank and in the river to his discovery of the -mysterious Spanish girl in the trail. - -"What do you make of it?" he asked at the end. - -"Don't make much." - -"Of course, there's that man-eating jaguar they've been talking about. -They may have run away because they were afraid. They may have--" - -"But what of that fellow down by the river!" exclaimed Pant. "No! I tell -you what, Johnny, someone is plotting against us, someone with money and -power. We'll not spend a night here alone. We'll get right back to -Belize. And we must not come back unless we find a real, fearless crew." - -"I'm afraid that last is a big contract." - -"Maybe so. But let's hope it's not impossible." - -"What'll we do with that?" said Johnny, pointing to the burro. - -"Take him along in the power boat. I tell you what, Johnny, I always feel -lucky when I'm saving some poor dumb creature from suffering. I shouldn't -wonder if Rip would do us a mighty good turn sometime." - -In this Pant was more nearly right than he knew. Also, this sad-looking -quadruped was destined to be the cause of bringing him into great peril. -But that was all in the future. - -Pant had been down the river in a dory for bananas, cocoanuts and -casabas. As soon as they had unloaded these stores and had eaten a hasty -breakfast, they turned the prow of their motor-boat downstream and went -pop-popping away. - - * * * * * * * * - -Belize, the city to which the boys returned, is one of matchless beauty. -Built on a point of land reaching out into the sea, with its red-roofed, -white-walled houses, gnarled old mahogany trees by its governor's palace -and stately royal palms at the back of the Bishop's house, bathed in the -tropical sun, it is a city to dream of. - -Johnny Thompson dreamed of it very little. His mind was occupied with but -one thought--getting back to the red lure. - -He was making his way up from the dock to the hotel when someone called -his name. Turning, he saw Hardgrave. Hardgrave was an old man. He hailed -from the States and had been twenty-five years in the tropics. A natural -student, he had learned much in that time and had already been of service -to this boy from the land of his birth. - -"Back so soon!" he asked in surprise. - -"We did get back rather soon," said Johnny. "At least our crew did. But -we're going back." He said this last in such a tone as Sheridan must have -used when he said: "Turn, boys, turn; we're going back." He had been -given a task to do, and like any red-blooded American boy, he meant to go -through with it. - -"Want to tell me about it?" said the old man. - -"I'd like to." - -"Come over to the hotel yard. We'll find shade there." - -So, beneath a low-spreading cocoanut palm, Johnny told his story. - -"Johnny," said the old man impressively, when the boy had finished his -story, "get up from your chair and walk over to the cooler for a drink of -water. As you come back, without appearing interested, look at the man -over there in the far corner of the veranda." - -Three minutes later Johnny resumed his seat. - -"See him?" the old man leaned forward eagerly. - -"Saw two men; a tall, thin, dark-skinned one, and a heavy-set one." - -"The thin one, a half-caste Spaniard, is the one. That's Daego." - -"Daego? Who is he?" - -"Is it possible you have not heard of him?" Hardgrave asked. "He's the -richest, most unscrupulous man of our city. He bought you out." - -"Bought us out?" - -"Hired your men to quit, and to attempt killing you, like as not. He'd do -that." - -"But--but why?" Johnny licked his dry lips. - -"He has his eye on that red lure of yours, has had for a long time. -Strange you haven't heard of him, haven't seen his boats. But then, of -course, they pass in the night. Black boats, they are. You don't see much -of them. You wouldn't, I'd bet on that." - -Johnny wanted to ask about those boats, but he wanted still more to learn -of Daego's desire for his treasure. - -"You see," said Hardgrave, "Daego's built up an immense fortune working -the Rio Hondo territory. He's worked all the land up to your tract. There -he was obliged to stop. It was owned by a man who would not sell; at -least not at his beggar's price. - -"As you know, British Honduras is one side of the Rio Hondo, and -Quintanaroo, a state of Mexico, on the other. Daego went across the river -and obtained concessions in Quintanaroo. He's working there now. His camp -can't be a dozen miles from your own. I'm surprised that you haven't seen -his boats but of course you wouldn't. They're black, and mostly pass by -night." - -The old man paused as if in thought. Then, of a sudden, he exclaimed: - -"It's Caribs you want!" - -"What's a Carib?" Johnny asked. "Some sort of native fruit?" - -"No," smiled Hardgrave, "they're men. Real men, too. Indians. Columbus -called them the sturdiest, most warlike men of America. They've been that -ever since. They've mixed with the whites and the blacks, but they've -never lost their language nor their courage, either. They are supposed to -have been head-hunters at one time or another, though that can't be -proven. They're the bravest sailors, the most daring hunters of our -coast; the best workers, too, and if they enter into a contract they're -mighty likely to go through with it. What's more, they hate Daego. He's -cheated and underpaid them. There's not one that will work for him. Yes, -you want Caribs. - -"And son," the man leaned forward eagerly, "you're in luck for once! -There's two boat loads of them over from Stann Creek now. You'd better -see them. They'll be down at the storeroom of the Tidewater Company." - -"I'll go see them," said Johnny. "What's the best time?" - -"Along about sunset." - -"I'll be there." - -"You should." - -They parted at the gate. Johnny went to the market and bought the ham of -a young peccary (wild pig) and took it to the hotel to be baked for a -late supper. After that he sat for a full hour under the shade of a -cohune-nut tree, thinking--thinking hard about many things, of the little -brown girl who had appeared in the path by his camp in the night, and of -Daego's dark boats that passed in the night. - -Just at dusk Johnny met Hardgrave at the bridge, and together they walked -in silence toward the Tidewater storeroom. - -As they approached the door they caught the sound of laughter. To -Johnny's well-trained ears there came old familiar sounds, a quick -shuffle of feet, the slap-slap of leather. - -"Boxing," he told himself. His pulse quickened at the thought. - -Johnny Thompson, young and vigorous, belonged to that ever-increasing -army of American boys who realize that no person can fight his best in -the battle of life unless he is physically fit. A strong swimmer, fast on -his feet and limber as a hickory limb, Johnny was not the least skillful -of boxers. So his heart was made glad by the sound that greeted his ears. - -Silently he and Hardgrave entered the long low room to join the little -company of watchers. - -The instant Johnny's eyes fell upon the dark, gleaming, strong and -well-moulded forms of the Caribs, he felt himself admiring them. - -"Black faces," he told himself, "but real men." - -"See that big fellow over in the corner," whispered Hardgrave, "the one -with the sprinkle of gray in his hair?" - -Johnny nodded. - -"That's Tivoli, the chief Carib of them all." - -A half hour later Johnny Thompson found himself facing this chief and -champion of the Caribs. How had it come about? Why ask? When two devotees -of an art meet, how long a time passes before they begin displaying their -skill? - -That he was facing no mean boxer, Johnny realized quite well. He had seen -Tivoli in a sparring match with one of his own men. Tivoli thought of -this bout with a white boy, who could easily have walked under his arm, -as something of a joke. This was shown quite plainly by the smile that -overspread his face as he seized Johnny's hand in a friendly grasp. - -As for Johnny, he had two purposes in entering the match. He wished to -promote friendly relations with the Caribs and he wished to prove to -Tivoli that, though still a boy, he was possessed of such physical -prowess as even a grown man might respect. - -So the match began. That the Caribs took more than a passing interest in -the affair was shown by the hush that fell upon the place as the first -swinging blows fanned the air. Even the river that swept by the wide open -port-side door seemed strangely silent. - -The shadows, cast by the single small lamp, were deceiving. Twice, in -stepping back from the whirling arms of his giant opponent, Johnny barely -missed a blow that, however well meant, would have sent him to a land of -wild dreams. - -Though much smaller than his opponent, Johnny was quick on his feet. -This, combined with the clock-like working of his trained mind, made him -quite a match for the Carib. - -Across the shining mahogany floor, back again, criss-cross, to right, to -left, they battled. The Carib drove the white boy into a corner. Johnny -feinted with his left, dodged to the right, and was free. - -Crouching low, Tivoli sprang square at him, but he was gone. Not so soon, -however, but that he left a sting on the giant's ear. - -Grinning still, Tivoli squared away for a second rush. This time he -approached more cautiously and won applause by a neatly placed blow on -Johnny's left cheek. - -The contestants warmed to the sport. Caribs know nothing of rounds and -breathing spells. The contest goes to the man of greatest skill and -longest endurance. - -They had battled royally for ten minutes. Johnny felt the warm ring of -approval in the cheers of the Caribs as he scored a point. - -Then, swift as the wind, came the end. Since his opponent was so much -taller than he, Johnny was often obliged to leap off the floor to so much -as score a light tap on Tivoli's chin. In the wild excitement of the -contest he had perhaps grown a trifle reckless. Intent upon winning one -more point, Johnny leaped a full foot from the floor and aimed a swift -blow at his opponent's chin. The Carib, with a sudden quick movement, -bent low for a blow at his chest. - -The impact of Johnny's gloved fist with the giant's chin was startlingly -quick and sure. The report was like a muffled explosion. Tivoli's hands -shot out and up, then he crumpled down like an empty sack. - -Johnny's head was in a whirl. An instant of time, one unfortunate move -had undone all. At least, so he thought as, throwing his gloves from his -hands, he bent over the prostrate Carib. - - - - - CHAPTER III - MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS - - -It was a down-hearted Johnny who bent over the fallen Carib champion and -strove as best he could to bring him back to consciousness. He had hoped -much. His interview with this man was to pave the way to certain success. -With this fearless chief as the leader of his men, with a faithful Carib -band behind him, he was to have gone triumphantly back up Rio Hondo and, -in spite of perils that lurk in the jungle, in spite of unscrupulous -Daego's trickery and cunning, was to have brought back the richest -treasure that had ever floated upon the ebony waters of the Black River. -And now it had come to this. - -What would the man do, once he was brought back from the world of strange -dreams where Johnny's unintended and unfortunate blow had sent him. -Johnny's heart skipped a beat at the thought. He might be obliged to flee -for his life. He had heard wild stories of these primitive people of -Honduras; how, when slightly wounded in play with machetes, a man flew -into a rage and at a single blow severed the offender's head from his -body. These were simple people, men of the tropics, quick in love and -sudden in hate. - -Since there was no answer to this, Johnny could but fan his victim and -await results. - -He did not wait long. The man's eyes opened and he sat up unsteadily, -staring wildly. - -"Who--who did that?" he demanded. "Who--hi--hit me?" - -"Unc-a," the men grunted, pointing at Johnny. - -Johnny put on as brave and friendly a face as he could command. Though -friendly enough, it was far from brave. His heart was in his toes. - -"You--" the chief looked incredulous, "you hit me like that?" - -Johnny nodded. He dared not trust his voice. - -"Why! You--you little hammer!" exclaimed the chief. - -At that there was a roaring burst of laughter. From that day on Johnny -was known among the Caribs as "Little Hammer." - -Tivoli joined heartily in the laugh and as it subsided, to Johnny's great -surprise and joy, he exclaimed: - -"You want men? I got men. All the men you want. How many men, you think? -Sixty men? Half work, half watch and fight? What you think? All right?" - -At this sudden turn of fortune's wheel, Johnny's head was too much in a -whirl to permit of much clear thinking. He merely nodded. Then, seized by -a sudden inspiration, he invited Tivoli to join him in his feast of roast -peccary--an invitation which was promptly accepted. - -"Hardgrave," said Johnny, as the two sat in the hotel court after the -feast and Tivoli's departure, "do these creatures, these jaguars which -the natives call 'tigers,' ever become man-eaters?" - -"Once in a blue moon they do. I knew of one that did. That was on the -island of Riotan. And, by the way, it was only a month ago that an -Englishman, a chicle buyer, told me of actually seeing one stalking a -man--up the Rio Hondo, too. By all that's good! Right up in your country! -It must have been!" - -Johnny leaned forward in unconcealed interest. - -"This 'man-eater' as they call him," Hardgrave continued, "has a bad -reputation. You'll see little settlements, two or three palm thatched -cabins along the river, deserted because of him. That's what the chicle -buyer said." - -"Dead? The people dead?" the words stuck in Johnny's throat. - -"Probably not. The jaguar might have carried off a child, or even a man. -Those cats can kill an ox. They're bad when they get old. And this tiger -is old, fairly gray bearded, the chicle buyer said. Said it made his -blood run cold to see him stalking that native. Of course he was armed; -all those Englishmen go armed. Only a pistol, but enough to scare that -spotted fury away. - -"'Just as I shot,' that's what he told me, 'the creature turned its head -and I saw its marking. I had heard of it before. There was a broad white -stripe above the left eye. Someone had creased him with a bullet years -before. Pity it hadn't killed him. Didn't, though.'" - -Hardgrave paused to look away at the moon that was just rising above the -cocoanut palms in the churchyard across the way. Wind stirred the -branches noisily. Johnny started. The story of that "tiger" had affected -his imagination strangely. - -"So you'll know if you see him," Hardgrave concluded dryly. "A white -strip above his left ear. Guess I'll turn in. You're leaving before dawn? -Here's luck!" He pressed the boy's hand, and was gone. - -It was a brave company that Johnny assembled at the postoffice dock next -day--sixty Caribs, all from Stann Creek. There had been no need that -these men go home for luggage. All that they had was on their boats. It -was little enough, too. The two most important items were the great -long-bladed machetes that hung at their belts and the cooking platforms -on the decks of their sailing crafts. - -To the mouth of the Rio Hondo they would sail. After that Johnny would -give them a tow up the river. - -Pant was in great spirits. He had lived much in the jungles of India. -There he had met the great yellow tiger and the treacherous black -leopard. He had heard of the "man-eater" up the river and was more than -eager to hunt out his lair and do him battle. Of course his days belonged -to Johnny, but nights were his own, and night is when the big cats prowl. - -As for Johnny, as they went gliding up the dark river he thought of many -things--of the red lure and of his hopes to win with this new and more -trustworthy crew. He thought again of the mysterious brown girl who had -appeared in the trail on that memorable night spent alone in camp. - -"She may belong to the company of that rascal Daego," he told himself. "I -doubt it, though. Her face was too honest and frank for that. I wonder -who she may be, and if she will return." - -He wondered if their camp had been destroyed by their enemies, and -thought of Daego's black boats which Hardgrave had spoken of, and the -trouble Daego was in which made him want to move back across the river. -He wondered if the trouble was in any way connected with the black boats. -He even gave a passing thought to Rip, the burro, who under Pant's care -had learned to prick up his ears with an air of importance and had -actually taken on a little flesh. - -"Didn't bring any feed for him," he thought. "Pant will have to hunt out -one of those bread-nut trees and gather some grass from it. Be an -interesting experience, mowing grass from the top of the forest. Like -cutting a giant's hair," he chuckled. - -So they moved on up the river. Past the last banana plantation and -cocoanut grove, through thin settlements of bushmen, between groves of -cohune-nut trees, and on and on, up and up until night fell and the stars -came out. - -Coming to the mouth of a small stream, they decided to camp for the -night. Boats were tied to overhanging mangrove branches, dry wood was -gathered and soon fires gleamed out brightly. Mingled with the crackle of -the blaze was the merry talk and laughter of these ever cheerful people. - -While supper was being prepared, Pant shoved a dug-out from the deck of -his power boat and went paddling away up the small stream. He was going -on a little trip of exploration all his own. Not that he expected to find -anything of real interest. It was too dark for that. He wanted to be -alone for a time, and besides, there is a real thrill to be had from -poking the nose of your canoe straight away in the night up a stream you -have never seen. - -As he moved slowly forward into the dark, the silent mystery of the night -was now and then broken by the splash of an alligator as he took to the -water. Nothing was to be feared from these so long as his canoe remained -in upright position. - -On and on he glided. The light of cooking fires faded. Laughter died -away. Still he glided on. Then, of a sudden, he became conscious of a new -sound--a throbbing that, beating faintly against his eardrums, seemed to -come from nowhere. At first he thought it was the beating of his own -heart and wondered at his increased power to hear in that silence. Soon -enough he knew it was not that. - -"But what is it?" he asked himself as he held his dripping paddle in -mid-air to listen. - -Getting no satisfactory answer, he drove his paddle into the water and -sent his boat forward at renewed speed. This lasted for ten minutes. -Perspiration ran down his cheeks as he paused to listen. - -"Yes, yes, there it is, louder!" he murmured. "Much louder. It's up the -river. It's a gasoline motor--a motor-boat. No, it can't be." - -Dropping his paddle straight down, he touched bottom at eighteen inches. -In such a stream there were sunken logs. No motor-boat could ascend to -the spot where the motor was throbbing. - -Swinging his boat about, he drove its prow against the shelving bank. -Leaping ashore, he bent over, and putting his ear to the ground, -listened. - -"It can't be," he muttered, "and yet it is! It's a stationary gasoline -engine going full swing up that creek. And what's more"--his thoughts -were working rapidly now--"this creek runs up into our property. That -engine is on our land. What can they be doing there?" - -Creeping back into his canoe he allowed it to drift downstream. He wanted -to go up and investigate, but it was too late. What that engine could be -doing up there he could not so much as guess. - -"But I'll find out," he told himself stoutly. "Leave it to me!" - - - - - CHAPTER IV - TREE HAY AND A JAGUAR - - -Aside from slight damage done by a band of wild pigs, who in their search -for food had rooted their way into the cook shack, the camp up the Rio -Hondo was just as the boys had left it. - -"It's quite evident," said Pant with a grin, "that Daego, or whoever it -was that brought our work here to an end, thought there was time enough -to come over and take possession." - -"Didn't expect us back, that's sure," said Johnny. - -"But here we are." - -"And here we go to work." - -They went to work with a will. Two days' time saw a bigger and better -camp erected, new roads cut into the jungle and everything in readiness -for operation. - -It was early in the afternoon of this day that Johnny saw a small dugout, -paddled by two Spaniards, moving up the creek. - -Surprised at their appearing on these little frequented waters, he paused -at the entrance of the trail to see them pass. - -They did not pass, but, pulling up to the landing, tied their boat and -got out. - -Seeing this, Johnny stepped from the shadows. - -"Pardon," said the taller of the two. "We are looking for Johnny -Thompson." - -"I am Johnny Thompson," said Johnny, not a little surprised that any -stranger should be looking for him at this lonely spot. - -"A message for you." The man bowed low as he held out a sealed envelope. - -With fingers that trembled ever so slightly, Johnny tore this open and -read: - - _To Johnny Thompson._ - - _Sir:_ - - _It would give me the greatest of pleasure to have your most - entertaining and entirely fascinating presence at a dinner to be served - at my camp a few miles above your own, at six this evening. We have had - the great good fortune to secure two wild turkeys and your assistance - in eating them would be both a service and a pleasure to me._ - - _Your Most Humble Servant and, I trust, Friend,_ - - _El Vincia Daego._ - -For a moment Johnny stared at the note. He wanted to laugh, but did not -quite dare. He was tempted to use some very strong language, but -refrained from that, too. - -"So he came up here ahead of me and is now at his camp," he thought to -himself. "He invites me to a feed of wild turkey. I wonder why?" - -A half hour later he was showing the note to Pant. - -"You won't go, of course," said Pant. - -"I shall go. Why not?" - -"Why should you? He might get rough--or something." - -"That's a good reason for going. Can't afford to show a white feather, -can I? If I excuse myself, it's equivalent to saying: 'No, I won't come. -I'm afraid.'" - -"You're going into a strange country, Mexico, without a passport," Pant -protested. - -"What's a passport in a wilderness? Why, if it wasn't for this gloomy old -river they wouldn't know where the boundary runs. There are hundreds of -miles of unsurveyed and unexplored boundary lines down here." - -"You'd better take a bodyguard." - -"I'll take a dugout and a paddle. What do you think this is? Cannibal -land?" - -"Well," said Pant, a trifle grimly, "good luck, and may you come back!" - -"I'll come back, right enough," said Johnny. - -Had he known what was to come from this turkey dinner, would he have -gone? He might, and then again he might have stayed on his own side of -Rio Hondo. Who knows? - -"Since you're going out to dinner," said Pant, as Johnny prepared to take -the trail to the river, "I think I'll go on a hunt for a bread-nut tree -that grows grass for leaves. That old burro, Rip, is showing signs of -being hungry. I caught him trying to chew the picture from the side of an -empty corn can this morning." - -True to his word, just as dusk was falling, Pant found himself paddling -slowly down the river. Suddenly, as his keen eyes followed the outline of -the forest that crowded the river bank, he caught sight of a tree that -towered above its fellows. From the tip of its branches hung great masses -of green hay. Reaching down a yard, two yards, even three, it looked like -long green streamers hung out for a St. Patrick's Day celebration. - -"Bread-nut tree," he said to himself. - -On reaching the tree he found himself presented with a serious problem. -The trunk of the tree was immense; the first limb twenty feet up. At -first sight he felt himself defeated. But on circling the tree he -discovered a stout vine which reached far above the first branch. - -Soon, with his machete still swinging at his side, he was going up hand -over hand. - -Scorning the first branch, where the grass clumps were small and ragged, -he climbed to the second, then to the third, fully thirty feet above the -ground. - -"I must be careful," he warned himself. - -Many a man had been killed by a fall from these trees. To gather the -grass one must climb far out on a slender limb and hack off the end which -holds the heavy clump. Suddenly released from its load, the limb springs -up and if the grass gatherer loses his hold he is unseated and down he -plunges to injury or death. - -"I will be cautious," Pant told himself. Had he but known it, no amount -of caution could save him from facing the peril just before him. - -Carefully he climbed over the stouter part of the limb, then out and -still out on a slender branch from whose tip there hung a clump of -"grass" that seemed as large as a haycock. - -"Three days' feed for old Rip from a single clump," he told himself as, -gripping the branch firmly with one hand, he drew his machete from its -sheath. - -He had lifted the machete for the first hack when his action was arrested -by a slight scratching sound coming from somewhere above him. Imagine his -surprise and horror when, upon looking up, he caught the gleam of two -yellow eyes and at the same time heard the thumping lash of a great cat's -tail. It was a jaguar about to spring! - -Pant was so startled that he all but lost his hold upon the limb. -Overpowered by something akin to fear, for the instant he was unable to -move. He was not so far bereft of his senses as to fail to note that -above the creature's left eye was a broad white stripe. - -"The--the killer!" he gasped. - - * * * * * * * * - -To do two things at once; to listen and talk intelligently, and to employ -one's mind with planning safe escape requires a steady nerve and active -mind. Johnny Thompson was doing that very thing. He was talking in an -intelligent and connected manner to Daego, the Spanish half-caste -millionaire of British Honduras. They had been talking for some time -about many things that had to do with industries on the Rio Hondo, and -all the time their discussion had become more animated. - -Johnny was seated before a small table. Daego sat opposite him. On the -table was a pile of bills. A gentle breeze, entering the hut through its -lattice-like walls of cohune-nut stems, fluttered the corners of the -bills. They were big bills--fifties and hundreds. There was in that -carelessly flung pile over twenty thousand dollars. Although one may not -feel at liberty to refuse to attend a wild turkey dinner, he may refuse -to accept other things, even at the hand of a millionaire. Johnny was -refusing, refusing in the most vigorous language, and at the same time -his keen eyes were taking in the construction of the hut and his mind -plotting swift and sudden exit. - -He smiled involuntarily at thought of it. The smile, without a meaning as -far as the half-caste millionaire, Daego, was concerned, angered him. - -"I offer you a fortune," Daego burst forth in a sudden rage, "and what do -I get? A laugh. What sort of people are these ones from the United -States? They call you dollar men. I offer you dollars, many, many -dollars--your own American dollars--and all you offer me for answer is a -smile!" - -Johnny did not smile again. The situation was grave enough. He had been -foolhardy to cross the river without his men. Daego was flanked by six -husky Spaniards and at the side of each was a gleaming machete. Johnny -was backed only by a wall of cohune-nut tree stems. He hoped and prayed -that they might prove fairly well rotted when his moment came. - -The camp in which Johnny had enjoyed his wild turkey dinner was a chicle -camp. Up until these last few minutes Daego had proven a most perfect -host. The food he offered was the best the jungle could provide. He was -politeness itself, with one and the same breath pressing food and -compliments upon his guest. - -One peculiarity of the man's nature disgusted Johnny. He seemed at every -turn to wish to impress Johnny with respect and awe for his wealth and -power. Before dinner he had showed Johnny about. - -"This," he had explained, "is one of my many chicle camps. I import into -Honduras every year more than two million pounds of chicle. The price, as -you know, is fifty cents a pound. The profit," he smiled out of one -corner of his mouth, "the profit is, well, very large--perhaps half. -These men work very cheaply; like slaves they are, almost; always in debt -to me. I employ them by the thousands. You have no idea how many. For -that matter, neither have I. This Rio Hondo, this Black River, has made -me rich, rich and powerful. On the Rio Hondo I am, you might say, a -king." - -And now this "king" of the Black River, with a strong backing of his -armed men, was attempting to bribe or brow-beat--he apparently did not -care which--a red-blooded, honest American boy. - -"On this Black River," he repeated now, as they sat at the table, "on -this river I am king. It is I who have always developed its industries -and I it shall be in the future, and none other! I have offered you -money--money not that you should speak an untruth, but that you should -return to the people who control your tract and say to them: 'There is no -profit to be made in a quest for your red lure and your chicle.' - -"And is it not so?" He showed all his white teeth in a half smile, half -snarl. "I--will I not see that you make no profit, that no other person -beside myself make a profit? More than twenty thousand dollars I offer -you--for what? That you may tell the truth to a friend. What could be -easier than that? Now I ask you for the last time--do you take that money -or must I resort to harsher methods? - -"Think well!" He held up a finger of warning, "I am a millionaire. -Thousands serve me. They are all in debt to me. They are my slaves. The -Rio Hondo is mine. All I need do is to stretch out a hand and take." He -swung his arm in a dramatic gesture. - -"But I," he went on, purring now like a cat, "I am not a man who loves -violence. See! Here is proof. Here is money, twenty thousand American -dollars. And for what? For peace. What do you say now? Do you take it?" - -"We Americans," said Johnny with a ghost of a smile about the corners of -his mouth, "do not talk. We act." - -With that he seized the small table before him, swung it above his head -and sent it crashing through the frail side of the hut, then followed it -through the hole it had made in the rotten walls of the cohune-nut stems. - - - - - CHAPTER V - NARROW ESCAPES - - -To say that Pant was surprised at sight of the jaguar, the well-known -"killer" above him in the bread-nut tree, would poorly express it. For -once in his young life he was without a solution to the problem that lay -just before him. He knew that he must act, and act instantly. But what to -do? Thirty feet below him was the solid earth, far too solid. Through the -gathering shadows he thought he saw directly beneath him the wide -spreading leaves of a young cohune-nut tree. Of this he could not be -sure. In any event these soft yielding leaves would offer slight cushion -at the end of a thirty foot fall. - -Flight back over the limb, the way he had come, was not to be thought of. -The instant he began creeping forward the great cat would be upon his -back. To remain in his present position was equally perilous. There was -his machete, to be sure, but what was this against the claws of a -man-eater? It would doubtless be knocked from his hand at the first -spring of the spotted beast. - -The great cat's tail ceased to lash the twigs. The boy's heart beat -wildly. Was the end at hand? - -Time passed. Ten seconds seemed an hour, and yet no spring. And then, of -a sudden, there flashed into his mind a desperate chance, yet it was a -chance--at least something to do. - -He was now sitting with his back to the tiger, looking over his shoulder. -Slowly, with his eyes fixed steadily on the killer, he began to turn -about on the limb. It was a hazardous undertaking. Should he slip, lose -his balance, fall, it might mean death. But this was a moment for -hazards. - -Swinging a leg over the limb, he sat sidewise for an instant; then with a -second swing the thing was accomplished. Still the killer lingered. The -tail was lashing furiously now, sending dry twigs flying downward. - -Pant began sliding back upon the limb. With eyes still fixed upon the -tiger, with heart beating like a throbbing motor, he moved back a foot, -two feet, three, four. Still the tiger waited. His eyes, in the gathering -darkness, had turned to red balls of fire. - -Suddenly the boy's hand went up. The machete was raised above his head. -The great cat gave forth a blood-curdling snarl. But the big knife was -not meant for him. - -Once in his boyhood days on a farm Pant had climbed far out over the -track that ran beneath the ridge of a tall hay-loft. He had gone out to -adjust something that had gone wrong with the double harpoon fork. It -would not trip. He had used every ounce of his strength climbing out -there hand over hand. He had not dared attempt the trip back. The hay of -the loft was twenty feet beneath him. There was a load on the fork. -Choosing the least of three evils, he had taken the drop with the -half-ton of hay when the fork was tripped. He would not soon forget that -breath-taking drop, yet he had landed without a bump or bruise. - -"This," he told himself as calmly as he could, "will be exactly like -that--maybe." - -He was now seated firmly on the great clump of "tree grass." Some three -feet across, this clump hung down a distance of two yards. - -"Now," he breathed, "Now!" - -He said the last "now" out loud and at the same instant the machete came -down upon the branch on which he sat. - -It was a master stroke. Bent as it was by its double load, the branch -snapped clean off and instantly the boy shot downward through space. - -One breath-taking instant, then bump! He landed with a thud that made his -teeth rattle, then pitched head foremost into the brush. - -Hardly had he had time to realize that he was still conscious and -probably unharmed, when there came, not four feet from him, a terrible -thud. - -Once more his mind was in a whirl. What had happened? Had the tiger, -angered at loss of his prey, risked a thirty-foot leap to the ground? It -seemed incredible, yet there he was. - -For the answer to his problem regarding the jaguar who had dropped in the -bush beside him, Pant did not have long to wait. For ten seconds, as if -stunned, the great cat remained where he was, then with a sudden rush he -dashed wildly away. - -The boy laughed a low laugh. - -"Pity it didn't kill him," he murmured. - -He had guessed what had happened. Suddenly released, the limb on which he -had been seated had shot upward and, striking the jaguar, had perhaps -stunned him. At least it had unseated him and he had fallen. - -"Well," Pant grinned, "here is plenty of hay to last poor old Rip for -three days. I came down rather sooner than I expected and in a manner -quite unusual. Wouldn't care to try it again, but it did work that time." - -Searching out his machete, he hacked the grass from the limb, tied it in -three bundles, then began making his way back to his boat with one of -them. - -"I must get after that beast," he told himself. "If the Caribs hear too -much of him they may take fright and desert us." - -He was not long in putting this resolve into execution. - - * * * * * * * * - -Daego thought he had been quite shrewd in his choice of the spot to be -occupied by his guest. There were no windows to the hut. Light entered -between the palm walls. The rich half-caste and his six men sat before -the door and that way lay the path to the river. Back of the place where -Johnny had been seated was the jungle, an all but impenetrable mass of -palms, great mahogany trees and creeping, twining vines. - -As Johnny sent the table crashing through the flimsy, rotting walls of -the hut he followed after it so closely that both he and the table made -their exit at almost the same instant. He had but one thought--to get -into the jungle as quickly as possible. It was his only chance. Daego and -his natives, surprised into temporary inaction by this sudden turn of -affairs, were delayed just long enough to permit Johnny to get into the -jungle. After that, Johnny knew, it would be a game of "hide and seek" -with at least a fair chance for escape. - -A moment after Johnny had dived headlong into the dark, dank jungle, -Daego's men came tumbling through the newly made hole in the wall of the -hut, eager to win their master's praise by seizing this unarmed boy. - -But so tardy and clumsy was their pursuit that Johnny had gained enough -distance to cover up the sound of his movements. For the moment, at -least, the advantage was his. But what if he did make good his escape? -Where would he go? How could he hope to make his way back to his own -camp? - -Without thinking much of the outcome, more from instinct than reason, -like a rabbit close pressed by the hounds, he leaped for the jungle. - -By some good or evil chance he came at once upon one of those low, narrow -trails made by the small short horned deer that abound in that -wilderness. By stooping quite low, almost bent double, he was able to -make rapid progress. - -After covering a hundred yards he paused to listen. - -Yes, he could hear the men shouting and beating the bush. - -"There must be a hundred of them," he murmured. "And dogs! Trapped here -by dogs!" - -He turned and fairly flew down the trail. - -On and on and on, not knowing where, but ever on until at last with hands -and face bleeding and clothes in rags, he fell flat in the trail and lay -there motionless. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - LOST IN THE JUNGLE - - -Could Johnny have witnessed the dismay and confusion caused by his sudden -escape he would have felt far less concerned over his present plight. The -first eager pursuers crashed wildly about in the jungle, rushing forward -at every sound only to discover that it was made by another hunter -instead of the hunted. Their shouts brought other men pouring from the -huts and a half score of dogs, who jumped about and added to the din with -their senseless yelping. - -Daego shouted directions, but his shouts were either unheard or not -clearly understood. Then he made an attempt to set the dogs on Johnny's -trail. There were dogs a-plenty to overtake Johnny and slay him but for -one thing--dogs are never eager to enter a tropical jungle. - -Unaccompanied by his master, the native dog seldom goes far into that -tangled mass of vegetation. There are reasons enough for this. Poisonous -snakes, ten feet long, lurk in the decay at the base of great trees. -Jaguars, prepared to pounce upon a dog, lie flat along great branches, -and the uncouth "mountain cow" (tapir) is all too ready to tear him to -pieces with her sharp hoofs. - -So, though urged on by their enraged masters, the dogs did not venture -far and soon enough came crawling back, their defeat registered by -drooping tails. - -So Johnny Thompson was safe. And yet, was he safe? As the dull agony of -exhaustion left him, he began, in a slow, numb sort of way, to remember -where he was. He was in a tropical jungle. It was early dusk and the -coming night would be made hideous by the barking of alligators, the -scream of wild parrots and the hoarse call of jaguars. To move down the -trail after darkness would be dangerous. Curled on that trail might be a -great snake whose fangs offered sure death. Further movement might call a -jaguar to leap upon him from the tree tops. - -On the other hand, if he went forward on this trail he might come to -water. Already his throat was parched, his tongue swollen. Then, too, a -small stream meant a certain amount of protection and a possible fire. He -had matches in his pocket, a small box of them. As he thought of these he -wrapped them in his handkerchief for safer keeping. - -Then of a sudden a more terrible realization came to him. Not only was he -in a tropical jungle, but he was lost. - -"Lost!" he whispered in an awed tone. - -"Lost!" "Lost!" the strange rustle of palms seemed to answer back. - -It was true, must be true. Hardgrave, who had spent years in the jungle, -had warned him: "Don't ever dare to enter that jungle without a guide, -not to go even a few rods. If you do, you're lost." - -"Rods," Johnny repeated, "I've gone miles!" - -As he thought of it now, he realized that he must have crossed scores of -these low, criss-crossings paths. Should he will to attempt it, he could -not in a thousand days find his way back to Daego's clearing over that -dry sponge-like patch. - -"Nor any other place," he told himself. "I'm lost! Lost!" - -At first the thought left him so weak that he could not move. But in time -strength and courage came flooding back. He was young, strong, -resourceful. There was a way out. He would find it. Daego was doubtless -at this moment sitting in his cabin smoking cigarets and contemplating -the day when he would move across the river and take charge of Johnny's -deserted camp. - -"That will never be!" Johnny told himself, setting his teeth hard. - -To his surprise, as his hand went to his knee he found his clothing wet. - -"Must have crossed some small stream and in my wild fear, never knew it. -No more of that. I'll be calm. I must be calm--and I must think clearly." - -"A stream," he mused, "means water for drinking and a place of greater -safety. What's more," he exclaimed, attempting to spring to his feet only -to be tossed back by closely woven vines and branches, "that means a way -out. A small stream flows into a large one; the larger one into one still -larger, and in time one comes to Rio Hondo, the old Black River. There I -might find a rotting native cabin and perhaps a dugout for floating down -to my camp. But first I must find the beginning. There is a beginning to -all things." - -He contemplated the gathering darkness. There was yet a little time. -Which way should he go? He shuddered at the thought of going back. There -seemed to be an equally good chance ahead. So, slowly, always with an eye -out for those terrible snakes, he crept forward into the gathering gloom. - -As time went on he struggled forward, and as the darkness deepened it -seemed to him that he must, Tarzan-like, spend the night in some great -mahogany or Santa Maria tree. The thought was depressing. His throat -ached from thirst. There were jaguars in the trees. Exhausted as he was, -he might fall asleep and plunge from the tree to his death. - -As this thought came near to a conviction and when hope had all but fled, -he rounded a sudden turn in the trail and his eyes were half blinded by a -light which was much brighter than the gloom to which his eyes had been -accustomed. The light was at the spot where the bush and the trail -appeared to end,--a distance of less than a hundred yards. - -What could it mean? Had fate played a trick on him? Had he followed a -circle in the jungle, only to return to Daego's camp? Was this some other -clearing? If so, whose could it be? - -For a moment he remained there motionless, staring. Then, with a speed -born of sudden hope and maddening fear, he sprinted forward toward the -light. - -Even as he moved forward the light faded, and night, such night as only -the jungle knows, settled down over all. - -Driven half mad by this sudden fading of his dreams, throwing all caution -aside, Johnny rushed straight on until, with a sudden gasp, he threw -himself backward. One foot had plunged into water. In another second he -would have pitched head-foremost into some stream; what stream he could -not know. The thing he did know very soon was that out in the water some -little distance away gleamed two red balls. - -"The eyes of an alligator," he murmured. "Well, anyway, here is water." -He drank greedily. - -As he attempted to pierce the darkness about him, he was able to guess -what it was that had caused the unusual light. The sky, dimly visible -through overhanging branches, was filled with black clouds. There had -come, without doubt, one of those last sudden flashes of sunsets which -gleam out, then are lost forever. This light shining upon the water had -been dazzling in its intensity. Because of its very intensity the -following darkness had appeared quite complete. - -Once his eyes had become accustomed to the feeble light, Johnny was able -to distinguish some of the black bulks about him. Downstream, hanging far -over the water, was a palm. Upstream he caught the dim outline of some -dull gray masses. - -"Rocks, I hope," he murmured as he moved slowly in that direction. - -There was now reason enough for caution. Sharp-nosed alligators of these -streams sometimes slept on the banks. To disturb one was to invite -disaster. To break a twig or make any other unusual sound might be to -call other wild creatures to attack him. - -So, parting the branches with great care, he moved on cautiously until -with a grateful heart he put a hand out to touch a huge rough boulder. - -Mounted upon this heap of rough rocks, of which there were five, each as -large as a sleeping elephant, he breathed more freely. - -"Now for a little fire," he thought. "All wild things fear fire." - -It was not long until the stream, which appeared to be some twenty feet -wide at this point, was lighted by the blazing flames of quick burning -palm leaves. - -Sudden as was the blaze, even more sudden was its fading. Looking away -from the red glow of coals, Johnny tried to peer into the dense darkness -that followed. He could distinguish only the red gleam of eyes. They were -all about him; upon the water, on the bank, in the tree tops. - -Monkeys, fierce black little creatures, chattered from the tallest trees. -From the ground sounded many odd grunts, which the boy could not -interpret. Coming down the river, like a dimly lighted floating burial -procession, were the silent alligators. - -"It's all very strange and--and somewhat spooky," he told himself. - -With a shudder he seized a dully glowing brand and, having fanned it into -flame, went boldly forth in search of wood. This time he would gather -more substantial material. His fire must last longer, much longer, for -somehow he must snatch a little sleep. - -Waving his firebrand before him in one hand, he gathered fuel with the -other. Some dead ferns and palm branches, the fallen branch of a black -tamarind, the half rotted stem of a yamra, some large branches of a tree -quite unknown to him, all these would send the light of his fire gleaming -out into the night for hours to come. - -Soon, with his fire glowing cheerily, he settled down on a chair-like -rock crevice and with head bent forward, hands hanging down before him, -every muscle relaxed, he tried to induce sleep to come. - -It did not come at once. His mind worked on. Across its silver screen -there passed a long procession of pictures. The trip up the river, the -wild forest, the dark Caribs all about him, the silent black river, Daego -seated before the table, money, twenty thousand dollars fluttering before -him, the surprised look of the Spaniards as the table tore through the -wall, then the jungle, the terrible uncertain jungle with its wild perils -and its noisesome nights. - -Then, as will happen when half thoughts and half dreams come, the reel -changed. He was sitting with old Hardgrave, his friend who had seen -sixty-eight summers, twenty-five of them in the tropics. In the cool -shade of the hotel porch at Belize the old man was showing him a crudely -drawn map and was pointing to a spot on that map. - -"If you ever get to that spot," he seemed to hear him say, "you'll find -Indian gods. I have seen them. Three of them, a black one, a blue one, -and one of pure gold. I don't say you'll come back to tell anyone about -it," the old man smiled a queer smile. "They say it's dangerous to go up -there and I reckon it is. Truth is, no one knows the way there and back. -It's up in the bush somewhere. That's all anyone knows. It's all I know, -and I've been there once. - -"You may be sure I didn't mean to go there," he reminisced. "They found -me sick with a fever, the Indians did, and carried me to their village in -the bush and cured me up. Wanted me to stay on with them. Seemed to sort -of take a liking to me. I told them I wouldn't. - -"At first they said I didn't have any choice in the matter. Took me to -see some bones, human bones. White man's bones I'd say from the size of -them. Then they took me back to the village. - -"Something changed their minds, though. I don't know what. One day they -blindfolded me and took me through the bush and downstream for a whole -day. When my eyes were uncovered I found myself in a dugout on a part of -the Rio Hondo that I knew. - -"So, Johnny," he added with a rare smile, "if you really want some Maya -gods, you just hunt that place up. They've got some black ones, and some -that are green, and at least one of pure gold." - -Johnny did want one or two of these Maya Indian gods. A very good friend -had asked him to bring back one or two for his collection. He had -promised to perform this commission. - -"I had no notion they were so hard to get," he told himself now. "It -would be strange if I should stumble upon those Mayas up here -somewhere,--strange and rather startling. - -"Black gods and green ones, and at least one of pure gold," he repeated, -half asleep. - -Then of a sudden he started up. His fire was burning low. After throwing -on a fresh supply of fuel, he thought more clearly of the consequences if -he should fall into the hands of these strange bush people. He was not at -all sure that, once they had found him, they would allow him to return. - -"And then," he thought, "our camp would fall into the hands of Daego -unless--unless Pant were strong enough and resourceful enough to hold his -own against that wily half-caste rascal. - -"Poor Pant," he murmured, "what will he think when I don't return? I hope -he doesn't start a big fight right off the bat. He must not. I must -return. Somehow I must get back. I'll do it, too! See if I don't! I'll -make some sort of raft and float down this stream from nowhere to -somewhere." - -At that he fell asleep and, as the fire burned low, the glow of eyes from -the river, in the trees, on the ground, moved closer and ever closer. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - PERIL IN THE DARK - - -As for Pant, he was worried enough by Johnny's prolonged absence. It had -been dark for fully three hours. Having returned from his gathering of -tree hay and his brush with the jaguar, he had gone down to the creek -landing to wait for Johnny. - -Two anxious hours passed and still he did not come. For a half hour he -paced the creek trail in deep and troubled thought. Over and over, as a -squirrel turns his cage, questions revolved in his mind. What was keeping -Johnny? Should he go for him? Had he been attacked, perhaps slain? Who -could tell, if he went to Daego's camp, what would happen? Johnny had -left him in charge of the camp. If something should happen to him, should -he fail to return, the Caribs would pile into their boats and go drifting -down the river. - -"No!" he exclaimed, "Johnny left me here to carry on in his absence, and -carry on it is. If he does not appear by morning I'll send a messenger to -Daego's camp to find out what he has to say about it." - -He did send a messenger in the morning. The millionaire half-caste -received him with the greatest courtesy. Johnny, he said, had indeed had -dinner with him and they had enjoyed quite a long chat when the meal was -over. The boy had left his camp in quite a hurry on account of the -gathering darkness. He had not seen him since that time. - -Daego assumed an attitude of greatest surprise upon being told that -Johnny had not returned to his own camp and expressed the hope that he -might soon learn of his safety. The Rio Hondo was a treacherous river, -treacherous indeed. - -All of which was more or less true, and at the same time a most -diabolical lie. - -"He's a crook and a scoundrel!" Pant raged to himself when the messenger -had made his report. "He's done something to Johnny, locked him up, or -sent him up some river, a prisoner. Depend on that. But he'll not get his -way on our side of the river!" - -After laying out the day's work for his men, Pant sat down on a red log -and indulged in some long, long thoughts. - -"The way to keep a man from making trouble for you," he told himself, "is -to make as much trouble for him as you can. A fight like this is just -like a game of chess. If you can keep a man busy getting his knights, -bishops and castles out of danger he isn't like to make much trouble for -your king." - -For a long time he sat blinking at the little patches of sunshine that -filtered down though the tropical foliage. - -"That was a capital ghost story Hardgrave told me when I was down at -Belize," he told himself at last with a little chuckle. "Happened on one -of the islands, but I'll bet it would work right up here. He promised to -send me up the things I need for trying it if any sort of craft comes up -this way. Don't suppose there's much chance, though. - -"What's that I hear?" he exclaimed, starting up suddenly. - -Hurrying down the river trail, he was just in time to see four pit-pans -moving slowly up the river. The pit-pans, great dugouts sixty feet long, -were loaded with Spaniards. - -"Daego's men," he murmured. "Re-inforcements. He doesn't need them for -work. I wonder?" - -Cold dread gripped his heart. Daego was assembling his men. This addition -would give him a force double the number of their Caribs. Could it be -that, in the absence of their leader, he meant to lead an attack at once? -There would be a fight, a battle to the finish between Johnny's forces -and Daego's. Caribs against Spaniards, but Pant hadn't expected it for -some time yet. - -"Wish I had the stuff Hardgrave promised to send," he murmured. "Might -thin that force out a bit." - -The stuff Hardgrave had promised was on its way and much nearer to -Johnny's wild lumber camp than Pant guessed. Hardgrave was on his way, -too; in fact, he was bringing the supplies up the river at that moment. -It was a strange assortment of articles that he carried in a box beneath -the seat in his little motor boat; a dozen or so of large blue toy -balloons, a bottle of phosphorus, a number of yards of cheesecloth, some -putty, three tubes of glue, two metal retorts and two packages of -chemicals. - -"Goin' up the Hondo," he had said to a friend before he set out. "Coupla -boys up there a tryin' to do a little stunt of bringing out some of the -red lure. Jest boys, they are; no match for that crafty Daego. Reckon -I'll jest run up there and give 'em a little help for, after all, they're -from the United States and so am I, though I been down here quite a -spell, and all us folks from up there has to sort of hang together. -It--it's sort of in the blood." - -So, Pant was soon to receive re-inforcements. The re-inforcements -consisted of but one man, but there are times when one is as good as a -host. - - * * * * * * * * - -Morning brought bitter disappointment to Johnny. He had hoped that the -palm tree he had seen down the creek was a cocoanut tree. The milk even -of a green cocoanut is sweet and refreshing. Since ripe nuts fall the -year round, there was reason to hope too that some of these might be -found on the ground. But early morning light revealed a cohune nut tree. -True, there were great clusters of nuts hanging from this tree, but these -Johnny had been told were composed mostly of a hard shell. The meat, such -as there was of it, was dry and indigestible. - -"Oh, well," he sighed, "got to eat." - -At that he worked his way downstream to the tree. After spending a half -hour cracking three nuts, and finding their meat meager and tough, he -turned to other quarters for food. - -A tropical wilderness abounds in fruit. The strangest, most unheard of -trees in the world were at Johnny's very elbow. The fruit of many of -these was good to eat. Some might be eaten raw; others were delicious -when cooked. But some, too, were deadly poison. Which might be eaten? -Which not? This he could not tell. To his right was a tree laden with a -green cucumber-like fruit, and over to his left one that hung heavy with -long yellow muskmellons, or so they seemed to be. - -"If I only knew!" he groaned. "If I only did!" - -He recalled hours wasted that might have been put to good use roaming the -jungle with one of his Caribs, learning the use and value of these -plants. - -"If I get back in safety I'll never waste another hour!" he resolved.-- -"I'll learn, and learn and learn until there is not an important thing in -this wilderness that I do not have some accurate knowledge of." - -In the meantime, however, his stomach was crying loudly for food. Food? -Without doubt there was plenty at hand, but he dared not eat it. - -There were fishes in the stream. He could see them calmly fanning the -water in a pool beside the rocks. Fish were always good. His mouth -watered at thought of the fry he would have on the hot rocks. But he had -no hooks. He tried a snare of tie-tie vine, but the fish were too quick -for him. - -At last, despairing of his undertaking, he dropped on hands and knees to -creep away into the bush. He had not gone far before his heart was -gladdened by what he saw just before him. It was a hot, humid morning. A -peccary, a little wild pig, with her half grown brood, having without -doubt spent the cooler hours of night hunting grubs and roots, lay -stretched out on a bed of dead ferns, fast asleep. One of the young -porkers, lying with his two hind feet close together, was not twelve feet -from where Johnny lay. - -"A quick grab at those feet, a sudden get-away, and I have my breakfast," -he thought as he moved cautiously forward. "That fellow doesn't weigh -over ten pounds dressed, but that's enough food for two days and by that -time I'll be back to camp." Oh, vain hope! - -Right hand out, right foot forward; left hand, left foot. So he moved -ahead. Now half the distance was covered and still the little wild pigs -slept. Now he was within arm's length of his prey. Then, rising to his -knees, he shot out a hand. There came a wild, piercing squeal, then all -was commotion. - -Quicker than he could think, the old peccary was after him. - -"Insignificant little brute," he thought. "I could brain you with a -single blow of a club." - -He had no club, had not thought of that. - -A convenient tree offered protection. Clinging to his squealing prey, he -leaped to the first branch. - -"Go away in a moment," he told himself as with his clasp-knife he -silenced the squeals of the young porker. - -To his immense surprise, as he looked down he saw that the ground was -literally alive with angry, grunting peccary pigs. - -"Where'd they all come from?" he asked an hour later, as for the -twentieth time he adjusted his sore muscles to their cramped position. - -This question no one could answer. The angry horde had apparently -declared the tree to be in a state of siege. And, though they were small, -they were terrible to look at. There were gnarled old fathers of that -herd whose ugly yellow tusks, curled twice round, stood out at the end -like spears. - -"Rip a fellow to pieces before he'd gone ten steps," groaned the boy. - -As his position in this small mahogany tree with its smooth limbs became -all but unbearable, he cast about for relief. Next to this tree was a -larger one and beyond that a great, broad-spreading palm. - -"If only I can reach the palm," he told himself, "I will at least have a -comfortable place to rest and maybe grab a few moments of sleep." - -Tying the dead peccary to his back, he climbed out as far as he dared -upon his limb, then executed a sort of flying leap for the next tree. It -was a daring venture, but a successful one. Five minutes later, with the -carefully dressed peccary meat hanging nearby, he sank into a cushioned -depth of the palm tree and was soon fast asleep. - -Some time later, much later, he awoke. At first, as he attempted to gaze -about him, he could not believe his senses. - -"It can't be true," he insisted. "There has been an eclipse. I have gone -blind. It can't be night!" - -But it was. Overcome by exhaustion and the humid heat of the tropics, he -had slept the day through and a short way into the night. So had passed -the day that was to have seen his raft built and launched, to have seen -him on his way back to camp. - -"And here I am!" he exclaimed in disgust. - -"Well, at any rate," he sighed, "I now have some supper and may make my -way back to the rock and cook it." - -"But can I?" he started. "What of that wild horde with their ugly yellow -tusks? Are they still waiting down there?" - -For a moment he hesitated. Then, with a sudden resolve born of necessity, -he began to descend. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - DEATH AHEAD - - -Peccary meat was Johnny's supper. A dry supper it was, and old Father -Gloom sat across the fire from him while he ate. To have wasted a whole -day; to face a second night of vigil; to recall those pairs of burning, -greedy, red eyes; to know that with the passing of the hours the owners -of those eyes must certainly grow bolder; all this was depressing in the -extreme. To add to this set of depressing circumstances, a small thing -happened; a very small thing indeed, but fraught with great consequences. -There were not many mosquitos in this place at this time. The streams -were swift, and at this time of year there were no water holes for -breeding them. - -For all this, a single mosquito, drifting in from nowhere, alighted on -Johnny's hand and began to drill. He had half finished his task when, -without thinking, Johnny crushed him at a blow. - -Instantly the boy's mind was filled with foreboding. He had been bitten -by a mosquito! One thing Hardgrave had said to him: - -"Johnny, wherever you are, don't ever lie down to sleep, not even in the -daytime, without a mosquito-bar net over you. Malaria. The mosquitos -carry it. It's the only way you can get it." - -In camp they always slept beneath canopies. - -"But out here," Johnny grinned a wry grin, "what's the chance? Well, if -that was a malaria mosquito he's got me loaded up good and plenty, and -there's no use bothering my mind about it." - -He did not bother his mind, but it bothered him. In his imagination he -saw himself delirious with fever, insensible to his surroundings, -wandering down narrow trails, tripped by vines, torn at by brambles. -Watched from every dark hole and tree top by wild beasts, he saw himself -struggle on until burned out by fever, exhausted by aimless, senseless -endeavor, he at last lay down to die. - -Shaking himself free from the haunting spectre, he threw fresh wood upon -the fire. - -He slept little that night, and welcomed the dawn less eagerly than he -had the day before. He felt a desire to be idle, a dreamy indifference -creeping over him. - -"It's the tropics," he told himself. "Everyone slows up down here. The -heat and the humidity makes you want to drag your feet, to loaf, to sit -and dream. But I must not! I must act! Act! Now!" - -At that he went at the task of building a raft and before noon it was -completed. - -A crude affair it was, to be sure. Dry logs of different lengths; there -was no axe for hewing them. All these, bound clumsily together with tough -tie-tie vine, made up the raft that eventually carried Johnny away from -the great rocks and swiftly down the river. As far as he could see ahead, -branches formed a perfect arch over the water, and at places hung so low -that it was necessary for him to lie flat down to avoid being dragged off -into the water. - -He bade farewell to his rocky home with no regrets, but with some -misgivings after all. He was to drift off into the unknown. What awaited -him there? Who could tell? - -"It--why, it's like death," he thought. - -With this mood there drifted into his mind a bit of verse: - - "I know not where His islands lift - Their fronded palms in air, - I only know I cannot drift - Beyond His love and care." - -He felt a strange tightening at the throat as the words escaped his lips, -and he blessed the teacher who had given them to him for just such a time -as this. - -Many and strange were the sensations that came to him as he drifted -silently, swiftly beneath this cathedral-like arch of trees. A green -parrot screamed at him as it fluttered away; a black monkey with a white -face, clinging to a limb by a foot and his tail, scolded at him as he -passed. A slow-moving snake, hanging from a tree trunk, darted out a -black tongue. The jagged corner of the clumsy raft, catching on a snag, -hung there while the water, warm as soapsuds, washed over the raft. - -Loosened, the raft whirled on. More swiftly now they moved. The current -was gaining strength. Rocks appeared, one to the right, one to the left, -and one amid stream. The arch of trees rose higher. A patch of blue -appeared. Rising to his feet, Johnny struggled with all his might, -darting his pole first one side and then the other, to keep the raft off -the rocks. Then suddenly, without warning, he was seized by an -overhanging vine and dragged clear of the raft. - -That was a tragic moment. With his raft went his last bit of food; and -with it, too, for a moment his last bit of hope. With an eye out for -drifting alligators, he swam strongly after the runaway raft. - -Fortune favored him. For a moment the raft, caught in a corner between -two rocks, hung motionless and in that moment, breathless, exhausted, he -climbed aboard. At the same instant he sensed the presence of a wakened -alligator nearby. - -Quite motionless he lay for a full moment as the raft rushed on. This was -no time for inaction. Faster, ever faster glided the raft; faster, faster -the trees flew by. - -And now a new catastrophe threatened. A sharp rock had cut one of the -tie-tie vines that bound the raft. In another moment the raft might be -torn in bits, leaving Johnny in the water, beyond hope. Seizing a fresh -vine, he passed it over the ends of the logs and by exerting all his -strength drew them to place and bound them there. - -And now came a respite. Suddenly the river broadened. Blue sky appeared -above him. He was floating slowly on the surface of a small lake. - -Drawing his feet up under him, he gave himself over to much needed rest -and enjoyment of the scene that lay before him. Surely here was beauty -untouched by the hand of man. Had man's eyes ever looked upon it? Surely -no eyes of civilized man. Yet what a gleaming of blue waters, what a -blending of matchless green and faultless blue! - -If he did not allow his mind to linger long on all this matchless beauty -of spreading palms, clinging vines and reflecting water, it was because -the more practical side of his nature sought two things--a native hut and -a cocoanut palm tree. One of these would be a boon indeed. - -And one appeared. A leaning cocoanut tree hung over the water at the very -spot where the lake ended and the current grew swift again. He saw it at -the moment when his raft, caught by a stronger current, shot forward. At -that same moment came a disturbing sound, a deep, low thunder that he did -not wholly understand. - -In his confusion of thought he all but lost his opportunity. Leaping to -his feet, he struck at the palm with his long pole. Once, twice, three -times he clubbed it, and with the third blow a ripe cocoanut came -hurtling down to splash in the water beside his raft. - -With a little cry of joy he dropped his pole and all but sprang in the -water after it. Restraining this impulse, he dropped on hands and knees -to reach for it. It was just beyond his grasp. The pole--yes, with the -pole he could drag it to him. Sending the pole sweeping out over the -water, he was about to bring the fugitive dinner to him when the raft, -striking a submerged rock, whirled about and left him three full yards -from the prize. At the same time there came to his ears again that dull -thunder. - -"Can't be a storm," he said, scanning the sky. "Clear as a bell." - -Sadly he watched the cocoanut as, abreast of his strange craft, but just -out of reach of his pole, it drifted onward. Within that brown husk was -delicious, refreshing drink and nourishing food. - -Fate seemed to mock him. The current having carried the cocoanut within -his reach, quickly whirled it away again. Then, tempting him, it whirled -it close only to catch it and fling it at last into a backwater eddy -where it was lost to him forever. - -"That thundering sound is growing more distinct," he told himself as, -resigned to his loss, he settled down for a moment's rest. "I wonder what -it is." - -Then of a sudden he knew and the realization stunned him. - -"Falls!" he said, leaping excitedly to his feet. "Falls in this river. -Falls straight ahead!" The next moment he lay stunned, half unconscious -on the raft. He had been struck on the head by an overhanging limb. - -How long he lay there he will never know. Enough to say that when at last -he struggled back to a sitting position the thunder of the falls filled -all the air, while the trees and bushes, as if borne on by a cyclone, -sped by him at unbelievable speed. - -"Gotta stop!" he groaned. "Gotta get offa here somehow! Death in the -falls. Won't do! Gotta get off!" - -With a mighty effort he dragged his scattered senses together. The next -instant he found himself gripping the tough branches of a red mangrove -tree, while his raft shot on to its doom. - -With a sinking sensation about his heart and a dull pain in his head, -Johnny saw his hope of an early return to camp disappear downstream. On -that raft was tied a bit of peccary meat, the only morsel of food he had -in the world. Yet where there is life there is hope, and after climbing -carefully back over the limb that had saved him, he descended the tree to -the ground. - -An hour of struggling forward, sometimes through thickets, sometimes over -rocks or through water to his waist, he ended at the top of a steep -precipice that stood thirty feet above the side of a most beautiful -waterfall. - -"Beautiful things at times become terrible," he told himself. "My raft is -gone; my dinner with it. These beautiful falls took them. No use to waste -time in vain regrets. I've got to get down some way." - -After exploring every corner he became convinced that there was no -suggestion of a rugged stairway anywhere. - -"Have to be some other way," he thought wearily. Having glanced at a -towering sapodilla tree, he noticed that a wild fig vine grew up its -side. - -"Make a rope of it. Let myself down," he said, beginning to unlace his -shoes. - -Having climbed the tree for a distance of forty feet, he cut the vine and -began stripping off a stem an inch in diameter. It was a long and -dangerous task, for these vines, with a grip of death, in time hug the -very life out of a tree. But in time he won and, attaching one end of the -vine rope to the trunk of a tree, dropped it over the precipice. He then -began nimbly following down. - -"Looks like a cocoanut palm there by the pool at the foot of the falls. -If it is, I know where I get my supper." - -It was indeed a cocoanut palm, a low one, standing not more than ten feet -from the ground, but bearing cocoanuts all the same. He had not descended -half way before he could count them. There were many green ones and three -that were brown and ripe. - -"Um-yum-yum!" he smacked his lips as he seemed to feel the rich white -milk go gurgling down his throat. - -He was still looking at that tree and trying to figure out how he could -best reach it, when he suddenly discovered that he was all but at the -bottom. - -He had given no thought to what that landing might be like. He glanced -downward, then with hands that trembled so he could scarcely open and -close them he made desperate efforts to climb back. - -Had he dropped another foot he must surely have fallen into the jaws of a -mammoth alligator. The beast was asleep with his mouth wide open. -Grinning terribly, his yellow tusks looking like rows of sharpened -spikes, he lay there quite motionless. What would have been the -consequences had the boy dropped that remaining foot? Would the alligator -have tumbled in great fright into the water? Would his terrible jaws have -closed like the iron gates of a prison? Who can tell? Who would care to -perform the experiment that he might know? - - * * * * * * * * - -In the meantime Pant had not been idle. Good old Hardgrave, a plain man -from Arkansas with the courage of a knight and heart of a king, had -arrived. He had anchored his motor-boat with its wheezy engine close to -the creek landing, then had unloaded his cargo of chemicals, retorts, toy -balloons and cheesecloth. - -"Where's Johnny?" he asked the moment he stepped on land. - -"Just what I was going to tell you." - -"Tell it, then." - -Pant did tell--told all he knew. - -"Huh!" the old man grunted. "He'll come back. Daego's got him hid out -somewhere. Wouldn't quite dare kill him outright. Leastwise, I don't -think so. Can't tell about that half-caste strain in his blood, though." - -"He'll come back," echoed Pant, "but meantime we've got to carry on the -work. 'Twouldn't do to disappoint Johnny when he comes back. We got to -get all this red lure down by the water ready for the trip down." - -"What's worse," said Hardgrave, "we've got to do just what you said a -minute ago; keep old Daego guessing. Don't like his taking up more men. -Looks bad. May come over here like a young army any time, bent on driving -us out. Got any place for this?" He pointed at his miscellaneous cargo -stacked on the bank. - -"Have to use Johnny's office, I guess." - -The next morning, Gesippio, a Carib who bunked close to the office, said -to his work mate, "There was devil doin's in that office of Johnny's last -night." - -"Devil doin's?" - -"Devil doin's! First the whole place was lit up like it was busting with -flames. Seemed like every crack was shootin' flames. Then all was dark -again. Pretty soon there came a blue blaze, sort of low-like, and a -hissin' sound like the old Serpent, the Evil One, might o' made. Then all -of a sudden, sendin' me all of a heap, there came a most terrible bang. -After that I didn't hear no more." - -From that time on the cabin that had been Johnny's office was kept -carefully locked day and night. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - "IT'S DEATH AN' DESTRUCTION" - - -Having barely escaped dropping into the jaws of an alligator, Johnny -Thompson wound his leg about his vine rope at a spot where a knotty -projection would give him partial support, then proceeded to make a sad -survey of the situation. There was the cocoanut tree, and there the -alligator. There were two other 'gators floating silently on the surface -of the pool. To land there was out of the question. There might be a -landing place on the other side of that particular rocky formation. It -was his only chance. - -After climbing the vine, a slow and painful process, he made a hasty -survey. Already it was growing dark. There was need of haste, but the -dull stupor of the tropics was still upon him. He could not hasten. He -found it necessary to make his way over the jagged rocks for some -distance before finding a safe fastening for his vine. - -When at last all was secure the sun had gone down and a dark bank of -clouds again obscured the sky. - -"Got'a hurry," he told himself. "Got to get down fast." - -He did go down rapidly until he had all but reached the rocky ledge upon -which he was to land. There, for a time, he lost his courage. His late -experience had unnerved him. What sort of landing was this which he now -approached? It is difficult to distinguish a motionless alligator from a -rocky surface even in broad daylight. How impossible in the dusk! So he -clung there motionless, trying to stare into the half darkness. - -"Can--can't hang here forever," he breathed at last. "Here goes, and -here's hoping!" - -To his great joy he landed safely on a high and dry rock, quite free from -danger. - -But at once there arose the problem of finding his way to the cocoanut -tree. After a half hour of groping about, he uttered a shout of joy: - -"There! There it is!" - -There indeed was the tree, and at the top of it were the cocoanuts--three -ripe ones and many green ones. The problem of securing the food was still -before him. At close sight of the tree his heart sank. It was taller and -larger than he thought--fifteen feet high and a foot through at the base. -What was worse, the circle of great fern-like leaves that grew between -him and the nuts appeared to present a solid barrier through which it was -going to be difficult to pass. - -"I'm weak from hunger," he told himself. "From hunger and something else. -I'd rather lie down and sleep than climb that tree, but I must try." - -He did try. Three times he climbed to that green barrier; three times -tried to break his way through the ring of branches to the fruit; fought -there until cold perspiration stood out upon his brow and his knees shook -so he could scarcely support himself; then each time slid slowly down. - -The last time, with something very much like a sob, he threw himself upon -the bare rocks and cried passionately: - -"Oh, I can't! I can't! I can't!" - -That night, on the surface of the highest rock he could find, with no -fire, with only the glittering stars above him, he slept the deep sleep -of utter exhaustion. From time to time as he slept there came sounds of -scratches on the rock above him, of grunts and other sounds in the -darkness; but no wild thing dared approach too close to this strange -smelling creature from another world. - -The three days that followed that night on the rocks beside the falls -were like a long drawn out evil dream. True, Fate dropped him a -comforting morsel. One of the cocoanuts, a small one, had fallen during -the night. With fingers that shook, Johnny bored a hole through one eye -of it and drank the milk eagerly; drank to the last drop. Then he broke -the nut on a rock and gnawed at the rich, white meat until not a shred -was left. - -Lacking strength and courage to build a second raft, he began making his -way as best he could, now on hands and knees and now flat on his stomach, -over the low, narrow game trail that followed the bank of the stream. - -As the heat of the day beat its way through the tangled forest he began -to feel faint. Now and again, as he paused to rest, he felt that he must -be losing consciousness. - -A great desire to sleep came over him. Nothing much mattered. A strange -peace, the drowsy, drug-like peace of the tropics, lulled him to rest. -Now he slept, defenseless in the open trail. And now he woke to journey -on. When night came he could not rightly tell. In that gloom there was no -day. In time he woke to find all dark about him. Still he struggled on. - -The scream of parrots, the senseless chatter of monkeys, the roar of -beasts of prey, all were the same to him, for all came faint and -indistinct as in a dream. - -Once he fought with a great spotted beast. A jaguar, perhaps. Or was -that, too, only a dream? He could not tell. He seemed to wake from a -horrible nightmare of claws and wild snarls to find his arms and chest -torn and bleeding and his knife gone. - -"Must have fought with my knife and lost it in the struggle," was his -mental comment. - -He did not feel badly about that, nor did he search for it long. Nothing -seemed to trouble him. Great waves of dreams swept over him. - -His lips were dry and parched. "Fever. Malaria. That mosquito did it," he -told himself. That did not matter, either. Nothing mattered. - -He dragged himself to the bank of the stream to cleanse his wounds. He -drank long and deeply. A small fish, darting too close, was caught in his -hand. This he devoured whole. - -Other things of the jungle he ate--strange fruits, nuts and roots. Were -they poison? It did not matter. Nothing mattered. - -So, every day growing weaker, he came at the end of the third day to -something very much like an abandoned clearing. Such it was, but he was -too far lost in his drowsy sleep to know it. He had passed half through -it when, of a sudden, he came upon a hut, a palm-thatched, forlorn and -deserted hut. Yet, to him in his delirium of fever it was something far -greater than an abandoned hut. - -"Home!" he cried hoarsely. "Home!" - -Throwing himself across the threshold, he fell prone in the dust of the -floor. - -A great lizard, sleeping in the corner, awoke and darted away; a small -bird, whose nest was in the thatch, scolded shrilly. But Johnny heard -nothing, saw nothing. - -When at last he summoned up strength enough to drag himself to a corner -and upon a bed of rotting mats, he murmured again: - -"Home! Home! How good to be home!" - -In the deserted cabin was dampness, mold and desolation. Only one -overwrought by peril and trouble, or made delirious by a burning fever, -could have thought of it as home. Home? Here there was neither water, -food nor friends. - -Once, having come out of his delirium, he managed to grope about until he -had found a mouldy gourd. With this in hand he dragged himself on hands -and knees to the river. Here in his eagerness for water he all but -pitched head-foremost into the stream. As it was, he left a print of his -hand in the plastic ooze on the bank. - -The gourd he filled with water. Having spilled most of it on the way -back, in a fever of haste lest the rest escape, he drank it greedily, -then sank back on his musty little bed to dream delirious dreams. - -In his dreams, with Pant by his side, he pursued a red gleam that, while -growing brighter, appeared always to elude them. "The red lure. The red -lure!" he repeated over and over. - -Next morning found him too weak to rise or to think. He had only strength -to breathe. He could only stare helplessly at the dull brown roof of the -hut and hope for things that never come. - -But now the scene was changed. Instead of the smell of decay all about -him, there was the perfume of apple blossoms. Over his head the white and -pink glory of Springtime blended with white patches of sunshine. Beneath -him was a soft bed of grass; above him apple trees and sky. From far and -near came the warble of thrushes, the chirp of robins, the shrill -challenge of woodpeckers. He was once more in the orchard that witnessed -his boyhood. Buried deep in clover, he was sensing the joy of Spring. - -Then the hot light of a new day dragged him back to waking consciousness. -Dreams vanished. Dull reality hung about him. He tried to lift himself -upon an elbow. He failed. Could he lift a hand? He could not. His eyes -closed from the mere force of this effort, and remained closed. - -The hand of Johnny Thompson, that manly right hand that had scorned to -strike one weaker than its owner; the hand that had so often inspired the -dishonest, the unkind, mean and criminal to a wholesome fear; the hand -that had never been employed in mere selfish ends, was powerless and -still. - -The stream rushing past that cabin seemed a funeral train, powerful and -free, ready to carry that brave spirit away. Some strange bird sang a -song from the tree tops. Its notes, measured and slow, were like a dirge. - -A great snake, attracted by the dry warmth of the doorway, curled up -there in the dust to sleep. The figure on the cot did not move. A great -lizard crept in through a rotted corner to gaze blinking at him. The -snake, sensing a dinner, slowly uncoiled, then with a motion surprisingly -quick for a creature of its kind, darted, forked tongue flashing, at the -lizard. There was a scurry of feet, a gliding scrape. Lizard and snake -passed within a few inches of that prostrate head. The snake passed over -the motionless hand, yet the hand did not stir, the eyes did not open. - -The rush of waters, the distant mournful notes of birds, the sigh of the -wind through the palms seemed to say: - -"He is dead! Dead! Dead!" - - * * * * * * * * - -Pant would not believe that Johnny was dead. "They can't have done him -in," he said to Hardgrave. "It's a thing that really can't be done. Burly -Russians; treacherous, slant-eyed Yellow men have tried it; yes, and -daring white crooks, too. These didn't get Johnny, so why should a mere -Spanish half-caste succeed?" - -No, he would not admit that Johnny was dead; but as days passed and he -did not return he grew more and more restless. Each morning strengthened -his determination to discover what had happened to his good pal. Each -evening found him with some more daring plan for discovering his -whereabouts. When sending his men as spies among Daego's men at night -failed, he took to paddling across the river and drifting in and out -among them in the dark himself. This was exceedingly dangerous business. -He might be discovered, and if he were he would doubtless go the way of -his pal, whatever way that might be. He was careless of danger; any risk -was not too great, could he but find Johnny. - -It was during one of his secret visits to the enemy's camp that an -exceedingly strange thing happened. - -It was a hot, sultry night. Daego's men lay about on mats before the -huts. The murmur of voices constantly hung upon the air. Now and again -there came a shout of laughter from some black man. Half the workers were -blacks from Belize. The others were Spaniards. These seldom laughed. - -At times, when the hum of voices ceased and laughter died away, from out -of the bush there came the hoarse call of a jaguar, and who could say it -was not the "killer?" - -Pant had dropped upon a mat at the edge of a group of black men. In the -shadows no man could see his neighbor's face. No questions were asked. -The moon, just rising over the edge of the jungle, cast long shadows and -sent ghost-like shimmers of light across the patches of mist that rose -from the river. - -The hum of voices was at its loudest. A black man, close to Pant, was in -the midst of a loud guffaw when, of a sudden, the laugh appeared to -freeze in his throat. This sound, or sudden cessation of sound, so -unusual and so apparently without cause, spread silence like a blanket -over the clearing. - -Out of that silence there rose a hoarse, high-pitched voice: - -"Oh! Look up a-yonder!" - -The man who spoke was the one who had so suddenly ceased laughing. His -outstretched arm, clad as it was in a white sleeve of cotton stuff, was -like a white pointer with a black tip pointing toward the sky. - -What Pant saw as he followed the line of that pointer made even his blood -run cold and set the hair at the back of his head standing on end. The -moonlight playing across the sky had caught something white and faintly -luminous that floated on air well above the tree tops. Even as he -watched, the thing seemed to assume the form of a white-robed figure. The -head began to come out with glimmering brightness. Eyes appeared, and the -semblance of a mouth. Then, as the whole company, far and near, lay -wrapped in silence, there sounded such a rattling as one may sometimes -fancy he hears in passing a graveyard at the dead of night. - -"Oh! My Massa!" groaned the black man. "It's a ghost, the ghost of that -white boy Daego drove into the bush. He's come back to ha'nt us. It's -death an' destruction! Destruction for Daego; and death for all of us. -Oh! My Massa!" - -There came a murmuring "Uh-huh" from many voices. Then from a dark corner -there rose the chant of the only Carib of the crew. He was singing the -native song of his people--the Devil Song that is supposed to drive out -evil spirits. Weird and fantastic as his song was, the thing that floated -above the tree tops was far more weird. - -Over in another corner Pant heard a shuffling of feet. Someone was moving -away, going toward the river. Fearing that they might find his dugout and -so rob him of his means of returning to his own camp, he went skulking -along after them. There were five or six black men in the group. Since -they were not approaching his boat, he followed close enough to hear what -they were saying. Arriving at the river bank, they pushed a long dugout -into the water and with scarcely a sound leaped in and shoved away from -the shore. A moment later, keeping to the shadows, the boy heard: - -"Come daylight we's far down this haunted river." - -"Yea-bo!" came back in answer. - -"It's death an' destruction. I knowd twa'nt no sense afoolin' with them -thar white ha'nts," gloomed another. - -There was silence after that. The only sound was the dip-lip of paddles, -but Pant had heard enough to make his heart glad. - -"Johnny's ghost," he murmured. "Five men gone already, and more will -follow; perhaps many more. Not so bad for a ghost," and he laughed softly -to himself. - - - - - CHAPTER X - JOHNNY'S GHOST WALKS - - -Palms that hung over the silent, swiftly flowing stream murmured and -sighed. Their murmuring and sighing was as sad as the voice of pines and -hemlocks in a graveyard on a winter's night. Sadder still was the strange -wail of some tropical bird, piping always on the same minor key. On the -bed of decaying mats in the abandoned cabin where little lizards ran in -and out, Johnny Thompson lay white and motionless. - -Came an hour when there fell upon all this gloom a shrill discordant -note. The scream of a wild parrot broke the drowsy silence. This was -answered by another, and yet another, until all up and down the stream -the air was filled with harsh, discordant music. - -The innocent cause of all this disturbance was a fantastically painted -dugout, all striped and spotted with red, blue, green and white. Its prow -and stern rose high out of the water like the ancient crafts of the -Vikings. - -Forward sat a girl, aft was a boy, and in the middle sat a large native -Carib woman. So brown and rugged was the girl that she might easily have -been taken for a Spaniard. A second look revealed deep-set freckles, a -glow of color, a mass of curly hair, and an indefinable air of confidence -and frankness that could belong only to an Anglo-Saxon. This girl, Jean -McQueen, was Scotch. The boy was her brother. Just over from England, -where he had attended school for years, he had the attire, the manners -and the color of a perfect young English gentleman. In his tweed nickers -and his smart sport shirt, he seemed quite as much out of place in the -wilderness as his sister in her patched and faded khaki suit seemed at -home. - -"This is not the creek," the boy said. There was impatience in his tone, -and something that suggested fear. "Let's turn back." - -"It might be, Rod. We'll go on a little farther." Brushing aside a -low-hanging palm leaf, the girl seized her paddle to send the light craft -forward. - -For a space of ten minutes nothing might be heard save the dip-dip of -their paddles and the scream of parrots over their heads. - -Suddenly the boat swerved to the right shore. - -"Abandoned, I guess," said the girl, sweeping the clearing with her eyes. -"Might tell us something, though." - -"Some sort of old cabin over there." - -"Look!" exclaimed the girl. "Someone's here--or has been in the last few -days." She pointed to a well-defined hand print in the half-dried mud of -the bank. - -"Who--who do you suppose?" - -"Rubber hunters, perhaps, or a chiclero. Let's go up." - -The boy hung back. - -"Aren't afraid, are you?" the girl laughed. It was a rich, free, -melodious laugh. "Nobody's goin' to hurt you in this wilderness. C'mon!" - -She led the way over the trail which Johnny on his journey to the creek -for water had made. The boy followed, reluctantly, and the Carib woman -waddled along behind. More than once the girl paused to examine with a -practiced eye patches of grass that lay flat down as if some wild -creature had slept there. These were the spots where Johnny had fallen -and found himself too weak to rise at once. - -A little cry of dismay escaped the girl's lips as her eyes fell upon the -white-faced, prostrate form on the decaying mats. - -"Dead!" her lips framed the word she did not speak. Death to this girl -who knew so much of life, and loved it so, was a terrifying thing, thrice -terrible in the heart of a wilderness. Yet here was a boy, a boy of her -own race, who, to all appearances, had died here alone in this abandoned -hut. - -"Dead!" she whispered. "How--how awful!" - -Some little lizards scampered over the dry palm leaves as her foot -stirred the dust at the door. In another moment she was bending over the -prostrate form. - -"You--you can't always tell." There was a note of hope in her tone. "Rod, -bring some water, quick." - -During the dragging moments of her brother's absence she studied the -prostrate boy's face. There are lines in one's face which to the keen -observer tells the story of his life. Has he been kind and thoughtful of -others? Has he lived brave and clean? It is written there. Has he been -harsh, impatient, careless, dissipated even in small ways? This, too, is -recorded there. As the girl read the story of Johnny's life she found -herself hoping more and more that she might save him. - -"Give it to me," she whispered as her brother appeared with the canteen. - -With trembling fingers she placed the mouth of the canteen to the boy's -lips. - -A moment of silence followed. Then of a sudden the wrinkle of anxiety on -the girl's brow disappeared. Johnny's lips moved in an inarticulate -murmur. - -With a little exclamation of joy the girl sprang to her feet. - -"He lives! He lives!" - -Then all was silent again on stream and jungle. - - * * * * * * * * - -It was a strangely mixed dream through which Johnny was passing. It -seemed night. He was hidden away in some deep forest. A storm had set the -tree tops to twisting and writhing. The constant roll of thunder, mingled -with the moaning of the trees, made the night hideous. - -Like a flash the scene changed. It was day--Sunday in the little old -church at home. Someone rose to sing; a beautiful white-gowned figure -with a sweet melodious voice. She sang, but the words of the song had no -meaning for him. It was as if they were sung in a foreign tongue. - -And now he was gazing upon a sunrise. Such a sunrise as is never seen on -land or sea, all red, orange and gold. - -It was in the midst of this last broken dream that he opened his eyes and -stared around him. - -To his vast amazement he saw that the vision of orange and gold had not -completely vanished. Neither had the singing nor the sound of thunder -been hushed. They had merely taken on a more definite form, a truer -meaning. The words of the song: - - "Ne-ha aba ne ha aba muta, - Sagmuk labsa abona - Sag aba don," - -were not entirely strange to him, but they had no real meaning for him. -He had heard his Caribs sing them around his camp fire. They were the -words of a strange native song. As for the thunder, it was merely the -wild beating of a barrel drum. And the flash of orange and gold was a -girl, a very beautiful girl, swaying gracefully in a sort of rhythmic -exercise to the beating of the drum. - -He stared in unbelieving astonishment. The thing was not real. He was -still dreaming. He tried to put up a hand to rub the illusion away, but -finding this difficult because of weakness, contented himself with -staring about the room where the golden vision continued to sway and -whirl and the reverberating drum shook dust from the ceiling. - -Slowly familiar objects came to view. The roof of the palm thatched cabin -looked familiar. He had lain beneath it some time. That might have been -long ago, or was it yesterday? He remembered the holes in the roof. The -holes, one had been triangular, another round. The spots were still -there, but instead of sunlight streaming through, the holes were covered -by a fresh green palm leaf thatch. - -He looked again at the swaying spot of gold that was the girl. The girl -seemed almost real. Her face was flushed. It would be, if she swayed to -music in such a clime. The black woman, like an ebony statue, sat beating -the drum as she sang: - - "Ne-ha aba ne ha aba muta." - -Then a sudden thought struck Johnny. The dancing girl was not black; she -was not golden-brown like the Indian, not the brown of the Mexican, -either. She was white like himself. A very comely white girl she was, -too; red cheeks, tossing curly hair, freckles, slightly turned-up nose--a -real girl. - -"It's a dream," he told himself. "A white girl in the heart of this -wilderness? I'm dead. This is Heaven. She's an angel." - -He wanted to laugh at this last, but did not dare. It might break the -spell! The girl was too robust, too red-cheeked for an angel. Whoever -heard of a freckle-faced angel? But whoever heard of a real white girl in -such a spot? - -The mats looked real, too. What of those on which he lay? He ran his -fingers over them. - -"New, too," he told himself. "How strange!" - -Things were coming back to him. He had walked a long way, crept farther, -dragged himself to this cabin. Here, after one try at bringing water, he -had lain himself down to die. - -"Apparently I'm not dead," he told himself. "These people must have -arrived to save me." - -He closed his eyes and tried to think. In the process he fell asleep. - -What had happened was this. Having found Johnny dying of fever there in -the abandoned hut, the girl, Jean, had insisted upon abandoning all plans -for their future except the business of bringing him back to life. To -this end the native Carib woman had searched the jungle for such herbs as -have long been used by her people for curing a fever. To this same end, -brother and sister had searched that same forest for birds that would -provide broth and for fruits to supply refreshing drink for the invalid. - -The strange music and the rythmic motion that accompanied it was the idea -of the Carib woman. Did she attach some wild native religious -significance to it? Who can tell? The boy had made the drum from a deer's -skin and a hollow log; the girl had joined in merely to please the Carib -woman and satisfy her simple soul. - -Native medicine, the jungle's nourishment, the black woman's wild music, -the white girl's tender care, all these in their way had helped. When -Johnny woke the second time he was well on his way to recovery. - -It is one thing to lie alone, helpless and dying in a wretched cabin in -the heart of a wilderness; quite another to find one's self surrounded by -true friends, none the less real because they are new, and to feel -strength and life coursing back into one's veins. - -At first Johnny asked few questions. Asking questions had never been his -way of discovering the truth. He looked on with astonishment at the -things that went on around him. The wilderness which to him had been a -land of famine was suddenly as if by magic turned into a Garden of Eden. -Early in the morning he heard the pop of a light rifle somewhere in the -brush. At night he drank such broth and ate such tender shreds of meat as -had never passed his lips before. The strange, glorious girl vanished for -an hour, to return with yellow melons, melons that grew on -trees,--"pawpaw" she called it. She brought water that was sweet and -fresh, not from the hot stream, but from a vine torn from a tree where it -clung. A hundred other miracles were wrought for his comfort and healing. -And all the time, as if by magic, strength came back to him. On the -fourth day he walked a bit unsteadily, but quite confidently, out of the -cabin to sit on a mahogany log with a cabbage tree for a back support. -Here he sat and watched dreamily the golden girl who, at this moment -dressed in her humblest garb of faded khaki, was bending over a native -mahogany wash bowl, found somewhere in the cabin, washing clothes. - -Engaged in this task, with her thick, curly hair drawn up in a tight knot -at the top of her head, with her brown arms flaked with suds, she seemed -real enough. - -"No angel," he murmured, "just a real girl; a whole lot better!" he told -himself. "I wonder where they came from, and where they were going when -they found me?" - -Strangely enough, had he asked the girl this last question she would have -been obliged to answer: "I don't know." - -The truth was that the Scotch girl and her brother were quite as lost in -this wilderness as he and quite as eager to find their way out. - - * * * * * * * * - -In the meantime the strange doings, the flashes of phosphorescent light -and strange noises, continued behind the locked door of Johnny's office -at the camp on Rio Hondo. In spite of this, however, the Caribs continued -to work faithfully at their tasks and the work of getting out the red -lure went on. - -"You're making fine progress," said Hardgrave. - -"Yes," said Pant, "we'll be able to show a fine profit. That is," his -brow wrinkled, "if we can take it out of here." - -"You'll make it. Never fear." said Hardgrave. "Daego's getting worried. -Another pit-pan load of his blacks went down the river last night. Wait -and see." - -"It's the ghost," smiled Pant. - -Strange as it may seem, though Johnny in his far away jungle hut was -greatly improved in health, his ghost walked nightly upon the sky above -the timber that faced Daego's camp. - -Every night, too, Pant slipped across the river to join the enemy's camp -and to catch the drift of events. He found that these Central Americans, -black and brown alike, had a great fear of ghosts, particularly of white -ghosts. Johnny's ghost hovering there near the clouds threw some into -near hysteria and sent others hurrying down the river. - -It was easy to see, they explained, why this white ghost hovered above -the tree tops. The hot and humid air close to the earth in the jungle has -always been hated and feared by the white man. Above the trees the air is -fresh and crisp. Why, then, should any ghost descend to earth? - -But despite the fact that he did not descend, his presence above them -meant that in time pestilence, a death-dealing fever, a destructive storm -or a flood would descend upon the camp and wipe it from the face of the -earth. - -One person did not believe in the ghost--Daego. He raved and stormed at -his men. Day and night, as if searching for something, he haunted the -banks of the river. More than once Pant barely escaped being discovered -by him. In spite of all this, however, the ghost appeared promptly on -schedule and Daego's ranks grew thinner and thinner. - -"Keep it up, dear ghost," Pant whispered, "keep it up, and in time we'll -have nothing to fear from Daego. Oh!" he sighed, "if only Johnny were -here to enjoy it all!" - -But Johnny was far away in the palm leaf thatched cabin on a stream that -was as strange to those who had battled for his life as it was to him. - -And then one night Johnny's ghost vanished into thin air. - -Before that happened, however, there were many other strange doings on -the upper stretches of Rio Hondo. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - PROVISIONED FOR A LONG JOURNEY - - -Ten days after his discovery there in the abandoned cabin, Johnny -Thompson was ready to travel. He was ready to embark in the dugout of his -new found friends. - -"It will not be long," he assured Jean, "before I will be able to do my -bit with the paddle, to assist you in going wherever you wish to go." -Where that might be he had not the slightest notion. - -One thing puzzled him. As they prepared to leave the cabin, the dugout -was loaded fore and aft with food supplies. In the prow, carefully -wrapped in green palm leaves, were the carcasses of two young peccaries, -killed that very morning. Piled on top of these were three or four dozen -ripe cocoanuts. In the stem were casabas (great potato-like vegetables), -tree melons, breadfruit, and a basket filled with strange little red -tomatoes. - -"Rations for a week," he mused. "How far from home are these people, -anyway?" - -He was soon enough to know. Hardly had the dugout, with Roderick in the -stem as steersman, been pushed from the shore and allowed to take a -downstream course, than the girl, turning upon Johnny one of her most -wonderful smiles, said: - -"I suppose you think we know where we're going; but we don't. We only -know we're on our way." - -"Don--don't know where you're going!" Johnny gasped in astonishment. -"Then you're--" - -"Lost!" The girl's brow wrinkled for a second, then the smile came back. - -"Shake," said Johnny, solemnly stretching forth a hand. "We'll go it -together." - -For a second their hands met Then, as a swirling eddy set the boat -whirling, the girl seized a paddle. - -"You see," she said quietly as they reached more placid water, "we didn't -tell you while you were ill; afraid it would disturb you." - -"It would have," said Johnny. Quite suddenly something had come to him. -"The red lure!" he murmured, quite unconscious of the fact that he spoke -out loud. "When will I ever get back to it?" - -"What is the red lure?" the girl asked in surprise. - -"The red lure? Why, that's my pet name for mahogany, the prince of -priceless woods. If you've ever seen the mirror-like gleam of its -polished surface, if you've seen how like a fire on the hearth at sunset -it is, you know what it means." - -"I have. I do," she said simply. - -"Well," he went on, "I've been given an opportunity to bring down a -sample, one boom full, a hundred thousand feet or so of that matchless -wood from a forest the value of which can scarcely be estimated. I had -made a fine start, too, when I was suddenly driven into the bush. I -promptly got myself lost, and here I am." - -Reading intense interest in her eyes, he told her the whole story of his -adventure thus far. - -"And now," he ended with an uncertain smile, "it seems that we--you, your -brother and I--are all babes in the woods, so to speak." - -"Perhaps it's not quite as bad as that," said Jean. "Bad enough, though. -You see, I've always lived in the tropics with my father. He brought me -here when I was five. My brother, who is three years older, was left -behind in England. - -"He's done a lot of things, my father has,--bananas, cocoanuts, -grapefruit. Just now he is gathering chicle up a lost river. - -"Four months ago Rod came to us. The jungle is all new to him. He was -quite wild about it. So we went on little exploring trips. I love it, -don't you?" - -"Nothing like it," said Johnny. - -"It's all new up in this country. If ever a white man set foot on it he's -forgot it long ago. You cut your way through a jungle, you find a stream, -you launch your dugout, which you've dragged after you, and you drift on -and on through a land that white men have never seen. It's wonderful! -Wonderful!" She closed her eyes as if in a dream. - -"It's dangerous, too," she exclaimed, suddenly starting up. "You may get -lost. We did. One night we slept in the bottom of our dugout--Rod, old -Midge and I. When morning came we found ourselves drifting in the center -of a great river. What do you think of that? Go to sleep in a stream you -can all but reach across, and wake in a broad river. Magic, wouldn't you -call it?" - -"I might." - -"No magic about it, though. A thing had happened to our tie rope. Some -creature had gnawed it square off. And there we were, drifting down a -great black silent river we had never seen before. What were we to do? -What would you have done?" - -"Try to find my way back to the mouth of the little stream from which I -had drifted." - -"That was just what we attempted. That's how we found you. The mouth of -every stream looked alike to us, so all we could do was to go up each one -a short way until we knew it was the wrong stream. We had about decided -that this was the wrong stream, too, when I discovered your hand print in -the mud." - -"And you've spent all this time--" - -"Getting you well." - -"That's wonderfully kind. That's--" - -"Not so much in the tropics. Down here time doesn't matter. We'll find -our way home sooner or later. When we do I'll say: 'Hello, Dad. I'm -back,' and Dad will say, 'So I see, daughter, so I see.'" - -So lightly did these words come tripping from her lips, so rippling was -the laughter following, that for a moment Johnny was deceived. - -"She means it, too," he told himself. "So this is the way of the -tropics." - -The deception lasted for but one moment. The wrinkle across her brow, the -far away look in her eyes, the irregular dip of her paddle, all told -plainer than words that she had been playing a part; that she was -concealing homesickness and hunger for friends; that they might be days, -even weeks, finding their way back, and that in the meantime all her -father's men would be searching the streams and bush for her and her -brother. - -In the midst of all this fresh revelation, their boat suddenly shot from -the creek into a mighty stream of black and sullen waters. - -"The Rio Hondo!" exclaimed Johnny. - -"And down this river is your camp," the girl said quietly. "We will take -you there at once." - -For a moment Johnny was tempted. He had been away for more than two -weeks. What had happened in that time? What of Pant? What of his Caribs? -What of Daego and his men? Had there been a battle? If so, who had won? -Whose camp fires gleamed there in the heart of that magic mahogany -forest, his own or Daego's? He did so want to know the answer to all -these questions. - -But suddenly there flashed through his mind the worried face of the girl. - -"Brave girl!" he breathed as a lump in his throat all but choked him. -"She saved my life. It cost her many days. She must go home. She's a -girl. I'm a boy. I can't let them take me first." - -"No," he exclaimed, snatching the paddle from her hands, "there is time -enough for me." - -With the paddle he deftly turned the boat about. Then, nothing loath, -Roderick and the black woman joined him in the stroke that sent it -speeding upstream. So, once more, Johnny's back was turned on the red -lure. - -That night Johnny dreamed once more of little golden brown women grinding -and spinning, of hunters returning with deer and wild pigs slung across -their backs, and of the three gods,--one black, one green and one of pure -gold. - -Strangely enough, when he awoke from this dream he felt nearer the fabled -Indian village; the dream seemed more real than ever before. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - A BRONZE BEAUTY - - -Once more it was morning on the upper reaches of Rio Hondo. The dugout -was tied to the bared roots of a gnarled old mangrove. The camp of Jean -and Johnny, of Rod and the Carib woman, was on the crest of a high bank -that overlooked the black waters. - -The aged Carib woman was frying cakes made from casabas ground to powder -and mixed with water. Jean was frying slices of meat from the ham of a -peccary. Johnny was engaged in the business of making coffee. After his -first demonstration this had been his allotted task. - -While the coffee was now coming to a boil, he sat alternating gazing away -at the swift flowing waters and looking dreamily at the golden girl whose -hair was glorified by a touch of sunrise mingled with the glow of the -fire. - -"Fine chance she's got of finding her way home," he thought. They had -searched all the previous day for the right creek. "There are a hundred -creeks. They don't know how long they drifted nor how far. Not a chance. -Have to be some other way. Some of her father's men may come upon us, or -we might go back to camp. Someone there might know the way." - -He was meditating on the advisability of proposing this last course when -there came a sudden excited shout from the bush. - -"Roderick!" exclaimed the girl. "Something has happened to him." For a -moment the camp was in commotion, then the Scotch boy came bounding out -of the bush. - -"Jean! Jean!" he shouted, seizing her by the shoulders and waltzing her -about. "I've found a trail, a hard-beaten trail." - -"The Old Portage," the girl cried breathlessly. "The trail that leads to -home!" - -Suddenly crumpling up in her tracks, she sank to the ground and hid her -face in her hands. Unmoved as she had been through all this strange and -trying adventure, now as the end appeared at hand she was for a moment -just a girl with the heart of a girl and a girl's way of shedding tears -in times of great joy or deep sorrow. And who would not like her the -better for it? - -The Old Portage, the brother and sister informed Johnny, was a trail used -alike by Mexicans and Indians. The trail led from Rio Hondo to the upper -waters of their own river, the one on which their father's camp was -located. Neither had been over this trail, but their father had. He had -told them of passing over it. It was an old, old trail, he had explained, -which might have been in existence at the time of the Spanish conquest. - -"There can't be a bit of doubt about its being the trail," said Roderick. -"It's so hard-packed and old that it seems made of cement." - -"It's our trail!" the girl rejoiced. "By to-night, or to-morrow noon at -most, we will be home. And you?" she said suddenly turning to Johnny. - -The question startled him. It had not occurred to him that there was a -possible parting of the ways. - -"You'll be going back to your camp, of course," said Roderick. "You're -quite welcome to our dugout. You may have an opportunity to send it back. -We may pass your way. It's no matter. What's a dugout? You'll be in your -camp by night." - -This time, to his own great stupefaction, Johnny did not pause to reason -why, but simply said: - -"No, since I've come this far, I believe I'll see you home." He looked -straight at the golden girl as he spoke. Had he but known it, he was -taking a rather large contract. - -Roderick looked surprised. The girl looked Johnny frankly in the eye and -said: "That will be very kind of you." - -It was not hard to see that she had greater faith in the skill and -courage of this new found friend than she had in her brother who, though -educated in the way of books, was ignorant enough when it came to river -lore and the ways of the jungle. - -A half hour later, after dragging the dugout to a safe place on the bank, -they prepared packs for a land journey. Johnny tried to think what it had -been that had caused him to make the decision which must take him deeper -into the jungle and farther from his camp. Other than a vague feeling -that the girl who had saved his life might yet need his protection, he -could discover no motive whatsoever. - -"No sense to it," he told himself, "not a bit in the world. But what's -the fun of always having a reason for things, anyway?" - -"'A boy's will is a wind's will, and the thoughts of youth are long, long -thoughts,'" he repeated as he strapped his pack to his shoulders and -prepared to follow his companions through the brush to the hard beaten -ancient trail. - -It was strange, but the trail they followed that day did not seem quite -like a portage trail leading from one river to another. At least it did -not seem so to Johnny, not from the very start. At first his feelings on -this subject were based on nothing tangible. As the day passed and still -they plodded onward, he could have given reasons. He did not give them. -What was the use? Time would tell. - -They crossed no streams, yet they were not following the backbone of a -ridge. That in itself was strange. They carried two canteens. These were -soon emptied. Had it not been for Jean's admirable knowledge of tropical -vegetation they might have suffered from thirst. A vine growing close -beside the trail, which Jean called Bejuco, filled their canteens while -they rested. - -At noon they paused for a light lunch. Mid-afternoon found them plodding -upward; indeed, almost the whole day had showed them a slight up-grade -trail. - -"Should be coming to the divide," Johnny said. - -"Yes, we should." The girl's brow was wrinkled in thought. "Father never -spoke of the divide, but there must be one. That's the place where you -stop going up, and start going down?" - -"Yes." - -"We must come to it soon." - -But they did not. - -Four o'clock found them resting beside a pool. A very strange pool it -was. Circular, with moss and ferns growing to its very brink, its water -clear as air, it seemed like a great funnel set in the earth. - -"As if there had been a sudden cave-in," said Jean. - -Stranger still, they found on the side next to the trail four crude stone -steps leading down to the brink of the pool. - -"Did you never hear your father speak of this pool?" asked Johnny. - -Neither Jean nor her brother had heard of it before. - -"This," thought Johnny to himself, "is not the portage. It is some other -trail. But what trail can it be?" - -Darkness found them still plodding upward. Loath to spend the night -without water, at Jean's direction the boys sought out a tree known as -the "kerosene tree." A match applied to a piece of this wood transforms -it into a torch. - -They had not gone far before the light of their torch was reflected by -water. - -"Another pool," said Roderick, settling down upon the mosses that grew -beside it. - -"Here we camp," said Johnny, holding out his torch that they might get a -more perfect view of the pool. - -It was very much the same as the other, only larger. The stone steps were -not lacking, and beside them was a pillar of stone on which Johnny's -sensitive fingers traced some very definite carvings of strange animals -and men. - -"A relic of old Maya days," he said. - -"What is?" asked Jean. - -"See this pillar beside the steps; the pool itself? Ever read about -them?" - -"No." - -"Built by Mayas, I believe. Interesting people. Hardgrave loaned me a -book about them; the report of some ethnological society. It reads like -one of Dumas' novels. Tell you about them later." - -They were soon busy preparing camp for the night. - -Two hours later, with the still waters of the pool reflecting the red -glow of a half burned out campfire, with Roderick stretched out on the -mosses fast asleep and the Carib woman nodding beneath a nut palm, Johnny -sat beside the girl and told of the wonders of this land in the long ago. - -"Do you see the cocoanut palm in the shadows at the far side of the -pool?" he asked. - -The girl nodded. - -"We think it grew there wild. So it did. But how did it come there? -Scholars say that its great, great, great grandfather, centuries back, -must have been planted there, and that it may have grown beside a -palace." - -"Whose palace?" the girl's voice was low. - -"The palace of a Maya prince." - -"Were there princes?" - -"Princes and great rulers; a mighty people once lived here. Where this -jungle now rules were cornfields, cocoanut plantations, farms, homes, -cities and great temples, temples of stone, fifteen hundred feet long, -two hundred wide, two or three stories high. That is the land of long -ago, and now here is only the jungle and this pool." - -"Do you suppose this pool was here then?" The girl's hand was on his arm. - -"Why not? There are pools in Palestine to-day that were there two -thousands years ago." - -"Then, if it could talk, what tales it could tell!" - -For some time they sat there in silence, each dreaming the magic story in -the fire and the deep, dark pool. - -Long after the girl and the Carib woman had gone to sleep in the shadows, -Johnny sat there. In his mind was a problem. They were on the wrong -trail, he was sure of that now. What trail? It was a secret trail of some -wild people, perhaps Mayas. Whatever people they were, there was a city. -Such a hard beaten trail told of many travelers. What should he do? All -his life he had dreamed of discovering a city, a city of lost people in -some hidden corner of the world. This, perhaps, was his chance. For once -the call of the red lure seemed faint and far away. - -"Three gods," he whispered, "one black, one green and one of pure gold." - -But there was Jean and her brother. They had not guessed, at least -Roderick had not. He was not sure about Jean. They would discover the -truth; too late perhaps to turn back. Had he the right not to warn them? - -Long he pondered the problem. To go on alone was out of the question. His -recent experience had given him an unconquerable fear of being alone in -the bush. Was it selfishness that in the end counciled silence? Who can -tell? At any rate, this was his decision: they would go ahead until Jean -or her brother called a halt; when that would be he could not guess. - -Johnny spent that night beside the dying embers of the camp fire. With -legs doubled up beneath him, arms stretched out before him, head hanging -low, he slept and sleeping dreamed again of golden brown natives, and of -black, green and gold gods. - -In the midst of this dream he awoke. Or did he awake? Did he but half -awake? Was it reality or dream? Whatever it was, he saw by the light of -the dying fire, on the opposite side of the pool where the palm leaves -parted, the face of a little brown man, and above his head gleamed a -spear. For an instant he saw, or at least seemed to see him, then the -palm leaves silently swept together. - -"Gone!" he whispered, starting up. - -He was wide awake now. Had he been awake before? He dropped back into his -place, but not to sleep again. Now the rustle of palm leaves or the snap -of a twig aroused him, and now the long drawn call of some beast of the -jungle sent a thrill through his being. But at last he slept, to dream no -more that night. - -Morning found him the first one stirring. Jean was his close second. - -"Looks like a rocky ridge just up the trail," he said. "Might be wild -turkey up there." - -"Might." - -"Want to try it?" - -Jean nodded. - -The next moment, with Roderick's light rifle, Johnny was leading the way. -After ten minutes' walking they came to a rocky ridge that led into the -jungle. Here the vegetation was thin. By climbing a boulder, and creeping -beneath a low-hanging palm, they were able to make their way forward. - -They had just crept forward for some distance when, of a sudden, Johnny -held up a finger of warning. From somewhere ahead of them came a drumming -sound accompanied by a beating of wings. - -"Turkey strut," Johnny whispered. "C'mon." - -Together, scarcely breathing, they crept forward. Suddenly rounding a -pile of moss-grown rocks, they saw the turkey. - -It was a magnificent sight. Mounted upon a boulder that served as a -pedestal, the sun turning the touch of bronze on his back to a plate of -burnished gold and his red comb to a fiery torch, was the most -magnificent wild gobbler Johnny had ever seen. - -With a quick intake of breath, the girl touched Johnny's arm. Without the -slightest sound he moved the rifle toward her. A shake of the head, a -finger pointed at the bird, told him to shoot. - -His hand trembled slightly, but his aim was true. A crack of the rifle -was followed for a moment by a mad beating of wings, then all was still. - -"You--you got him," the girl exulted. - -Leaping to her feet she sprang over the rocks to at last find a seat upon -the throne from which the winged monarch had so lately fallen. - -"This," she exclaimed, "is what I call life. I've always lived in the -wilds. I will always want to. I've always wanted to go back, back, back -into the wilderness, to discover something magnificent there. I never -knew exactly what that would be until last night. When you told me last -night of the Mayas and their wonderful cities, I knew; a city, a -magnificent city filled with rare silks, jewels and gold." - -Johnny started. What was this? Did she know? Would she follow the trail -even though she knew it to be the wrong one? Was she following a rainbow -to find the pot of gold? - -"All that happened long ago," he said, speaking of the Mayas. "The -riches, glory, beauty and power of their civilization perished centuries -ago." - -"Oh," she whispered as her head drooped with disappointment. "But then," -she exclaimed, "who knows what is back of this wilderness? On the map it -is marked 'unexplored.' It is unexplored. No white man has ever been -over--over--" she caught herself to stammer on, "has been--been across -this great bush to the beyond. There may be--there must be just one city, -one gorgeous city left." Standing upon the rock, she threw her arms wide -as she exclaimed: "There must be! There must!" - -Would they go on over that trail to the great beyond? What call could be -stronger? What fear could hinder? In vain Johnny told himself he must go -back, back to Pant and the red lure, back to fight the treacherous Daego. -All in vain. He owed it to this magnificent girl's father to take her -back. In vain he recalled old Hardgrave's words: "They killed all white -men who came to their camp except me." They must go on. They would go on. - -"Johnny," said the girl suddenly, "we ought to have some sort of--of -signal." - -"Signal?" Johnny was puzzled. - -"Yes. Something one could shout or sing, if lost from the other." - -"I have it!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I read a story a short time ago. In -that story the heroine taught the hero a strange sort of song. I believe -it was called 'An Indian Love Song.' Anyhow, the first part, or prelude, -went something like this: - - 'Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo.'" - -Her clear voice rose high as she sang the notes. A distant cliff caught -them and threw them back to her. - -"Sing it!" she commanded. - -As best he could, Johnny repeated: - - "Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo." - -Then they had a good laugh over the broken echoes that came back to them. - -It all seemed very melodramatic and unreal to Johnny then, but the time -was to come when he would cling to those notes as a drowning man to a -spar. - -By the light of the early morning sun they ate their breakfast; by that -same light resumed the trail that led to the great unknown. - -Roderick, who had lived his life on streets and in houses, suspected -nothing. The black woman, like a slave, did not think. But the girl? She -knew. Every glance she sent back to Johnny told him that she knew, and he -gloried in her courage. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - PURRING SHADOWS - - -As Johnny's interest in the red lure lost much of its intensity, Pant's -seemed to grow stronger. He left no stone unturned if its turning would -in any way hinder the treacherous Daego and his band. - -"Johnny's ghost is doing much," he told himself, "but it's not enough. -There must be other ways of annoying him." - -He thought of Daego's black boats that moved by night and of the -stationary engine he had heard pop-popping in the heart of the -wilderness. - -"I'll go down there and look into that engine business," he mused. "There -may be something to it, something big. I'll go down to-night." - -He left camp in his low, black dugout that night and paddled swiftly down -the river. For some time he drove straight on; then of a sudden, as his -keen eye caught a speck of light that flashed on and then blinked out -like a match that is lighted and blown out, he swerved to the shore, -threw a rope over the low limb of a mangrove, then sat there motionless, -watching the river. - -His thoughts were of that Spanish half-caste, Daego. "Isn't it strange," -he mused. "There's a man worth millions. If he never made another cent -and lived a thousand years he'd never come to want. Yet he's so greedy -that he does crooked things that he may gain more. If someone tries to -break into the mahogany or chicle business, instead of helping them in a -brotherly fashion as he could well afford to do, he tries to throttle -them. - -"I suppose," he said thoughtfully, "it's all in the start one gets. If he -starts out crooked, it doesn't seem to matter much whether he succeeds or -fails, he remains crooked to the end. One would think--" - -Of a sudden his musings were cut short off. Something was moving out -there in the water. Something like a shadow. Pant scarcely breathed as he -watched that long shadow until it had disappeared up a bend in the river. - -"That's no shadow," he muttered as he sat up. "It's a pit-pan, one of -those dugouts the natives use for coming on long journeys up the river. -Must have been sixty feet long. The most marvelous pit-pan that ever was. -Those pit-pans they used in other days had at least a dozen men at the -paddles. I didn't see a single man, and still it moved straight on -upstream. Seems like I heard a purring sound. Surely here is mystery--a -purring shadow." - -"Hardgrave spoke of Daego's black boats," he said to himself. "That thing -must be one of them. And there's nothing good about the thing they're up -to. Men don't go creeping up the river in the silence of the night with -an eel-like craft such as that for nothing. If I can find out what it's -all about and can trap one of his pit-pans I'll be in a way to keep him -so busy he won't so much as have time to find out when our raft starts -down the river." - -He arrived at the mouth of the creek, up which he had located the -pop-popping of a stationary engine a half hour later. Taking a chance of -being seen, he began skirting the bushes at the edge of the creek. For -this move he was thankful. He had not gone a mile when, upon rounding a -cocoanut palm that overhung the water, he came in sight of two long, dark -objects that lay close to shore, half concealed by foliage. Seen from a -little distance they resembled nothing quite so much as great, black -water snakes asleep by the bank. - -"Pit-pans!" he murmured as he came closer. - -Pit-pans indeed they were, slender boats cut from the trunk of a tree, -sixty or more feet in length. - -"Blockade runners! Black devils!" he muttered as he passed. He dared not -stop to inspect them. There might be men on the bank, watching. - -Soon he caught the pop-pop of that stationary engine which had once so -mystified him. This time, instead of turning back, he paddled straight -on. A mile, two, three miles of water passed beneath his craft. Still he -moved steadily forward until, when it seemed he must be almost upon the -engine, he suddenly discovered that the sound was behind and to the right -of him. - -"Back in the bush," he told himself. "Passed the trail without seeing -it." - -Turning his boat about, he drifted slowly. - -"There it is. Drift down thirty yards and hide my boat." - -This done, he struggled back along the bank to the entrance of the path. - -Following a winding trail, with the sound of the motor growing louder, -ever louder, with his heart keeping tune to its throbbing, he made his -way forward until caution bade him slink into the shadows of the great -leaves of a cohune tree. - -There, with only the ceaseless throb of the motor to disturb his -reflection, he had time to think things through. How was this all to end? -His men were making progress, but Tivoli had told him that many of the -men were becoming frightened by the wild tales they were hearing of the -doings of the man-eating jaguar. Would fright drive them back down the -river before their task was completed? He wished Johnny was here. Then he -would feel more free to hunt that beast down. Must do it, anyway, very -soon. - -And what was Daego plotting up the river? He could not bribe the Caribs. -Would there be a fight in the end? Well, if so, Daego would not find them -unprepared. He was training his men in a new form of warfare. They were -handy with their long-bladed machetes, very handy indeed. Daego should -see! - -He glanced about him. It was strange that he should be in such a place at -such a time. Yet he wanted to know, to be sure. If things were as he -thought, he'd make Daego no end of trouble. He'd trap one of those black -shadows of his, show him up. - -"Trap one," he whispered, "but how?" - -This was a puzzler. Moments of reflection, and then an inspiration. - -"The very thing! Rivers have been blocked against war boats by chains. -This is better than chains; it floats. It--" - -His whisper broke short off. Someone was coming. They carried a lantern. -He had not thought of a light. What if they should catch sight of him. -Shuddering, he shrank farther into the bushes. Just then he caught sight -of the foremost man's face. - -"Daego!" he breathed. "Daego himself!" - -As he listened he crowded farther and farther back among the palm leaves. -He was hearing voices, many voices. They were talking in Spanish. He did -not understand Spanish. It was not what they said that increased his -fright, but the numbers of them. - -"Must be twelve or fifteen of them," he thought with a shudder. "What -they won't do to me if one of them chances to spy me!" - -By great good fortune the leader, Daego, passed without looking to right -or left. With him passed the bright light and much of the danger of -detection. Pant watched the passing line with increasing interest. The -men following Daego went in pairs, one before and one behind. Suspended -on long poles between each pair was a square, black box which, from the -bending of the poles and the labored tread of the men, would appear to be -heavy. - -For a moment the boy's imagination played tricks on him. These men were -ghosts of the pirates and buccaneers who inhabited these waters a century -or more ago. The heavy black boxes were filled with doubloons and pieces -of eight. - -Then with a mental jerk he brought himself back to reality. These men -were men of to-day. The boxes they carried were indeed treasure chests, -but chests of power, not of gold. - -"Batteries," Pant murmured. "There is no need to go farther. I see it -all." - -And so he did. The long, black pit-pans near the river's mouth were only -waiting these black boxes to give them the power to steal silently up the -river. They were electrically driven. The stationary engine back there -was connected to an electric generator. By day it was at work charging -batteries. By night these batteries were busy driving the long black -shadows with their burdens up the river. What sort of freight did they -carry? That he could not tell. - -"Have to trap them to find out," he told himself. - -As it happened, he found out before he trapped them. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - FORGOTTEN TRIBES - - -Johnny Thompson and Jean found it strangely fascinating to be marching -straight on over the beaten trail that led to the great unknown. It was -exciting, entrancing, this sharing a secret which had not been so much as -whispered by either of them, yet the glances and curious smiles which the -girl bestowed upon him told Johnny plainer than words that she knew; -moreover, that she knew he knew. - -"But pshaw!" he told himself with a sudden shake as if to waken himself -from a dream. "There may be nothing to it, probably isn't. There probably -are many hard-beaten trails leading away into this wilderness. Why should -this particular one lead to the home of a wild Maya? Probably end in -scattered settlements of Mexicans in some camp. It may end--" he caught -his breath, "we may have gone in a circle. It may end in Daego's camp. -Pretty mess if it does! Have to be careful!" - -So, beneath the flickering lights and drifting shadows of palms, over -ridges, through low depressions where there were no streams, now -frightening droves of small wild pigs from their sleep and now sending -flocks of brilliant colored cockatoos fluttering away into the bush, they -traveled on. There were more pools now. By noon they had passed three. -The air was cooler. They were ascending to higher altitudes. Johnny took -long, deep breaths and thought how like it was to the air of the -Cumberlands in Kentucky. Now and again, through the palm leaves, he -caught glimpses of distant scenes. - -"Mountains over there to the left," he said to Jean. "Looks two or three -thousand feet high." - -"Johnny," the girl stopped suddenly in the trail (the others had gone on -before), "where are we going?" - -"I don't know. Do you?" Johnny's face was sober. - -"No, I don't." - -"Want to go back?" - -"No--o. But I feel sort of shivery. It's so strange!" - -"Yes, it is. But then, all life is strange, and death is strangest of -all. Besides, I guess we're doing the logical thing. We're lost in the -wilderness. What do men do when they're lost? Find the nearest human -being and ask the way home. That's what we're doing. And from the signs, -I'd say we were almost there. I saw fresh prints of bare feet beside the -last pool." - -"So did I. And Johnny, look!" she held up a short string of small, round -beads. - -"Green," he said with a low exclamation. "Green jade!" - -Again he seemed to hear Hardgrave running on in a low, melodious tone so -suggestive of great secrets: "Three gods; a black one, a green one and -one of pure gold." - -"Green--green jade," he thought to himself. "That's it, to be sure. The -green god would be carved from jade." - -To the girl he said, "That's a rare find. Ever see any like it before?" - -"No, never." - -"We'd better go on. Ought not to get separated from the rest." - -As they hurried on, Johnny heard a slight movement among the palms to the -right of him and for a second, above the tallest leaf, there flashed a -gleaming blade. - -"Did--did you see it?" the girl asked, gripping his arm. - -Johnny nodded. - -"Wha--what was it?" - -"A spear point, I'd say." He spoke as calmly as he could. - -"Now, I am beginning to be afraid," she said. - -"No use being afraid now. We've gone too far. Walk straight on as if you -had seen nothing. We'll see more." - -They did. It was uncanny, unnerving in the extreme. There came a gleam -from a bush and a brown face appeared, to vanish instantly. Then there -came a rustle and a low call. - -"It--it's spooky," whispered the girl, keeping close to Johnny's side. - -He wondered how the affair would end. Who were these people? Were they -really wild Mayas? He thought of their own weapons. Few enough they were. -He was carrying Roderick's light rifle and there was some extra -ammunition strapped in his pack. A good machete hung at his side. - -"But what are we against so many? There must be no fight." - -Yet there was to be a fight, such a strange one as he could not have -dreamed of, and that right soon. - -As they rounded a turn in the trail, a sudden, piercing scream rent the -air. The next moment a beautiful Indian girl dressed in a strange garment -of scarlet, with her hair streaming behind her, came racing wildly down -the trail and behind her, in mad pursuit, came the strangest creature it -had ever been Johnny's lot to behold. - -As heavy as an ox, but shorter of leg and broader of back, the creature -had such a face as an elephant might present had he been robbed of half -his trunk. Rage gleamed from his small, black eyes. From his side there -protruded the shaft of a spear and this, no doubt, was the cause of his -sudden anger. - -To be snatched from the silence of the jungle to the sudden strain of -action is like being dragged from the deep dark of midnight to the -glaring light of day. For a second Johnny stood petrified. Then, born as -he was for action, and trained for it, too, he sprang forward. The -shoulder straps of his pack were thrown off and the pack struck the trail -with a thump. Then, like an ancient warrior, Johnny lifted the light -rifle and prepared to stand his ground. - -"Look out!" screamed Jean. "It's a mountain cow, a tapir. He's mad with -pain. He--he'll trample you to death." - -With one hand Johnny pushed her into the brush; with the other he -steadied his rifle. Down the trail came Indian girl and tapir. - -The tapir was gaining, and so in line with the girl that Johnny could not -fire. Now he was four yards behind, now three, now two. And now, with a -terrifying scream, the Indian girl tripped and fell. - -For a second it seemed that nothing could save her. By great good fortune -she rolled over once. This brought her to the side of the beaten path. -The tapir, too near to halt or swerve, flew on by. - -Not to be thwarted, as if realizing that here at his feet lay the darling -of the tribesmen who had sent the spear into his side, he stopped short -with a mad snort to whirl about and renew his attack. - -This was Johnny's chance. He now had a broadside shot and could reach the -heart. The rifle was a light one, far too light to be used on such game -unless the bullet found a vulnerable spot. - -The end of the Indian girl must soon have come, had not Johnny, taking -quick, but sure aim, pressed the trigger and sent a small but paralyzing -bullet into the heart of the maddened beast. - -It was a dramatic moment. For a moment the tapir stood swaying backward -and forward, then plunged headlong into the bush, twitched convulsively -for a few seconds and then lay quite still. He was stone dead. - -Hardly had the tapir fallen when Johnny was treated to a sudden surprise. -He was gripped tightly about the knees. Looking down, he met a pair of -dark eyes looking into his. It was the Indian girl, stammering words in -her own tongue. Johnny understood not one word of it, but knew well -enough that he was being called a brave one, a hero, a young god. And, -having read all this in her eyes, he did not know whether to laugh or -smile. He ended by doing nothing at all until, finding himself surrounded -by a half hundred little brown men all armed with bows and spears, and -having become conscious of Jean close beside him, he stooped, and lifting -the brown girl to her feet, placed her hand in the white girl's as he -murmured that word which everyone of whatever land or tongue must -understand by knowledge or instinct: - -"Sister," he said, simply and quietly. - -There were tears in the brown girl's eyes, tears in Jean's as well; yet -they smiled through their tears. Who can tell how strong was the bond of -friendship welded at that moment? - -It would have been difficult for either Jean or Johnny to tell how the -movement started, but before they realized what was happening, a line of -march formed along the trail. Before them were many brown hunters with -their weapons; in long procession others followed, while close beside -them was the Indian girl. Just as the procession started, awe-struck and -silent, Roderick and the Carib woman materialized from somewhere to join -them. - -A wild, weird chant was struck up, then all moved slowly forward. - -"How strange! How--how fascinating!" whispered Jean. - -"Like a march of triumph," Johnny whispered back. - -In and out among the palms the procession wound. There appeared to be no -end to that trail. Whence had come these people? Whither were they bound? - -"Now where are we?" Johnny asked, an air of mystery in his voice. - -As if in answer to his query, a great brown shaft, elaborately carved and -gray with the moss of centuries, reared itself up before them. Beyond -this they came at once into cleared spaces where were cornfields and -pastures with goats grazing in them. Beside the trail were stone cottages -with thatched roofs. Beside these dwellings women sat weaving cloth on -narrow looms while others working over strange stone bowls beat soaked -corn into batter. - -"The wild Mayas," the girl whispered with a thrill in her tone. "We have -found them! At last we have found them!" - -"And they have found us," Johnny's tone was solemn. "We are in their -hands. This is their land. When shall we leave it? Ever?" - -"Ev--ever?" - -"Perhaps never. Who knows?" - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE HIDDEN CITY - - -It was strange, weird, fascinating, this march of the Mayas. The rhythmic -chant, the all but inaudible pat-pat of their bare feet, the sighing wind -in the palms that waved like plumes above their heads, all this stamped -deep into the minds of the boy and the girl impressions that time will -never erase. - -It was a march, a grand processional, but where to? What was to be the -end of it? Armed to the teeth, these men had but a short half hour before -been following, surrounding them, perhaps planning to kill them as -intruders in their secret land. What of the present? Was this a march -done in their honor? Was Johnny being thought of as a hero because of -having saved the life of that beautiful Indian girl, and was this march -given in his honor? Or was it a ceremonial march which would end with -their being sacrificed to some gods, black, green or gold? - -As he pondered these questions, Johnny remembered something he had read -in Hardgrave's book, something that had made his blood run cold. The -Mayas did offer sacrifices to their gods, or at least they had in olden -times. And now, as he recalled it, he understood the presence of those -pools along the trail. The Maya country was a land without streams. It -was a limestone country. All the water ran in underground grottos. From -time to time one of these grottos caved in, forming a pool. That was the -secret of the pools they had seen. Some of these pools held more terrible -secrets. Some of them were thousands of years old. A party of scientists, -coming upon one of these in a territory that had been abandoned by the -Mayas, had found not only rich treasure in ornaments of gold, silver, -onyx and jade, but human skulls as well. The lives of those whose skulls -lay hidden for so many years beneath the water had been sacrificed to -some god. What god? The god of the rising sun? of the noon-day sun? of -the setting sun? of fire? of water? Who could tell. There lay their -skulls, mute testimony of the death they had died. - -"So we, too, may die?" Johnny whispered to himself. "Who knows?" - -As for Jean, knowing nothing of this, she was enjoying the experience to -its full. And why not? Why dream of tragedy in the sunlight of a glorious -day? - -The march came to a halt before a long, low building, and at once an -elderly man, dressed in an embroidered cape which, with his dignified -bearing, gave him quite an air of distinction, came out to greet them. - -At once the beautiful Indian girl broke away from the ranks of the -warriors and began a long and excited speech. Accompanied by many -gestures and many a nod of her head in the direction of the white trio, -this speech was impressive indeed. - -"What's it all about?" asked Roderick. - -"Don't understand Maya," smiled Johnny, "but as far as I can tell, she is -Pocahontas and I'm John Smith. She is pleading for my life before the -great chief. If I'm not mistaken there's a strong family resemblance. -She's his daughter." - -"Pleading for your life?" exclaimed Jean. - -"My life and yours perhaps," Johnny smiled. "These Mayas have a way of -sacrificing folks to their gods. Also I've heard that white people are -not at all welcome. - -"Roderick," he said suddenly, "what sort of god would you prefer to be -sacrificed to--a black one, a green one or one of pure gold?" - -Roderick shuddered, but did not reply. - -"Surely you are romancing!" exclaimed Jean. - -"Indeed I'm not. Never was more in earnest in my life. Men have -disappeared into the jungle. Many have never come back. Do you think all -have perished of hunger and fever? Not much. I read it all in a book. -Besides, Hardgrave has told me." - -It was the girl's turn to shudder. - -"I'll put the question more picturesquely," Johnny said, turning to Jean. -"Would you prefer to be sacrificed to the god of the rising sun, the -noon-day sun, or the setting sun?" - -"The rising sun," she answered quickly. "The morning is so full of -promise. Surely that would be the god to choose if there really were such -gods, and one were to be sacrificed." - -All this talk came to a sudden end as the chief, stepping forward, took -first the hand of the white girl, then that of her companion. After that, -nodding to Roderick and the Mayas, he led them into his house. - -There, seated on mats, with a cool breeze floating in from open windows, -they were soon being served to a refreshing drink and to food that was -familiar, but that seemed passing strange in these weird surroundings. - -"Hot tamales!" Johnny exclaimed as a great mahogany tray of tamales was -set before them. - -"Mm-m!" murmured Jean as she tasted hers. "Wild turkey tamale. How -delicious!" - -"They should understand the making of them," said Johnny as he took a -generous mouthful. "Unless I am mistaken the Mayas invented them. They -probably served them on plates of gold before Columbus discovered -America; yes, or even Solomon found his mines." - -"How--how picturesque! How romantic!" murmured the girl. - -Johnny agreed with her, but in his mind many questions were constantly -bobbing up demanding an answer. - -That night as he lay alone on a comfortable bed of mats with a heavy home -woven blanket for protection from the night chill of this higher -altitude, he thought of many things. - -As he heard the steady pat-pat of a sentry's feet as he paced before the -door of that long, low house, he realized that they were virtually -prisoners. They were being treated very well, and would be in the future, -he hoped. But would the Mayas allow them to return home? He doubted it. -The trails to this hidden city of the wild Mayas--it was truly a city and -already Johnny had seen thousands of the little brown people--were secret -trails. How Roderick had come to stumble upon the trail they had -followed, he could not tell. Well enough the native chief knew that to -allow these uninvited guests to depart was to throw away the key to his -castle and city. - -What, then, would happen? Would they be detained there indefinitely, be -given the privilege of becoming members of the tribe, of learning the -secrets of their ceremonies and initiated into hidden mysteries? - -"And in the end perhaps marry the princess," Johnny chuckled. "Grand -little old fairy story, this." - -Strangely enough, at this moment he felt the call of the red lure as -never before. As he closed his eyes he could see great trees come -crashing down, see little tractors dragging massive logs through the -bush, see those logs splash into the water to form a raft to at last go -drifting silently down the river. This was to have been his great -venture. He was to have tapped a primeval forest of priceless wood. That -wood was to have been brought to enrich the world. The richest lady of -the land might not disdain to have her boudoir furnished with rich -appointments made from this wood. A king or president might be proud to -lay his most important documents upon its shiny surface. There was to -have come from this success, riches, and a consciousness of fine -achievement. - -"And I gave it up for what?" he asked himself soberly. "For adventure, -for the joy of discovery. And for a pal, a golden-haired girl. The girl; -I owe all to her. She gave me back life when it was all but gone. But I -was not the only one who chose. She chose as well. Together we chose -adventure, discovery. The lure of the unknown beckoned and we came. If we -escape will we win renown? Will they say we have added a chapter to the -world's golden store of knowledge? Hardly. We are not great scholars. We -cannot bring back a detailed report; don't know how. We can only say, 'we -have been, we have seen,' and that is all. And yet, what adventure, what -lure of discovery!" - -With that he fell asleep. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - PANT SETS A TRAP - - -The evening following his trip down the river to Daego's stationary -engine, during the twilight hour Pant might have been found in the -largest bunk house of the camp. A tropical wilderness seemed a queer -place for one to be teaching bayonet practice, yet that was exactly what -he was doing. He had learned these tactics in a summer military camp. -Now, with five-foot mahogany clubs in lieu of guns and bayonets, his -Caribs were being taught to stab and fend, to dodge and swing, and to -perform all those tricks that saved many a Yankee boy at Chateau Thierry -and Belleau Wood. - -Why was he doing this? Had you asked him why, he would perhaps have told -you that Johnny had asked him to do it before he went away. Johnny would -be coming back. He would expect to have it done. Besides, the big battle -was coming some of these days, the fight to a finish with Daego's men. It -was well to be prepared in every way for that fight. Daego's band still -outnumbered them. He might get further reinforcements. - -"If only we could reduce their number somehow," the boy sighed as, -stepping from the bunk room into the gathering darkness, he left his men -to finish their practice alone. - -"We may do it, too," he chuckled, throwing a glance toward the little -shack which had been Johnny's office, and from which at this moment there -came strange noises and a mysterious glow of light. - -Hardgrave's laboratory, however, was not Pant's destination. He was going -much farther that night. - -Recent reports of fresh ravages committed by the man-eating jaguar had -thrown his men into a panic. One man had left camp. Others were -threatening to do so. Something must be done about it, and that at once. - -Lowering a mysterious burden into the bottom of the dugout, and leaning a -heavy rifle across it, Pant paddled away down the creek. - -Having located the end of the rough trail which Johnny had cut to the -foot of the bread-nut tree, he bent down and began creeping cat-like -through the brush. Half way to the tree he stumbled and all but fell. -Like a flash he was on his feet and three yards from the spot. Something -moving beneath his feet had caused him to stumble. His breath came quick. -Had he stepped on one of those great, poisonous snakes that infest the -tropical jungle? He would hazard a flash of his pocket light. - -For a second an oblong circle of light appeared on the back trail, then -the boy laughed a low laugh. An armadillo, one of those strange, -harmless, turtle-like creatures, had lain asleep in the trail. It was -this he had stepped on, and not a snake. - -Greatly relieved, he resumed his stealthy journey down the trail. Some -forty feet from the bread-nut tree he paused to peer about him in the -darkness. Having found one of those low palms whose leaves, three or four -feet across, are quite solid save for their ragged edges, he began -silently slashing off leaves until he had quite a pile. Some of these he -spread three or four deep on the damp earth. Then, lying flat down, he -drew others over him until he was almost covered. - -"Wouldn't want an elephant to come down this trail," he chuckled to -himself. - -A few moments later there sounded from that mass of green palm leaves -such a long-drawn-out whistle as the little deer of these forests uses to -call his mate. - -Pant was not hunting deer, but jaguars. In fact, he was hunting one -jaguar, the killer. Once in the jungles of India he had used an -exceedingly powerful red light to frighten a tiger. Now, with the aid of -dry batteries from the power boat, he had arranged a bright red light. He -hoped with his deer call to entice the killer to enter the trail, then to -hold him at bay with the red light until he had a fair shot at him. - -It was, he knew right well, a hazardous undertaking. Jaguars might not -fear a red light. Who could tell about that? The killer might scent him -and, turning hunter, leap upon him from the low boughs of the black -tamarind trees that grew near. This he must risk. Pant had an interest in -Johnny's quest for the red lure. He had an interest in the Caribs. He had -a still wider interest in all humanity. If all reports were true, if this -great cat with the mark above his eye had done the killing he was -credited with, he should be killed. Pant felt it his duty to attempt this -hard and dangerous task. - -So his whistle sounded on through the night. Now there was a movement off -to the left. At once Pant was all attention. At last he discovered that -this noise was caused by a large lizard hunting among decaying vegetation -for bugs. - -Again the whistle. Again a movement, this time among the branches of a -tamarind tree. Pant's heart beat loudly. Was the great cat above him? Was -he at this moment preparing for a spring? Could the cat know that under -those palm leaves was a tempting supper? - -But no, Pant caught the flap-flap of wings. "An owl or a parrot," he -breathed in disgust. - -But what was this? Before him in the path there had come a sudden thump. -Ah, this was it, the very thing he had hoped for. The jaguar, in answer -to his call, had leaped to the ground in the very center of the trail. - -Now was the time to act. With trembling fingers he adjusted his light, -drew his rifle into position, then threw on the catch. - -At once a glare of red light, streaming down the trail, brought out every -leaf and twig with startling clearness. - -Imagine the boy's surprise at seeing not a crouching jaguar with fiery -eyes gleaming, but a small, timid, short-horned deer, who blinked blindly -at the light. - -"Huh!" Pant breathed. "Call worked too well." - -But wait; what was this? There came a movement from farther down the -trail. Pant looked. One look froze him cold. Behind the deer, tail -lashing madly, ready for a spring, was the killer. - -As Pant saw, the deer saw, too. For ten seconds the frightened creature -hesitated. Beside him, to right and left, was impenetrable bush; behind -him a jaguar, his mortal enemy; before him the great unknown, the glare -of red light. Ten seconds, and then with a bound he was away; dashing -straight at the red light. And after him, in great swinging leaps, came -the terrible cat. - -There are times when the drama of life moves so rapidly that we can do -little more than get out of the way and let things pass. When Pant saw -the jaguar and the deer there was not even time for that. The best he -could do was to flatten himself against his couch of leaves. - -On they came. The deer decided to brave the terrifying light. On came the -deer and on came the jaguar. Pant dared not breathe. Now they were upon -him. Then came the cutting dig of hoofs in the boy's back, followed by a -whirl of air. - -What of the killer? Was that breath of air the sign of his passing? Had -he cleared the green heap that was Pant, at a leap? Pant could not tell. -For a long time he dared not move. Even after he had caught a distant -splash which told that the deer had taken to the water, he did not move -at once. - -At last, cautiously snapping off his light and gripping his rifle, he -sprang to his feet. - -He listened intently. There was no sound. He tried to pierce the darkness -but could see nothing. - -At last, after throwing his lighting apparatus over his shoulder and -adjusting his rifle for a quick shot, he made his way back over the trail -to the boat. Even here nothing moved. What had happened? Had the killer -followed the deer into the river? Had he given up the trail to go -prowling back into the forest? One thing was certain; the hunt was ended -for that night. Pant's nerves were too unsteady to give the red flash a -second trial. Besides, he was not at all sure it would work; in fact, he -felt reasonably certain it wouldn't. - -"I'll get you yet," he said stoutly with the shake of a clenched fist in -the general direction of the jungle. With that he took to his dugout and -paddled home. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - THE SPANISH GIRL REAPPEARS - - -For three nights Pant had not visited Daego's camp. Nor had he in all -this time seen Johnny's ghost walking out upon the air. That it had -walked, he felt quite sure. The night before, a large dugout, loaded with -the half-caste's men, had been seen to go slipping down the river. - -"Just go gliding about up there in my dugout," Pant told himself an hour -after darkness set in. - -He pushed his boat some distance up the river, then, lying flat down in -it, allowed it to drift downstream. - -"Might see that ghost again to-night," he said, chuckling. - -In this position it was impossible for him to see perils ahead. A -slanting snag caught his drifting boat and set it tilting. Before he -could realize what was happening he found himself struggling in the black -waters. - -Striking out with both hands, he made a grab for the overturned boat. To -his dismay he heard it give forth a sucking sound, then saw it sink, prow -first, in ten feet of water. - -"Darn!" he muttered. "Old dugout. Waterlogged. What now?" - -There was only one answer to this: shore as quickly as possible. What if -it were the enemy's shore? There were alligators in these waters, great -scaly creatures ten feet long. He had heard one barking not three rods -from him but a moment before. - -"Here for the night," he groaned, as he reached a leaning tree trunk and -climbed upon it. - -This seemed true enough. The tree grew at the edge of a marsh. There were -alligators in the marsh. To travel that marsh in the dark was to court -death. - -Imagine his relief when, just as he had resigned himself to this hard -fate, he saw the dark form of a canoe drift into the shadows. - -So surprised and overjoyed was he that, casting caution to the winds, he -hailed the solitary boatman. - -To his surprise, the answer that came back was in the high-pitched notes -of a girl. - -"Who--who are you?" came in the same girlish voice as the canoe halted, -twice its length from the tree. - -"Pant--Panther Eye," replied the boy, not knowing what else to say. - -"Oh!" - -To the boy's immense surprise, there was something in the girl's tone -that told plainer than words that to her his name was not strange. More -surprising still was the manner in which, at sound of this name, she -threw all reserve aside and paddled quickly to the tree and invited him -to drop into the stern. - -Once he was aboard, she sent her boat shooting away across the river. -Ignoring the entrance to the river trail, she drove on down the river and -entered the creek, at last bringing her canoe up with a bump at the -entrance of the creek trail. - -Pant remembered Johnny's story of the strange Spanish girl who had -visited their camp. Something seemed to tell him that this was the same -girl. He did not have long to wait. - -During all their journey the girl had remained silent. Now she spoke: - -"I was here before." - -"I--I thought so," said Pant. "Why?" - -"I wanted to speak to you, or your friend. You had been deserted by your -crew. We knew why. We--we might have helped you." - -"Who are 'we'?" - -"Father and I. What brought you up to the Rio Hondo?" the girl asked -quickly. - -"The red lure." - -"The red----" - -"Mahogany." - -"And is that all?" There was a searching note in her words. - -"Quite all. Believe me, it is quite enough. Perhaps you've never felt the -charm of it. Precious, priceless, perfect wood--mahogany, the red lure. -That's Johnny's name for it." - -"I know," said the girl, "I, too, have felt it. I told father that was -all. He was not sure. My friend," the girl's voice dropped to a whisper, -"I have helped you a little to-night." - -"A lot." - -"A little. You may be able to help us a great deal, father and me. We're -in trouble, not our trouble, but our country's trouble. - -"Perhaps I shouldn't tell you," she hesitated, "but I guess it's right I -should. My father is deputy for this territory. It is his duty to see -that the laws are obeyed. Someone is breaking our laws and we cannot -catch them. Not little things that do not matter much, but big things -that mean certain death to many." She paused for a moment. To their ears -came the silent rush of water. There is something dreadfully solemn about -the rush of black waters through the dark. - -"These laws-breakers," the girl continued, "are smuggling two things to -our people--rifles and rum. You know what that means in Mexico. Rifles -and rum mean revolution; cruel, senseless revolution! The Governor of the -state of Quintanaroo is a good, kind man. Revolution could never bring a -better government. But the people are simple-minded. Rum maddens their -hearts. Rifles make them want to fight. Someone is selling them both at a -great price, and we cannot catch them. One man is suspected, and that one -is----" - -"Daego?" - -"Daego. But we can prove nothing. Every motor boat is searched, but each -one brings only food, clothing and tools for his camp." - -All at once, as Pant sat there listening to this girl, so earnest, yet so -young, so eager to help her people, he realized that a Divine will, -higher than his own, had sent him here and that his greatest mission, a -moral mission, was just before him. - -"I--I think I can help you," he whispered. "I know I can." - -Before his mind's eye a black shadow crept up the river and in his memory -there echoed still the pop-pop of that stationary engine away in the -bush. - -"Give me a day, two days," he said. "Come back here day after to-morrow, -two hours after dark." - -"All right, my friend, and may God prosper you! We are your friends. -Good-bye!" - -Pant stepped upon the shore and the canoe shot silently away in the -night. - -"We are your friends." How sweet were those words spoken to a lonely boy -in the heart of a wilderness! - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - PANT SPRINGS THE TRAP - - -Pant's conference with the girl at the creek landing on the appointed -night was short and to the point. The girl's father was to station a -company of his men in a cluster of cocoanut palms at a certain point on -the river's brink an hour after dark on the following night. - -"Daego's pit-pans may not come that night," said Pant. "We have no means -of telling. But we will watch, one night, two, three if necessary." - -"Yes, a month," said the girl. - -"And your father's men will be there?" - -"Yes." - -"Depend upon it, the trap will be set." - -"Thank you, so much. And my father thanks you. The best and truest of our -people thank you." - -Once more the girl vanished into the night. - -Next evening, just after nightfall, three strange dories might have been -seen stealing from the mouth of the creek. Behind them, wriggling and -twisting with the ripple and flow of the water, came a serpent-like -affair hundreds of feet in length. The dories came from the Carib sail -boats. They were strongly manned by Carib crews. - -Leaving the creek, they moved slowly up the river. When they had reached -a point a mile above the mouth of the creek, they turned their prows -toward shore. Once there, they tied the long trailer to a Yamra tree. - -This accomplished, they paddled rapidly back to the spot where the other -end of the trailer was bumping the shore. Having attached this end -solidly to a group of overhanging trees, they returned again to the other -end. After unfastening this end, aided by the current and their own -sturdy rowing, they brought this end to the opposite bank. There they -anchored it. - -"The trap is set." Pant said this with a sigh of relief. "The night is -ideal. No moon. Clouds drifting over the stars. It will be very dark. If -they come, their very fear of light will be their undoing." At that he -ordered his men to row him back to the other shore. There for some time -he busied himself with the fastenings of that end of the "trap." - -"There!" he breathed. "A single stroke of the axe, and it is done." - -"They will come very late at night if they come at all," he told his men. -"Time for another thing. Doesn't really matter whether I'm here or not. -The trap will spring." - -He was eager to be away after the big cat whose tracks, freshly made the -night before, had been seen in the mud of a small stream that crossed the -trail to the river. At realization that he was so near, the Caribs had -been thrown into panic. Some of them had been for manning their crafts -and drifting down stream at once. But upon receiving Pant's promise that -within forty-eight hours the skin of the killer should be drying against -the wall of the cook shack, they had gone back to work. - -It was a rash promise, but Pant resolved that he would make good. So this -night, armed only with his rifle and a common flashlight, he made his way -over the river trail to a place of hiding he had prepared. - -He had covered half the distance, when on pausing to listen, he caught -the faint sound of footsteps on the moss covered trail. - -His heart skipped a beat. Someone was following! Who could it be? Was it -a curious Carib? Hardly. They were too much afraid of the killer. Was it -an enemy from across the river? Such a thing was possible. - -Stepping noiselessly to one side, Pant waited. Straight on came the one -who followed. - -"Sounds like two," Pant said to himself. - -"Sounds----" he hesitated a moment. "It don't sound like--it sounds--yes, -it is! It's old Rip himself!" - -And so it was. Rip, the burro, once a bag of bones, now well fed on -bread-nut hay, sleek and fat, had chosen to follow his young master on -his hunt for a killer. - -"Now, why did you follow?" Pant said with a chuckle. "What am I to do -with you? If I tie you up here the killer may get you. I can't spare time -to take you back. I know what I'll do; I'll take you along. We'll fight -it out together with the big cat." - -For this resolve Pant will always have cause to be grateful; and yet, in -a way, the affair was to end rather sadly. - -With the burro standing patiently beside him, he had remained in hiding -for a full half hour when, without warning, there had appeared in the -trail not five yards before him the very creature he had come to seek. -There stood the killer! - -So sudden was his appearance that Pant had little time to prepare for the -attack. He had only seized his rifle and had no time to aim and fire, -when, with a scream that was blood-curdling, the big cat launched himself -through the air. - -Expecting nothing so much as to be torn to bits by the claws and fangs of -the beast, the boy dropped his rifle and threw himself back into the -bushes. As he did this, unconsciously his right hand reached for his -machete and drew it from its scabbard. - -Surprise followed. The death dealing compact of the flying cat did not -come. For an instant Pant's senses reeled. Then, like a flash, it came to -him. The tiger had launched himself against the burro. Feeling the -machete in his grasp, without reasoning as to the outcome, Pant sprang to -battle. - -It was well that he did. A strange thing had occurred. As the tiger -sprang, the burro had reared upon his hind feet. In this way he had -struck the great cat squarely in the head with his sharp hoofs. The blow -had been a stunning one and as Pant entered the battle he found the -jaguar just returning to consciousness. This task he never quite -completed, for Pant's machete, coming down with savage force, all but -severed his head from his body. - -"That settles you," he muttered. "I've kept my promise." - -Then, overcome by nervous exhaustion, he settled down upon the damp -earth. - -As strength slowly returned he thought of his companion, the burro. - -Creeping over to where he lay, he put a hand upon him. Then he lifted the -animal's head, to allow it to drop limply back. - -"Neck broken," he sighed. "Poor old fellow! You could save my life, but -in that fleeting second you could not save your own." - -Rising, he gathered green leaves and covered the faithful creature's -body. Then, seizing the jaguar by its hind legs, he prepared to drag it -to camp. - -"Show 'em!" he muttered. "Guess this will satisfy 'em!" - -Since the spot on the bank at which he had set his strange river trap was -not far away, he dragged his burden in that direction. - -Arrived at the spot, he turned the carcass of the "killer" over to one of -his Caribs. Having told him to drag it into camp, he sat down beneath a -cocoanut tree that hung over the river. - -"Wait here and see what happens," he said. - -There is no time so still as night on a tropical river. Shut off by dense -virgin forests from every breath of air, damp, oppressive tropical heat -seems to place a blanket of silence over all. The great river, with its -sweep of waters, is as silent as the stars in the heavens. The whole -universe appears to sleep. - -Pant felt all this as he sat there listening and watching by the river. -This was an eventful night. Would they come? Would the trap serve the -purpose for which it was intended? So he questioned as the silence hung -over all. - -Now that vast silence was broken by the bark of an alligator. Did that -mean that they were coming? - -Of a sudden, as he waited, there rose out of the silence a strange sound. -Pant was all action at once. - -With a look of mingled joy, determination and anxiety on his face, Pant -seized his axe and lifting it high, severed at one blow the rope which -held that end of the long trailer that now spanned the river. Instantly, -caught by the current, the whole long streak of brown swung toward -midstream. Even as it did so, between it and the other shore there -appeared a long black shadow. - -"They come! It will work!" whispered Pant, dropping on his knees to -watch. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - CAPTURING A BLACK SHADOW - - -The black shadow which Pant had seen making its way up the river under -cover of night, was a pit-pan, electrically driven. In his conclusions -regarding this he had not been mistaken. - -The thing which Pant had launched against the black shadow was a log -boom. It was in this very boom that he hoped later to carry his 50,000 -feet of mahogany down the river to the sea. Now he had set it to an -unusual task. A log boom consists of a hundred or more logs, ten inches -in diameter and twelve to twenty feet long, joined at the ends by steel -chains until the whole affair is several hundred feet in length. - -So dark was the night that the crew of the pit-pan did not see the -approaching string of logs until it was right upon them. - -Of the five men on board, two, by the sudden compact, were thrown into -the river. It was with the utmost difficulty that the remaining three -were able to prevent their unwieldy craft from capsizing. In the end it -swung about until it lay full length against the log boom which, tugged -at by the current, was rapidly swinging toward the Mexican shore, where -waited ten officers of the law. - -After giving way to wild burst of anger, the men began tumbling chests of -goods into the river. - -Before this task was half completed, they were interrupted by the -occupants of a dugout, who, swinging alongside, commanded them in the -name of the law to desist. - -Pant was now sure that he had not been mistaken in the mission of the -black shadow. - -"If they were on some lawful business why should they pitch their goods -into the river?" he asked himself. - -"Yes, we have them now. We are giving Daego some of the trouble he so -richly deserves. This night's work will do much for Quintanaroo. But what -won't Daego do to us!" he said, wrinkling his brow as he pushed his dory -from its place of hiding. "He knows well enough whose log boom that is. -There is not another on the river save his own." - -For some time as he drove his dory across the stream toward the spot -where his boom was fastened, the boy reflected upon the cost of doing the -right thing, the thing that in the end would result in the most good to -the greatest number. Surely one does not engage in the battle for right -without placing himself in a place of great peril. - -"Ah, well!" he exclaimed, strong-hearted at last, "as someone has said, -one may trust God for the outcome. The only question we need to ask, -moment by moment, is: 'This thing I do, is it right?'" - -Arrived at the end of the boom, he cut it away and allowed it to drift -toward the mouth of the creek where his Caribs awaited it. - -At the camp he found great excitement. The same words were on every lip: -"The killer has been taken! Pant is a great hunter. He has killed the -man-eater with a machete! Surely there was never such a boy before!" - -As for Pant, he divided his time between good-naturedly disclaiming any -bravery or skill on his part, and mourning for his burro. - -An hour passed. The Caribs settled down for the night. Then Pant and his -Carib captain sat beneath their mosquito bar netting, with a candle -between them, talking low and earnestly. - -"The killer is dead," said Pant. - -"He is." - -"Open warfare has been declared." - -"It has." - -"Will there be a fight?" - -"There will." - -"When?" - -The Carib shrugged his shoulders. "Who can tell?" - -"From now on," said Pant slowly, "our men will be divided into two -companies; those who work and those who watch, ready to fight." - -"That will be wise," said the Carib. - -At that they blew out the candle and went to sleep. - -Next evening the Spanish girl's dugout was again bumping the shore at the -mouth of the creek trail. Her father was with her this time. Pant showed -them down the trail to a palm-thatched cabin. There, seated around a -table of roughly hewn mahogany slabs, they talked of the previous night's -doings. - -The deputy, a short, solid looking man, with small, twinkling eyes, -assured Pant that he was profoundly grateful for the part he had played -in the affair. - -"They were Daego's men," he went on. "When we had fished the two who went -overboard out of the water, we identified them, every one. - -"That is not all," he smiled. "Someone was careless. On a case of -ammunition we found the shipping tag assigning it to Daego. So, the case -is quite complete." - -"Has Daego been arrested?" asked Pant. - -"No. Truth is, no one seems to know where he is gone." - -"But he will be arrested?" - -"Probably not," the deputy spoke slowly. - -"What! Not arrested!" - -"He is a British subject. The relations between Mexico and Honduras have -not always been the best. It would be a hazard. To arrest and try him -would be a danger." - -For a moment Pant felt like repenting the action he had thought of as -being done for the good of all. To risk one's happiness, perhaps one's -very life, and then to have nothing come of it, that was bitterness -indeed. - -The deputy, having read the look on Pant's face, was speaking again: "Do -not worry; your work was not in vain. He shall be punished. And for one -so greedy as he, his punishment will be severe indeed. His concessions -shall be taken from him. Within thirty days he must remove his wagons, -his tractors, his chicle kettles, everything that belongs to him. His -mahogany, which is at the river's bank, will be held in bond by the -Government." - -Pant's chair, which had been tilted back, came down with a thump. -Concessions revoked! He had not thought of that. Those concessions were -so vast in extent that his mind could scarcely take them in. Someone had -told him that Daego had made a quarter of a million dollars the previous -year on chicle. - -"And that is the price he pays for his paltry gains from illicit traffic. -Surely one pays heavily for the steps that make him a law-breaker." - -"My friend," said the deputy, "you are alone here with this boy, Johnny -Thompson, and your Caribs?" - -"Yes, sir. Johnny's been away for some time. But, trust me, he'll be -back! He always comes back." - -"Have you much money?" - -"Very little." Pant wondered what the deputy was driving at now. "But we -represent a man who is rich," he added as an afterthought. - -"Ah!" the man breathed. "And he is interested, perhaps, in industrial -development?" - -"He wishes to develop his mahogany interests here. We came here to prove -it can be done." - -"You are right. It can be done," the other said decidedly. "Much more can -be done than that. His tract, though very fine,--the very best,--is -small. Across the river, far up as you can go, we are rich in forests, -mahogany that has scarcely been touched; sapodillas that will yield a -million, two million pounds of chicle a year. With chicle at fifty cents -a pound at the dock, that should yield a profit. - -"Our province needs developing. Our people need the work and the pay that -it brings. We have not the capital. We have the forests. - -"In a word,"--the man leaned forward, his eyes sparkling eagerly, "in a -word, if you two boys can find us a man with money who is as honest as -you, and who has at heart the good of all people, as you have, it will be -possible for him to secure in Quintanaroo concessions which in time will -bring him as much gold as Cortez hoped to win when he invaded Mexico. The -question is: have you the man?" - -For a moment Pant sat there silent, like one in a trance. So sudden was -this proposal, so vast the possibilities, that his mind refused to grasp -it. - -"I--I think we can find the man," he stammered at last. "You--you will -give us time?" - -"If only Johnny were here!" he said to himself. - -"How much time?" - -"Sixty days." - -"Ninety, if you need it. Quintanaroo can wait long; any land can afford -to wait a long time for an honest man. - -"And now," he said, rising, "I think we must go." - -He shook hands solemnly with the boy. His daughter gave Pant a friendly -smile. Then they were away over the trail to their boat. - -Two hours later Pant might have been found still sitting before his rough -slab table, and still he appeared to be in a trance. - -He was fighting, fighting an impulse to run away, to dash down the river -in his motor boat and away to the Belize radio to flash the tremendous -news to a man who had financed their little enterprise up Rio Hondo. - -Then, into his mind there came a picture in an old book of fables; a -picture of a dog standing on a bridge over a river. In his mouth was a -piece of meat. In the river was a reflection of the meat much larger than -the meat itself. - -"The dog dropped the meat to snap at its reflection, and lost all," Pant -mused. "I hope these concessions are not mere reflections of possible -wealth; but I know that our fifty thousand feet of red mahogany logs are -not. To-morrow we must get out another five thousand feet." - -Even at that, while he made his way to his bunk, his heart all but failed -him. He dreaded the fight he was sure would come, the fight to a finish -with Daego's men. - -"If only Johnny were here!" he again repeated. "Where can he be? That -black man over in Daego's camp said Daego had driven him into the jungle. -Surely no jungle can hold Johnny Thompson!" - -Of this last he could not be sure. A Central American jungle is an -awesome and terrible place. - -"If he were here," he went on, "I could tell him the good news of Daego's -undoing and of those wonderful concessions that are all but within our -grasp. - -"And if only he could lead in the fight that's sure to come! Daego will -fight. It will be a battle to the bitter end. Some have gone down the -river, but there are plenty still. - -"Oh, well!" he sighed at last. "Johnny may not be here, but his ghost is. -He'll throw terror into the hearts of those blacks yet." - -That night the ghost of the air did strange things; very strange indeed. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - CENTURY OLD CAVERNS - - -Johnny was still in the land of the lost Mayas. The city he and Jean had -discovered was not the city of Jean's dreams, the golden metropolis of -long ago, yet there were signs of past glory all about them. Massive -ruins that had once been a pyramid, elaborately carved shafts reaching -toward the sky, great squares and slabs of stone, all told of the glory -that had departed. - -"Think what it must have been!" said Jean as, on their third day among -the Mayas, she sat high upon a carved rock and allowed her eyes to roam -over the ruins of what must have been a majestic temple. "Just think what -it was! Such a labyrinth of corridors! Such chambers! Such secret -recesses. One might have been lost among them for hours!" - -There was a rocky wall running along one side of the city. This merely -suggested a prison. But for all that, it might as well have been a prison -wall. They were prisoners. They had learned this on the second day. With -the vision of the red lure burning brightly in his eyes, Johnny had -proposed that they find the way over which they had come, and try -following it back. They had experienced little difficulty in finding the -trail, but once they came to the spot where it entered the jungle, they -had found it completely blocked by grim little brown men. These offered -no violence, but neither would they move aside and allow them to pass. -They blocked the way and shook their heads. - -"Orders of the Chief," Roderick had said. "I expected that." - -So their first attempt at escape had failed. - -Prisoners though they were, they had been given the range of the city and -the surrounding open spaces where corn waved in the bright sun, where -banana plants reared themselves to the sky and cocoanut palms waved long -plumes in air. - -No guests could have been treated more royally. The best of food, wild -turkey, deer, armadillo, the best of meats, the finest of corn cakes, the -most delicious of fruits were served to them. At night they lay upon beds -that rivaled the couches of kings. For all this, they were made to know -that they were not to leave the land of the Mayas. - -"Not ever?" said Jean with a wrinkled brow. - -"Perhaps never," Johnny said solemnly. - -"Johnny, we were mad." - -"You are right. We were quite out of our heads when we came here. But -what's the fun of living if you can't have some adventure?" - -"Yes, there is joy in it!" exclaimed the girl, springing down from her -perch on the carved rock. "And to-day, since we can't leave, we will -discover something wonderful in the midst of these ruins." - -They did. Something came of it, too, I assure you. - -It was in the midst of an all but impenetrable growth of palms and vines -which, spreading over a crumbling heap of ruins seemed to wish to hide a -secret, that they made the discovery, and having made it, entered upon -one of the strangest and weirdest adventures any of them had ever known. - -As they crawled on hands and knees, here forcing their way between the -spreading leaves of a nut palm, there tearing away a wild fig vine, they -came at last upon an opening. Before this opening sagged an old, decayed -door. There was scarcely room to crawl between the heaps of rocks that -blocked the way, but once one was inside he found that he had entered a -damp, dark hallway that, extending far as his electric torch would reach, -suggested mystery and romance. - -Johnny was the first to enter. Jean and Roderick followed. There was a -moment of hushed silence as they stood there breathing silently as if -listening for voices that had long been stilled forever. - -"I'll wager the place hasn't been visited except by bats since the year -one," said Johnny. - -As if to prove that at least part of his prophecy was true, there came a -whirring of wings and one of those great vampire bats, terror to all -living things in Central America, flew by so close that the current of -damp air stirred by his flight lifted their hair. - -"The secret corridor," Johnny said. There was a solemn note of mystery in -his voice. "To what chambers of treasure does it lead? We may yet be the -richest Mayas in all this little hidden kingdom." - -"Yes, and I'd take a broken sixpence for my share, could I but return to -my father's camp," said Roderick, disconsolately. - -However downcast her brother might be, Jean was still game. "Come on!" -she exclaimed. "We will find the god of the rising sun, the god of the -noonday sun and all the other gods with the gold and jewels that enrich -their chambers. We'll find the chamber of the ancient princess. What -shall we not find. Come on. C'mon! C'mon!" Seizing her brother by the -arm, she fairly dragged him down the corridor which, to those who came -from the hot dryness of tropical day, seemed to possess the chill -dampness of perpetual night. - -On tip-toe, lest perchance they might waken the spirits of other -centuries, they began their march down the wide corridor. Only the -diffident snap-snap of great bats disturbed the silence of the place. -Walking in deep, age-old dust, they made no sound. So, awed into silence, -gripping one another by the arm, they marched on until, having covered -some two hundred feet, they came to a sudden halt before what appeared to -be a solid stone wall. Certainly it was stone, and it looked as solid as -the Rock of Gibraltar. - -"Well!" Jean exclaimed. - -"The end," muttered Johnny. - -"Now," said Roderick in a relieved tone, "I hope we may go back to the -sunlight. I don't like these beastly vampire bats. I've been told they -can kill an ox by sucking his blood. They've been known to drive the -entire population of a village from their homes. What would you do if one -of the bally rascals made a grab at your throat?" - -"Take him by the ear and give a good sound scolding," said Johnny. - -"Hold on a bit," he said as Roderick started back, "let's have a look." - -He began flashing his torch from floor to ceiling, from corner to corner -of the dungeon-like place. - -"Not an opening," he sighed. "Not a suggestion of an--wait! How does it -happen that this stone at the end is fully a yard square, while all the -rest of the wall is made up of small rocks?" - -Taking a heavy cane which Roderick had insisted upon bringing into the -place, he struck the broad stone a resounding blow. At once the place was -alive with echoes and whirring wings. - -"Sounds hollow," he muttered. - -He pressed the end of the stick against the top of the stone and gave it -a shove. To their surprise the stone, which to all appearances was a -door, dropped slowly and noiselessly downward until it formed a sort of -threshold over which they who dared might walk. - -"Oh! Ah!" Jean murmured. - -As if expecting a million vampires to spring at him from the dark, -Roderick started back. - -As soon as she could recover from her surprise Jean set one small foot on -the stone threshold. - -"No," said Johnny, placing a restraining hand upon her shoulder, "let me -go in and look about a little. Not that I wish to be first, but it -might--might not be quite--quite safe. You are a girl. In a way, I'm your -protector." - -"I--I understand," said the girl as she favored him with a smile that was -altogether new to him. - -In spite of all his efforts at self-control, Johnny's knees trembled a -little as he stepped upon the rock. It was strange to be moving forward -alone into a subterranean chamber which, to all appearances, had not been -visited for centuries. What would he discover there? Was this the secret -hiding place of princes, a temple of worship or a dungeon prison? What -would he discover there; rare old furniture, moulding to decay; gold, -jewels, or only skeletons? - -"Probably nothing," he told himself as he moved forward. - -After he had taken three steps he halted for a second. There was -something strange about the rock upon which he stood. It appeared to have -a greenish cast, but being eager to discover the contents of the chamber, -he pressed on without investigating further. - -The electric torch which he carried had an adjustment which enabled one -to throw about him a dim light or a bright one. At the present time it -shone but dimly. As he attempted to flash it to full brilliancy the catch -stuck and the lamp continued to shine but dimly. - -Still impatient, he pressed forward down this more deeply mysterious -corridor, which appeared somewhat broader and shorter, almost to its end -before he discovered anything of interest. Then of a sudden he found -himself all but upon some object which, sending forth a dull yellow -lustre, appeared to hang in air. Most mysterious of all, from the center -of this there came a tiny but peculiarly brilliant light. - -"It can't be," he told himself, starting back. "A light burning through -all these centuries! That would be to discover the origin of light -itself. That--" - -He broke short off. His hand trembled so he could scarcely hold the -torch; his knees shook violently. The room had suddenly blazed forth with -an intense green light. At the same time there came to his startled ears -a piercing scream. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - TRAPPED - - -The thing that had happened to Johnny Thompson was absurdly simple; at -least part of it was. Unconsciously, as he moved forward in the dimly -lighted room, he had continued to fumble with the catch of his -flashlight. Suddenly, as he stood before the mysterious thing of yellow -glow and a tiny light, his torch had flashed on in all its strength. - -So much was very simple. The explanation of the green glow was simple, -too, once he read the secret of it. But who had screamed, and why? That -was not so easy to answer. - -The reason for the peculiar green glow was to be found in the composition -of the walls and ceiling of the room. They were of a peculiar green which -had great reflective power. - -"Jade!" Johnny exclaimed after his first surprise was over. "Solid green -jade. At least the walls are set with jade." - -Who had screamed? This was the problem which concerned him most. To his -utter astonishment, as he flashed the light about he failed to at once -discover the entrance through which he had come. - -"Turned around a bit," he told himself as coolly as he could. "Take a -point and circle about until I am looking at that point again. In that -way I'll see all the walls." - -In choosing his starting point his eye fell upon the thing of the yellow -glow. He discovered at a glance that this was not suspended in air as he -had thought, nor was there a miniature light burning in it. It was a -statue or an image of a god; a rather hideous god with a hooked nose, a -large stomach and hands on which were fingers like an eagle's tallons. In -one of these hands rested a stone of some sort that reflected light in a -peculiarly brilliant manner. - -"Gold, and perhaps a huge diamond," Johnny speculated in spite of his -anxiety. - -Then he began to make the circle of the walls with his light. First the -wall to the right of him was slowly and carefully surveyed, then the wall -which had been to his back. No opening. His breath came short and quick. -A third side was covered. In his agitation he set the light zig-zagging -up and down. Was he somehow trapped? Who had screamed? - -Half the last wall was covered, two-thirds. The suspense seemed -unbearable. Then, with a sudden sigh of relief, he started forward. - -Before him was an opening. It did not seem quite the same, but it must be -the one. In his eagerness and anxiety he fairly ran. - -Now he was half way across the room, and now at the wall. He was about to -step forward and out to freedom and friends when, to his astonishment, -his foot splashed down into water. It was with the utmost difficulty that -he avoided plunging head foremost into a deep pool that lay just before -him. - -Once he had recovered from this shock he cast his light over the pool -only to discover that the back side of the pool, which was some ten feet -across, was solidly walled in, as was the room itself. - -Obeying some unknown instinct, he dropped upon his knees and directed his -powerful light straight down into the pool. For a moment he gazed -intently downward, then started back in horror. - -The thing he had seen almost made him faint. At the bottom of that pool -he had caught the gleam of gold and the green light of jade ornaments, -and in the midst of these a horrible, grinning human skull. - -"This," he told himself after he had control of himself again, "is a -sacrificial pool. The gold and jade were a sacrifice. When? Who can tell? -And the owner of that head? The door is closed. I am trapped. When will -my time come?" - -At that very moment there came, faint and indistinct, but unmistakable, -the notes of a call: - - "Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo." - -As in a dream he recalled the day they had practiced that call, he and -Jean, back there in the jungle. - -Alert, straining his ears for the next note, telling himself that when it -came he would locate the singer and thus begin the task of finding a way -out, he waited. - -A moment passed; another and yet another. The silence became unbearable. -He stamped his feet to break the awful spell. Then he became conscious of -another sound--a slow tap-tap-tap-tap. Always a second apart, never any -louder, never coming more softly, this mysterious tap-tap-tap in time -became more maddening than the silence. Still at strained attention he -waited for Jean's call which did not come. - -"What can have happened?" he murmured at last. "Can other ears than mine -have heard that call and silenced it, perhaps forever?" - -He found himself filled with sudden anger, a raging hate of the Mayas. - -"What manner of treatment is this," he asked himself, "after I saved -their princess from a terrible death?" - -This anger lasted but for a moment. He next found his mind filled with -wonderings. In the deep dust of the outer corridor there had been not a -single footprint. How could the living Mayas have set such a trap as this -without leaving traces of their coming and going? - -"They couldn't," he reasoned. "I have been trapped by that ancient god, -or at least by those who, centuries ago, set him there." - -Again he listened, and again he caught that endless tap-tap-tap. - -"Water falling," he said. "But where?" - -He began a careful search of the chambers. He examined every nook and -corner with elaborate care, but aside from the pool, found not so much as -a spot of dampness. - -"And yet," he told himself, "the sound is unmistakable. There is dripping -water somewhere. Must be within the walls." - -Once more he set himself listening for Jean's call. A quarter of an hour, -a half hour he waited and listened, but it did not come. - -"What can have happened?" he muttered at last. Then he thought of the -flashlight. The battery was good for just so long, then would come -complete darkness. When would that be? He could not tell. Shuddering, he -muttered: - -"Might better be now." - -With that he threw off the catch. Sudden darkness followed, but the after -image remained. Sitting on the damp floor, staring into the dark, he -seemed still to catch the greenish glow of the walls, the yellow gleam of -the god and the white flash of jewels. - -Have you never attempted to fall asleep while from some distant spot -there came with maddening regularity the drip-drip-drip of water? If you -have, then perhaps you can share in a degree at least the feeling of -Johnny Thompson as he sat there alone, a prisoner of other centuries, -listening to that baffling sound within the walls. - -Yet, impossible as it may seem, he was able for whole moments to forget -the entire situation. In those moments he saw again his camp on the Rio -Hondo. He talked with Pant and laughed with him at his ridiculous donkey. -He urged his Caribs on to more splendid efforts, saw the piles of -magnificent timber, mahogany, the red lure, piling up, and counted the -days that must pass before they would send these logs plunging in the -river, fill their boom and go drifting silently away. - -Yes, there were blessed moments of relief; but always the haunting -darkness, the nerve-racking drip-drip came pressing its way once more -into his consciousness. - - * * * * * * * * - -What was happening during all this time outside the door that had so -mysteriously closed? The scream which Johnny had heard was Jean's. -Anxious for his safety, she had watched that hole in the wall from the -time he disappeared. The green flash of light which appeared at the -moment when his torch flashed on had alarmed her; but this was nothing to -the thing she saw a moment later. Slowly, silently, as if impelled by a -powerful invisible force, the stone, which for centuries had closed the -opening, was slowly rising. The opening was half closed before she could -recall her scattered senses. Then, without a thought for her own safety, -she sprang for the entrance. It was Roderick who, with cooler judgment, -had pulled her back. Then it was that she gave forth that piercing -scream. - -After the scream, white-faced and silent, she had stood watching until -with an almost inaudible thud the massive rock dropped into place. - -"Don't be alarmed," Roderick said reassuringly. "I'll push it open as -Johnny did." - -Seizing the heavy walking stick, he pushed it against the door just as -Johnny had done. But, though he heaved away at it with all his might, he -did not move it so much as a fraction of an inch. Nor did the girl's -slight, but frantic strength, added to his, avail. The door was closed, -closed and sealed for all eternity so far as they could tell. - -After many futile efforts they sank weakly down upon a great flat rock, -Roderick to sulk and to remind Jean, as is a brother's right, that this -whole affair from the time they found Johnny in the hut was a piece of -foolishness. Jean sat in sad silence. This silence did not last. - -The picture of that morning in the jungle, the rocks, the wild turkey, -came back to her and she suddenly remembered the call. - -"We--we agreed on a call we'd use in case we were lost from one another," -she said to Roderick. "I--I guess that was meant for now. If he hears it -and locates us by the sound he may find a way to open the door from the -inside." - -Standing to her full height and directing her voice against the unfeeling -walls, she sang their call: - - "Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo." - -The echoes of that call had died away and she was parting her lips for -another when, of a sudden, her brother seized her arm. - -"Hist! Listen!" he whispered. - -Faint, indistinct, but unmistakable, there came the silent pit-pat of -footsteps on the dust-padded corridor. Jean's call had brought someone. -But who? - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - MAGIC POWER - - -In strained silence the brother and sister stood listening, waiting in -the dark. Roderick had snapped off the small pocket light which he -carried. - -The sounding footsteps in the distance became hesitant, uncertain. - -"Sounds as if the person, whoever he may be, were a stranger to the -place," whispered Jean. - -"Why shouldn't he be? Place hasn't been visited for hundreds of years. -Look at the dust." - -"But he followed us." - -"Yes. I wonder why." - -For a long time after that they waited in breathless silence. All the -time the person, who now halted, now moved a few steps forward, was -coming closer and closer. Who could it be? What did he want? Did he know -the secrets of this mysterious place, of the magic door? He might. There -was hope in that. - -"Oh, switch on your light," Jean whispered impatiently. "What's the use? -He's bound to find us in the end." - -Realizing the truth of this, Roderick snapped on his light and sent its -rays gleaming straight down the corridor. As it fell full upon the face -of the one who had followed them there came a half-suppressed, shrill cry -of a child. It was none other than the daughter of the great chief, the -one whose life Johnny had saved. - -"Wianda!" exclaimed Jean, calling the girl's name as she started forward -to embrace her. - -Unfortunately, this name was the only word they had in common. - -For a moment the Indian girl's eyes roamed from one to the other, then -with a sudden gesture she held up first three fingers, then only two, as -much as to say: - -"There were three of you. Now there are but two. Where is the other?" - -For answer, Jean took up the heavy walking stick, and after pointing at -the stone door, made as if to push it back. - -The girl's eyes opened wide in surprise. Then as her face became -thoughtful she backed away to sit down upon the flat rock. There, for -five minutes, with head bent low, hands pressing her temples, she sat -perfectly still. - -"Thinking it out," whispered Roderick. "I wonder what she will do." - -In spite of her fears for Johnny's safety, Jean felt a certain great -confidence in this child's ability to solve the puzzle and set her hero -free. Why not? Was she not a native of the place? Did she not know the -secrets of the land? - -"And yet," she thought with a sinking heart, "why should she? She is -little more than a child, while the secrets of this place, if one is to -judge by the dust and crumbling decay of rocks, are old as time itself." - -Suddenly the Indian girl leaped to her feet. With a swift movement she -crossed the corridor and pressed her ear against the stone door. - -As she stood there listening, across her face there spread such a smile -of joy as it had seldom been Jean's privilege to see. - -Then the Indian girl motioned for Jean to put her ear against the stone -door as she had done. - -What she heard was a faint tick-tick-tick, or the drip-drip-drip of -water. She could not tell what it was, the sound was so very faint. - -Her heart beat wildly. What could it mean? Why had the Indian girl become -so suddenly joyous? Was it a token, this ticking or dripping? Was it a -sign that all would be well? It was all very strange, all so unreal that -she found herself all but overcome. - -On her wrist Jean wore a small watch. In her idle hours she had amused -herself by teaching the Indian girl to tell the time of morning, noon or -evening by it. Now, to her astonishment, she found the girl alternately -pointing to the three o'clock mark on the dial, then away at the stone -door. - -"It's one o'clock," said Jean. "What can she mean?" - -"Probably means that at three the door will open of its own free will," -said Roderick, who with his usual skepticism placed little faith in the -native girl. - -"I'm starved," he grumbled. "Let's get out of this vile place and find -something to eat. Thompson'll get out of that hole some way. Leave it to -him. Any way, we can't help any." - -"We can't be sure of that," said Jean soberly. - -"You may leave if you wish. As for me, I will stay here as long as this -native girl does. I'm not going to be shamed by such a little brown one -as she." - -Roderick sauntered sulkily up and down the corridor for a moment, then -sank down upon a rock with a sigh. - -As for the Indian girl, after listening once more at the door, with the -look of joyous satisfaction on her face she sat down in composure to -wait. Wait for what? What was to happen in two hours? Jean could not so -much as guess. So, without trying, she sat down beside the native girl. - -To her surprise she found after a time that by listening intently she -could catch the faint tap-tap-tap. It was weird, mysterious, fascinating, -that steady continuous sound that was so much like the ticking of a -clock, yet somehow so different. - -"What can it mean?" she asked herself. "Can it be that those ancient -people held some secrets of motion and power of which we know nothing? -Does that door, like the door to a bank vault, open and close to a time -schedule? And could it be working after all these years? - -"How--how impossible!" she breathed. - -The Indian girl heard the sound of her whisper and, as if understanding -the meaning of it, put a hand upon her knee as much as to say: - -"All things are possible." - -"And yet," Jean went on to assure herself, "it is impossible. Even were -it all true, how could this child know the secret of it all?" - -At that moment there flashed through her mind things Johnny had told her -about the ancient Maya civilization, of their culture, their sculpture, -their architecture, their art expressed in the working of precious metals -and polishing of jewels. - -"They had mastered the art of writing, too," she told herself, "and had -great libraries. Many of these were destroyed, but some remain. Who knows -but these, their descendants, have read from these scrolls the secrets of -this strange underground cavern?" - -So she reasoned, hoped and waited. A half hour passed, an hour, an hour -and a half. As the hour of three approached even the skeptical Roderick -grew restless. He rose and paced the floor. Jean pulled him down. - -"I can't hear the tap-tap when you are walking," she said. - -"Listen!" she exclaimed in an awed whisper. "It--it's stopped!" - -That was a dramatic moment. The Indian girl knew, too, for her face had -suddenly become animated with some great emotion. Gliding swiftly to the -white girl's side, she placed her fingers on her lips. - -Instantly Jean read her meaning. She sprang to her feet, and at once -there came from her throat the clear notes of their call: - - "Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo, - Whoo-hoo-hoo." - -Johnny Thompson, sitting alone in the dark, heard and sprang to his feet. -The next moment as the call was repeated again and again, he found -himself feeling his way by following the sound closer and closer to the -singer. - -Jean had kept up the call for three minutes when, after holding up a hand -for silence, the Indian girl lifted the stout stick as if it were a -fairy's wand and pressed it against the top of the stone door. - -Amazed, stupified, the brother and sister stared in silence as the great -rock began to fall back. - -Back, back, back it moved until it lay flat upon the floor. At that -dramatic moment, smiling like a fairy prince released from an enchanted -prison, Johnny stepped over the threshold, free. - -Could Johnny be pardoned if he embraced his fair deliverers? Well, he -must be, for that is exactly what he did, both of them, and the action -seemed to him a part of a beautiful ending to a horrible dream. - -As they turned once more toward the rock that was a door, they saw it was -again rising slowly, and with a silence that suggested great power. - -"Come on," said Johnny with a shudder. "Let's get out of here." - -"Yes. We must," said Jean, leading the way. - -As she glanced back from time to time, Jean saw that Johnny walked as one -who is lame, or who carries a heavy burden on his hip. Being a person of -unusual judgment, she asked no questions. As they left the outer opening -and made their way through the bush to the outer air, Johnny was rather -longer than the others in emerging. When he did appear he had lost his -limp. Again Jean read the signs, but asked no questions. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - THE PASSING OF THE GHOST - - -The night following the capture of Daego's pit-pans, Johnny's ghost -behaved very strangely. On this night, as on many other nights, Pant -crossed the river to discover, if possible, some further details -regarding Daego's plans and to ascertain more accurately the strength of -his forces. Their quota of logs would soon be filled. They must then make -up their raft within the boom. This must be towed down the river. Would -Daego, with his depleted forces, dare attempt to take over the camp -before that time came? Once the logs were afloat, would he manage in some -way to break the boom? These were vital questions. - -On this particular night Pant did not join Daego's men. Instead, he hid -in a low clump of palms; close enough to catch the conversation of one -small group. - -"Reckon ole ghost walks agin to-night?" said one. - -"Yea, bo! He'll walk." - -"'Tain't' no harm come to us, not yet." - -"You all hain't sayin' 't'ain't goin' t' happen?" - -"Hain't sayin' nothin'." - -"Oh, look ayonder. There it are." - -Sure enough, there was the ghost. With his waving gown all gleaming -yellow with light, his shining red eyes, his dark face and his lugubrious -rattle accompanied now and then by a piercing wail, Johnny's ghost seemed -more fearsome than before. - -The chicleros grew suddenly silent. Even the sighing palms ceased to sigh -and the last scream of a parrot died a sudden death. - -It was an awesome moment. In that moment a strange thing happened. -Instead of hovering there above the palms, the ghost began to rise. As he -rose the dull rattle, as of bones in a coffin, increased in volume, and -the wail, high-pitched and terrifying, rose to a piercing scream. - -Then, more terrible than all, as he rose higher and higher, his red eyes -grew dimmer, his glowing robes melted into the floating clouds, his -scream sounded fainter and fainter. - -"Oh, my Massa!" groaned the black man who but a moment before had -professed little fear of the ghost. "Oh, my Massa!" he wailed, rolling on -the ground in his agony of fear. "Oh, my Massa, he's gone! It's his last -warnin'. He's gone up. Now death and disaster sure do come!" - -As if in proof of this, there came from far in the distance the dull roll -of thunder. - -As for Pant, he hastened to his dugout and paddled rapidly across the -river. His mind was in a whirl. What had happened? He wanted to know, -needed to know, badly indeed. Not so badly, however, but that he had time -to pause and listen as the dip-dip of paddles sounded over the hushed -waters of Rio Hondo. As he waited and watched black streaks passed down -the river. - -"Three of them," he exulted. "That last trick was best of all. Three boat -loads. Must have carried ten men each." - -As he came near the cabin that had been Johnny's office, and in which so -many strange doings had come off of late, he spied a dim light there. - -On looking in he saw a single candle burning on a work bench. Slumped -down in a rude chair made of packing boxes, was old Hardgrave. - -At first the boy thought him asleep, but upon hearing footsteps the old -man stirred, then looked up. - -"It's you, Pant," he said slowly. "So it's only you." - -Then of a sudden, sitting straight up, as if recalling bad news, he -groaned: - -"Pant, he's gone!" - -"Who's gone?" - -"The ghost--Johnny's ghost is gone. Left us tonight. Left us cold." - -Pant stared at the old man for a moment. "Can it be," he thought to -himself, "that the mere mechanical creation can seem to its creator to -take on real life and a personality?" - -To Hardgrave he said quietly: "I saw him go. It was weird, I can tell -you. And I shouldn't take his going too much to heart. Fully thirty of -Daego's men went down the river just now. This last was too much for -their superstitious minds." - -"Thirty! Did you say thirty?" - -"Fully that many." - -"Then, Pant," the old man sprang to his feet. "We'll beat 'em yet, Pant. -We'll fight! We'll fight!" - -"Of course we will," said Pant. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - BLIND DRIFTING - - -Late in the evening following his startling adventure in the ancient Maya -temple, Johnny tapped at Jean's door. - -"Hist!" he whispered. "Go get Rod and come to my room. Got something to -show you." - -A few moments later, in the privacy of Johnny's room, lighted only by a -flickering taper, the brother and sister stood before a mysterious -something which stood upon a stool and was covered by a cloth. - -"See!" Johnny exclaimed as he lifted the cloth. - -They started back in surprise and wonder. Made of pure gold, with a jewel -gleaming from his hand, the Maya god, an awesome creation, stood before -them. - -Determined that his adventure in the temple, which had come so near being -a tragedy, should not be without its reward, Johnny had dared to take the -god from the place of its long concealment. He had succeeded in bringing -it from the corridor to the bush where he had hidden it until he could -smuggle it safely through the darkness. - -"That," he said in an awed whisper, "is the only ancient Maya god ever -discovered; he is the god of the rising sun. There are no such gods in -the museums of the world. This one, aside from the gold and the jewel -which seems to be a roughly cut diamond, is priceless as a curio and as -an example of ancient art. And that," he exclaimed as he wrapped the -cloth about it and hid it in a dark corner, "makes me all the more -anxious to get away from this hidden city of wild people." - -"You're not thinking of taking the thing with you!" exclaimed Roderick in -dismay. - -"Of course we shall!" Jean looked at her brother in utter disgust. "What -do you think?" - -"Think!" exclaimed Roderick. "I think it will get us into a great deal of -trouble." - -"Trouble? Who cares for trouble?" - -"I am going to the chief the first thing in the morning," said Johnny. -"I'll try to tell him or his daughter, by maps and signs, all about my -camp on Rio Hondo and the urgent need of my getting back there. The -princess likes us. She'll do anything she can for us. Somehow we must -escape." - - * * * * * * * * - -To be drifting down a strange tropical stream at night is enchanting, -haunting, and mysterious enough; but to be drifting down that same stream -with your eyes so completely blindfolded that you only know it is night -because you have been told so, surely this is the most mysterious of all. - -Johnny Thompson, Jean and Roderick were passing through just such an -experience. For hours, many hours, seeing nothing, now led by the hand, -now drifting in a dugout, they had traveled. Where were they going? Home? -Going to some more remote corner of the Central American jungle where -there was no danger of their being discovered? - -Not one of the three could so much as guess. They only knew they were -going somewhere and were on their way. Such a strange way, too; over -paths that were so overhung with vines and palm leaves that they must be -constantly dodging to avoid them; now on a small stream where the danger -of being caught by vines and dragged overboard was still greater, and now -out upon a wider stream where from time to time a sudden burst of -sunlight warmed their faces, they traveled on and on. For Johnny -especially, the short portages made on foot were extremely difficult, for -always he carried his pack on his back. He dared not trust it to another. -In its very center was the golden god of the rising sun. - -It had turned out strangely, his resolve to have it out with the old -chief about allowing them to return to the Rio Hondo. First, by the aid -of many small sticks and stones and a tiny artificial stream, he pictured -to the young princess his coming up Rio Hondo in search of mahogany, his -early success, defeat, a second venture, the treachery of Daego, the -probable condition of his camp at the present moment and the need for his -speedy return. - -He had watched with much concern the face of the chief as his daughter -presented the cause to him. That she was telling much, perhaps a great -deal too much, he guessed from the changing expression on the old man's -face. A frown was replaced by a smile. This was followed by a look of -surprise, if not of consternation. - -"She's not telling about Rio Hondo," Johnny had whispered. "What do you -think?" - -"Yesterday. The hidden corridor," Jean had whispered back. - -"That's exactly it!" Johnny exclaimed. - -At once he regretted having entrusted the girl with his mission. "If she -tells too much she may get us into greater trouble," he whispered to -Jean, and at that moment he thought of the golden god. - -"Of course," he whispered to Jean, "it's mine by right of finding. These -people did not build this ruined temple, nor did they make or inherit the -god. It's been lost for centuries. Can't tell about their queer ideas and -customs, though." - -Had that plea of the princess gotten them into trouble, or was it getting -them out? This was the question which Johnny asked himself over and over -as they drifted, blindfolded, down that river in the night. - -It was strange, fascinating, weird, this eternal drifting, drifting, -drifting on into the night. Now the sudden brush of a palm leaf told him -they were traveling close to the bank; now a mad forward plunge followed -by low exclamations, told of rapids; and now the distant bark of a dog -somewhere on land suggested a cabin and some few scattered inhabitants. - -They were quite a goodly company, this Maya band which escorted him from -their city to some unknown destination. Johnny, with his white -companions, rode in a large pit-pan. There were other crafts. From time -to time he caught the sound of their dipping paddles, heard their low -cries of warning as one boat came perilously near another. Twice they had -made camp. At such times as this, blindfolded though he was, Johnny was -able to estimate the number of men. - -"About a hundred," he had said to Jean. - -"Quite a band," she had agreed. "Wonder why so many?" - -"Who can tell?" - -The princess was with them. He heard her voice from time to time. The old -chief, too, perhaps. He could not be sure of that. - -Wondering dreamily how it all would end, and wishing with all his heart -that Jean at least was out of it all, he fell into a doze. - -From this he was awakened by a sudden movement of the boat. It was as if -the hand of a giant had seized the prow and suddenly turned it through a -quarter of a circle, then had given it a powerful shove. - -For a second the boy's head whirled. - -"Wha--what has happened?" Jean whispered. - -Johnny chuckled. "We're in a larger river, much larger. In fact, it is a -great river, and something tells me----," his words came swift and eager -now, "that it is the good old Rio Hondo!" - -"Johnny, it can't be!" - -"It could be, and is!" said Johnny emphatically. "I haven't ridden that -old river for nothing. She has a way of teasing and tossing your dugout -while she whirls it forward that no other river ever had. - -"Besides," he added with another chuckle, "I can smell the water. It -actually _smells_ black." - -"What's that?" the girl exclaimed suddenly. - -"Sounds like thunder," said Johnny. - - * * * * * * * * - -It was thunder, the forerunner of a storm. It was not a local storm, -either, but one of those wide sweeping storms that tear at the timber on -all the headwaters of a great river. Pant, at the edge of his camp, where -he was assisting in shooting the last of the mahogany logs into their -boom, heard it and his face grew thoughtful. - -The hour of great suspense came at last. Their boom was loaded. They were -ready to go down the river. Daego had not yet led his men to the attack. - -"We'll get away in the darkness," Pant said to his Carib foreman, fairly -dancing about in his eagerness to be away. "We'll give old Daego the -slip." - -Tivoli's only reply was a sweep of the hand toward the blackening sky. As -if in answer to his signal, there came crashing down upon them one of -those sudden storms that are known only in the tropics. - -"We'll get away under cover of the storm," said Pant. "That will be -better still." - -"You don't now these tropical storms," said Tivoli. "All night in the -rain fifteen men must work; fifteen men must rest, sleep beneath canvas -in hammocks. Even with fifteen men we may not save the raft, tied up -right here. You do not know the tropics. There will be water in the -river, water in the sky. Which is river? Which is sky? You cannot tell. -The river will rise like a tide. There will come down snags, great trees, -palm trees, mahogany, yamra, black tamarind, santa maria, many, many -snags. All night long, at the edge of the raft, we must fight these snags -away. There will be no sleep for Tivoli tonight, and perhaps no logs for -Mr. Johnny Thompson after that, either." - -Tivoli was right. Such a storm as this was! Nothing of the kind had ever -been witnessed by the boys before. Flash after flash of lightning, water -in sheets, in streams, great avalanches of water that one could all but -swim through. Rolling thunder vied with the increasing roar of black -waters. And after that came the snags! And how those Caribs did work! - -All night, till the clock hand stood at three, they labored. Then the -water began to subside. - -Then, exhausted, they threw themselves upon the bare logs and slept. - -"At dawn we are away," muttered Tivoli. - - * * * * * * * * - -All that night, regardless of the lightning that set the water all -agleam, in spite of the deluge of rain that fell, the Mayas and their -blindfolded captives drifted silently down that broad river which indeed -was Rio Hondo. - -Awnings of cloth, cunningly treated with the juice from the bark of the -wild rubber tree, protected them from the rain. They were safe and dry. -The river carried them onward. What more need they ask? - - * * * * * * * * - -At dawn, as a matchless sunrise painted the east red and gold, there -appeared above Pant's raft on the broad river a black line, a line not of -drift logs, but dugouts, dories and pit-pans. Each craft was loaded with -men, and as the sun sent its rays shooting across them they waved their -hands and let forth a bloodcurdling shout. In each uplifted hand there -gleamed a long bladed machete. - -"They come!" said Tivoli in response to Pant's call. "Let them come. See -that all the men are wakened quickly." - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - THE BATTLE OF RIO HONDO - - -The battle of Rio Hondo will probably never be recorded on the printed -pages of the history of Honduras or Mexico, but to the last day of his -life it will remain indelibly stamped on Pant's memory. - -As he caught the white gleam of machetes against the morning sky, many -searching questions invaded his mind. He was about to engage in a battle -that might mean the death of some faithful Carib. Was there yet an -opportunity for parley, for compromise? No! It was too late. Yet, in -their previous actions had there been blunders? Had he been too hasty? -Could the fight have been avoided? These questions he could not fully -answer; all he could say was that he had believed himself to be acting -for the good of all. - -"As for compromise," he told himself stoutly, "there can be no compromise -with evil. This man Daego hesitates at nothing that he may gain a little -more wealth, wealth for which he has no need. The men we must fight have -sold their souls to him." Having thus put himself at peace with his own -mind, he set calmly about the task of posting his men. - -The purpose of the raiders was to break up his raft. If they could but -sever the encircling boom, his logs would be set free, each to find its -separate way to the ocean. They would then be lost to him forever. - -One anxious glance he cast toward the approaching boats. One thing he -feared most of all,--firearms. - -"He wouldn't dare," Pant told himself, as no rifle or pistol appeared in -the uplifted hands. "A fight between crews is one thing; wholesale -slaughter quite another. The laws of Great Britain are strict, her -officers tireless." - -His eyes gleamed with a touch of pride as he surveyed his small army of -defense. What stalwart fellows they were! How their dark arms gleamed in -the sun! From the belt of each hung a machete. These they had been -ordered to use only as a last resort. By the side of each, grounded like -a rifle, was a stout six-foot mahogany pike-pole. He had taught them the -last trick of offense and defense with these weapons. - -So they waited as on came the invading host. In the hands of some he saw -the white gleam of sapodilla axe handles. With these axes they would -attempt to loosen a chain of the boom or chop a log of it in two. Others -balanced heavy sledges on the edge of their boats. With these they hoped -to sever the chains. Their machetes were for defense. They waved them to -intimidate the Caribs. - -"Not so easily done," Pant smiled grimly as his Caribs sent back a -ringing cry of defiance. - -"Don't let a man of them board us," was the last word Pant passed along -the line. "If they gain a footing on the raft we're lost. If one gets -aboard, double on him and pitch him overboard." - -As the dark line advanced it spread out fan-shape; then, with every -wild-eyed Spaniard of them all splitting his lungs in a savage yell, they -shot their crafts alongside. - -With drawn machetes they leaped for the first mahogany logs that lay -against the boom. But what was this? As they swung their machetes -threateningly, they received a rain of blows that sent many a machete -whirling through space to find its watery grave beneath the black waters. - -Against such an offensive they were not able to stand. Seizing their -paddles, they backed away to a respectful distance, there to hold a -council of war. - -The result of this council Pant read as if it were an open book. With -machetes sheathed, but with axes and sledges at hand, the enemy spread -out to advance upon the raft from every side. By this Pant judged that -they hoped to scatter his men and to effect a break in the boom that -would not only set his logs free, but throw his Caribs into the river, -there to fight for their lives against pitching, grinding logs and -lurking alligators. - -One move he had not anticipated became apparent soon enough. The instant -their boats touched, as the Caribs rushed at them with their mahogany -pikes, the Spaniards who were not armed with sledges and axes did their -best to seize the pikes and wrest them from the Caribs. In this, here and -there, they were successful, and always in the corner where this -occurred, the tide began to turn. It was one thing to prod and beat a -Spaniard; quite another to be prodden and beaten by him. In the meantime, -keen oars flashed here and there. There came the disheartening chop-chop -of axes and the thud of sledges that told that at any moment the boom -might be broken, the battle lost. - -Heroic work was going on at every point. Outnumbered almost two to one, -the Caribs fought valiantly. With their wild shouts forever on their -lips, they seized fresh pikes when one was lost and fought with renewed -vigor. - -Tivoli, their chief, seemed everywhere at once. His great strength served -him well. Here, where a sledge was battering dangerously at a chain, he -made a mighty thrust, swinging his pike sidewise at a Spaniard's head. -The sledge splashed into the water. Danger at this point was at an end. -Here an axe swung in air to meet with Tivoli's well aimed pike and go -spinning through air to join the sledge. - -But for all this, the battle was going badly. Here and there a chain was -badly battered and in several places a log of the boom was half cut -through. Seeing his men outnumbered where ten Spaniards crowded a single -dugout, Pant, whose slight strength had lost him his pike at the very -onset, seized a pike aimed at his head and, gripping hard, executed a -flying pole vault right over the heads of the enemy and into the booming -waters. - -The result was all that could be hoped for. The Spaniard, who still clung -to the pike, was dragged half out of the dugout, whereupon that unstable -craft promptly capsized, pitching ten lusty attackers, axes, sledges and -all, into the river. - -Tivoli, too, lost his pike. Angered at this victory on the part of an -enemy, he watched his chance and when the Spaniard swung his pike to one -side, with bare hands and unarmed, Tivoli rushed at him and rained such -blows on his head as drove him to drop his pike and leap into the river. - -This much for scattered conflicts. Victory here and there along the line; -more than one Spaniard in the river; but for all that, here and there the -boom was being dangerously weakened. The battle was going badly. - -"Only a matter of time," thought Pant, as he struggled back to the raft. -"A half hour; perhaps less. Then our work is all undone!" - - * * * * * * * * - -Just as the storm came to an end and morning broke, Johnny Thompson, -still blindfolded and riding among the Mayas, felt his boat swerve -sharply to the right and enter a small creek where overhanging branches -swept the awnings over the boats. - -They had not gone far up this stream before their boat bumped the bank -and they were helped to disembark. - -Imagine their surprise and joy when someone, very short, very laughingly -tugged away the cloths that blinded them and permitted them for the first -time in two days to see. - -"See!" exclaimed the princess, for it was she who had unbound their eyes. -"See what a beautiful world we have brought you to!" - -It was indeed a beautiful world. All a-glitter with raindrops flashing in -the sun, palms and giant tropical ferns had never seemed so lovely as -now. - -Birds sang their best. Even the screaming parrots, that they might not be -entirely out of harmony, appeared to soften their discordant notes. - -But into this symphony there crept a wildly disturbing sound. Dim, -indistinct, yet unmistakable, there came the noise of battle. - -At the first sound of it, Johnny Thompson glanced wildly about him. Then, -having sighted down the creek a familiar bend in the river, he exclaimed: - -"It's Daego. The battle is on! They are not a mile from here. I must go!" - -Seizing the prow of a boat, he pushed it into the stream, sprang in, -seized a paddle, and would have been away, single-handed, to enter the -conflict. - -They dragged him back. The old chief tried to learn, from Johnny's wild -flinging arms, what it was all about. In the end he appeared to -understand, for, after instructing his men to look to their weapons, he -ordered them into their boats. Once more the Mayas, a hundred strong, -swept down the river, grim, silent, determined. - -So it happened that a second time that day Pant saw the river above his -raft lined with boats. - -"Friends or enemies?" he thought. "Let them come. Without aid we lose. -More of the enemy cannot matter." - -As for Daego's men, they watched the on-coming fleet with consternation. -Daego had no men up the river. They knew that. Who, then, were these? - -As the fleet came closer, a figure standing in the prow of the foremost -boat became plainly visible. He was waving his arms and shouting wildly. -It was Johnny. - -One of Daego's keen-eyed Spaniards was the first to recognize him. With a -wild cry of fear he dashed for his pit-pan. - -"There is the man who has died," he shouted. "His ghost has been seen -many times above the treetops. Now he comes back. He is a ghost. Who are -these with him? They have gleaming spears. They, too, are ghosts." So he -thought, and prepared to flee. - -So thought they all. To a man they dropped oar, maul, pike, pole or -machete, and turned to flee. - -When Johnny's boat bumped the raft there was not a Spaniard within -gunshot. - -But what was this? As he turned about to look at his companions in the -boat he saw only Roderick and Jean. By some skillful trick of boatmanship -or swimming, the Maya paddlers had left the boat. Now, some distance -away, the Maya princess was waving them farewell as the remaining boats -went speeding back up the river. - -"That's funny," said Johnny. - -"How--how strange and ghost-like!" murmured Jean. - -"Nothing ghost-like about this," said Johnny, as he patted his pack which -held the rare Maya god. - -The joyful reunion that followed was cut short by the pressing business -of getting the log boom started down the river. The motor boat was -brought around, the Carib sail boats hitched on behind, and they were -away. - -Hardgrave, who knew Jean's father and the location of his camp, advised -her and Roderick to go with them down the river. This advice was not -unwelcome, especially to Johnny, who felt that he could never see too -much of the bonny Scotch girl. - -They had made their slow way down two-thirds of the distance when a -strange procession caught up with and passed them. Motor boats, launches, -flatboats, and pit-pans moved by. Each was loaded to capacity with the -strangest cargoes. Here were four tractors on a flat-boat; there many -wheels that might have belonged to cannons, but did belong to logging -wagons; here a pit-pan loaded high with great vats and kettles that had -once held the boiling sap of the sapodilla tree. So they drifted by. It -was like the passing of a defeated army. And so it was. The defeated king -of the Black River was leaving the Rio Hondo forever. - -Two weeks later, with his treasure of red lure safely piled at the -waterfront in Belize, Johnny met his millionaire friend, Roderick -Grayson, at the dock as a United Fruit steamer's launch came in. Three -days later, in Johnny's room at the hotel, Grayson met the Governor of -Quintanaroo and together they drew up contracts which were to mean much, -not only to Quintanaroo and Grayson, but to Johnny and Pant as well. In -each contract it was agreed that Grayson's company was to pay the boys a -royalty, a wee bit of a royalty on their entire output and, though the -percentage is small, the output is destined to be large, and there is no -reason to believe that the two boys will lack for funds for travel and -adventure in the future. - -The rare Maya god found its way to a museum in London. The proceeds from -its sale Johnny insisted upon dividing with Jean. There was talk of -spending the whole of it in a visit to London and the Old World by Jean -and her family, accompanied by Johnny and Pant. - -At about this time, however, Johnny chanced to wander down to the -breakwater, where little boats anchor, and there he met a strange -seafaring man who had a strange tale to tell. And right there began one -of the most unusual adventures that ever befell Johnny Thompson. You will -find it all written down in our next book, "Forbidden Cargoes". - - - - - The Roy J. Snell Books - - -Mr. Snell is a versatile writer who knows how to write stories that will -please boys and girls. He has traveled widely, visited many -out-of-the-way corners of the earth, and being a keen observer has found -material for many thrilling stories. His stories are full of adventure -and mystery, yet in the weaving of the story there are little threads -upon which are hung lessons in loyalty, honesty, patriotism and right -living. - -Mr. Snell has created a wide audience among the younger readers of -America. Boy or girl, you are sure to find a Snell book to your liking. -His works cover a wide and interesting scope. - -Here are the titles of the Snell Books: - - - _Mystery Stories for Boys_ - - 1. Triple Spies - 2. Lost in the Air - 3. Panther Eye - 4. The Crimson Flash - 5. White Fire - 6. The Black Schooner - 7. The Hidden Trail - 8. The Firebug - 9. The Red Lure - 10. Forbidden Cargoes - 11. Johnny Longbow - 12. The Rope of Gold - 13. The Arrow of Fire - 14. The Gray Shadow - 15. Riddle of the Storm - 16. The Galloping Ghost - 17. Whispers at Dawn; or, The Eye - 18. Mystery Wings - 19. Red Dynamite - 20. The Seal of Secrecy - 21. The Shadow Passes - 22. Sign of the Green Arrow - - - _The Radio-Phone Boys' Series_ - - 1. Curlie Carson Listens In - 2. On the Yukon Trail - 3. The Desert Patrol - 4. The Seagoing Tank - 5. The Flying Sub - 6. Dark Treasure - 7. Whispering Isles - 8. Invisible Wall - - - _Adventure Stories for Girls_ - - 1. The Blue Envelope - 2. The Cruise of the O'Moo - 3. The Secret Mark - 4. The Purple Flame - 5. The Crimson Thread - 6. The Silent Alarm - 7. The Thirteenth Ring - 8. Witches Cove - 9. The Gypsy Shawl - 10. Green Eyes - 11. The Golden Circle - 12. The Magic Curtain - 13. Hour of Enchantment - 14. The Phantom Violin - 15. Gypsy Flight - 16. The Crystal Ball - 17. A Ticket to Adventure - 18. The Third Warning - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text--this e-text - is public domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - ---Relocated promotional material to the end of the book, and completed - the list of books in the three series (using other sources). - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Red Lure, by Roy J. 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