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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5adc759 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50102 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50102) diff --git a/old/50102-0.txt b/old/50102-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a34a44a..0000000 --- a/old/50102-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6853 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon, by Harry Gordon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon - The Secret of Cloud Island - -Author: Harry Gordon - -Release Date: October 1, 2015 [EBook #50102] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIVER MOTOR BOAT BOYS ON AMAZON *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.bookcove.net - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Frank’s powerful searchlight showed the Indian, knife in -hand, ready to spring.] - - - - - The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon - - OR - - The Secret of Cloud Island - - By HARRY GORDON - - Author of - “The River Motor Boat Boys on the Mississippi,” - “The River Motor Boat Boys on the Colorado,” - “The River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence,” - “The River Motor Boat Boys on the Columbia,” - “The River Motor Boat Boys on the Ohio.” - - A. L. Burt Company - New York - - - - - Copyright, 1913 - By A. L. Burt Company - - THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE AMAZON - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - I. ALL READY FOR THE AMAZON - II. A CALL FROM THE DARKNESS - III. THE BROWN LEATHER BAG - IV. TWO GUESTS AND AN ARREST - V. THE BOY FROM PERU - VI. $500 REWARD—LIGHTS OF PARA - VII. A BOAT FROM THE SOUTH BRANCH - VIII. AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY - IX. AN ALARM IN THE NIGHT - X. A CAMPFIRE IN THE JUNGLE - XI. A HUMAN GUARD WITH HORNS - XII. A PLOT AGAINST THE RAMBLER - XIII. A PLEASANT SURPRISE - XIV. A BATTLE FOR THE BOAT - XV. THE VANISHING “CARGO” - XVI. “KEEP HER HEAD ON!” - XVII. NIGHTS ON THE AMAZON - XVIII. JUST AHEAD OF A MOB - XIX. THE SECRET OF CLOUD ISLAND - XX. A CALL FOR HELP - XXI. “A NICE, QUIET EXCURSION” - XXII. A BATH IN THE NIGHT - XXIII. CLOUD ISLAND - - - - - The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon - - - - -CHAPTER I.—ALL READY FOR THE AMAZON - - -The opening of a door cast an oblong shape of light over the forward -deck of a motor boat, against which an April rain drummed fast or slow, -as the uncertain wind came in swift gusts or died down to whispers. As -the illumination traveled past the splashed deck, bringing out a pier -and a warehouse, and a sluggish current pushing and fussing against the -piles of a pier farther down, the tousled heads of two boys appeared -outlined against the ruddy doorway. In a moment their voices cut through -the wind and rain. - -“Jule? Oh, Jule!” one of them shouted. - -“Last call for dinner in the main cabin, young man!” added the other. - -There was no reply, so the boys, after listening a moment to the -pounding of the rain, the complaining of the river, the roar of the city -which lay all around them, closed the door, producing the effect to one -outside of obliterating the deck and the pier, the warehouse and the -river, as if they had never existed at all. - -“Jule will get soaking wet and take cold!” fretted a third voice as the -door closed. “Besides, being on guard, he ought never to have left the -boat!” - -One of the boys who had stood in the doorway wiped the rain from his -face as he listened and grinned at the other. - -“No need to have a fit about it, even if Jule does get soaked,” he said. -“But he won’t get wet,” he added, entirely for the benefit of the one -who had grumbled, “he’ll be back here in a minute as dry as a pound of -powder.” - -“How’s he going to get through all that,” with a swing of the arm toward -the door, “without getting wet? I suppose you think he’ll be able to -dodge the drops!” - -“Anyway, what’s the use of getting him wet and sick in our minds?” cut -in another, good-naturedly. “That won’t help any. Most of the hard luck -we’ve had lately never caught up with us—except in our minds!” - -“Case”—Cornelius Witters where full names are insisted on—turned a -dejected face to the others. - -“He shouldn’t have gone out,” he grumbled. - -“Speaking of hard luck that never caught up with us,” said Clay—he had -inherited from his parents, his only inheritance, by the way, the name -of Gayton Emmett—“do you remember the time we lost $50 by taking in a -counterfeit bill?” - -“Yes,” laughed Alex—Alexander Smithwick on state occasions—“we lost the -$50 for one day and one night, until we could get to a bank. Then it -wasn’t lost at all, for the note was genuine! You know the story how a -man hired a professional worrier to take trouble off his mind? Suppose -we hire one? I reckon he’d have enough to do.” - -“Quit, boys!” Case broke in. “I know I’ve got a grouch a mile high -to-night, but I’ll soon recover. Wait until I get busy with the supper -we’re going to have, and you’ll see!” - -Case seemed ashamed of his complaining, so the boys silently accepted -his implied apology and busied themselves preparing the supper he had -spoken of. In the eyes of the lads that was Case’s one fault. He was -inclined to worry, and also to express his worries in the most -depressing prophecies. But while they laughed at his premonition of -trouble for the absent boy, they listened anxiously for the absent one’s -return. - -Directly Clay took a handful of silver from a pocket and laid it in a -shining heap on the table. - -“I guess we’d better cash up,” he said. “I got my last pay envelope from -Slade & Co., to-day, and here’s the coin. We must have more than -$200 by this time.” - -The other boys drew banknotes and silver from their pockets, and heaped -their contributions on the table. - -“Now, we’ll put it with the other,” Clay said, after it had been counted -over at least half a dozen times. “Just where is our bank to-night? I -don’t seem to remember where we deposited last time.” - -“It wasn’t in a bank,” Case broke in, forgetting his promise to get rid -of his grouch, “though it should have been. The idea of leaving $200 -lying loose in this old tub!” - -“Now you’re losing our money—in your mind!” laughed Clay. “How many -times before to-night have you lost it, Case?” - -“Well, it isn’t safe, anyhow,” insisted Case, “even with Jule here to -watch it; and he runs out and leaves the boat alone after dark!” - -“When will this professional worrier begin work?” asked Alex with a sly -grin at Clay. “He’s needed here right now. Case doesn’t seem to be able -to acquire any peace of mind!” - -Case blushed, as if ashamed of his outburst so soon after having -resolved to mend his ways, and moved toward the back of the cabin. - -“I don’t know just where Jule put the money last time we counted it,” he -said, making a great show of looking for it, “but I presume it is here -somewhere.” - -In fumbling around next to the rear wall the boy came upon a roll of -drawings, which he brought out and tossed on the table, his quest of the -hidden money momentarily forgotten. - -“Here’s the map of the Amazon, boys,” he said, unrolling the paper. “I -brought it in to-night. As we leave to-morrow, we may as well run over -it now. Here’s where we strike the Brazilian coast, at Para, and here’s -where we camp on the Amazon, away up near the foothills of the Eastern -Andes. I guess Jule will get well up there!” - -“Of course he will!” Clay asserted. “Didn’t Dr. Holcomb say so? I guess -he knows.” - -“He’s a brick, that Dr. Holcomb!” Alex declared. “Only for him we -wouldn’t be so near the roof of the world as we are now.” - -“I don’t see any roof of any world!” observed Case, obstinately. - -“You will if you stick with us,” Alex continued. “The mountains and -tablelands of South America, along there by Peru, you know, are often -called the roof of the world. When you get up to the top of some of the -mountains, you can’t get any higher in this world, without going up in -an aeroplane, and then you wouldn’t be in the world at all, but out of -it and above it.” - -“Well, we aren’t very near it yet,” Case replied. - -“But we will be nearer it, physically, to-morrow night at this time,” -Alex kept on. “Think of it! Through the drainage canal like an arrow in -this good little motor boat, down the Mississippi with a rush, into the -Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea and out again, and then along the -coast to the mouth of the Amazon! Say, boys, do you know that the Amazon -has a mouth a hundred and fifty miles wide?” - -“What a campaign orator she would have made!” laughed Clay. “But, -suppose we find the money before we look over the map.” - -The motor boat _Rambler_ lay in a secluded warehouse slip in the South -Branch, as the southwestern arm of the Chicago river is called, and the -three hungry boys referred to and one other, Julian Shafer, the lad the -others were now anxious about, constituted her crew and passenger list, -all in one. Clay, Alex and Case were busy with supper arrangements, as -stated, and all were listening for the approach of Jule. - -The cabin, which was seven feet by nine, did not seem quite like home -without him. The rain, which had come on with the going down of the sun, -drove in spiteful gusts from the southwest, so that the two foot-square -windows on that side were closed, but from the open casements to the -north the odor of sizzling sausage and bubbling coffee traveled out on -the wet winds of the April evening. - -Many who passed the head of the driveway which led down to the warehouse -and the pier where the _Rambler_ lay stopped to sniff the fragrant -reminder of what the world owes to its stomach, and to look in wonder at -the odd little residence on the brown river. - -A patrolman, rustling along in a rubber coat which came down to his -great heels, swinging his nightstick petulantly, as if in protest of the -storm, drew up at the entrance to the private way and glanced down at -the boat and stood for an instant imagining how a good cup of that -coffee would taste! - -It was while he stood there that the door was opened, and it was while -the light from the interior lay over the pier and warehouse that the -officer thought he saw a slim figure skulking in an angle of the -building. When he reached the place where the figure had stood, the -light was gone and the angle was empty, with the rain beating against it -in a particularly determined manner. So the policeman went on about his -business. - -The _Rambler_ had lain in the slip by the warehouse all through the -winter, and the boys had called her cabin, which was so low that they -could stand upright only in the center, their “furnished, steam-heated -apartments,” being careful to speak of it in the plural. She was a trim -little craft, twenty feet by seven over all, with the cabin extending -over almost half of the interior of the shell, lengthwise. - -The cabin was a strongly-built structure, with two foot-square windows -on each side and one looking out at the stern, where a platform four -feet by the width of the boat formed a floor for chairs, and also a -covering for the gasoline tanks underneath. The front deck extended to -the prow, the powerful motors and other machinery being mostly under it, -near the middle of the craft, just in front of the cabin door. Under -this deck, forward of the motors and apparatus for supplying -electricity, were storage spaces for provisions and gasoline. - -As has, perhaps, been gathered from the conversation engaged in by the -occupants of the cabin on this night, the boys had arranged to take -their winter “bachelor hall” out on a long journey during the summer. -They were now ready to start on the trip they had long planned—no less -an undertaking than a motor boat journey to the headwaters of the -Amazon! In fact, the boat was already stocked with provisions, and the -gasoline was to be taken on the next day. - -The boys were all orphans, so far as they knew, having been in the first -instance brought together by their homelessness. They had been reared in -the streets of the city, selling newspapers and running errands and -doing such odd jobs as boys can turn hand to. Often, when very young, -they had slept together in hallways and in boxes in alleys. When arrived -at the age of fourteen, they had secured employment in printing offices, -and had of their own volition become regular attendants at night -schools. - -There are to-day thousands of boys in the large cities who are living -just as these boys lived in their younger years, who sleep and eat where -and when they can, and who are too often brought into crime by those who -ought to teach them, from experience, that crime is never pleasant or -profitable in the long run. Sometimes the law, in the guise of a -fat-bellied, egotistical, greedy police officer, assists these wreckers -of youth by arresting boys and seeing that they are sentenced to months -of association with thieves. - -These four boys, the three in the cabin and the one out somewhere in the -rain, had fortunately been spared the attentions of police officers, and -had grown to the age of seventeen with sturdy figures and fairly-well -trained intellects—all save Julian Shafer, who had long been showing -symptoms of tuberculosis. - -It was the ill health of Jule that had at first suggested the trip to -the Equator. The boy, ordinarily the merriest one of the lot, as full of -pranks as a young kitten, had been informed by Dr. Holcomb that the -climate of Chicago would bring his life to a close in two years’ time, -so the boys had planned to take him away. Unselfishly they had set their -hands to the task, and now the first step was near completion. - -It was while they were cudgeling their brains for some way of -accomplishing the desire of their hearts that Dr. Holcomb had come to -them, first as a physician for the ailing boy, then as a sincere friend. -After becoming well acquainted with the lads, and after making a few -investigations as to their habits of thought, their loyalty to each -other, the good doctor had said to them, one bright night in early fall -when they were assembled in his office: - -“I’ll tell you what, boys,” he had begun, “I have a motor boat down in -the South Branch which is of little use to me. I used to enjoy trips in -her, and she has seen service on many of the lakes and rivers of the -Northwest, but I’m too busy now to take the time to flirt with her. If -you care to look after her this winter, fix her up a little, and in the -spring provision her for a journey to some tropical climate, you may -have the use of her. What do you say?” - -What did they say! What would any group of boys of seventeen say to such -a proposition as that? They almost hugged the doctor, and the occupants -of the other offices on that floor afterward complained that the -doctor’s patients were too noisy to be good pay! As for Jule, when he -understood that it was all being done for him, he said nothing at all, -but there was a moisture in his bright eyes, a tightening of his -handclasp that night, which his chums understood. - -“But you must save up at least $200,” the doctor had stipulated, “for I -don’t care to have the _Rambler_ tied up in some foreign port for supply -or repair bills. She will carry you anywhere, on ocean or river, if you -learn how to handle her, and you needn’t be afraid of being caught by -anything of her size in a chase. Be good to her and she’ll be good to -you!” - -So the boys had slept and cooked for themselves in the _Rambler_ all -that winter, to save more money, and had learned to run the boat, and -had made many little repairs with their own hands. And now they had -saved the sum required, had given up their positions, and were to sail -away to the Amazon and the Andes on the morrow! It all seemed too good -to be true!” - -“The money,” Clay said, after looking over the map, “is, I remember now, -in the round box, with the tinned food, in a square box with a red -cover. Get it, Alex.” - -Alex brought the box—and found it empty. The money was gone! - - - - -CHAPTER II.—A CALL FROM THE DARKNESS - - -Yes, the hoarded money was gone! - -The square box with the red cover was empty. The boys dropped back in -their chairs and turned their eyes away, neither caring to read what was -in the faces opposite. The money that had been ready for the hoard still -lay on the table. Case was first to break the silence. - -“Our professional worry man,” he said, “would better start on his job -to-night. He’ll have a nice little task to begin on.” - -“Don’t get sarcastic, Case,” Clay remonstrated. “This may be one of the -worries that won’t catch up! Perhaps Jule has placed the money in a -safer place.” - -“That’s it!” cried Alex. “Of course that’s it! Who would come in here -and get our money?” - -“Then, where is Jule?” demanded the boy addressed. “Why doesn’t he come -in and let us know where the money is? - -“Jule will be home in good time,” Clay said, grimly, “and for the -present it won’t be healthy for anyone to suggest that he has done -anything mean or dishonest. He’ll be back, all right, and then we’ll -know all about it.” - -Case flushed furiously. - -“Say,” he expostulated, “I wasn’t saying anything against Jule! At least -I didn’t mean to. I know that he’s true blue. Perhaps he discovered the -robbery before we did and chased off after the thief. Don’t you ever -think I’m blaming him!” - -“Of course not,” admitted Clay, doubtfully. “He’s above anything of that -kind, you know. He’s as honest a boy as ever lived!” - -“If he has put the money in another place,” began Alex, but Case, still -in bad humor, interrupted him. - -“What a pleasant world this would be if there were no if words in it! -Someone said, not long ago, that if it wasn’t for that word he could put -Paris in a bottle! He meant, of course, if Paris was smaller or the -bottle was larger. If he has put the money in another place!” - -“I wonder why he doesn’t come?” Alex put in. “We left him here to look -after things, you know.” - -“He wasn’t here when I came,” Clay contributed. “Everything was just as -you see it now, only there wasn’t any supper cooking, as there is now. -He never went off like this before.” - -There was an apparatus on board the _Rambler_ for making electricity -when the boat was under way, but, this being inoperative during the -winter, the boys had caused the motor boat to be wired so the light came -from the city lines. The cooking was partly done by electricity, the -stove being concealed in a false couch at the back of the cabin. During -the cold weather the cabin had been warmed by a tiny, soft-coal stove -which now stood near the door, and some of the cooking had been done on -that. - -A smell of burning meat now filled the room, and Clay hastened to switch -off the current. The coffee, neglected, was bubbling over on the coils -of wire at the bottom of the stove, and he set the coffee-pot on the -floor. - -“I don’t think I want any supper right now,” he declared. - -“I’m not going to lose my supper,” argued Alex. “I’ve lost my job and my -trip to the Amazon, but I’m not going to lose my supper. These sausages -are all right yet.” - -“I haven’t lost my trip to the Amazon,” Clay gritted, his jaws setting. -“Nor Jule hasn’t lost his trip, or his one chance of life! I’ll have to -think out some way, but I’m going, and Jule’s going with me!” - -Alex and Case both sprang up and reached for the speaker’s hands. - -“And we’re with you!” they cried. - -“We’re for the Amazon, too! No matter if I do get a grouch on now and -then,” Case continued, giving the hand he held an extra squeeze, “I’ll -show up right in the end!” - -“I know you will,” Clay said. “I know you’re an all right boy, Case, he -continued, “but you’d be a better companion if you wouldn’t get such -grouches!” - -“If I ever get another,” pleaded the boy, “just throw me out of the -combination!” - -“I’ll set my white monkey on you, after we get into the jungles of the -Amazon valley,” laughed Alex. “Do you know I’ve got a white monkey -there?” he added, with a look which he intended to be serious. “Surely I -have! He’ll throw Brazil nuts down to me. Do you know how Brazil nuts -grow? I’ll tell you. They grow in nests, like kittens, and when they get -ripe the nest opens, just like a kitten basket, and there you are. The -nuts fall to the ground and hunters gather them and bring them to -Chicago and we put them on Christmas trees.” - -Alex was the most imaginative one of the party, and sometimes he -permitted his quaint fancies to break into words. Just now he was doing -his best to seem cheerful, but, after all, it was hard work. The money -had meant so much to them. It had been gathered together dime by dime, -and every dollar of it had meant, to them, an hour or a day on the -Amazon. Now it was gone, and Jule—— - -But no one should say a word against Jule. That was a point settled -beyond dispute. They could suspend judgment until he came back. - -“I’m going to bring home a cargo of Brazil nuts,” the boy went on, “all -packed in an elephant’s trunk. I’ll sell ’em down on Water street and -build a motor boat that can put the _Rambler_ into her pocket. I wonder -what Dr. Holcomb will say?” - -“He’ll just tell us to dig in and get more money!” Case observed. - -“And that’s just what we’ll do,” Clay added. Alex brought out plates and -cups and began setting the table, which was not very large, and which -was securely fastened to the floor in the center of the cabin. - -“There’s one thing lacking in Clay,” the boy said, whimsically, as he -rattled the dishes. “If you could take him apart, or look at him under -x-rays, you wouldn’t find any quit in him! The more things happen to -stop him, the more he goes ahead!” - -“That’s right!” declared Case. “When I get grouches, and you get all -discouraged and tell monkey stories to hide what’s really in your mind, -Clay just shuts his jaws together and goes right through! I guess this -wouldn’t be much of a boat club if it wasn’t for Clay.” - -“Why, boys, there’s nothing else to do in this case,” Clay said, a flush -of pleasure at such an endorsement. “We can’t lie down before every -little hill that looms up before us! We can’t give up this trip, and -leave Jule to die in this beastly climate. Now, can we?” - -“Not in a thousand years!” cried Alex. - -“That will do for you!” Case suggested, turning to Alex with a grin. - -“Never said it!” insisted Alex. “We all agreed not to talk slang, so -slang’s cut out!” - -“Slang is cheap,” Clay remarked, to no one in particular. - -“Alex will wash the dishes to-night, anyway, for talking slang!” Case -decreed with the air of a judge sentencing a prisoner. “That was the -bargain. If anyone talked slang he was to wash the dishes.” - -“And Case will assist,” laughed Clay, “for he talked slang, too.” - -“What slang?” demanded Case. - -“You said that will do for you, and that was slang!” - -“All right! I’ll help. But where do you think Jule is? - -He was about to say more, but Clay held up a hand for silence. - -While the lads stood there, listening, the sausages and coffee on the -table, over which a snow-white cloth had been spread, there came a -choking cry from somewhere in the darkness which lay over the pier and -the warehouse. The boys still listened. Perhaps the next cry would give -direction. - -Presently the cry came again, evidently from the head of the pier. The -boys all headed for the door, crowding against each other in their -efforts to get out. A third cry, which was almost a scream, caused them -to block the doorway. - -“That’s Jule!” Case panted. “Let me out!” - -“Wait a second, boys!” Clay advised. “That may be Jule, and it may not. -Anyway, we mustn’t all leave the boat at once. This may be a trick to -get us away from it. You remain here and I’ll go up the pier and call -back to you if I need help.” - -Still another cry came, followed, this time, by the sound of blows and -running feet. - -“Someone is being murdered out there!” Case exclaimed, excitedly, as -Clay dashed out into the rain. “I’m not going to stay inside and let -someone be killed!” - -Alex took him by the shoulder and drew him back as he started off. - -“You’ll obey orders and remain here,” he said. “We can stand in the -doorway and look out.” - -“I know it’s Jule!” prophesied Case. “He’s been out after the thief, and -has been attacked. Perhaps he’s brought the money back with him, and -that’s why they’re attacking him.” - -“If it is Jule, and he comes in without mentioning the loss of the -money, don’t you say a word to him about it! What’s the use, if he -doesn’t know, of telling him about it to-night? Let the kid get one more -night’s sleep before he knows what’s happened!” - -“All right,” Case answered, “and perhaps we can tell by the way he acts -whether he’s the—whether he knows anything about it or not.” - -“Don’t you say it!” warned Alex. “Don’t you ever look at Jule with -suspicion in your face! He’s the one that will lose most by this, and -you just keep your thoughts and your sneers to yourself.” - -“I never——” - -“Oh, I know,” Alex hastened to say, as they waited, anxiously, in the -doorway, the rain beating in on their uncovered heads, “I know you don’t -really believe anything wrong about Jule. You’d fight for him if anyone -said there was, just as quick as I would. It is only your grouchy way of -looking at things. You go and imagine the very worst that can ever -happen, and then try to make yourself believe that is the way of it!” - -Case was about to tell Alex how right he was in his analysis of his -character, how thankful he was that he was so well understood, when a -call came from some distance up the street. - -“That’s Clay!” Alex exclaimed. - -“I’m going up there!” insisted Case. - -“You’ll stay right here with me and watch,” Alex declared, taking his -uneasy chum by the arm and holding on tight. - -It was dark up at the end of the pier by the side of which the _Rambler_ -lay, but farther up, on the north and south street which paralleled the -river, a corner lamp threw spears of light toward the stream. - -There was no one in sight. Even what could be seen of the thoroughfare -under the lamp, and this was not much, seemed deserted. Rainy, windy -nights are not popular with pedestrians in Chicago any more than -elsewhere. - -Even the occupants of vessels tied up at piers above and below the motor -boat were silent in cabins or asleep in their bunks. A dull, heavy roar -came out of the city, telling of activities in the noisy loop district, -but there was little more than the dash of the rain on the deck where -the boys stood listening and waiting. - -Presently they saw a figure detach itself from the shadows at an angle -of the warehouse, where it seemed to have been hiding, and step into the -lighted space. There it acted queerly, walking up and down, up and down -in the rain! It was too dark for the boys to see the face. - -“I don’t believe it is Jule, though,” Case said. - - - - -CHAPTER III.—THE BROWN LEATHER BAG - - -While Alex and Case waited in the doorway, watching the figure near the -warehouse, the circle of light in the street beyond, the whole gloomy -prospect along the pier, the shrill voice of a police whistle cut the -heavy air. The boys started nervously. - -“It wouldn’t be strange if Clay got into trouble up there.” - -This from Case, who was still in his despondent mood, and was, as Alex -had explained, imagining the worst and making himself think that was -what was coming! - -Alex nudged him with his elbow, in gentle reminder of his failing, and -nodded toward the head of the pier. Through the falling drops, they saw -the figure which had recently left the shelter of the warehouse coming -toward the boat. - -“Whoever it is,” muttered Case, “he’s alarmed at the police whistle, and -is coming down here to hide away!” - -“Oh, Case——” - -Alex got no farther with his protest against his chum’s idle croakings -of evil, for the figure was now almost at the pier, a few yards from the -prow of the _Rambler_. It was moving slowly, in spite of the storm -beating upon it, hands in pockets, chin buried in a turned-up coat -collar, eyes on the ground. - -When almost to the head of the pier the boy, for such the queer-acting -stranger appeared to be, turned sharply about and went back over the -course he had taken, head down, eyes evidently searching the ground. -This was repeated three times, then the ring of footsteps above caused -him to seek the shelter of the warehouse again. - -Then Clay dashed into view, running at top speed and bending low as if -to better resist the storm, or to avoid any attack which might be made -upon him. The boys could see the silent figure standing in the shadow of -the warehouse, standing there in a listening, observant attitude. The -thought came to Alex that this might mean peril to Clay, and so he -called out to warn the skulker that help was at hand. - -“Hurry, Clay!” he shouted. - -Clay did not reply, but dashed on at increased speed to the rotting -planks of the pier, and was soon inside the cabin, shaking the rain from -his clothes like a great dog just out of a pond. Alex closed the door -and locked it. - -“Did you see Jule?” Case asked, eagerly. - -Clay shook his head. His excursion into the storm had evidently proved a -disappointment to him, but he made an effort not to show it. - -“Of course not,” he replied. “How could I find Jule out in all that -smother? He’s warm and dry somewhere.” - -“Did you see the boy skulking by the warehouse as you came in?” asked -Alex. “He’s been there, watching the boat, ever since you went out.” - -Clay shook his head. - -“There’s something odd going on around here to-night,” he said. “I don’t -know what to make of it. Whew, but I’m all out of wind!” he continued, -dropping down into a chair and taking off his soaked shoes. - -“Where did you go?” asked Case. “What was the cop blowing his whistle -for. Why did you have to run?” - -“One at a time,” panted Clay. “When I got out there I found a man and a -boy fighting at the end of the pier. At any rate the man was trying to -get something away from the boy, and the boy was letting into him with -teeth and nails. The boy was calling for help. That’s the sound we -heard, only it was faint, on account of the man trying to choke him.” - -“What sort of a boy was it?” asked Case, thinking of the figure he had -seen walking to and fro under the light and skulking into the shelter of -the warehouse when Clay came running up. - -“Wait a minute,” Clay panted, “and I’ll tell you all about it. Say, -who’s going to give a cup of that hot coffee? My tummy has a hole in it -as big as a rainwater barrel.” - -“That’s pretty close to slang!” warned Case. - -“Not so you could notice—that is, not intended as such,” corrected the -boy with a grin as he took a cup of steaming coffee from Alex’s hand and -sat back in his chair with a look of contentment on his face. - -“Now what about it?” asked Alex, when the cup was empty. - -“Well, when I ran up, the man gave a vicious yank and got something away -from the boy. It looked like, a leather bag. The boy let out a great cry -and fell flat down on his face. I saw his face just a minute, looking -like a snowflake in the mud, it was so white and so small. - -I thought the thing which had been taken from him must mean a lot, to -cause him to look like that, and so I left him lying there and chased on -after the man. It looked to me like a case of highway robbery, and I -just ached to get my hands on the man.” - -“What is that in your hand?” asked Case, indicating a brown object which -was half concealed in Clay’s coat-sleeve, but which dropped down to his -palm, and lay with an end resting there. - -“Never you mind!” Clay answered, with a chuckle as he drew the object up -the sleeve and out of sight. “Just wait a minute. I overtook the man, -who couldn’t run at all, but lumbered along like an old cow, and tripped -him up by— Oh, you know how to drop and catch a fellow by the ankles! He -went down kerflop in the muck, where wagons had broken the pavement and -cut the earth into a puddle. I didn’t stop to see if he was hurt, but -picked up the thing I had seen him take from the boy and started back -with it. - -“When I got back to the place where I had left the boy, with his pale -face in the dirt, he wasn’t there, so I just brought the object along -with me, for safe keeping, of course,” he added, with a laugh as he drew -a brown leather bag from his sleeve and held it up to the light. - -“That’s certainly a brown leather bag!” exclaimed Case. “What’s in it?” - -“Guess!” was the provoking answer. - -“It must be something valuable, with all the fuss that’s been made over -it,” Alex suggested. “Open up!” - -“Do you know what’s in it?” asked Case. - -“Of course I do; I peeked in as I came along.” - -“Well, what is it?” - -“Diamonds!” - -“Not real diamonds?” - -“Certainly not!” Case ventured. “Just fake stones, like the glad-hand -men carry. They couldn’t be real diamonds, hustled about in the rain -like this!” - -“But they are real diamonds,” insisted Clay. “If I ever saw the real -thing this is it.” - -He untied the brown leather bag, pressed open the mouth with his -fingers, and poured a gleaming current of diamonds on the table, where -they rolled about like sparks of fire caught and held in captivity. Alex -and Case stood dumbly regarding their chum, moving their eyes, -presently, from his inscrutable face to the gems on the table. This -seemed to them to be a leaf out of a fairy book. It was more fantastic, -more unreal, than one of Alex’s ridiculous imaginings. - -“I wish Jule was here to see ’em!” Clay spoke, breaking the silence with -a long sigh. “He can’t be long in coming now.” - -“What are you going to do with them?” asked Alex. - -“First,” Clay answered, gathering up the stones and looking cautiously -about, “I’m going to get them out of sight! Did you hear that motion at -the door while they lay here sparkling with a “come-and-get-me” -expression?” - -“I heard nothing,” Case replied, as Clay put the gems back in the bag. -“Where are you going to hide them now? You know this isn’t a very safe -treasure house—this old boat.” - -“I think I have good reason to know that,” replied Clay, looking -ruefully at the box which had held the stolen money. “Guess I’ll put -them in the coffee-pot, for the time being. Anybody want any more?” - -Both boys declared they did, naturally! So the coffee was poured and -consumed. Then the pot was emptied and the brown leather bag was -deposited therein. - -“What was it you said about someone being at the door while the stones -were on the table?” asked Alex. - -“Did you see anyone there?” added Case. - -For answer Clay nodded his head toward the single pane in the cabin -door, which might have been a panel of black velvet, so heavily did the -darkness press upon it. - -“What did you see there?” he asked. - -“Nothing at all.” - -Clay moved toward the door and listened between short steps as he -walked. - -“If anyone rushes the door,” he said, amazing the others by the seeming -irrelevance of the remark, “you both stand by to fight ’em off. They -will be after the diamonds—understand. You hold ’em off and I’ll grab -the coffee-pot and run. They will go away without hurting you when they -find out the gems are not here. After the row is over I’ll come back.” - -“What are you getting at?” demanded Alex. - -“You are surely getting ahead of yours truly in the monkey-story record! -Who’s going to rush the door?” - -“Listen!” - -As Clay spoke there was a light step on the deck outside, then a hand -crept over the outer surface of the door and came, fumbling, to the -knob, which turned a fraction of an inch under their eyes. The lads -stood quite still. Clay’s eyes were fixed on the coffee-pot, now -standing within reach of his hand on the table. Case and Alex were -closer to the door, against which there now came the brushing of wet -garments. - -“It may be Jule!” Case whispered. - -“No, it is someone after the diamonds!” contended Alex. - -There was no farther movement at the door, but the boys stood in the old -positions, ready for whatever might come. - -“What are you going to do with the diamonds?” asked Case. - -“Oh, I don’t know,” Clay answered, almost fretfully. “I can’t decide on -a thing like that in a second—not right off the handle, you see. I found -them, you know, and——” - -“Finders keep and losers seek,” half chanted Case. - -“That’s what’s in my mind,” Clay went on. “I know that it isn’t just -right, but I found them; and, then, I don’t see no philanthropic person -bringing back our stolen money.” - -“No one knows we found them,” Alex suggested. - -Then the three boys looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. - -“You know you won’t keep them!” Case declared. “You know very well that -you’ll hunt the city, or the world, over for the owner if he doesn’t -come after them.” - -“You know you never meant to keep them,” Alex added. “When I hinted that -no one knew about them being here I didn’t mean anything by it. You know -I didn’t.” - -“For just a second I meant to keep them,” Clay confessed. “I was -thinking what we might do with them, you see. If we kept them Jule need -never know about the robbery. He really ought not to have left the boat, -not with all that money here, you see, and so he’ll blame himself just -as much as if he had taken the money himself. But of course that was -just an impulse. I really don’t mean to keep them!” - -“There’s that hand moving on the door again!” whispered Alex. - -“How do you know it is a hand?” demanded Case. “It may be the muzzle of -a gun or the billy of a policeman.” - -“The only way to find out,” suggested Clay, “is to open the door and see -who’s there.” - -Before this intention could be carried out, however, another element -forced itself into the case. There came a shout from the shore and the -sound of heavy footfalls on the planking of the pier. - -“What’s going on here!” demanded a gruff voice. “What’s all this running -round in circles about?” - -There was no answer from the outside, and the boys in the cabin did not -feel qualified to answer any such questions, so they remained perfectly -quiet, until, in a second, the heavy voice came again. - -“Come out of that, you wharf rat!” it said. “Come out where I can see -you.” - -“That’s a member of the river police,” Clay suggested. “They always talk -about wharf rats.” - -“Who is he talking to?” queried Case, puzzled. “The person on our deck, -whoever he is,” Clay decided. - -Then the nervous sounds on the door continued, and a voice said: - -“Will you let me in, please?” - -“Sounds like a girl’s voice.” - -This from Alex, who stepped forward as he spoke. - -“Perhaps it is the boy I saw fighting the man on the pier,” Clay -suggested. “He looked pale and sick, and that voice doesn’t belong to a -healthy boy.” - -“I’m afraid of the police!” came the voice again. “Please let me in. -I’ll go away as soon as they are gone.” - -“Anyway,” Clay decided, “risk or no risk, diamonds or no diamonds, I’m -going to open the door and let him in!” - -“Surely,” echoed Alex, with a grin. “Let him in. We’ve been chased by -the river police, ourselves, before now.” - -“Do you think the policeman saw you get the brown leather bag?” asked -Case, “and if he did will he accuse you of stealing the diamonds?” - -“We’ll soon know all about it,” replied Clay, unlocking the door. - - - - -CHAPTER IV.—TWO GUESTS AND AN ARREST - - -The other boys made no protest, although the fear and dread of having -gems which probably had been stolen—which, at least, did not belong to -them—discovered in the cabin was in their hearts, so Clay swung the door -open. - -A slender, black-eyed boy of about sixteen stood there, an appealing -look on his face. When he dodged into the cabin they saw that his -clothing was shabby and insufficient for such a night, and that it was -soaked with rain. He shivered as he stood by the table and motioned to -Clay to lock the door. Before he could thank them for the hospitality so -grudgingly extended, the policeman’s strident voice came again from the -deck. - -“Here!” he said, angrily. Don’t try to make a fool of me. You come on -out here! You don’t belong in there, you know. There’s been robbery on -the river to-day, and I want you.” - -“If you’ll only tell him I belong here——” - -The boy did not finish the sentence, for now the ring of the officer’s -club came on the door in good earnest, rattling the glass panel and -echoing through the little space within like the crack of doom, as Alex -afterward expressed it. - -“Open up! Open up, or I’ll break the door in! I want the diamonds you -stole, and I want you!” - -The boys looked at each other with apprehension showing in their manner, -and the stranger seemed to sense that something not on the surface was -going on in their minds. - -“Well, officer, what do you want?” - -Clay spoke the words with his head half out of the doorway, his eyes -momentarily blinded by the gleam of an electric flashlight in the red, -wet hands of a heavy man in the uniform of the Chicago police. - -There was a short hesitation on the policeman’s part. - -“Where’s the lad who just ran in here?” he then demanded, inserting his -club into the crack of the door and forcing it wide open, in spite of -the efforts of the boy to retain control of it. “You?” - -“No,” answered Clay, “I’m not the lad who just ran in here. What do you -want?” - -“You ought to know,” was the insolent rejoinder. “There’s been a diamond -robbery somewhere about this pier, and I’m looking for the stones and -the thief. Let me in for a look around, or it will be the station for -yours.” - -Clay stepped aside, unwillingly, and the officer stooped down so as to -clear the low doorway and brushed into the cabin. His great bulk, his -fat red face, his arrogant manner, seemed to reduce the size of the -small room by at least half. His helmet was running water, and he -removed it and shook the drops over the table. - -In a moment he flashed his light around, resting it longest, it seemed -to the boys, on the coffee-pot sitting on the electric stove. It seemed -to the imaginative Alex that he must see right through the tin to the -brown leather bag, and through the folds of the brown leather bag to the -stolen diamonds! - -Next the policeman felt of Clay’s clothes and sniffed suspiciously when -he found them wet. He seemed disappointed when the garments of Case and -Alex proved dry to his touch. His face brightened again when he found -evidences of recent retreat from the storm in the clothes of the -stranger. - -“So you are the one who just ducked in here?” he said. “You’re the lad I -saw skulking behind the corner of the warehouse beyond not long ago. -What?” - -The stranger looked the policeman straight in the face with his black -eyes, but made no reply. The chums looked on, wondering how they were to -get rid of the incriminating coffee-pot. - -They felt certain that the officer would make a search of the place and -discover the diamonds. - -Then they would, in all probability, be hustled off to the police -station. They were still anxious about the strange absence of Jule, but, -after all, right glad that the boy was not there to share this -suspicion. - -“Come,” grumbled the officer, shaking the stranger roughly by the -shoulder, “the game is up! Give up the diamonds and come along.” - -“I haven’t got the diamonds,” faltered the lad. “I don’t know where they -are. I’m not a thief. I belong here with these boys.” - -The officer turned to Clay, whom he now recognized as one he had often -seen about the boat, and of whom he knew nothing discreditable. - -“Does he belong here?” he asked. - -Clay hesitated. The stranger looked so cold and hungry, and his eyes -were appealing, and his manner asked for sympathy! He was sorely tempted -to make a statement in his behalf which was not true, and which he knew -would be regretted as long as he lived. - -To deny the story told by the shivering lad would certainly cause his -arrest as a diamond thief. The policeman might go away with his prisoner -without searching the cabin if he was told that the lad had never set -foot there before. In that case the gems would not be discovered in the -possession of the occupants of the place. - -It was certainly in the interest of the boys that the policeman should -leave without searching the cabin, and yet the stranger stood so in need -of protection that Clay could not for an instant decide what to do. Then -he caught the eyes of his chums, fixed anxiously upon himself, and moved -toward the stove where the diamonds reposed in the coffee-pot, surely an -odd receptacle for so valuable a parcel. - -“I’m going to tell you the truth, officer,” he said, “though it may get -me into trouble. I——” - -The stranger stepped forward, interrupting his progress to the place -where the stones were secreted. - -“Wait,” the boy said, “I’m not going to get you all into trouble. -Officer,” he continued, turning to the wondering policeman, “I told you -a lie just now. I don’t belong here with these boys. I’ve never been in -this cabin before—before to-night. I’ve often watched the boat when it -was lighted up on cold nights, and when there was a smell of cooking -coming from the windows, as there was to-night, but I don’t belong here. -If you’ll take me away now, I’ll be glad, because I don’t want to get -these boys into any scrape.” - -“So you have loitered about here nights, have you?” demanded Case, his -sympathy for the lad turning to suspicion. “What were you doing out -there by the warehouse a short time ago? Were you in here after our chum -went away. Are you the thief who stole our money?” - -Clay tried to check the boy, but his words poured out in a torrent of -suspicion and reproach until the officer interrupted him. - -“So ho!” he cried, “there’s been another robbery in your vicinity -to-night, has there? You’ve kept yourself busy, eh? How much did you -lose, lad?” he continued, turning to Clay. - -“Case shouldn’t have mentioned it, because we really don’t know, yet, -whether it has been stolen or not,” Clay explained, “but the sum we miss -now is two hundred dollars.” - -The policeman whistled softly. - -“Do you happen to have it with you, lad?” he asked, facing the stranger -with accusing eyes. - -“I never took it!” insisted the boy. - -“Search him!” cried Case, who seemed determined to say and do exactly -the wrong thing that night. - -“He doesn’t look like a thief,” Clay suggested, glad to be able to say -something in the dejected lad’s favor. - -“Much you know what a thief looks like!” said the officer. - -“I don’t believe he is a thief,” declared Alex. “I don’t believe he ever -stole the diamonds!” - -“We’ll pass it on to the judge,” grinned the policeman. “Many’s the -innocent face with a black heart behind it. So I’ll be taking the boy to -the sergeant, and asking you boys to come to the trial.” - -A fierce dash of rain came against the cabin windows and a burst of -thunder for an instant drowned all other sounds. When the quick shock of -it was over the policeman was outside, pushing against the wind and rain -with his prisoner. - -“What kind of a dream is this?” asked Alex, whimsically. - -“A dream of a thief!” responded Case. - -“Oh, quit it!” interposed Alex. “I think sometimes you haven’t got -common sense. I don’t believe that boy ever stole our money.” - -“What was he hanging about for, then? I shouldn’t wonder if he did -worse—if he attacked Jule and left him lying dead somewhere.” - -“You always go to extreme, Case,” smiled Clay. “What I’m thinking about -now is that the policeman went away without searching the cabin and -finding the diamonds! He says they were stolen to-day. Well, if he had -found them here what would he have done?” - -“Pinched us!” exclaimed Alex. - -“You’ll wash the dishes in the morning for that, Alex,” grinned Case. -“That’s slang.” - -“Not!” retorted the other. “That is what the policemen call it -themselves. They say ‘pinched,’ and that brings the word into legitimate -use. Guess I know slang when I hear it.” - -“Is that the boy you saw fighting at the head of the pier?” asked Case, -in a moment, of Clay. - -“Not a bit like him,” was the reply. - -“Well, what was he watching the boat for?” - -“He explained that. He was lonesome.” - -“Then why couldn’t he have gone home?” grumbled Case. “I just think he -knows something about where Jule is, or why he went away. I wish we had -asked him.” - -“I’m getting anxious about Jule,” Clay said. “There may be some -connection between his absence and the robbery.” - -“I’ll just bet he took the money with him when he went away!” exclaimed -Alex. “If he had to go away somewhere, and there was no one to leave in -the boat, that’s just what he would have done.” - -“When he comes,” Clay advised, echoing Alex’s request, “don’t say a word -to him about the money. If he has it, or if he put it away in another -place, he will say so soon enough. There’s someone else on the deck!” he -added, as a quick step was heard. - -“This seems to be a sort of reception night,” Alex laughed. “Wonder who -the new person can be? Why, it’s Jule!” - -This last sentence as the door opened and a boy much smaller than the -others bounded inside. He was covered from the crown of his red head to -the soles of his feet with oilskins, which, dripping, made small lakes -and rivers on the cabin floor. - -Alex darted forward and began pummeling the boy on the shoulders with -his fists. - -“Where have you been?” he cried. “You’ve given us a bad evening, old -man. Come. Tell us about it.” - -Jule took off the oilskin coat, leggings, and hat quite deliberately and -turned his attention to the electric stove where the coffee-pot was -still sitting. - -The boys stood watching him with eager eyes. Would he say anything about -the money? Had he taken it with him? Had he placed it in a more secure -hiding-place? The questions were in their faces, although not spoken, -and Jule saw that something unusual was going on. - -“Where did you get the oilskins?” asked Alex, glad of any excuse to -break the pregnant silence. - -Jule lifted his red eyebrows with a comical grimace and walked toward -the coffee-pot. He was small and thin, and his freckled face was -pathetically wasted as to flesh, but his blue eyes were bright and -merry. As he moved toward the electric stove—the one place the boys -wished him to keep away from just then—a racking cough convulsed the -emaciated frame for a moment. - -“Wait!” Alex exclaimed, as Jule recovered from the spasm of coughing and -reached for the coffee-pot. “Wait! I’ll get you the coffee!” - -“I’ve already connected with it,” answered the boy, taking the pot by -the handle and shaking it. - -The three stood by, waiting. After all, they thought, it did not matter -so much if he did know about the diamonds. He would have to know -sometime. The only reason why they objected to the gems coming into the -case immediately was that the boy would become excited and forget to -tell whatever he knew about the money. - -“I’m going to ask him, plump out!” whispered Case to Clay, as Jule -lifted the pot and balanced it in his hand, as if to see what the -chances were for a full cup. - -Clay restrained the impulsive boy by a motion of his hand. Jule did not -seem pleased with the investigation of the coffee-pot. There was a -bumping sound inside instead of the swish of the stimulating liquid he -sought. He lifted the lid and looked in. - -They saw him take out the brown leather bag and hold it up between his -eyes and the light. Then he shook it, bringing forth from the bag the -musical tinkle of the gems. After a second’s hesitation, he started to -open the bag, but Alex snatched it away from him. - -“Not until you tell us where you have been,” grinned Alex, dangling the -bag before Jule’s eyes. “Not until you tell us where you got those -oilskins. Not until you tell us everything about what you’ve been doing -to-night! Then we’ll let you know what’s in this bag!” - - - - -CHAPTER V.—THE BOY FROM PERU - - -What Alex really wanted to say was: “Not until you tell us whether our -money is safe.” But he restrained his tongue and rattled the contents of -the bag alluringly. - -“That’s a funny thing to keep in a coffee-pot,” Jule exclaimed. “What -did you make the coffee in to-night? What is in the bag?” - -“Tell us!” insisted Clay. - -“Well, after I saw you coming, down by the warehouse, you know,” began -the boy, nodding at Clay and dropping into a chair, “I went on down to -Madison street and got to Doctor Holcomb’s office without getting wet at -all. The oilskins he sent me did the business—kept me dry as tinder in -all that rain.” - -“So he sent for you, did he, and supplied the oilskins?” - -It was Clay who asked the question. There was hope in the lad’s breast -now, for Jule would not be apt to go so far away without taking some -precautions regarding the money. - -“Oh, I told you all about that,” Jule went on, impatiently, as if -reciting something already well known. “I remained here until I saw you -coming, over there by the warehouse,” the boy continued, turning to -Clay, “then I went out to meet you, so as to tell about my going away to -see Dr. Holcomb. When I got to the end of the wharf you were not there, -but in a moment I saw you at the corner of the building, and called out -to you to watch the boat while I went to see the doctor.” - -“Did you wait until I got into the cabin?” asked Clay, turning away so -that the astonishment in his face might not be seen. - -“Oh, yes, I made sure you were in the cabin before I went away,” was the -disheartening reply. “I wasn’t going to leave the boat, not with all our -money in it, alone for a minute,” he went on. - -Case opened his lips to speak, but Clay gave his arm such a pinch of -warning that he immediately closed them again without speaking a word of -the hot sentence that was in his mind. The blow had fallen. There was -nothing more to say! - -Jule had mistaken some thief for Clay, had left the boat in his care, -and the money had been stolen! There was nothing more to do except never -to let the boy know what the mistake had cost—and to go about earning -more! - -The three boys took the matter calmly. Up to this minute they had all -hoped and half believed that Jule had either taken the money away with -him or hidden it in another spot. Now the last hope was gone. They -gathered about the table, glad of something to engage their thoughts, -exhibited the diamonds, and told how they came to be in their -possession. Jule was enthusiastic over the find, as he called it. - -“And now,” Clay said, after the story had been told and the boys had -expressed various opinions as to the ownership of the stones, “we may as -well hide the diamonds away and make more coffee. Where shall I put -them?” - -“Why, with the money, of course!” exclaimed Jule. - -“Not if you——” - -Alex stepped on Case’s toe and the remark was never completed. - -“All right,” Clay grinned, “I’ll put them in the square box with the red -cover, and put that into the round box. That is where the money was put, -eh, Jule? You handled it last.” - -“That’s where you’ll find it!” the boy answered, and again the three -turned away their faces. - -Clay put the diamonds in the box and laid it away. Then more coffee was -made, and rolls and sausages brought out, and all four fell to with keen -appetites, Alex explaining that the previous meal that night had not -been satisfying because of the absence of Jule, and because of the -excitement of the policeman’s visit and the arrest of the stranger. - -There was no doubt in the minds of the three now that the boy who had -been arrested had been the one Jule had seen by the warehouse, the one -who had been seen to enter the cabin, the one who had taken the money! - -The one thing in opposition to this theory was the fact that the boy had -returned to the vicinity of the boat after taking the money—if, indeed, -he had not remained about the warehouse during all the time which had -intervened between the taking of the money and the arrival of the -officer. Then, too, he had voluntarily entered the cabin, to escape from -the officer. That did not look like the act of a guilty person. - -“Who do you think this strange boy is?” asked Jule, at the conclusion of -the story. “I like the way he spoke up to the policeman and said he had -lied about belonging here. It is a sure thing he’s honest, and never -stole the diamonds. What do you think?” he demanded, turning to his -chums. - -“He may be honest,” Clay answered. - -“He’s a thief!” Case thundered. - -“He’s all right!” insisted Alex. - -“Anyway,” Jule continued, with a grin at the diverse opinions of the -stranger so expressed, “it is certain he saw Clay pick up the brown -leather bag, and the chances are that he knew where the stones were when -the policeman took him away. You say someone looked in at the window. -Well, that was this lad, and he saw the diamonds on the table, and saw -you put them in the coffee-pot. If he’s honest he’ll wait until he finds -the owner of the diamonds, and then tell him where they are. If he is a -crook he’ll tell the police about seeing them here and get us all into -trouble.” - -“They were here when he was arrested,” Alex urged, “and he never said a -word about them. If he knew about them, he would have told the officer, -wouldn’t he? I don’t believe he knows anything about the diamonds or the -mo——” - -Clay gave the boy’s leg a pinch under the table. - -“Or the manner in which they came here,” Alex concluded, trying to -change “money” into “manner” and not succeeding very well. - -While the boys talked, they were preparing their beds for the night -There were two of these, And they were almost like hammocks let down -from the low ceiling, being attached to strong rods by chains. When -drawn up the bottoms of the beds looked exactly like the ceiling; when -let down strong springs and soft mattresses were disclosed. - -Case had already climbed into the one he occupied with Clay when a timid -knock came on the door. - -“Reception night!” gasped Alex. - -“Perhaps it is the policeman come back after the diamonds,” suggested -Case. “That little thief has told about seeing them here, and we’re all -to be arrested!” - -“Imagine one notch farther, and get us hanged for murdering the owner of -the diamonds!” scorned Alex. “You certainly do let out the rankest -prophecies! Shall I open the door, fellows?” - -There was another knock, and the boy did not wait for an answer, but -turned the key and threw the door half open. Then he dodged back, and -the slender, black-eyed lad who had been taken away by the policeman -entered the cabin. It was still raining, and his garments contributed -tiny lakes and rivers to the damp spots already on the floor. He stood -silent a moment, fumbling with his cap, wringing wet, and then found his -voice. - -“I thought,” he began. - -He stopped and looked toward the coffee-pot, still steaming. Alex lifted -it and poured out a cup of strong coffee, which, together with a plate -of cold beans and a loaf of bread, he set before the wet boy. - -“I guess you’re hungry,” he said, unconcernedly. - -The stranger fell to, but there was a look of amazement in his face -which no one there failed to observe. Case thought the look meant that -he was astonished to find that the diamonds were not in the pot. Clay -believed that the lad was upset by the courteous treatment he was -receiving. Alex understood that it was because of Jule’s presence that -the boy was so all at sea, mentally. - -All the lads saw in the return of the boy some faint chance to solve the -mystery of the loss of the money. “Perhaps,” hopeful Alex thought, “he -has repented and brought the money back with him.” Clay watched the boy -for a moment and said, tentatively: - -“They didn’t keep you at the station very long?” “No,” was the confused -reply. “I proved my innocence and they let me go. I came back here to -let you know.” - -“Why have you been hanging around the boat?” asked Case, leaning over -the side of his bed. “You were out there by the warehouse a long time -to-night, and someone from the boat called out to you.” - -Jule looked up suspiciously, but Case went on: - -“Then you came into the cabin.” - -The stranger shook his head. - -“You are mistaken,” he insisted. - -“Let him alone!” Alex ordered. “Give him a chance to eat his supper, -can’t you. What’s your name, kid?” he continued, forgetful of his own -suggestion that the stranger be permitted to eat in peace. - -“Frank Porter,” was the quick reply. “I was born near the headwaters of -the Amazon, in Peru. I came to Chicago to attend to some business, and -haven’t been able to get back.” - -The four opened their eyes in wonder. Here was a boy who had lived in -the country they had planned to visit, and who knew all about the river -they were so anxious to explore. - -“Go on!” Clay said, eagerly. - -“I heard that you boys were going to the foothills of the Andes,” Frank -went on, “and I thought you might let me go with you, only I could never -find the courage to come and ask you about it?” - -“And that is what you’ve been hanging around here for?” asked Case. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Well,” Case continued, brutally, “it costs money to run this boat. Can -you pay your share of the expense?” - -“I haven’t any money.” was the dejected reply. - -“You speak English pretty handily for a native of Peru!” Case taunted, -while Alex frowned at the impudence of the suggestion. - -“My father was a Chicago man, and my mother was a native of New -Orleans,” was the straight-forward answer. “I know English and Spanish -and a lot of Amazon valley dialects. I may be able to make myself useful -on the journey. You’ll need a guide,” he added, hopefully. - -Neither of the three dared hint, in the presence of Jule, how far away -that journey now was! And Jule did not know! - -“All right,” Alex agreed, putting off the evil time when Jule would have -to know, “you can go, and we’ll let you stay here with us until we -start. We’ll need you. Isn’t that right, boys?” - -They all declared that it was entirely right, but Case’s acquiescence -seemed a little forced, though the boy’s stay with them seemed to be -only for that night. Nothing whatever was said about the diamonds, and -Case took the precaution of putting them inside his pillow-slip before -he went to sleep. It was daylight before the boys awoke, for the evening -had been an exciting one, and they had had much to think over before -they could sleep. - -Clay rolled out of bed and turned the electric switch, for it was still -dark in the cabin. The first thing that met his eyes was the rude bed on -the floor which had been made up for Frank Porter. It was empty, and the -cabin door was ajar. The boy had gone without a word of good-bye! Then -Clay saw something else. It was a copy of an evening newspaper, open at -the “lost and found” page. He read the paragraph to which a pencil-made -hand pointed, and set up a great shout. - -“Boys!” he cried. “Wake up and hear the blessed news! There’s a reward -of $500 offered for the return of the diamonds, and no questions asked. -We’ll go in style, go to-day! What?” - - - - -CHAPTER VI.—$500 REWARD——LIGHTS OF PARA - - -“Why, of course we’re going to-day!” came from Jule’s bed. “Why not? -Haven’t we been planning on to-day right along?” - -The boy bounced out of his bed. His three chums regarded each other with -glances of understanding. They had almost forgotten, in the excitement -of the moment, that, though all hope of getting away in the immediate -future had been abandoned by them, Jule did not know. - -“Of course, this very day!” shouted Case. “We will be ready in no time, -just as soon as we get breakfast. Here, Alex,” he cried, “you make -coffee, and I’ll run over and see Captain Joe. We’ll have to tell him -about it.” - -“If Frank Porter is going with us,” Clay declared, “he’ll have to be -showing up.” - -Alex busied himself making coffee and frying bacon and eggs and Clay -stepped outside with Case. - -“Now, don’t get a grouch on,” he advised, “and tell Jule that he came -near defeating all our plans. - -He mistook someone for me, but that wasn’t anything unusual. I’ve made -mistakes about people before now myself. Just let it all go, and the kid -won’t have the thing to worry over.” - -“I wonder where he went last night?” Case said, doggedly. - -“Why, he told us that he went to see Dr. Holcomb,” Clay explained. -“He’ll tell us what he went to see him about when he gets ready. Now, -don’t forget and let the cat out of the bag.” - -“Don’t you ever think I will,” promised Case. “I’ll go now and see -Captain Joe, and tell him to be quick with the gasoline, and he’ll have -it on board before noon. Good old boy, Captain Joe.” - -“There never was any better!” echoed Clay. While they talked a stoutish, -gray-haired man with a very red face and a wooden leg not at all -concealed by his trousers came stumping down the pier, waving a pudgy -hand in greeting. - -“Morning, boys!” he cried. - -“Morning, Captain Joe!” answered the boys, in a breath. “We were just -going up to see you about the gasoline. We’re off to-day, you know,” -they both shouted, talking so fast that neither sensed that the other -was speaking. - -Captain Joe came to where the boys stood and looked the motor boat over -critically. He had been a sea captain for years, and was never so happy -as when passing judgment on a vessel. Two years before he had met with -an accident which had deprived him of one leg, and since that time he -had gained a living by conducting a little ship and motor boat supply -store not far from the slip where the _Rambler_ lay. His practical -suggestions had been invaluable to the boys in fitting out the -_Rambler_. - -“She looks fit as a fiddle,” the old man declared, cocking his head to -one side and running his eyes over the graceful lines of the craft. -“When you get out into the ocean just keep her head on, and she’ll sail -like a duck. My! It would be a treat to go along with you!” - -“We’ll make an extra bunk for you, Captain Joe,” Clay cut in, eagerly. -“You know you’d be welcome.” - -“I’m too old, lads,” returned the captain, “and besides. I’ve got my own -little bread-and-butter shop to look after. But here,” he continued, -taking a packet sealed in oilskin from his breast, “here’s a little -present for you. I’m giving it to you with the understanding, though, -mind, that you never open it until you find yourself in a tight place! -There is a word of advice in it,” he went on, “and it may cheer you up a -bit when you open it.” - -Clay’s face was very grave as he took the packet. “We’ll do just as you -say, Captain Joe,” he promised, “and we’ll think of you as often as you -think of us! But we hope never to get into a tight place. You’ll come -and see us off?” - -“Certainly—certainly!” declared the captain. “I couldn’t let my boys -sail away without being there to wish ’em good luck. I’ll have the -gasoline down here in an hour, and then off you go, and may every hope -you have be thrifty and bud into two more—all coming into harbor with -sails set!” - -The old man stumped away, and the boys returned to the cabin. While -breakfast was being eaten a knock was heard and Frank Porter’s face -showed through the glass panel. Alex opened the door and grabbed him by -the shoulders. - -“Come on in,” he shouted. “You’re just in time for some of my -world-without-end pancakes. No one else ever made such pancakes as -these. You’re just in time, for we’re going to sail before noon.” - -The boys were so happy in their good fortune that all suspicions of the -integrity of the lad were for the time forgotten, and he was given a -very friendly welcome indeed. He explained that he had been out in the -city for a walk, and had been delayed by an accident which had blocked a -street and sent him a long way around. - -“Now,” said Clay, after breakfast, “I’ll go up to this advertiser’s -address and get the reward for the restoration of the diamonds, and then -we’ll be all ready for blue water.” - -“I’ll go with you,” volunteered Alex. - -“Not much you won’t,” Case put in. “You’ll stay here on the boat and -wash dishes as a penalty for talking slang.” - -While the boys argued Clay and Jule started away. It was a bright Spring -morning, and the air was clear and invigorating, for Chicago. Jule threw -out his chest as they walked along, taking in long breaths. - -“I begin to feel well already!” he said. “Oh, I’ll be well before we get -to the Gulf of Mexico!” - -“What did Dr. Holcomb tell you last night?” asked Clay, curious to know -the reason for the visit of the night before to the office of the -physician. Jule hesitated an instant, and then turned a pair of merry -blue eyes on his companion. - -“Don’t you wish you knew?” he asked, provokingly. - -“Oh, if it is anything private——” Clay began. - -“It is a secret!” acknowledged the boy. “I’m not to tell anyone about it -until we get back. I think it jolly to have a secret.” - -“I know,” Clay guessed, “he said you were going to get well down on the -Amazon. Huh, we knew that before!” - -“Guess again,” laughed Jule, as they turned the corner of Madison and -Dearborn streets. “I’ll tell you—when we get back! But there is the -Boyce building, and here is the name of the lawyer who advertised to -give the reward for the return of the diamonds—and no questions asked!” - -Lawyer Sharp had just reached his office as the boys entered. He met -them with a smile and seemed to consider the return of the stones as a -matter of course. He opened his safe and took therefrom a package of -banknotes which seemed to have been placed there for that special -occasion. - -“I’m not to ask any questions, you know,” he said, as Clay tendered the -brown leather bag and received the money, “but I would like to know who -sent you here with the diamonds. They are worth fifty thousand dollars, -I presume you know?” - -“No,” answered Clay, “we didn’t know that.” - -“I never knew there was that much money in Chicago!” put in Jule. - -“But you didn’t answer my question.” - -“I found the diamonds on the ground,” Clay replied, not referring to the -way they came there, “and saw the advertisement in an evening newspaper. -That’s all.” - -“Where did you get the newspaper?” - -There was a twinkle in the lawyer’s eyes, as if he, too, had a secret -that was hard to keep. - -“Why,” Clay answered, “why——” - -He turned to Jule with a puzzled look on his face. - -“Where do you think that newspaper came from?” he asked, puzzled, too. - -Jule shook his head, looking from the lawyer to the brown leather bag, -now empty, the gems being in the lawyer’s hand. - -“I don’t know,” he said. “You found it on the boat, I take it.” - -“Someone must have placed it there,” said the lawyer. - -“It was marked,” Clay explained, “with a finger pointing to the -advertisement. Now, what do you think of that? Why——” - -“Then someone put it there,” Jule declared. “Someone who wanted us to -get the reward! I’ll bet it was Captain Joe.” - -“Or Dr. Holcomb,” Clay continued. - -“Very strange proceeding!” insisted the lawyer. “If anyone knew where -the diamonds were, and saw fit to throw away $500, he might have done -that, but did this Captain Joe you speak of, or this Dr. Holcomb, know -that you had the stones?” - -“Of course not!” answered Jule. “No one knew.” - -“When were the diamonds stolen?” asked Clay. - -“Early yesterday morning, though the loss was not reported then.” - -“Who stole them?” was the next question. - -The lawyer laughed outright at this. - -“If we knew,” he said, “we’d have him in jail But we don’t know. We -thought that, perhaps, the one who came for the reward might know.” - -“If you think that,” Clay exclaimed, flushing with anger, “if you think -I stole them, I will return the reward!” - -“We don’t think so,” explained the lawyer. “If we did we’d have had a -policeman here. Well, there’s your money. I’m busy!” - -The boys went out into the hall and took the elevator without another -word being said. The lawyer’s mood had been more preoccupied and not so -friendly at the last. - -“There is something queer about it!” Jule said, as they took a Madison -street-car. “Lookout there!” - -A young man who was running for the car slipped and came near falling -under the wheels as the boy started up in his seat and involuntarily -called out. - -“That was a close call!” Clay exclaimed. - -“But he got on,” Jule said. “There he is, on the back of the car.” - -“Why,” Clay whispered, “I saw that man in the lower hall when we went up -to the lawyer’s office, and again when we came down. See that scar on -his cheek? Looks as if he had been wounded there. Well, I noticed that -both times.” - -“Perhaps he was thinking of getting the diamonds or the money away from -us,” suggested Jule. “He’d have a good time doing it!” - -“Oh, I guess not,” Clay replied, but he was not quite easy in his mind -until the young man—a dark young man in a greenish suit, with little -black eyes and a tiny mustache, turned up at the ends, left the car at -the bridge. - -The gasoline was on board long before noon, Captain Joe having seen to -that personally, and then all was bustle as the boys headed down the -drainage canal for the Mississippi. The last familiar figure they saw as -they got under way, the motors ticking merrily under the hatch on the -deck floor, was that of Captain Joe, standing on the pier and waving a -white handkerchief from a pudgy hand. - -The boys were delighted with the trip down to the Gulf of Mexico, and -agreed that if they could ever afford it they would some day take a -leisurely journey down the Mississippi in the motor boat. - -The _Rambler_ passed through the Caribbean sea without mishap, though -the boys were more than once reminded of the advice of Captain Joe, to -“keep her head on.” It was rather more difficult navigating the eastern -coast, but there were no serious accidents, and Jule gained in health -every minute. On the way down Frank, now a welcome member of the party, -gave the boys lessons in Spanish, and many a friendly tilt they had over -their pronunciation of the tongue spoken principally in South America. - -One evening in early June the lights of Para gladdened the eyes of the -boys, for there, away to the north, ran the current of the mighty -Amazon! - - - - -CHAPTER VII.—A BOAT FROM THE SOUTH BRANCH - - -The boys had headed the _Rambler_ for Para, which is some distance south -of the mouth of the Amazon, for two reasons. The first was that supplies -could be purchased there cheaper than at the towns in the interior of -Brazil, as the city is the principal commercial port of that country. -They had put in a good supply of gasoline at New Orleans, but there was -not near enough in the tanks to attempt the navigation of the long -stretch of water ahead of them. Besides, their supply of provisions was -running short. - -There are several cities of good size along the Amazon and her -tributaries, but excessive freight rates would make purchases there too -expensive for the lessening supply of ready money. Trading vessels from -all parts of the world make a highway of the Amazon, cargoes being put -off and taken on more than two thousand miles from the Atlantic coast. -In fact, navigation of the river and its branches ends only at the -gorges of the eastern Andes. - -Para is a modern city in many ways, and boasts a population of something -over a quarter of a million. It is sixty-five miles from the coast, on a -river of the same name, three thousand from New York, and three thousand -from Buenos Aires. The river there is something like twenty feet in -depth, but so sloping are the shores that most of the loading and -unloading is done with the aid of lighters. - -The second reason for the decision to enter the Amazon by way of Para -was that the great waterway of South America is treacherous. In the -language of the native Brazilian Indians, Amazon means “boat destroyer.” -There are monster tidal waves at the mouth, and the wash from above so -reduces the depth that vessels are frequently stranded on bars of sand. -In addition to these difficulties, there are numerous islands in the -river, which is fully fifty miles in width at a distance of a hundred -miles from the coast, and it requires the service of an experienced -pilot to keep the direct course. - -The route to the foothills of the Andes is considerably longer by way of -Para, but the boys were in no hurry to bring their pleasant excursion to -a close, and the above reasons were considered sufficient for the choice -they made. Besides, there would be an opportunity to view the lower -Amazon on the way down. - -When the lights of Para came into view that night, the boys decided to -anchor a short distance above the city and remain there through the -following day, purchasing the needed supplies. Then, on the second -morning, they could proceed westward, passing through the estuaries and -streams which connect the Para river with the Amazon, and so on to the -mountains. The point of junction with the Amazon is to the west of -Marajo island, a body of land larger than some of the New England -states. - -The _Rambler_, therefore, came to anchor in a slip well to the west of -the city, and, after partaking of supper, the boys set out to see the -sights of the first foreign town they had ever set eyes on—that is, the -first foreign town of importance which they had seen at close range. -Case was left on board, and when the shore party returned he sat on the -prow of the boat, watchful and alert. - -“What did you see in the city?” he asked, as the boys began letting down -the bunks. - -“Same old story,” yawned Jule. “Nothing but houses! I can find just as -queer places in Chicago as I saw there.” - -“Good old Chicago!” exclaimed Alex, a flood of memories brought up by -the mention of the name. - -“Homesick?” asked Case, with a provoking smile. - -“Not a bit of it! I guess I can like a city, and think of her, and the -good times I’ve had there without wanting to go straight back to her! -This is good enough for me right now.” - -“Did you try your Spanish on anyone?” laughed Case, presently. “If you -did, you probably had to take to our heels in order to keep out of -jail,” he continued. - -Case and Alex had indulged in many a good-natured squabble over the -pronunciation of certain Spanish words, and each had predicted all kinds -of trouble for the other when the time to use the language came. - -“Sure I talked Spanish,” replied Alex, a whimsical smile spreading over -his face. “I delivered an oration in the city hall! Didn’t I, Frank?” - -Frank Porter and Alex had become fast friends. They bunked together and -planned mischief together. In fact, Clay and Case were having rather a -busy time with Alex, Jule, and Frank. Jule’s health was improving so -fast, and he was so full of animal spirits because of his new lease of -life, that he kept things moving pretty lively, while Frank and Alex -were always engaged in some mischief, not necessarily vicious mischief, -but just fantastic enough to keep the company stirred up most of the -time. - -Frank promptly backed Alex up in the ridiculous assertion that he had -made, and was as promptly chased off the deck by Case, who growled at -the pranks of the boys one minute and joined in with them the next. It -was close on to midnight when Case moved over to where Clay sat and -began a whispered conversation with him. - -“Did you see anyone you knew in Para, that is, anyone besides your own -party?” he asked. - -“That is a strange question,” Clay responded. “Of course I did not. Why -do you ask?” - -“One more question,” Case went on. “Have you seen anything since you -came here with a familiar look to it?” - -“Of course not. We are a long way from anything I know the look of, -except what came with us.” - -“Look around you now,” advised Case, “and see if there isn’t something -familiar in view.” - -“In the boat, you mean?” - -“No, in the river.” - -“There’s the water!” laughed Clay. “That looks familiar.” - -“And the ships?” - -There was a moon nearly at the full, and a soft light lay over the river -and the sleeping city beyond. Clay arose and looked over the scene and -then thoughtfully seated himself again. Case regarded him expectantly, -but waited for him to speak. - -“I know what you mean,” Clay said. “What about it?” - -“That’s what I don’t know.” - -“When did you first see it?” - -“Of course you mean that smoky little steamer with yellow and green on -her stack? That is what I am referring to.” - -“Yes,” Clay answered. “That is the only familiar thing in sight, so far -as I can see.” - -“You remember where you saw her last?” - -“Yes; in the South Branch. She lay near us the day before we left on -this trip.” - -“Well,” Case went on, “you asked me when I first saw her—here, I presume -you mean—and I’ll tell you that she came puffing in just after you boys -left for the shore. You were still in sight, on a pier, when she -anchored, and they got out a boat and rowed over after you.” - -“Whew!” whistled Clay, in astonishment. - -“That’s why I asked you if you saw anybody in Para that you had ever -seen before.” - -“Did you recognize any of the people who went ashore in the boat as -persons you had seen before—in Chicago or elsewhere?” - -“Yes; there was a man, a youngish man with a scar on his cheek, his left -cheek, almost under the ear, with little black, piggy eyes, and a tiny -black mustache, with the ends turned up. He seemed to be giving orders -to the others. Ever see him before?” - -Clay remembered that morning in Chicago, when he had secured the reward -for restoring the diamonds. This was the man who had run after the car -which Jule and himself had taken at the corner of Madison and Dearborn -streets. He stated the incident, briefly, to his companion. - -“Why, I saw that same man on the steamer in the South Branch,” Case -exclaimed. “That is why I noted his appearance so carefully here. He -wore a greenish suit in Chicago.” - -“He had such a suit on when I saw him that morning,” Clay said. - -“Well,” Case mused, directly, “he’s come after us?” - -“What do you mean by that?” - -“We might have delivered the stones to the wrong party.” - -“Nonsense!” cried Clay. “The advertisement would have brought the owner -and an officer to the place where they were to be returned and the -reward given out. A crook wouldn’t advertise in that open way. This -fellow is not on any legitimate business, if his errand here is -concerned with us.” - -“But why should he follow us?” persisted Case. “That is just what I -don’t know,” puzzled Clay. “We have nothing he could rob us of, except -the boat, and that doesn’t belong to us. We haven’t done anything -anybody could take offense at, or consider hostile.” - -“Well, he’s here,” Case concluded, “and it is up to us to keep a sharp -eye on him. There! He’s returning to the steamer now.” - -As the boy spoke a boat put out from a pier on the south shore and -proceeded swiftly toward the steamer with the yellow and green stack. It -was not light enough out on the river to enable the boys to recognize -any of the faces in the craft, but Case put his hand on Clay’s arm, -warning him to remain silent until the rowers came under the prow light -of the steamer. - -“That’s the man!” he said presently, as a light from the deck of the -steamer struck fairly in the faces of those in the boat. - -“Yes; that is the man!” - -“I hope we aren’t going to have our whole trip spoiled by anyone -sneaking after us like this and making trouble!” Case wailed. - -“We’ll have to meet whatever comes,” Clay reminded the other. “And now,” -he continued, “we’ll set a watch on deck for the night. In the morning -we’ll take on our supplies as early as possible and get under way. We’ll -soon find out whether this fellow is following us, or whether his -appearance here is merely a coincidence.” - -“I’ll watch to-night,” Case volunteered, but Clay had other views. The -conversation with Case had brought back to his mind something Frank -Porter had said on the night of his first appearance at the _Rambler_’s -pier. There certainly was mystery connected with the boy’s sudden -appearance, with his watching about in the storm for a view of the -_Rambler_ and her crew, with his anxiety to get back to the country he -had left with the boys as companions. - -So he explained to Case that he was not at all sleepy, but might be on -the next night, and so persuaded the boy to go off to his bunk, with the -understanding that he (Case) should watch next if it was thought best to -station a guard. As soon as Case was asleep, Clay went to the cabin and -quietly awoke Frank Porter. - -“Come out on deck,” he instructed the boy, “I want to talk with you.” - -In five minutes the lad was out on the prow, standing by Clay’s side, -his face white, his figure looking weak and irresolute. - -“I know what you’re going to say,” the boy began, without waiting for -Clay to open the conversation. “I have been wanting to see you alone -ever since that boat,” pointing to the steamer, “anchored near the -_Rambler_.” - -“You recognize her?” asked Clay. - -“The Senorita? Oh, yes, I saw her dropping anchor here just as we -reached the dock to-night, on our way into the city.” - -“And you saw the boat pulling for the shore?” “Yes; don’t you remember I -loitered behind the others, and that Alex came back for me?” - -“Yes; well, you saw a man in that boat you knew?” - -“Yes, sir; a man I know and fear.” - -“Have you anything more to say?” asked Clay, wishing to give the boy the -chance to tell whatever story he might have to tell in his own way. - -“Yes,” was the quick reply. “I’ll be short and quick with it, too. I -want you to put me ashore here and go on without me.” - -“Is that all you have to say?” - -“Everything.” - -“You haven’t the least idea that we’ll do a thing like that, have you?” -asked Clay, pitying the dejected boy from the bottom of his heart. - -“I thought you might be willing to do so.” - -“But why?” - -“Because you will all get into serious trouble if you don’t. That man—I -can’t tell you why—followed me from Peru to Chicago. He persecuted me in -Chicago. You saw the plight I was in when I came to you on that rainy -night! I was hungry and cold and afraid. You boys fed and warmed me and -took me into your lives. So I’m not going to let you do anything more -for me if it will make trouble for you.” - -“But if we leave you here,” Clay urged, “this man of whom you are in -fear will have you at his mercy, won’t he?” - -“I presume so, but he won’t set any traps for you.” - -“Can’t you tell me why he is following you?” - -“No, sir.” - -“Then,” Clay declared, “you go back to your bunk. You’re going to remain -with us, and if trouble comes we’ll fight it out together.” - -“But you don’t know,” began the other, but Clay hustled him away! - -Then he sat for a long time in deep thought on the dark deck. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.—AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY - - -The river is wide at Para, and there are always dozens of steamers and -trading vessels anchored off the city. This night was no exception. -There was a little group of vessels lying within hailing distance of the -motor boat. The one nearest, perhaps, was the steamer which Frank had -called the _Señorita_, not a large boat, but one having the appearance -of great speed. - -There was little stir of life on the river, and Clay watched light after -light go out in the nearby craft with a sensation of loneliness. Now and -then, it is true, he could hear a voice coming over the water, but -usually the words spoken were in an unfamiliar tongue. The air was dry -and warm. - -The moon, passing farther to the west, had encountered a bank of clouds, -and was visible only a part of the time. In these darker intervals, -whenever the listening boy heard the rattling of an oar it seemed to him -that the boat in which it swung was stealthily approaching the _Rambler_ -with some sinister purpose in the hearts of those within her. - -He knew that Frank was not asleep, for he could hear him tumbling about -in his bunk, and more than once he started up with the purpose of -calling to the lad and having the truth of the danger which hung over -him clearly defined, but each time he sat down again, reluctant to press -him on so delicate a subject. His idea was that, at sometime during the -night, something would occur which might give him an inkling of the -threatened danger. - -Just before daylight, what he half feared, half hoped for, took place. -During a dark moment he heard the bunt, felt the jar, of a prow against -the side of the _Rambler_. He sat still and listened, his only motion -being that of an arm to bring his automatic revolver into position for -use. - -Presently the light boat tipped a trifle to the east, as if some heavy -body or bodies were keeling her over by clinging to the railing which -ran around the deck. Whispered words in Spanish followed, and then the -soft pad of a naked foot on the planks. - -Clay’s purpose in remaining inactive at this time and permitting the -intruders to gain the deck was to allow the invasion of the _Rambler_ to -proceed without interruption until the object of the visit was made -known by some unmistakable proceeding. For all he knew the object of the -intrusion might be larceny. In that case he did not wish to take a human -life, as he would be almost certain to do should he open fire with his -automatic revolver. - -Presently the footsteps moved in the direction of the cabin door, which -was wide open. The bulk of the cabin could only be outlined in the -darkness, and the creeping figure could not be seen at all. The deck -seemed empty save for himself, only the soft pat-pat of naked feet -showing the presence of another. - -The restless tumblings in the cabin had ceased, and Clay was under the -impression that Frank had dropped off into slumber, but in this he was -mistaken. He was already rising to his feet to switch on the light in -the cabin when another light shot out of the doorway like a bullet. - -It proceeded from a powerful electric searchlight, held in Frank’s left -hand, and showed a weapon in the right. Straight out of the doorway it -flashed, bringing into the center of a white circle the dusky face and -evil eyes of a native Indian, such as Clay had observed on the streets -of Para that evening. - -The Indian was crouching low, his shoulders hunched as if for a quick -spring, and a knife flashed back the light, a knife clutched in his -right hand, already half lifted. The object of the night visit was no -longer in doubt. Clay stepped forward, but quick as he was the Indian -was too active for him. - -There was a sudden movement and a splash in the river. When they -cautiously peered over the railing of the deck, a second later, nothing -was to be seen in the water below. Even the boat in which the Indian had -reached the _Rambler_ had disappeared. Frank threw the rays of his light -far up arid down the current, but no bobbing head came within its -circle. - -“It is of no use to look for him,” the boy said. “He can swim beneath -the surface as handily as on top.” - -“But where is the boat?” asked Clay. “I distinctly heard one strike the -_Rambler_.” - -“It was probably taken away at once,” answered Frank. “The Indian was to -do his work on board and take to the river. Lucky thing you were on -guard.” - -“It strikes me,” Clay returned, “that I had very little to do with it. -You heard him at first?” - -“Yes; I hadn’t been to sleep. I anticipated something of the sort. I -warned you to-night in order that you might be prepared for anything. - -There was a short silence, during which both boys turned their heads -toward the _Señorita_, only a few rods away. - -“I have a notion that we’ll hear something doing on board our honorable -escort, in a minute,” said Frank, lightly. “They’ll want to know why he -fell down on the pleasant task they set him.” - -“You think he came from the steamer?” - -“I have no doubt of it.” - -They waited and listened a long time, but no sounds of any kind came -from the _Señorita_. - -“They are too clever to permit him to return after a failure,” Frank -concluded. “Now you see what you’re up against,” he added. “Are you -ready to set me ashore in the morning?” - -“Hardly,” smiled Clay. “We started out together, and we’ll stick -together, if I have my way about it. We’ll get our supplies in early and -be out of sight of Para long before night.” - -“If I have my way about it,” Frank said, with an air of determination, -“you’ll leave me behind. It would be a poor return for all your kindness -if I should get you all murdered.” - -“Promise me that you will make no attempt to leave us without my -consent.” - -“But——” - -“Will you promise?” - -“Yes, but you don’t know what is ahead of you if I remain on the boat. -We are going into a wild and lawless country, and——” - -“I understand. See! It is getting light in the east. There will be no -further trouble to-night, so we may as well go to bed.” - -“I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep,” suggested Frank. - -“Then sit here and watch,” Clay advised, “and remember, old man, I hold -you to your promise!” - -“You may trust me!” - -The voice was low and steady, and Clay knew that the boy meant just what -he said, so he went off to bed and slept until nine o’clock. When he -came out on deck, rubbing his eyes, all the boys were there save Alex. -Case and Frank, mindful of Clay’s wish to get away as early as possible, -had attended to getting the supplies on board, and the _Rambler_ was -ready to set her nose against the streams leading to the Amazon. Clay -learned all this while preparing his breakfast. - -“But where is Alex?” he asked. - -“He is still on shore,” replied Case. “I told him not to go away, but he -rushed off when I was away. Now we’ll have to go into the city and get -him out of some scrape.” - -“You are mild in your prophecy of evil this morning,” laughed Jule. -“Ordinarily you would have had him hung, drawn and quartered for trying -to rob a bank.” - -Case hung his head and smiled at the reference to his failing. - -“Well, he ought to be here,” he said. - -“I should think you would go out of business as a prophet,” laughed -Jule. “All your prognostications fail. See! This one fails, for here -comes Alex now. What is that he is carrying?” - -“Looks like a large Brazilian monkey,” replied Frank. - -“And the kid has an escort, at that!” roared Jule. “Just see the mob -chasing after him!” - -“That is a dog he has,” Case exclaimed, looking at the advancing boy -through a glass. “If it isn’t a half-grown, white bulldog. I’ll wash -dishes for a month. Must be heavy!” - -“Well,” Clay grinned, “Alex is making a try for the running record, if -it is heavy. Look at him cover the ground!” - -“Better say, ‘How that boy did run, than here he lies!’” hummed Jule. - -“I guess he’s got good cause to run,” Clay observed. “Looks to me as if -that mob meant business. You don’t suppose he stole the dog, do you. -Case? Why doesn’t he put him down?” - -“Just like him to steal a dog and get the boat held up here for a -month,” Case answered. “Then the rainy season will come on, and we’ll -not enjoy the trip at all.” - -The boys all laughed heartily at this new manifestation of Alex’s -failing, and the boy turned away from them and jumped into the little -row-boat, now ready for the rescue, attached to the prow. - -“Here!” shouted Jule, “don’t go off that way! I’m going with you. You -can’t fight that mess alone.” - -But Case was pushing off, and the next instant was rowing with long, -steady strokes toward the pier down which Alex must pass to reach the -river front. - -The next minute Frank, who had planned to go in the boat, was in the -water, headed in the same direction. The race on shore was now drawing -to a close. - -Clay called out to Case not to leave the boat, but to hold it ready for -the pursued youngster to leap into, but this was unnecessary, as Alex -reached the end of the pier before the boat could be forced there. Frank -was swimming like a duck in the water, but was slowly being swept down -stream. - -Alex turned for an instant and faced a collection of a score or more of -disreputable-looking men and boys who were dashing down the pier after -him. Then he lifted his face with a grin, gave out a long “Whoop” of -defiance and took to the river. - -He still held the dog in his arms as he leaped, and, Alex being obliged -to loosen his hold in order to swim, that thoughtful animal immediately -clawed his way to the boy’s half submerged shoulders and set up a howl -which was as plainly a request for sympathy and assistance as could be -imagined. - -“Hang to the pup!” called Jule. - -But the dog, showing intelligence beyond his years, seemed to realize -the insecurity of his perch and sprang for the boat, now advancing -swiftly toward the swimmer. The mob on the pier drew up at the very edge -of the water and contented itself by showering both boy and dog with a -volley of broken bricks and clubs. Case caught the dog as it struck the -rim of the boat and drew it inside. - -By this time Alex was within reaching distance, and was assisted in, his -clothing torn and dripping. Once in the boat, he turned toward his -pursuers, placed his thumb on the end of his nose, and swung his four -fingers derisively in the air. - -“Come on in!” he shouted. “The water’s fine!” - -A mixture of blackguard English, Spanish, and Indian, accompanied by -another volley of bricks was the only answer. Then, having expressed his -indifference to the attacks of the mob, Alex turned his attention to -Frank, who was soon drawn out of the water. The dog was the first one on -the deck of the _Rambler_. - -“Start her up,” Alex grinned. “There’s more coming.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX.—AN ALARM IN THE NIGHT - - -“Now you’ve gone and got us into another row!” grumbled Case, panting -from his long pull at the oars. “You’ve stirred up the whole city, I -guess,” he continued, as an addition to the mob on the pier swung around -a corner. - -“Well, I had to bring the dog, didn’t I?” demanded Alex, with a most -annoying smile. “He’s my dog. I’ve named him Captain Joe, for the good -old sea captain!” - -“It strikes me you’d better get the _Rambler_ out a little farther,” -suggested Jule. “Those muckers on shore are getting a boat.” - -This seemed to be sound advice, for three boats instead of one were -being started away from the pier. Clay set the motors going at full -speed and headed for the other side of the river. At the same moment the -_Señorita_ shipped anchor and headed shoreward, with the evident purpose -of picking up the approaching boats. - -“Let her out!” advised Alex, patting the wet dog on the head. “If they -catch us, with the help of that steamer they’ll want my dog.” - -“Where did you get the pup?” asked Jule, trying to make friends with -Captain Joe, a heavy, ugly, red-eyed, white bulldog about a year old. - -“Bought him,” replied Alex, “and then they tried to steal him away from -me. You’d better get a move on, Clay!” - -The _Rambler_ was now headed up the river at her best speed, and the -_Señorita_ soon dropped back. As she turned to take up her old position -Captain Joe, who seemed to understand that he was now a dog of great -importance, put his paws upon the railing and barked an insulting -farewell to her and the members of the mob she was taking on board. - -“That’s a fine dog,” said Jule. - -“You bet he is!” asserted Alex. “I saw him doing tricks up in town and -bought him of a boy, and then an old man came along and claimed him, and -I bought the dog of him, and then another man came along and said the -dog was his, and I bought him again, and then another man came along and -said the dog was his, and I bought him again, and then another man -came——” - -“To be continued in our next!” shouted Jule. “Serves you good and right -for going off without me. Now, tell us what took place.” - -“Why,” Alex went on, making a wry face at the _Señorita_ as the -_Rambler_ shot around a point of land and was slowed down a trifle, “I’m -telling you about it. I bought Captain Joe off a boy, and a man came -along and claimed him, and I bought him off him, and then another man -came along and claimed the dog, and I bought him——” - -Jule chased Alex and his dog into the cabin and left them there to -recover from the effects of their bath. - -“That lad certainly needs a mental tonic!” he exclaimed, as he went on -deck again. - -“I don’t doubt that he is telling the exact truth, in his whimsical way, -of course,” Frank argued, in defense of his friend. “That is an old -trick in this country. You buy something of one man and another claims -it. Alex would have been buying that dog yet if he had remained on -shore. He just had to run for it or lose the dog.” - -“He needs a dog about as much as I need a cupola on top of my head,” -Case put in. - -“I don’t see how we’ve got along without a dog as long as we have,” -grinned Jule. - -“What sort of a river is this Para stream?” asked Case, as the _Rambler_ -pressed on through what seemed to be a lake anywhere from ten to fifteen -miles in width, with a row of long islands hugging the south shore. - -“No river at all,” Frank replied. “It is merely an estuary, as you will -see when the Atlantic tide meets the current coming down from the west. -And the river that runs into this estuary isn’t the Para at all. It is -the Tocantins, a stream a thousand miles long. Why this body of water is -put down on the maps as the Para river is more than I can say.” - -About dark, after a run of sixty or seventy miles, the boys came to the -island which sits at the mouth of the Tocantins river. At nine in the -evening they anchored in front of Cameta, which is a small town on the -west side of the Tocantins. Here they decided to spend the night. - -“It seems like we were never going to get to the Amazon,” Jule -complained, as the lights of the town vanished for the night. - -“We are still at least two hundred miles from the Amazon,” Frank -replied. “Across there, to the North, is Marajo island. We will sail -along on this side of it all day to-morrow, probably, on an estuary -fully as wide as that we have been following. Then we will come to a -region of bayous from 50 to 100 yards in width. There are trees two -hundred feet high in there, and the forest is so thick with tangled -vines that one can scarcely get through it. Then we will come out on the -Amazon, not far from Gurupa, a place of some importance. Then, after we -pass the mouth of the Xingu river, we will be fairly on our way to the -foot of the Andes.” - -“Well, hurry up!” broke in Alex, snapping his fingers at Captain Joe, -“this honorable puppy wants to get his paws into the earth again.” - -For two days the boys sat under an awning which had been spread over the -hot forward deck and feasted their city-bred eyes on the luxuriance of -the tropical forest. It was all new and strange to them. In some places -the boughs of the great trees met over their heads, making a green bower -of the bayou through which they were passing. - -Now and then a native Indian glided past them in a canoe made of some -light wood. These natives are dark as negroes, but their hair is long -and straight. They are not at all warlike. - -The night before reaching the Amazon the boys tied up in a bayou and put -all lights out early. - -“If the _Señorita_ is sneaking along after us,” Clay said, “we must know -it. This is as good a place to fight it out as any other.” - -“They will never fight it out in the open,” Frank declared, moodily. -“They will wait for a chance to blow us out of water, or to knife us -from behind.” - -The _Rambler_ was dark and still at midnight, and Alex was on watch, on -the forward deck with Captain Joe sniffing the heavy air at his side. - -“What do you see, old boy?” asked Alex, as the dog ran, whining, toward -the prow. - -Captain Joe lowered his ugly-looking muzzle and appeared to be looking -down into the water. Alex groped about in the darkness for an instant -and then called Clay, speaking very softly, “so as not to queer the act -that is coming on,” he explained. - -“What is it?” whispered Clay, as the two crouched in the prow, looking -into the dark bayou. - -“Watch the dog,” advised Alex. - -Captain Joe appeared to be quivering from nose to the tip end of his -stumpy tail. His ears were lifted as Alex patted his head, and his teeth -snapped between snarling lips. He whined softly as Alex restrained him -from jumping into the dark water. - -“There’s an Indian about,” Alex whispered. “I bought him of an up-river -Indian he seemed afraid of, and every time we’ve passed one he’s acted -like this. Seems as if the Indian he’s scenting is in the water—probably -swimming toward the boat.” - -While the two stood there in silence, listening for some ripple of water -to give them the location of the prowler, the quick, sharp ring of a -steamer’s exhaust came to their ears. They listened for what seemed to -them to be a long time, but the sounds came no nearer. - -“That’s the _Señorita_,” Clay commented, “and she is undoubtedly waiting -back there in some bay for a report from the mucker who has been sent on -ahead to see what the prospects for a midnight murder are.” - -Captain Joe was growing more uneasy every minute, and Alex was having a -hard time holding him. His sharp claws were making too much noise on the -deck, and the boy tried to throw him over on his side. - -“Lie still!” he commanded, but Captain Joe had other notions of what was -best to do under the circumstances. He wiggled away from the boy’s hands -in the dark and sprang into the water. - -“Now you’ve done it!” gritted Alex. “Wait until I get you back on the -boat!” - -There was now a great splashing in the water, terminating in a shriek of -terror and pain, and Clay turned his searchlight on the scene of the -disturbance. Two heads were seen bobbing about in the water, one of an -Indian, the other of the dog. - -“Get him, Captain Joe!” cried Alex, overlooking all caution in the -excitement of the moment. - -There was a plunge and a cry and both heads disappeared. Directly the -flashlight showed the dog’s head on the surface, swimming toward the -boat. The Indian was nowhere in sight. - -“He dove under and got away from the puppy,” Alex explained, as he -leaned far over the side of the boat to assist Captain Joe on deck. “Did -you lose him, old boy?” he asked patting the dog on the head. - -“I’m afraid not,” Clay observed, turning his light on the dog and -disclosing bloody water dropping away from the jaws. - -Alex bent over his pet and saw a long knife wound on the shoulder. - -“They sure got together in the water,” he said. “I guess that is a good -Indian now!” - -“It is a terrible thing to take a human life,” Clay said. “I hope the -poor fellow got away.” - -“So he can come back some other night when we’re not watching!” cried -Alex. “If he hadn’t been trying to get us he wouldn’t have been here, -and wouldn’t have been hurt.” - -Captain Joe moved back to the cabin and lay down to lick his hurt. - -“You’ll have to keep him chained,” Clay suggested, with a smile at the -interested face of the boy. - -“Huh!” cried Alex. “You keep your old Indians chained!” - -There was another long silence. The flashlights were off, and the dog -lay asleep at the cabin door. Then the puff-puff of a steamer was in the -air, and the sound of churning water. As the boys listened the sounds -grew fainter. - -“They’ve gone back,” Alex ventured. “They’ve given up all hope of -getting us to-night. I wonder why they are after Frank, and why he is so -close-mouthed about the matter?” - -“Whatever the difficulty is,” Clay said, “there is likely to be more -incidents like this before we get back to the South Branch.” - -“Are you going to stop at Gurupa?” asked Alex, disappointed at the -reticence of the other. - -“We must have more gasoline,” was the reply. - -“Why, we filled the tanks at Para!” - -“Just so, but one of the tanks sprung a leak, and we’ve got just about -half enough for our needs.” - -Alex gave a low whistle of amazement. - -“And we’ve got too little money to let it run out of the tanks without -getting us anywhere,” he said. - -“When we fill the tanks,” Clay said, dejectedly, “we’ll be just about -out of money.” - -Another long whistle from Alex. - -“What are we going to do?” he asked. - -“Just keep on going.” - -“But we can’t run without gasoline.” - -“We’ll have to take in some sort of a cargo and trade along the river,” -suggested Clay. “We may be able to get through in that way.” - -“It will be fun!” exclaimed Alex. - -“We might sell Captain Joe,” hinted Clay, with a laugh, “if we could -find anyone to buy him.” - -“I guess not!” exclaimed Alex, indignantly. “If it hadn’t been for -Captain Joe we might all have been murdered in our beds!” No, sir; we’ll -starve before we’ll sell Captain Joe!” - -Clay chuckled, respecting the boy’s loyalty to the dog, and nothing more -was said on the subject. - -The remainder of the night passed without incident, except that the -occasional exhaust of steam told the boys that the _Señorita_, or some -other meddlesome craft, was lying in the darkness to the south. In the -morning, however, there were no signs of the pursuing boat. - -Shortly before noon the next day the _Rambler_ passed out of the narrow -bayou she had been following and speeded out on the Amazon, the river of -their dreams! It is needless to say that the boys opened their eyes wide -at sight of the famous stream, which is dotted with islands at that -point, looking more like a lake than a river. It is so wide that the -shores are only dimly seen from the center of the current. - -In the afternoon they reached the little harbor where they were to buy -gasoline. When, after some haggling and unnecessary delay, the motors -were started again, Clay looked very sober. - -“We’re broke,” he announced. “If we get any more gasoline we’ve got to -earn it, in some way.” - -To the credit of the boys be it said that they received the announcement -with due gravity, but refused to be much depressed by it. They declared -that they could earn more money, never stopping to think that they were -in South America and not in Chicago! - -Straight to the west the mighty river lay, stretching to the blue -skyline. They passed the Trombetas on the third day, and towards night -came to the Madeira, into which Frank, who was at the wheel, directed -the prow of the _Rambler_. - -“Where might you be going, Frank?” Jule asked as, after half an hour, -the boy turned the _Rambler_ into a little creek perhaps five miles away -from the mouth of the Madeira. “Which of the big streams that met back a -ways is the Amazon?” - -“This is the Madeira,” Frank replied. “It is not as long as the Amazon, -but it is some river for all that. I don’t know that this creek has any -name, but that won’t prevent us tying up for the night here. I’ve a sort -of affection for this place. You see, boys,” he added, a grim smile on -his face, “I stopped here on the way down from Peru. I wasn’t exactly -looking for sport here, either! While here at that time, I saw something -that caused me to think we might pick up a cargo here now—something we -can turn into gasoline and such tinned goods as we need. From now on, of -course, we can get most of our food from the river and forest, as fish -and game are plenty. I’ll show you our dessert, directly.” - -The _Rambler_ was soon anchored for the night in the creek, but the boys -did not build a “cook” fire on shore, as the wild tangle of undergrowth -came down to the edge of the creek. While Case was frying bacon and eggs -and making coffee, Frank went ashore in the row-boat, “after dessert,” -he said, the motor boat having been anchored at least thirty feet from -the bank. When he returned he carried an armful of green, tough-looking -things, each weighing not far from two pounds. He passed one to each of -his chums and sat grinning as they made cautious examinations and asked -questions about the “fruit.” - -“They are custard apples,” he said, after the boys had guessed for a -time. “The natives call ’em chirimoya. Some of them weigh ten pounds. -See, it is a pie, already made,” he added, breaking open one of the -“apples.” - -Inside was a delicious soft pulp, thickly sown with black seeds. It -reminded the boys of the Indiana pawpaw. Jule said it was a banana, -pine-apple, pear and strawberry all in one. Several were consumed that -night and more collected for the next day. - -“Besides these,” Frank said, opening a second “apple pie,” as he called -it, “we’ll find something worth while here.” - - - - -CHAPTER X.—A CAMPFIRE IN THE JUNGLE - - -“What do you mean by something worth while?” demanded Alex, busy with -pancakes at the electric stove. - -“It probably isn’t a dog!” laughed Jule. - -“You let Captain Joe alone,” commanded Alex, “or I’ll instruct him to -make a supper of you. He’s some dog!” - -“Where can any cargo procured here be disposed of?” asked Clay, -hopefully, remembering the empty purse. - -“There’s a little town up the river where vessels bound for Europe take -on cargoes,” Frank explained, with a knowing smile, “and we may find -something we can get rid of if we tell them we need the money.” - -“We need the money, fast enough,” Case grumbled. “If someone hadn’t let -the gasoline run away we’d have plenty now! Wonder it didn’t set fire to -the boat!” - -“Growl, bear, growl!” laughed Jule. - -“Whose heard anything of the _Señorita_ to-day?” asked Case, as they all -lounged on the forward deck after supper. - -“I think she must have gone back,” Clay answered. “I haven’t seen or -heard her for two days.” - -“She hasn’t gone back,” Frank insisted. “She will follow us to the -foothills, unless something unusual stops her. We are getting into her -home territory now, and may expect trouble.” - -“What is all this about?” asked Jule. “Why so mysterious?” - -Frank did not answer, and the boy continued: - -“I wish the _Señorita_ had blown up on the South Branch.” - -“How would you like to be on the South Branch to-night?” asked Case. - -“This suits me well enough,” was Jule’s answer. “If there’s any need of -a guard to-night, who’s in for it?” he added, looking about for more -dessert. Frank was on his feet in a moment. - -“I will watch to-night,” he said. “On the way down from Peru, as I told -you, I stopped here for a couple of days, and I think, as I said before, -I know where we can find something that looks like money, if we watch -closely to-night.” - -The boys looked over the darkling scene, over the narrow stream, over -the broad Madeira, perhaps two hundred yards away, over the forest, -crowding down to the rim of the little creek, and Case echoed the -sentiments of all the rest when he asked: - -“What in the world is there in here that we can get money for?” - -“If we had some of this scenery on the Chicago wood market, now,” Jule -laughed, waving a hand over the landscape, which showed trees more than -two hundred feet high, “we might be able to do business on a cash basis, -but I don’t see any sustenance in this.” - -“It strikes me that you took a queer location for your resting-place on -the way out,” Alex put in. - -“Over there, a few hundred yards,” Frank explained, “I found a pretty -fair hotel—in a tree! It seemed to me, at that time to be about the -neatest, coziest little hotel on earth!” - -“Hotel?” repeated Clay, wondering if the strange boy was at last about -to talk of the mystery which surrounded him, after a silence of weeks. - -“You see,” Frank continued, “when I came down the river I had—well, I -had something in my possession which—there was something the other -people wanted, you understand. They had followed me pretty closely from -Cloud island, and I thought I’d drop in here and let them go by.” - -“And they did?” asked Clay, disappointed at the guarded tone of the boy. -“Did they go by?” - -“After three days,” was the reply. “It was while I was hiding in the -tree hotel I’ve been telling you about that I saw—well, that I came -upon—or, rather, that I arranged for the cargo that we may be able to -turn into money—when we come to the ships that are going to Europe!” - -“I’d like to know what you’re talking about!” exclaimed Alex. “There is -about as much coherence to your explanation as there is to a railroad -freight schedule. What was it you ‘arranged for?’” - -“Where is Cloud island?” demanded Jule, not waiting for the boy to -reply. - -Frank flushed, as if caught in some dishonorable evasion of the truth, -and remained silent. - -“How long will it take to get this may-be cargo out?” asked Clay, as -much to break the painful silence as for any other purpose. - -“Not very long,” was the reply. - -“Can we do it in the night?” asked Jule. “Say, but I’d like to go into -that jungle in the night!” - -“Then we’ll take Captain Joe and go,” asserted Alex. - -Captain Joe wagged his stumpy tail as if seconding the proposition, and -Alex began telling him what a fine gentleman of a dog he was. Captain -Joe had already begun to fill out, he having been half starved at the -time Alex rescued him, and was now a powerful fellow and as playful as a -kitten. The boys were teaching him to do all sorts of tricks. - -“You’d better keep the dog on the boat,” Frank warned. “He’ll only bark -and attract attention to us.” - -“In that wilderness!” ejaculated Case. “Who is there in that bunch of -tall timber to hear a dog bark?” - -The boys talked over the proposed night visit to the jungle while they -finished supper and washed and set away the dishes. Frank seemed to be -of the opinion that he could best do what was to be done alone, though -the others scoffed at the notion of his bringing out, single handed, -anything that might be traded for gasoline and tinned goods! - -It was finally decided that Case should go with Frank, and that the -other boys should remain on the boat and listen for such signals as the -shore party might send out. If help was needed in moving what Frank -vaguely referred to as “his cargo,” one long call was to be the signal; -if there was danger, three long calls. - -The waters of the creek would carry the motor boat only in the middle of -the current, for the shores, besides sloping over shallows, were here -and there lined with fallen tree-trunks. - -“It looks like ruination!” Alex commented, as the row-boat was made -ready, and from that moment the stream was known as “Ruination Creek.” - -Clay rowed the two boys ashore, saw that they were provided with -automatic revolvers and flashlights, and then took the boat back to the -_Rambler_. It was left ready for instant use, however, with weapons and -flashlights on the stern seat. - -“There’s something strange about that boy Frank,” Jule commented, as the -two boys disappeared in what seemed from the boat to be a solid wall of -green foliage, their flashlights showing only dimly through the heavy -undergrowth. “I don’t understand him at all. What kind of a cargo can he -get in there in the darkness? And what is keeping him from telling us -all about it?” - -“I don’t quite understand why he should make a mystery of the proposed -cargo, as we are all equally interested with himself in the matter,” -Clay admitted. “I don’t see why he shouldn’t be as confidential with us -as we have always been with him. He has never explained to my -satisfaction why he was hanging around the warehouse in the rain that -night on the South Branch.” - -“Why, he was lonesome, and homesick, and anxious to go along with us, -yet afraid to ask,” interposed Alex. “Anyway, he’ll tell us when he gets -good and ready. Don’t let’s knock!” - -“That’s slang!” Jule shouted. “You wash dishes!” - -“Is that slang, Clay?” asked Alex. - -“Well, it’s a short and vigorous way of expressing a sensible -admonition, so we may as well let it go,” Clay replied. - -“Sensible admonition! I’ll write that down!” laughed Jule. - -“And the finding of the diamonds! And the newspaper with the penciled -hand pointing to the advertisement offering the $500 reward for the -return of the gems,” Clay went on, “is another strange thing. Who could -have placed the marked newspaper where it was found? You remember, Jule, -that the lawyer who paid over the reward asked me how the newspaper came -to be there, and I couldn’t tell him!” - -“No one had been ashore that morning except Frank,” Jule said, “and he -went away early, and might have sneaked back with the paper. It wasn’t -there the night before. It sure was either Frank or Captain Joe who put -the paper there.” - -Captain Joe, the dog, worthy representative of a staunch old friend, put -his chin on Alex’s knee, at mention of his name, and wagged his tail as -if promising to unravel the whole mystery as soon as he got time! - -“I wish someone would offer a reward now that we could get,” Jule -grinned. “I think we could use a little old reward about now. Anyway, I -don’t see where all our $200 and the $500 reward went to. We must have -been tossing money to the birds!” - -Clay and Alex looked at each other with glances of understanding. Jule -had never been told of the loss of the money. - -“Funny about that reward coming just at the time it did, and just as it -did,” began Alex, but here a great chattering in the jungle cut the -conversation short. There was such a rustling in the foliage, now -invisible in the blackness of the night, and such a medley of -whisperings and shrill cries that the boys involuntarily reached for -their weapons. Then Jule laughed and turned on the prow light, for they -had been sitting in the darkness. - -“You’ll see ’em in a second,” he told the others, winking the light on -and off to attract more attention. “There’s a brigade of Brazilian -monkeys in there, and the boys have stirred them up with their lights -and noise.” - -“I doubt if we’ll get a look at them,” Clay corrected, “for the -Brazilian monkeys are shy little chaps. Even Captain Joe seems to -understand that they will not be at home to callers to-night,” he added, -as the dog wagged his tail and lay down again. - -As the two explorers in the forest passed farther from the creek the -protests of the monkeys died out, and all was reasonably still again. -Clay moved over by the light switch so that Jule could not turn it on -again, as he considered it safer to sit in the darkness. The bright prow -light made too good a mark for a hostile gun, he thought. - -While Clay, Alex, and Jule waited on the forward deck of the _Rambler_, -still discussing the incomprehensible actions and silences of Frank, -that young man, accompanied by Case, was plunging through the thickets -lying south of Ruination Creek. Back of them rolled the Amazon, only a -short distance away. To the east lay the Madeira, to the west the level -plain ending only at the Andes. - -They had proceeded perhaps half a mile when Frank stopped in a little -opening and looked about with expectant eyes. The noises of the forest -were all about them. Birds, suddenly awakened from sleep, cried out to -each other from treetops, and hidden things scurried along under the -dense foliage which everywhere concealed the rich black earth. - -“It was right here somewhere,” Frank said, “that I found the tree hotel, -and it is right about here that we’ll get the cargo if we get it at all. -Do you smell anything unusual?” he added, sniffing the air. - -“Only wood burning.” - -“Well, that means a campfire!” - -“But who would be building a campfire in this wilderness?” demanded -Case. “Perhaps the chimney of your hotel smokes!” he added, laughingly. - -“That is for us to find out!” Frank replied, and Case detected a tone of -anxiety in his voice. “If anyone has been in here, looking around, why, -my cargo——” - -“What about your cargo?” asked Case, as the other stopped suddenly. - -“Why, it will be gone,” Frank admitted, in a moment. - -Directly Case caught his companion by the arm and pointed straight ahead -into the jungle. - -“There is where the smoke comes from,” he explained. “There’s a fire in -the thicket yonder, and men moving around it.” - -Frank followed the direction of the pointing hand and grasped his -companion by the arm. - -“We may as well go back,” he whispered. “Those men are here because they -know about my cargo. If we move silently, they will not know that we are -here. Come along! They must not see me to-night!” - -“I’ve got to know something more about this cargo before I give up hope -of getting it,” Case declared, stubbornly. “I’m not going to miss a -chance of getting the money we need for any little interruption like -this. Who are those men? Why are you afraid to let them see you here? Do -you know why they are here? Ever see them before?” - -“Why, it is too dark to see their faces,” Frank explained, hesitatingly, -“and we couldn’t tell friend from foe at that distance, anyway,” he -added. “But the fact that they are here is enough for me to know! Come -along! We’re going back to the _Rambler_ now, we can come again in the -morning.” - -“That’s the trouble with you!” Case whispered, reprovingly. “You are too -much of a quitter! - -You were afraid to come on board the _Rambler_, that night on the South -Branch. Now you’re afraid to go on, because you see two men standing by -a campfire! Well, I don’t know where your cargo is, or what it is, and -you all say I’m a kicker and a prophet of evil, but I’m going on in and -find out why those men are camping in this jungle.” - -“I’m sorry you’ve got such a bad opinion of me,” Frank said, slowly. -“Perhaps you may change your mind, in time. As for going in there, I’ll -go, if you insist upon it, but I’m telling you now that you will regret -it if you do.” - -The fire died down a bit, and the figures which had stood before it were -no longer in sight. The boys shut off their lights, took firmer hold of -their weapons, and stood considering. - -But the decision was not with them, for while they pondered two forms -rose up behind them and they were thrown to the ground. - - - - -CHAPTER XI.—A HUMAN GUARD WITH HORNS - - -Case and Frank were not permitted to lie on the ground long after being -seized from behind and thrown down. Frank’s searchlight was taken from -his hand and directed upon his face. - -“Humph!” grunted a rumbling voice. - -“Only a kid!” grumbled a man who was looking over the shoulder of the -one who held the light, at the same time holding Case to the earth with -a heavy knee. - -When the light shifted Frank saw two burly figures with thick breasts -and short necks, with faces masked by great straggling beards. The men -were dirty and unkempt, and their clothes were torn into tatters, -probably, the boy thought, by contract with the jungle. - -The lads struggled in vain. Their weapons were taken from them and then -they were hustled toward the fire they had observed from the bush. It -was a roaring fire, built of some gum-running wood, and the heat and -smoke of it well-nigh blistered the faces of the prisoners and stifled -their breath. - -After being roughly searched, the captives were bundled against the bole -of a great tree which stood some distance from the fire. They were so -dazed at what had taken place, at the tragic change of situation, that -at first they did not sense what was going on around them. Then they saw -as hideous an object as they had ever set their eyes on bending so close -to the fire that it seemed to them that the flesh must be cooking on his -repulsive face. - -One of the men gave this object a stout push in a moment and sent him -whirling in the direction of the tree. - -“Watch ’em, Ugly!” he ordered, and the object settled down on his -haunches and glared at the prisoners until it seemed that the evil eyes -must pop out of his head. - -The creature who had been called “Ugly” certainly appeared to merit the -name. He was of medium height, black as a negro, but with straight, -black hair, which was knotted and tangled until it resembled a net -complicated by nature as well as by human hands. The boys knew from the -looks of the mass that it had recently been anointed with some kind of -grease, and that it held an odor all its own. - -But the most striking thing about the stolid face which now leered at -them over the barrel of an automatic rifle which lay in the fellow’s lap -was its seeming growth of horns. There were three of these, one at the -fullness of the under lip, and two just above the corners of the cruel -upper lip. These horns gave the fellow’s face something of the -appearance of such representations of Mephisto as the boys had seen in -plays. - -“No, that is not the Old Nick!” Frank whispered to Case, well knowing -what was in the disturbed mind of his companion in captivity, “that is a -Mura Indian, ornamented according to an ancient custom of his people. He -belongs to a peaceful tribe, and may not be as fierce as he looks.” - -“Would he shoot if we made a break for the tall timber?” - -“Probably.” - -“I’d like to knock those horns down his throat!” Case growled. “He has -no right to keep us here. Would the horns grow out again if I should -knock ’em off?” - -Even in the serious plight the boys were in, Frank could not keep from -chuckling at this, for the horns were of wood, and were held in place by -being pushed through the flesh from the inside. When this was explained -to Case his comment was that he would enjoy having the job of fixing the -things on. - -“He’d have a sore face for a time,” Case declared, “just like I did when -I had my teeth filled. We’ve got to get away from him in some way. -“We’ll be murdered if we remain here, and we can only die in an attempt -to get back to the _Rambler_.” - -“We may have to make a run for it in time,” Frank answered, “but we may -as well wait until we know more about what our capture means. I -understand something of the Mura dialect, and will talk with him when I -get a chance.” - -“Go on and do it now,” urged Case. “I’d like to know what this pretty -little scene is all about. What are those Englishmen doing in here, -anyway, and what are they muttering about over there by the fire?” - -Frank did not reply, for he was asking himself the very same question -without finding any answer. - -“Perhaps they’re here after your cargo,” suggested Case. - -Frank shrugged his shoulders despairingly. - -“That may be,” he admitted. “That is what I fear!” - -“Could they carry it away without a boat?” - -“Y-e-s,” Frank admitted, slowly. “Besides, they may have a boat.” - -“I’d like to know what kind of a cargo you’re talking about,” said Case, -half-angrily. “It can’t be much if two men could carry it through these -jungles in their naked hands.” - -He looked Frank questioningly in the face as he spoke, but the latter -did not fall into the trap. He maintained his accustomed silence -regarding the character of the cargo he had entered the thicket to find. - -“Ask him what he’ll take to let us go?” suggested Case, directly. - -“We haven’t got anything to give,” objected Frank. “You can’t bribe a -fellow with hot air.” - -“If I could,” replied Case, sniffing at the heat of the fire and the -heat of the heavy air that breathed out of the forest, “I could do some -bribing. But this chap would rather have one of our searchlights than -own the First National Bank of Chicago. Try him on that!” - -“We haven’t got any searchlights,” answered Frank, dejectedly, taking -note of their electrics in the ham-like hands of their captors. “Those -men have taken them. They seem to be preparing to leave, and perhaps -I’ll soon have a chance to talk with Ugly, as they call him. See! The -men are pointing toward the boat I suppose they’ll be going there next.” - -“I hope the boys will give them a red-hot reception!” Case exclaimed in -so loud a tone that one of the Englishmen turned and scowled in that -direction. - -“What you lads grumbling about?” he demanded. “If you want to keep whole -heads on your necks, you’d better stow that chin. Ugly is a bit nervous -to-night, and his gun might go off.” - -“What are you going to do with us?” asked Case, as calmly as the nature -of the occasion would admit of. - -“Keep you for pets!” roared the fellow, impatiently. - -“This object in front of us looks to me like the kind of a pet a tough -like you would want,” Case answered, angrily. - -The two men whispered together for a moment, paying no attention to the -retort, and then one of them asked: - -“How much petrol have you in your tanks?” - -Case eyed the speaker with no little curiosity. His figure and dress, -his lack of any orderly arrangement of his ragged garments, told him -that he belonged to the lower grade of Englishmen, still his speech and -manner indicated no little degree of refinement. - -“What’s petrol?” he asked, not that he needed information on the -subject, but to keep the other talking. - -“You call it gasoline in this blawsted country,” said the other. “How -much have you in the tanks of the _Rambler_?” - -“What’s it to you?” asked the boy. “You’re not going to get the boat. If -you go within reach of the boys’ guns they’ll blow the tops of your ugly -heads off. Go on, if you want to! You’ll see!” - -“We really need a boat!” laughed the fellow. “And so,” he added, “we’ll -take our chances and leave you to the polite attentions of Ugly while we -go and get the _Rambler_, with your permission, of course!” - -“Where is your own boat?” demanded Case. “Why do you have to steal ours. -You aren’t river pirates, are you?” - -“Never you mind what we are, sonny,” laughed the Englishman, “and never -you mind about our boat. Perhaps, you know, we lost it on a reef at -Cloud island!” he added, glancing keenly at Frank. - -Frank dropped his eyes, showing either embarrassment or lack of courage, -Case could not determine which. Once before, when Cloud island had been -thoughtlessly brought into the conversation by the boy himself he had -shown great confusion. There must be some mystery about Cloud island, -was Case’s conclusion, some mystery of which the Englishman as well as -the boy had knowledge! - -Plainly the name of the island had been used to bring to the boy’s mind -some unpleasant recollection, for it had not been necessary, in -mentioning the loss of a boat, to refer to the island at all. Therefore, -Case reasoned, the name meant something to the Englishman as well as to -Frank, and the reference to it had been designed to warn or threaten the -boy. He resolved to know more about Cloud island as soon as he found an -opportunity to talk with Frank! In the meantime, he might be able to get -something of a clue from the Englishman. - -“What do you know about Cloud island?” he asked. “I don’t believe you’ve -ever been there. You’re only river thieves!” - -The Englishman, not at all angry at the epithet, glanced keenly at -Frank, as if asking a question with his eyes, and the boy, who remained -silent, studied the bearded face intently. - -“I know enough about it, lad,” was the significant reply, made directly -to Frank, although he had not spoken at all. - -“Are you going there?” continued Case. “To Cloud island I mean?” - -“What else do you think I’m being roasted and eaten alive by insects in -this blawsted wilderness for?” asked the other. - -“Then why don’t you move on and let us alone?” asked Case. - -“All in good time, lad, all in good time!” - -“We’re going to move on up the river as soon as you go down,” grunted -the other Englishman, looking significantly at Frank. - -With this declaration, which seemed to amount to a threat, the fellow -turned to his companion and the two, after conferring together in -whispers for a short time and giving the Indian instructions in a tongue -unknown to Case, plunged into the thicket, taking the general direction -in which the _Rambler_ lay. - -“Now ask Ugly what this is all about!” directed Case, as the backs of -the two men disappeared from the ring of light given out by the fire. - -Frank had little trouble in understanding the Indian, and the latter -seemed willing to talk, so all the fellow knew of the purposes and -movements of the Englishmen was soon in the possession of the boy. But -the Indian watched the boys closely as he talked, keeping his automatic -trained on them. He evidently stood in deadly fear of the Englishmen, -and was resolved to do their bidding, even if murder resulted. - -“The Englishmen engaged him as guide,” Frank interpreted to Case, “to -take them to Cloud island, at the headwaters of the Amazon. They lost -their boat some distance below, and are determined to take possession of -the _Rambler_. He is to shoot us if we try to get away, and is to have -his ears cut off and his nose pulled out by the roots if he does not -obey orders. That’s all.” - -“That’s enough, I think!” Case commented. “But they can’t get the boat! -The boys are there, and will put up a fight for it.” - -“The Englishmen will do their best, because they want to turn us back. -Failing in this, they will kill us if they can.” - -“Look here!” Case demanded. “What is this all about? Have you ever seen -those men before? Where is Cloud island? What mutual understanding -concerning it lies between you and these men? You may as well tell me, -for I’ll have it out of you.” - -Frank gave unsatisfactory replies, and a sullen silence fell between the -two chums. - -“I wonder if they will find the boys asleep when they get to the -_Rambler_?” Frank asked, anxiously, after a time. This was no time for -anger between them. - -“They surely won’t!” answered Case. “If they do find the boys asleep -they’ll find Captain Joe there with the goods I Say,” the boy added, -“I’ve a good notion to take a hop-step-and-jump for the _Rambler_. I -could get there before they did, and make it a sure thing that the boys -would not be asleep. I believe it is worth trying.” - -“Ugly would put half a dozen bullets into you before you got a dozen -feet away,” Frank objected. “See! He’s suspicious of us now.” - -“He hears something in the forest back of us,” Case observed. “I wonder -if he will shoot if I turn around to see what it is? It might be a wild -animal, you know.” - -“Watch him! Watch Ugly!” - -Frank uttered the cry as he arose to his feet and pointed with one hand -toward the guard, now also standing on his feet, the gun lying on the -ground. There was a look of terror on the man’s ugly face which would -have been comical if it had not been so expressive of abject horror. The -fellow’s eyes “hung out like a hat pin,” as Case afterwards expressed -it, and his mouth dropped agape, as if there were no strength in the -fellow to control the action of his jaws. - -“For the love of Madge!” cried Frank. “What does the man see?” - -“I’m not going to stop to answer that question!” Case replied. “It’s me -for the _Rambler_!” - -Ugly did not even notice the lads as they started away. He stood -perfectly still for an instant, then turned and ran, diving head first -into the thicket as a swimmer dives into an oncoming breaker. Case and -Frank paused by the fire and looked back, to discover, if possible, the -danger from which the fellow had flown. What they saw was a face and a -hand of fire, lifting from the ground, behind the tree, pointing and -nodding in the direction Ugly had taken. - - - - -CHAPTER XII.—A PLOT AGAINST THE RAMBLER - - -In the meantime, the three boys on the _Rambler_ were becoming a bit -restless, and not a little anxious too. The Brazilian night was dark, -and there was a whisper of wind in the trees. The water lapped the -shores and the sides of the boat unceasingly, as if uttering a warning -to them to be up and away. It was almost unbearably hot, too, for they -were nearly under the equator. - -“I think I know what the kid is thinking about when he talks of a -cargo,” Alex said, presently. “He has often talked to me about gathering -Brazil nuts and taking a load out to some shipping point. They bring -good prices in New York.” - -“Do you mean these three-cornered nuts?” asked Jule. - -“Sure! The ones you whittle the shells from with a knife, and find a -solid, triangular piece of meat on the inside. They grow in big clusters -which look like hornets’ nests, and they break open the heads of the -Indians when they fall from the tree. A ton would bring nearly $400 in -Chicago, and that would help some, especially as we’ll probably get back -there broke and hungry.” - -“When did you take up Case’s role of prophet of evil?” asked Clay. - -Alex laughed and said no more at that time. - -“I’ve got a better guess than that,” Jule began, then. “He is going -after rubber. They tap trees and a white sap runs out, and they cook the -sap in smoke, over moulds, and make rubber coats. I’ll wager he’s got a -cache of rubber in there.” - -“I wonder where the rubber trees first came from?” asked Alex. - -“Oh, they came down from the mountains.” - -This from Jule, who had been reading books about South America all the -way down—books presented by Captain Joe. - -“A few million years ago,” Jule went on, glad of a chance to air his -knowledge, “a sort of Mediterranean sea covered all the Amazon basin. -The mouth of the big river was away up to the west there, near the -foothills. Then the rains of the long years washed the soil down into -the valley, inch by inch, and the rivers pushed it along until the -continent east of the mountains was formed.” - -“Must have taken a long time to wash this continent down!” yawned Alex. - -“I said millions of years, didn’t I?” reproved Jule. “And the continent -isn’t finished yet. Do you comprehend that, boys? The continent isn’t -finished to-day! Not after millions of years!” - -“That’s about the length of time Case and Frank have been gone!” -declared Alex, nudging Clay to watch Jule display anger at the -irrelevant observation. - -“The continent won’t be completed for millions of years,” Jule went on, -not at all put out by the alleged witticism. “The Amazon alone is -carrying enough sediment to the Atlantic every day to make a cube of -earth five hundred feet each way. How long will it take all the rivers -running down from the Andes to wash the hills into the sea? Perhaps you -can tell me that, Smarty?” he added, tapping Alex on the head with his -open palm, whereat Captain Joe rolled up his red eyes, though the boys -could not see them in the darkness, and emitted a series of low growls. - -“Where will it all end?” asked Clay, musingly. - -“When there are no more mountains,” Jule answered, proudly, sure of his -ground. “The mountains will be washed into the seas, and the seas will -fill up, and then the world will be finished.” - -“I wish this night was finished!” Alex broke in. “I wish Case and Frank -would come back, cargo or no cargo.” - -“I think I’ll go a little way into the forest and see what they are up -to,” Clay suggested, and Alex and Jule were on their feet in a moment. - -“That’s just what we’ll do,” Jule cried. “We will go look ’em up!” - -“But we can’t all go and leave the boat alone.” - -“Why, the boat won’t run away!” - -“Someone might run away with it, though.” - -“Tell you,” Jule suggested, “we’ll leave the prow light burning, so we -can see if anyone goes near it, and then we won’t go out of sight of the -light. How will that answer?” - -“Fine!” Alex panted, trying to pull Captain Joe back into the cabin. His -highness, the dog, did not relish the notion of being locked up in the -hot little coop while the boys had a run on shore, so he drew back with -all his strength. - -Alex won at last, however, and the door was closed on the indignant -bulldog. To speak the truth, Clay was rather glad that the boys had -chosen to accompany him to the shore, for it was dark and uncanny in the -forest. There was an indication of rain, though it was in the midst of -the dry season, and a strange odor which they could not account for came -to the nostrils of the lads. - -“A Brazilian forest,” Jule said, as they left the row-boat tied up in a -thicket and faced the jungle, “is about the most mysterious place on the -round earth. Down here where we are, in the basement, it is always -twilight, even at noon of a sunny day. We see only the stems of plants -and creepers and the boles of the trees. The beauty, the blossoms, the -colors, the magnificence, is all at the top. Someone said that the only -place from which to view a South American forest in all its glory is -from the top of a mountain, or from an aeroplane.” - -“There isn’t much magnificence down here,” Alex answered. “Here, Jule, -what you got in your clothes that smells like matches, and what you -sneaking off there alone for?” - -“Never you mind!” Jule replied. “You just stick to your guesses and let -me alone. I’m going to give those boys the scare of their lives. I’ll -teach them to go off and stay like this!” - -“You stay here!” commanded Clay, but the mischievous boy was already -gone. They heard him pushing through the underbrush for a time, saw the -round eye of his flashlight as it swept aloft, and then the jungle was -once more still—save for the natural life within it—and dark. - -“Shall we go on in after him?” asked Alex. “He may get into trouble, and -he’s none too strong yet.” - -“I think we would better remain here,” Clay replied. “If there is danger -we will hear the signal agreed upon.” - -“Frank says he remained hidden in a tree in there for some time,” Alex -remarked, then. “Now, what was he hiding from, and how did he get down -here? If he came in a steamer, and the steamer was waiting for him -outside, that wouldn’t be hiding at all. Might as well try to hide while -riding on the neck of an elephant!” - -“Have you ever thought that Frank may be the one who put the marked -paper on the _Rambler_ that morning?” asked Clay, irrelevantly. - -“Yes, I have thought of that, but why should he have done it—if he did? -If he knew where the diamonds were, why didn’t he arrange things so he -could secure the reward for himself? He needed the money badly enough, -according to his own story.” - -“But how could he know where the diamonds were?” asked Clay. - -“Well, the person who left the marked paper on the boat knew where the -stones were! You can’t get away from that! Besides, Frank had been seen -loitering outside, and there had been a motion at the glass panel of the -door just before he showed himself. Oh, it is all rather suspicious!” - -“We’ll have to give the boy time to explain everything,” Clay -admonished. “I have great faith in him.” - -“How long do you think that kid, Jule, will remain in there?” Alex -yawned. - -“Not long, I hope.” - -It had been the original intention to enter the jungle as far as the -boat light could be seen, but now the necessity of remaining where they -were, or close to the shore, was apparent, as they had no means of -knowing in which direction either of the boys had gone, and there were -three wanderers to watch for instead of only two. If they followed in -the direction supposed to have been taken by Frank and Case, they would -be apt to get farther and farther from Jule, and if they tried to follow -the latter, it would be the two who would be farthest from their help, -should help be required. - -The only course to pursue, then, with reference to boys who were in the -dark forest, was to remain where they were, guard the boat, and be -prepared to get back to the _Rambler_ in quick time should necessity -demand such action. - -The boys waited with premonitions of approaching evil in their minds. -Now and then Captain Joe, disgusted with the conduct of his master, sent -out a call for sympathy and liberty, and the voice of the dog sounded -cheerful and friendly to the anxious lads. - -Small creatures of air and thicket were talking all around them, and now -and then a gruffer utterance in the distance told of larger denizens of -the forest aroused by the visit of the boys. After a time a crunching in -the undergrowth warned the listeners that some creature of large size -was approaching them on a visit of inspection. - -“It may be an Indian!” Alex whispered, when the sounds were very close -indeed. - -“An Indian wouldn’t advance in the midst of a racket like that,” Clay -reasoned. “It is probably some wild animal coming up to see what all -this row is about. Keep your automatic and your flashlight ready.” - -Alex did not need any such warning, for he stood with the automatic in -one hand and the dark flashlight in the other. - -The trampling came on, closer and closer, and the boys involuntarily -drew nearer together. They could hear shrubs cracking and breaking under -the heavy tread of their approaching visitor. - -“It must be a jaguar!” whispered Alex. “Shall I turn on my light before -he gets up to us?” - -“More likely a peccary, or wild hog,” Clay suggested. “They are -dangerous only when attacked.” - -Snorts and grunts coming from the thicket soon proved the correctness of -this supposition, and then the peccary turned back, much to the relief -of the boys and the disgust of Captain Joe, who had from the cabin -scented a possible enemy and a chance at pursuit. - -Then another and much more surprising and disquieting sound came from -the forest. This was nothing less than the gruff voices of two men, -speaking in English. The boys listened in wonder and dismay. Who could -these people be? Why were they there in that lonely spot? Were their -intentions friendly or hostile? These questions were soon answered, and -in a most unsatisfactory manner. - -“The Indian will take care of the two kids, all right,” they heard a -coarse voice say, “and we’ll get into the boat before the others wake -up.” - -“Lucky to find a boat here—and a motor boat at that,” another voice -said. “It won’t take us long to get to the headwaters now.” - -The boys stood perfectly still, listening to the throaty chuckles which -followed this last remark. And so the new comers were enemies, and had -designs on the boat! More than that, their conversation indicated that -two of the boys, probably Case and Frank, had been discovered by the -marauders and left in the custody of a native! The situation was -serious, especially as the prow light disclosed the deserted condition -of the _Rambler_. - -One of the men moved out to the shore, so that a burly figure was -outlined against the light on the prow of the boat. The lads moved -forward a pace, in order to inspect the intruder at closer range, and a -snapping twig betrayed their presence. - -“Stay where you are!” a rough voice called back to them, “and we’ll just -take charge of this boat!” - -“Step into that light,” Clay answered, “and you’ll take charge of a -bullet!” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.—A PLEASANT SURPRISE - - -Little dreaming of the desperate situation at the boat, yet -understanding that the Englishmen had set out to take possession of her, -Case and Frank stood silently, watchfully, at the campfire while the -thing the Indian had fled from stepped out of the darkness and -approached them. - -Two conflicting emotions held them motionless, speechless. One was of -joy at the flight of their guard, the other was something akin to the -terror which had sent Ugly into the bush at headlong speed. - -The noise of the Indian’s progress through the forest might still be -heard as trailing vines tore at his garments and sent him floundering to -the ground only to leap to his feet and dash recklessly on once more. -The thing advancing upon them was silent, the crouching figure moving -over the ground like an ape, the features obliterated as to outline by a -veil of yellow flame from which misty emanations proceeded. - -Case was not at all superstitious. He saw in the queer figure only a -trick of some enemy, and so sprang for the automatic rifle which the -Indian had cast away in his flight. The next moment it was leveled at -the advancing figure. The result was as remarkable as it was -instantaneous. - -The figure dropped to the ground, rolling about, kicking spasmodically -at the empty air, and emitting shouts of laughter which rang oddly -through the forest. Case understood and darted forward, shouting that it -was Jule, up to another of his tricks! - -“Whoo—pee!” yelled Jule, rolling about in an abandonment of mirth. - -“I’ll show you!” Case cried, taking the boy by the back of the neck. -“I’ll show you what we do to spooks in Brazil!” - -Frank stood as if still unconvinced. - -“Quit!” Jule remonstrated, as Case lifted him to his feet. “You let me -go! Don’t you know any more than to take a fellow by the hair of his -head. “Quit, I tell you!” - -Case released the boy, whose face and hands were still shining with the -sulphur which he had rubbed from old-fashioned matches, and pushed him -away as he arose to his feet. - -“You smell like a match factory!” he said. - -Jule leaned against the bole of the tree and laughed until the woods -rang again, while Frank stood looking on with wonder in his eyes. - -“I thought he was the Old Scratch!” the boy commented, in a moment. -“Where did he get that fire paint?” - -“Rubbed it off from matches,” answered Case. “It makes a great show in -the dark. No wonder Ugly took to his heels!” - -“Who is your horned friend?” asked Jule, nodding his head in the -direction the Indian had taken. “He is some runner!” - -Then Jule glanced about at the fire, at the unfamiliar automatic gun in -Case’s hands, and at a collection of simple cooking implements which lay -to one side, and asked: - -“Where did all this come from, and what are you boys doing here? Where’s -the cargo?” then, breaking in upon each other, as if that would hasten -the relation of the strange story they had to tell, each one giving an -entirely different version of the incident, the boys informed Jule of -what had taken place. Case described the Englishmen as bushmen, similar -to the natives who prowl the forests of Australia, while Frank insisted -that they were educated men gone back to primitive life because of -degenerate dispositions or because of fear of punishment for crimes -committed. - -“It looks to me, then,” Jule commented, looking suspiciously about, -“that I came up in good time, and that my desire to give you a good -scare brought you out of a bad situation. Oh, my!” he added, throwing -back his head, “how that Indian did take to the woods! I don’t believe -he will stop this side of the Arctic circle. He certainly can go some!” - -“He probably has gone to warn the others,” Case suggested. - -“That is exactly where he has gone!” cried Jule, “and we’d better be -getting back. If we keep right along behind him, we’ll have the brutes -between two fires.” - -“How did you manage to get away from Clay?” asked Case. “He didn’t want -you to leave the boat.” - -“Why, when we all came ashore to see why you boys did not come back, I -just naturally sneaked away.” - -“You all came ashore!” echoed Case. “Do you mean to say that there is no -one in the boat? No one on board at all?” - -“There wasn’t when I came away!” admitted Jule, sheepishly. - -“That’s a nice thing, too!” cried Case, reprovingly. - -Without waiting to further discuss the situation, anxious only for the -safety of their friends and the boat, the three made their way through -the black jungle at reckless speed. The night had cleared a trifle, and -now and then a glance upward, through the jealous foliage of the trees -and creepers, revealed a star looking down into the aisles of the wood. - -Now and then they came to a little glade clearer of undergrowth than the -general run of the jungle through which they were struggling, and at -such time, with only the complaints of the creatures of the forest about -them, they halted and listened. Presently, during such a halt, they -heard a shot, and then the sharp, snappy, full-throated barking of a -dog. - -“Captain Joe!” Jule cried. - -“He’s on the boat?” asked Frank. - -“Sure he is, unless he’s found the key and unlocked the cabin door,” -replied Jule, with a grin. - -“If they get hold of Captain Joe,” Case observed, not without a grin of -satisfaction, “they’ll know they’ve come to a scrapper.” - -“He’ll climb on their roofs and claw their shingles off!” exclaimed -Jule. - -“I won’t have to wash dishes in a month!” crowed Case. “That is the -slangiest slang I ever heard!” - -“I don’t care,” Jule answered as he swung a hanging creeper out of his -eyes. “That is just what Captain Joe will do if he gets a chance. But -you needn’t go and tell Clay that I said it, all the same!” he added, -with visions of many dishes to wash before his eyes. - -Another shot came as the boys started away, and Case declared that it -undoubtedly came from an automatic revolver, and proved that the boys -were putting up a fight. - -“Captain Joe told us that,” Jule insisted. - -Several other shots were fired before the boys came to the bank of -Ruination creek. It was still dark, although a star reflected in the -water at rare intervals. Still, the outlines of the trees could be -faintly seen across the creek, and the prow light burning on the -_Rambler_ cast a white radiance farther down stream. - -The three crept out to the margin of the creek and peered over a low, -bush-crowned headland toward the boat. From where they stood the forward -deck was in plain sight. At the back an overhanging tree made a black -blot about the stern. There was no one to be seen. - -Another shot came from farther down, and the barking of the dog became -fierce and incessant. - -“Captain Joe will be eating up that cabin next,” Jule volunteered. “I -wish I could tell him what to say!” - -“Why don’t they go into the cabin and let him out?” asked Frank. - -“Because neither side can get into the boat,” replied Case, grasping the -situation at once. “Anyone showing himself under that prow light would -be shot to death in a second. The only way the ruffians can get to the -_Rambler_ is to shoot out the light.” - -“Then how are we ever to get on board?” asked Frank. - -“Drive the outlaws away!” replied Case. - -“Sure!” Jule put in, thoughtfully, “and I’ve found a way to do it. You -just watch me.” - -The two boys watched Jule with both wonder and amusement in their eyes -as he drew out a great bunch of old-fashioned sulphur matches and began -rolling them between the palms of his hands. Very little came from his -efforts, and Case began poking fun at him. - -“Doesn’t work like it did when you scared the wits out of the Indian, -does it?” he demanded. “I reckon we ran so fast through the thickets -that we left the sulphur stuff behind, leaving only the dry sticks in -your pocket!” - -“Never you mind,” Jule answered, “you just wait until I get ready, then -I’ll show you something worth while.” - -“That’s what Frank said about his cargo!” cried Case, apparently -determined to find whatever humor there was in the situation. “Where is -that cargo now, kid?” he added, turning toward Frank and giving him a -pull by the arm. “Do you think that Indian carried it off with him?” - -“I’m going after the cargo before daylight,” the lad replied, -stubbornly. - -“Yes you are!” Jule broke in. “We’re going to get as far away from -Ruination creek as we can before sunrise! You see what Clay says about -your going into that mess again! Why, kid, those men you saw—the friends -of yours who are trying to get the boat now!—will hang around here for a -month if we don’t go away—just on the chance of getting the _Rambler_.” - -“I’m going after that cargo again,” repeated Frank, “and I’m going to -get it—if those Englishmen haven’t carried it off. Friends of mine, you -call ’em! Well, I guess not!” - -“How many will it take to carry the cargo out to the boat,” asked Case, -giving Jule a sly dig in the ribs, “if we get it away from your -friends?” - -Frank laughed at the attempt to provoke him, but made no reply, and in a -moment Jule resumed his work with the sulphur matches. This playing -“spook” with matches was an old trick of the boy’s, and he had brought -these old-fashioned ones along on the chance of finding them useful. He -was more than satisfied with the result of his first tryout with them, -and chuckled as he thought of the fright of Ugly, and also of the -assistance he had been able by their aid to render his friends. - -Only for his childish prank, he reflected, Case and Frank would still be -in the custody of the Indian, and Clay and Alex would be facing the -renegades alone. - -“What are you going to do when you get through that monkey work?” asked -Case, presently, as Jule continued to roll matches in his hands. - -“I’m going on board the _Rambler_,” was the reply. - -“I’m going to let Captain Joe out, and tell him what to do to the men in -the bush.” - -Case glanced again at the lighted prow of the boat and at the wide space -one attempting to reach the deck would have to cross under rifle fire. - -“You never can do it!” he declared. - -“See that tree back there, at the stem of the boat?” asked Jule, in a -whisper. “Well, I’m going to swim under water until I get to the black -spot under that tree, where the light is shut out by the foliage and the -cabin, and then I’m going to climb up on the back platform of the boat -and through the window to the interior of the cabin. Any objections, -Sober Sides?” - -“You can’t do it,” Frank Whispered. “You are not well yet. Suppose you -let me try?” - -“Not in a hundred years!” chuckled Jule. “I guess you don’t know I’m the -champion under-water swimmer of Chicago! I’ll be inside the boat in no -time, and then there will be doings. I’ll show my devil face to the -bushmen and let the dog out, and there won’t be anything to it. Perhaps -I’d better make a devil dog out of Captain Joe!” - -“Try it, and he’ll eat you up!” cried Case. “Don’t be foolish.” - -“The sulphur will wash off,” warned Frank. - -“Water will only make it all the brighter,” insisted Jule. “Now watch me -go to it! When I get in, you boys come. Will you? All right! Now here -goes for a swim! Be sure and keep well under water when you come!” - -There was a slight splash in the creek, and Jule was out of sight. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.—A BATTLE FOR THE BOAT - - -Case had expressed the situation exactly in answering Frank’s question -as to why the boys did not go into the cabin and release Captain Joe. -The prow light cast a circle of illumination over the forward deck and -also over the water between the prow and the shore. - -Anyone stepping into that circle would simply be a mark for the bullets -of his enemies. The only way in which the boat could be safely entered, -with the bushmen and the boys watching each other, would be to shoot out -the light and make a rush for it. - -This Clay did not care to do, for he had hope that the boys back in the -forest might in time come to his assistance. He had understood from the -few words spoken in his hearing by the intruders that Case and Frank had -been attacked by the fellows, but he did not know the exact situation, -of course. And even if Case and Frank were in as great need of help as -he himself was, there was still Jule—resourceful, courageous, and quite -likely to turn up in the most unexpected place at the right time. - -The Englishmen, also, hoped to take the boat without destroying the prow -light, for they knew very well that they would have need of it in the -hasty journey they had planned to start out on the minute they gained -possession of the _Rambler_. The outcome of all this was that the two -parties remained hidden in the forest, each watching the other, and each -hoping that the other would make a rush for the deck of the boat. - -This was the situation when Jule plunged into the creek and, under -water, in a slow current, struck out for the rear of the boat, protected -by the boughs of the tree and the bulk of the cabin from the rays of the -light on the prow. The last thing he heard as he leaped into the warm -waters of Ruination creek were the words of Case and Frank promising to -follow him by the under-water route to the cabin and the noisy -expostulations of Captain Joe at being kept out of the fight! - -“The dog will be frantic when he hears me opening the window,” thought -the lad, as he turned on his back and came up for a mouthful of air. “I -hope he won’t advertise the fact that I’ve come aboard.” - -So, while Frank and Case were waiting in the keenest anxiety at the -point from which Jule had entered the water, while Clay and Alex were in -the bushes not far away, watching with all the eyes in their heads for a -shot at their enemies, and while the two Englishmen were trying to -mature some plan for getting into the boat without running the risk of -passing under the light, Jule made his way along the bottom of the -creek, rising to breathe only at rare intervals, and finally came up, -without being discovered, at the rear of the boat. - -The rear deck, or platform, for it was little more, was entirely out of -sight and range of the fighters in the forest on the bank the boy had -just left, so he climbed up on it with confidence. But a new peril -awaited him. Captain Joe set up such a volley of barks, and growls, and -scratchings that it seemed to the boy that those on shore must -understand that something unusual was going on in the boat and make a -rush for it. The dog was certainly doing his duty, so far as noise went, -in guarding the _Rambler_! - -“Captain Joe!” called Jule. - -The dog let out a fiercer challenge than before. - -“Captain Joe!” repeated the lad. “If you don’t quit that I’ll come in -there and crack your crust!” - -Jule checked himself and broke into a chuckle. He had been much given to -the use of slang in the old days, and it still seemed to come -involuntarily to his lips, so did more than his share of the -dish-washing as a result. There was never anything profane or coarse -about his lapses into the dialect of the street, but by common consent -all slang had been barred. Now he was glad that Clay was not near to -hear this new outburst. - -The dog began sniffing at the window on the inside. He would have -recognized Jule, doubtless, in a moment only for the odor of sulphur -with which his clothes, even though they were wet, was permeated. - -“Lie down, dog!” Jule whispered. - -Then Captain Joe recognized the voice and gave forth a low whine of -recognition and reproach—recognition in spite of the sulphur, and -reproach because of his having been left there alone while the others -took an outing in the forest! - -Jule finally managed to unfasten the window and crawl into the cabin. -Captain Joe gave him an appropriate reception, and then sat down to look -from the boy to the door, and back and forth, until his eyes and the -motions of his head seemed to say: - -“Well, why don’t you hurry up and let me out?” - -“All right, old chap!” Jule answered the look. “I’ll let you out just as -soon as it is safe for you to go.” - -Captain Joe insisted that he wanted to go at once, in order that he -might see what was going on outside, but Jule consoled him with a caress -and stood waiting for Case and Frank to make their appearance. Before -long a commotion in the water back of the boat told of the approach of -someone. - -Jule crept back to the platform and waited, thinking that Frank might -need assistance in getting out of the water. When he turned to look back -he saw that Captain Joe had followed him to the window and was now -trying his best to follow his example and get through. However, he -seemed to have stuck in the narrow opening, not knowing how to bring his -hind legs up to the sill. - -The dog whined a warning and Jule turned back to the dark pool of river -at the stern. A head lifted darkly from the surface and a face masked by -heavy whiskers and seen only in outline regarded the boy blankly. The -attacking party, it seemed, had adopted the same tactics to get into the -boat as had the boy. - -“Come off there!” commanded the gruff voice of the fellow, as he took -hold of the boat “Come off or I’ll be the death of you!” - -“What do you want here?” demanded Jule. - -The intruder made no reply, but exerted himself climbing to the -platform, from which he could have taken possession of the boat in spite -of the efforts of the boy, who was unarmed, having left his automatic -and searchlight with Case on shore. - -He looked about for some weapon with which to repel the boarder, but the -platform was clear. Then he sprang to the window, hoping to get through -it and barricade himself in the cabin. - -But he found Captain Joe stuck in the opening! The dog was doing his -best to wiggle out, his eyes flaming fiercely, his snarling jaws showing -two rows of capable teeth, as he eyed with disfavor the faint figure of -the man who was already climbing on the boat. It was a desperate -situation, but at the same time it had its humorous features, as Captain -Joe certainly was in a comical plight, half in and half out of the -window. - -“Get him, Joe!” - -Jule urged the dog on by pointing as he spoke. Captain Joe licked his -chops, as if anxious to sample the intruder, but he was stuck fast, and -the boarder was now half out of the water. - -“Get him, Joe! Get him!” - -The boy gave a yank at the dog’s head as he gave the command, and then -something happened. The dog slipped out of the window opening, passed -through Jule’s arms like a white flash of light and launched himself on -the man who was almost on the platform. - -The two, the dog and the bearded man, went over the rear together with a -great splash, and directly two heads were dimly seen on the surface. -Captain Joe had caught the Englishman by the shoulder, and a stain of -red dropped from his jaws before his head disappeared from sight again. - -The boy did not want to see the dog kill the man, and he shouted to -Captain Joe, entreating, commanding, coaxing, but the water was deep and -the unequal combat was going on beyond the reach of words. - -While Jule waited for the fighters to come to the surface again, hoping -that he might be able to do something toward releasing the man, Alex -came bobbing around the corner of the boat. At the first sound of Jule’s -voice on the boat he had leaped into the water and made for the stern -platform. This interruption saved the man’s life, for Captain Joe, -coming to the surface, recognized his master and, releasing his hold, -swam toward him. - -Though half drowned and seriously injured by the teeth of the dog, the -intruder managed to make his way to the dark shore. When, a moment -later, the boys looked for him he had disappeared in the thicket. Jule -had blazed the way to the boat, and in a short time all the boys were on -the stern deck or in the cabin. - -There was no indication of a fresh attack from the shore, and when a -single shot was fired, some distance away, the boys took that for a -signal from one ruffian to his mate. One was now on the north side of -Ruination creek and the other on the south side, and it would be some -time before they could plan any more mischief together. - -Clay looked at Jule’s face as he climbed to the platform and burst into -a laugh. There was a good showing of phosphorus still in sight. - -“Where did you get it?” he asked. - -“No wonder that man hustled off into the woods!” Alex added. - -“That didn’t frighten him a bit!” Jule explained. “He seemed to be wise -to the trick. Anyway he would have been in charge here now if Captain -Joe hadn’t risen to the occasion. Good old Captain Joe!” he continued, -patting the dog on the head. - -“We’d better be moving,” Clay said, presently, after Case and Frank had -briefly explained the events of the night in the forest. “Those men will -hang around us as long as we remain here.” - -“But Frank wants to get his cargo!” Jule laughed. - -“Indeed I do,” put in the boy. - -“It seems to me,” Case suggested, “that Frank has already secured his -cargo—a cargo of experience!” - -“We can’t exchange experience for money!” Jule declared, “not always!” - -“I’ve jut got to get that cargo,” Frank insisted. “It is too dark to -attempt to move out of this narrow creek anyway,” he urged, “and so we -may as well remain here until morning.” - -“That won’t be very long,” Clay said, “for there is a faint smudge of -daylight in the east.” - -“If it is most morning,” Alex cried, “that accounts for the empty -condition of my stomach. I’m going to get something to eat!” - -“That suits me,” Jule grinned, and Case and Clay were not slow in -agreeing to the proposition. - -Frank seemed lost in thought. He said nothing regarding supper, or -breakfast, rather, and sat quietly near the door of the cabin while the -boys, now apparently safe from attack, fried bacon and made pancakes and -coffee. When the bacon, pancakes and coffee were steaming on the table, -Clay turned to the forward deck and called to the boy. But Frank was not -there. - -It was now quite light in the eastern sky, though the forest still -showed dark and dreary. Clay went to the side of the boat and looked -down to the place where he had tied the row-boat, which had been brought -out soon after the disappearance of the man who had been attacked by the -dog. The boat was nowhere to be seen. - -“Frank has gone!” Clay shouted. - -“He’s determined to have that cargo!” Alex explained. “It is a risky -thing to do, this going into the jungle alone, but I can’t say as I -blame him!” - -The boys did not enjoy their early meal very much, for they were anxious -over Frank’s disappearance. They knew well enough where he had gone. The -cargo he insisted on securing must be somewhere near the scene of the -night’s adventures in the jungle, and he had gone there—alone! - - - - -CHAPTER XV.—THE VANISHING “CARGO” - - -The sun rose red and hot, looking like the bottom of a newly-scoured -brass bowl. It was insufferably warm, and there was no breeze. Alex got -out a spyglass and went to the prow. - -“What are you looking for?” asked Case. “Expect to see Frank through a -mile of trees?” - -“No,” grinned Alex. “I’m looking for the equator! It is so hot here that -it seems to me as if it must have sagged down toward the creek.” - -“That’s a very bad joke!” laughed Case. - -In a moment Alex turned his glass toward the shore, scanning the jungle -into which they had penetrated the night before. Presently his eyes -brightened and he handed the glass to Clay with a whoop of joy. - -“There’s Frank!” he shouted. “Coming on a run—or as near to a run as a -thousand creeping vines tangled around his legs will admit of. And I -don’t see him carrying any cargo. Seems to be running in ballast!” - -“See anyone chasing him?” asked Jule of Clay, who was now looking -anxiously through the glass. - -“Not a soul,” replied Clay. “He is at the row-boat now, and is putting -off for the _Rambler_.” - -“Guess it doesn’t require any spyglass to see that!” Jule broke in. -“Hello, there, kid!” he shouted, leaning over the railing, “where have -you been? You’ve missed a square meal.” - -Frank rowed out to the motor boat and climbed wearily to the deck before -attempting any reply. Then he handed a closely-tied oblong packet to -Clay and dropped into a convenient chair. - -“What’s that?” demanded the boys in a chorus. “The cargo!” smiled Frank. - -Clay hastily untied the strings which secured the paper wrapping of the -packet, disclosing a canvas bag, which gave forth a pleasant, tinkling -sound as the boy bounced it up and down in his hand. - -“What’s in it?” asked Jule. “Sounds like something you can turn into -gasoline, all right.” - -Frank replied with a motion for Clay to open the bag. He did so, and a -roll of gold coins was exposed to view. Amazement, incredulity, joy, all -showed on the faces of the boys, who now gathered closer about Clay and -began fingering the coins, of which there were about two score. - -“It is the real stuff!” Alex decided, turning his head critically. - -“American twenty-dollar pieces!” gasped Case. - -“Where in the name of all the seven seas did you get it?” asked Clay. - -But the lads did not wait for Frank to reply. They seized him by the -arms, the neck, the legs, and hustled him about, thumping him with their -fists in the way boys have of expressing great appreciation. Even -Captain Joe came out of the cabin and joined in the celebration. - -“You just wait!” Alex shouted, when the excitement had in a measure died -out—that is, when Frank was permitted to stand on his own feet -again—“just you wait until I feed you up proper for this! There’s a tin -of roast beef left that we’ve been saving for a joy-feast, and that is -what you’re going to get for breakfast! And fish! And wild fowl! And -dessert! And there’s a can of honey, and some sixty-cent coffee we’ve -been hoarding! You just wait and I’ll show you a feed that will make -your eyes stick out!” - -Alex at once set about celebrating the receipt of the wonderful “cargo” -by getting Frank such a breakfast as had not been seen on the _Rambler_ -since she had turned her nose out of the Mississippi. This -characteristic expression of approval was seconded by the others, and -all Frank’s efforts to induce the others to share his meal were ignored. -Captain Joe deigned to accept a bit of the roast beef, but he did it as -one conferring a great favor. - -“Now, where did you get it?” asked Clay, when Frank drew back from the -little cabin table and sought the cooler air under the awning which ran -over the forward deck. “Did you know all the time that you could find it -here? Then why didn’t you tell us?” - -“Did you see anything of Ugly in there?” asked Case, his mind going back -to the dark hours in the jungle. - -“Ugly!” Jule exclaimed. “Why, that Indian is running yet.” - -“Or the Englishmen?” persisted Case. - -“We went in the wrong direction last night,” Frank replied, dodging the -questions. “This morning, when it began to get daylight, I saw right -where my tree hotel was, and went to it without difficulty.” - -“You never found that in a tree!” Jule objected. - -“Yes, I did,” answered Frank. “I found it in a tree because I put it in -a tree on the way down. That is one reason why I wanted to get back in a -motor boat. We could stop here without attracting attention and get the -money.” - -“But we did attract attention! And you said—you said you found the cargo -here, in a tree, when you were on your way down the river!” insisted -Alex. - -“I did find it in a tree, but only after I had hidden it there,” Frank -explained. “You see, as I have already told you, I was pursued on the -way out, and, thinking I might be caught and searched—as I was—I hid the -money in a tree—the money and, other things I valued more than the -money. Then, after my pursuers went away, I went back to the tree and -took out some of the money, and something else, and made my way out of -the country.” - -“What was this something else?” asked Alex, always curious to know -everything connected with the boy’s past life. - -“I shall have to tell you about that some other time,” laughed Frank. -“Just now, I think, we’d better be getting out into the Amazon again, -for we still have a long way to go before we sight Cloud island.” - -“There’s that Cloud island again!” cried Jule. “I’d like to know what -you mean by keeping the secret of it from us.” - -“You’ll have to wait!” was all Frank would say. - -Early in the forenoon the _Rambler_ was headed for the Madeira, and -then, much to the surprise of the others, Frank turned the prow down the -stream toward the Amazon. - -“What about this little town up the river where you were going to -dispose of your cargo?” demanded Alex. - -“You refer to Rosarinho?” asked the boy. - -“Don’t know the name,” Alex answered, “except that it sounds to me like -rhino—which means hard cash in some localities in Chicago.” - -“That is a good town to visit for the purchase of supplies,” Frank said, -“but I have an idea that the Englishmen we have been having trouble with -will go there, so we’ll give them the slip and buy our supplies at -Monteiro, which is on the right bank of the Madeira, near the junction -with the Amazon. It is not wise to hunt trouble by following those men.” - -“What did they want in that jungle?” asked Jule. “They were stranded,” -answered Case, who had heard the story told Frank by the Indian. “They -wanted our boat—that’s all.” - -Then Case turned and whispered to Frank: - -“Ever see those men before? I thought one of them seemed to have a -mutual understanding with you about—well, about Cloud island, you know. -What is all this talk about Cloud island?” - -“As I have told you boys before, I can’t tell you anything now. I may -tell you all about it in time, but just now there is nothing to say.” - -“But about those men?” persisted Case. - -“I don’t remember either face,” Frank replied, slowly, “but I have an -idea that they knew me—that is, that they have heard of me, somewhere, -before we met in the jungle. If they are going to Cloud island, as they -told the Indian, they certainly knew something about my affairs before -they started. Now, that is all I’m going to tell you about it,” he added -with a smile. - -Arrived at Monteiro, Clay brought out the company purse and showed that -it was empty. - -“We’ll have to borrow from Frank,” he said. “I was in hope that we could -get a real cargo somewhere, and so get through on our own resources, but -it seems that we’ve either got to go back, drifting down, or run in -debt.” - -“Why,” Frank said, astonished, “this money belongs to the common fund—it -is just as much yours as it is mine.” - -“I fail to see it in that light,” Clay insisted. “The money belongs to -you individually, and if we use any portion of it we’ll pay it back.” - -“And here I’ve been riding with you, and living off you, for weeks,” -urged Frank. “If you took all this money you wouldn’t have any too much -pay for what you’ve done for me. If you don’t take it, I’ll get off at -Monteiro and wait for a steamer going up the river.” - -“If you try that,” Alex declared, “I’ll set the dog on you.” - -“Aw, give the money to me!” Jule cut in. “I’ll borrow it and contribute -it as my share of the expense. Anytime a boy wants to give away money, -I’ll accommodate him!” - -“We’ll give a note for it,” suggested Case, and so the boys counted out -the gold pieces—there were forty of the denomination of $20—and gave a -joint note for $800. Jule laughed as he put his name to the paper in -letters an inch long. - -“I’ll make ’em good and big,” he explained, “because the name is all -there is to it, the names, I mean. We are all infants in the eyes of the -law, you know.” - -“Where did you learn that term?” asked Alex. “You must have been -studying law.” - -“Dr. Holcomb says I’m an infant in the eyes of the law, anyway!” the boy -replied. “Now, if you’ve got this money matter settled, suppose we go -ashore and feed up. I’m hungry for something that hasn’t been lugged -about in tin cans for a month.” - -“Rich we are!” shouted Alex, “and we’ll have a feed on shore that will -put an inch of fat on our ribs! Hurry up, fellows!” - -“Someone must remain on the boat,” suggested Frank, and I’ll be the -guard. I can go ashore after you all get back.” - -“You furnish the money and stay out of the feast!” cried Jule. “Not if I -know it. I’ll remain on the boat, and you can bring me a modest meal in -a bushel basket. You’ll need Frank as interpreter, anyway.” - -It was finally arranged that Jule should remain on board, and the others -soon set off in the little boat. They reached the town in a few moments, -wandered about the illy-kept streets for a time, and then hunted up a -place where motor boat supplies were sold. The order for gasoline and -provisions was given, Clay promising to pay when the goods were -delivered on board the _Rambler_. - -“These people may be all right,” Clay explained to the others, “but it -is just as well to pay on delivery.” - -Finally they came to a public restaurant which seemed to be tolerably -clean. It was a small public eating house, such as one finds at Havana -and Para, operated in Spanish style and boasting a fair menu. The boys -found that they could get steaks there and ordered liberally. An extra -one was ordered cooked for Jule. - -The lads enjoyed their dinners greatly, Alex declaring that the only -thing lacking to make it perfect was the motion of a boat on a stream! -The cooking was good and the attendance perfect, but there was something -about the seeming friendliness of the proprietor, who insisted on -personally attending to the wants of the boys, which was not wholly -sincere—at least so it seemed to Case. - -When he referred to the matter, however, the others laughed at him, and -Clay even showed a handful of gold when he paid for the dinners and the -basket which was going back to Jule, well loaded with eatables. After -leaving the place Clay turned back. - -“I’m going to have some of that odd-tasting coffee put into the basket -for Jule,” he said. “I meant to have it done while we were in there. -I’ll go back and have it put in, and you boys go on around the town and -meet me there.” - -The others protested against Clay going back alone, but he only laughed -at their fears. Half an hour later, after walking through the main -streets of the odd Brazilian city, the boys entered the restaurant to -find Clay sitting at the table they had occupied with his head on an -arm, which was resting on the table. He seemed to be sound asleep, and -Case and Alex shook him vigorously. - -“He has been asleep for a long time,” the proprietor explained, in -Spanish, translated by Frank, “and I let him alone. He had company with -him at the table first, and they ordered coffee—coffee to drink and more -coffee to put in the basket.” - -The boys lifted Clay to his feet and shook him until he opened his eyes. -He seemed to be dazed, and Frank set the boy back into a chair and gave -his attention to his pockets. They were all turned wrong side out and -empty! - -The proprietor insisted on calling in the police. He declared that one -of the men Clay had visited with at the table was not above suspicion, -and began to talk vaguely about getting the money back. - -“Wait,” Frank said to him. “We’ll go on board with him first. You see,” -he continued, talking to the boys after they had finally succeeded in -getting Clay out of the place, apparently against the wishes of the -owner, “if he calls in the police we’ll be held no one knows how long as -witnesses. One of us may even be accused of taking the money. They are -all against foreigners here, so the best thing for us to do is to pocket -the loss and get away as soon as possible.” - -This was agreed to, with many sighs at the loss of the money, and the -boys were soon on board the _Rambler_, where they found Jule arguing -fiercely with a man who did not know what Jule was saying any more than -Jule knew what he was saying. Frank listened and turned a pale face to -Clay. - -“We’re tied up,” he said, “until the stores are paid for!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.—“KEEP HER HEAD ON!” - - -“Tied up!” repeated Alex. “Does that mean that we can’t give ’em back -their stuff and take the _Rambler_ away?” - -“I’ll find out,” Frank volunteered, turning to the Spaniard who was now -shaking his fists’ angrily in the air and almost foaming at the mouth. - -There was a short conference, and then Frank turned back to the boys, -his manner not at all encouraging. - -“He wants his pay, or the boat!” he said. “He says he’s been to all the -trouble of getting the goods on board, and that he’s not going to go to -the further bother of taking them off. He says we can’t leave this -harbor until we settle in full.” - -“But he can’t hold the boat,” urged Case. “It doesn’t belong to us, but -to Dr. Holcomb.” - -Again Frank conferred with the excited dealer in marine supplies. - -“He says that in law that makes no difference,” was the discouraging -report. - -“He got here pretty quickly after the robbery,” Case suggested. “Ask him -if he knows that Clay was drugged and robbed,” he added. - -Frank talked with the merchant again, and he answered that he had heard -something about it, but thought it all a Yankee trick. During this -conversation Clay had not opened his mouth to speak. He stood leaning -against the cabin door frame, his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the -deck. Now he turned and entered the cabin, closing the door behind him. -Case followed him with his eyes until the door closed, then spoke to -Alex. - -“Go in there and see what he’s up to,” he said. “He is taking this too -hard. Tell him we don’t blame him a bit—that it would have been the same -if either one of us had had the money. Tell him to buck up!” - -Alex rushed into the cabin and Case gave his attention to the Spanish -merchant, who was now gesticulating and calling to three men who were -putting off in a row-boat. - -“He means to have the _Rambler_,” Frank said, dejectedly. “Those men are -officers. Once they get their feet on this deck it will be impossible to -continue on our way.” - -Jule heard and turned toward the motors. In a moment sharp explosions -which denoted full speed were heard, and the boat began backing out into -the river. The men in the row-boat shouted and waved weapons in the air, -but did not fire. The Spanish merchant fairly danced up and down in -frantic rage, declaring that the boys would all go to jail for what they -were doing. - -Seeing that these threats and demonstrations made no difference in the -speed of the boat, he leaped toward Jule, who stood by the open hatchway -over the motors. While the deck was kept closed over the machinery on -ordinary occasions, it was so arranged that a square of the deck lifted -like a patch above the motors whenever special attention was being given -to them. - -The Spaniard was almost to the boy when Case tripped him and he fell -headlong to the deck. Captain Joe stood watching him for a moment, -showing his teeth, and then lay down within a foot of the fellow’s face, -his lips snarling, his jaws working. - -“If you try to get up we can’t restrain the dog,” Case said, gravely, -“so if you think anything of your hide you’d better remain where you -are.” - -The row-boat followed the _Rambler_ out into the river for a short -distance and then turned back. As she did so the smoke of a steamer -lifted to the east. - -The Spaniard continued his verbal attacks on the boys, though he was -careful not to swing his arms nearer to Captain Joe. - -“What is he saying?” asked Case. - -“He is saying that this is piracy,” answered Frank. - -“And the worst of it is that he is right,” grumbled Case. “What are we -ever going to do with this fellow. It isn’t fair to take him off with us -just because he wants his money.” - -“No, it isn’t,” admitted Frank, “but we’re in a tight fix.” - -“I’ll help him off when he wants to go!” Jule volunteered. “I’ll pitch -him overboard!” - -“Play fair!” urged Case. “We’re in a sorry plight, but play fair!” - -“He isn’t playing fair!” asserted Jule. “He heard of our trouble, and -came right down to take possession of the boat. I believe he knows -something about that robbery.” - -When the row-boat turned back the _Rambler_ was slowed down so as to -keep abreast of the current. The Spaniard was still cursing wildly, and -Frank was saying something to him which appeared to make him all the -more indignant. - -“If he was in Massachusetts,” laughed Jule, “he’d want the state troops -called out!” - -“What are we going to do with him?” asked Case, and Frank shook his head -gravely. “Looks like he has the law with him!” - -Then the cabin door opened and Alex came running out with a handful of -banknotes waving aloft, his feet fairly dancing along the deck, his lips -set for one long whoop, which, being finished, gave the boys a chance to -ask questions. - -“Where did you get it?” - -“Is there a bank in there?” - -“How much is there in the roll?” - -This last from Jule, who beckoned to Alex to call Captain Joe off guard -duty. The dog left reluctantly and joined Clay in the cabin, for the boy -who was in a degree responsible for the situation insisted on remaining -out of sight until he had “had it out with himself,” as he expressed it. - -“Now,” Case snapped out, catching Alex by the shoulder and facing him -around. “You keep still long enough to tell us if you’ve found a mine of -banknotes in the cabin just when we were in great need. Get on with the -story!” - -Alex was too excited to talk for a time. He just danced up and down and -shook the fluttering ends of the banknotes in the faces of his chums -whenever he came in contact with him. In the meantime the Spaniard had -arisen to his feet, and now, the Rambler having stopped, stood beckoning -to the men in the row-boat to come on. - -“Where’s your bill?” asked Case, approaching the gesticulating merchant. -“We’re going to cash up. Here, Alex, bring me that money!” - -Alex calmly drew a $50 banknote between each of the fingers of his right -hand and waved it in the hot air, like a fan. - -“Give him our notes!” he said. “Frank accepts ’em!” - -Finally Case secured the statement which the fellow had brought on board -for payment and handed it over to Frank. - -“It is $100,” said the boy, “and most of the charges are double what -they should be.” - -“Well, what can we do about it?” - -“I’ll see.” - -Frank continued his talk with the fellow, who was now shaking his head -and pointing to the advancing boat. Jule started the motors again and -the distance between the two craft increased. - -“He won’t take paper money,” Frank said. “He demands gold.” - -“All right!” Case cried. - -The boy took the paper into his hand, thrust two $50 banknotes into the -unwilling hand of the merchant—who looked on in rage and wonder at the -bold action!—and handed out a pencil. As long as the row-boat containing -the officers was coming on, the fellow would not sign the receipt, -insisting that exchange fees must be added, but when the _Rambler_ began -to edge out toward the Amazon he seized the pencil with a growl and -wrote his name under the column of charges. - -This done, he pointed to the row-boat, asking Frank to permit it to come -along side, in order to take him off. Frank consented to this, and the -boat drew nearer. - -“If those officers get within reaching distance I’m afraid they’ll make -us trouble.” - -This from Case, who stood by Alex and Captain Joe, the latter looking -disappointed at the apparently peaceful solution of the trouble. - -Alex grinned and whispered to Captain Joe. The dog cocked up his ears -and opened his jaws with a snarl. - -“Say, mister,” Alex called out to the Spaniard, then, “I can’t control -this dog much longer. Jump!” - -“He doesn’t understand!” Case observed. “I wish he did!” - -“Tell him, Frank!” Alex ordered. - -As Frank ceased speaking, after this request, Alex let the dog out at -arm’s length, holding only to the collar they had made for him. He made -as if he were nearly exhausted holding the animal, now clawing the deck, -and the Spaniard stepped to the side of the boat. - -Alex let go his hold, the dog sprang forward, and the merchant jumped -into the river, making a great touse as he struck the surface on his -back and dropped under. - -“Hope he’ll drown!” was Jule’s observation. - -“No; he won’t drown. The row-boat is heading this way and will pick him -up. Now, perhaps we’d better be on our way. I rather think we have -committed assault and battery—or, rather, that Captain Joe has—on that -chap, and he may want us all arrested.” - -Alex laughed as he spoke, making faces at the angry men in the boat. -Directly the merchant was hauled, streaming and vociferating, from the -river. Then the _Rambler_ was headed out of the mouth of the Madeira and -was soon breasting the slow current of the Amazon again. - -“Now, about that money!” demanded Case. “Where did it drop from?” - -“Why, you know Captain Joe gave us a package, to be opened only when we -had come to the end of our rope? Well! we had not only come to the end -of our rope, but had lost the rope!” - -“And so you opened Captain Joe’s package?” - -“Of course we did.” - -“I had forgotten all about it,” Case remarked. - -“And so had I,” Alex went on. “It was Clay who thought of it. He got it -and opened it.” - -“How much money is there?” - -“Three hundred dollars!” - -Both Case and Jule gave vent to a low whistle. - -“How did he ever save that much money?” Case asked. - -“Why did he give it to us?” was what Jule said. “It is remarkable,” -Frank added. - -“Perhaps he wrote something and put it in with the money,” suggested -Case, in a moment. - -“Never thought of that!” - -Alex bounced into the cabin and came back in a moment pushing Clay in -front of him. Clay, looking half ashamed, half triumphant, held a sheet -of writing paper in one hand. - -“Just read it!” Alex cried out. - -Clay held it out so that the large, irregular character written on it -might be seen from a distance. - - “KEEP HER HEAD ON!” - -That was the message! - -It seemed to the boys, all of whom were greatly affected, that the words -had come directly from the kindly lips of the Captain, straight over -four thousand miles of sea and land, to put them all in good cheer -again. - -“Good old Captain Joe!” Jule exclaimed. “How did he know?” - -“Oh, anyone would know that such a fool as I am—such a heedless -fool—would get any company he traveled with into trouble, and——” - -Alex clapped a hand over the speaker’s mouth. - -“That will be all for you,” he said. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.—NIGHTS ON THE AMAZON - - -Neither then nor at any other time was Clay permitted to speak to his -chums of the loss of the gold. He was allowed, briefly, to explain that -two men who claimed to be interested in motor boats had approached him -as he re-entered the restaurant, that he had invited them to seats at -the table, where he had ordered another cup of coffee—the quality served -before having been excellent—that he had felt drowsy after drinking one -cup, and that the next he knew the boys were pulling him to his feet. -That was all. - -There was no doubt in the minds of the boys that the coffee had been -drugged in the kitchen before being brought to the table, or that the -two men were confederates of the restaurant keeper; but they were in no -position to demand investigation in a hostile country, and so resolved -to continue their journey up the Amazon and say nothing more about it. -There were even suspicions in the minds of Clay and Case that the whole -thing had been planned by Frank’s old enemies to keep the _Rambler_ tied -up in the harbor for a long time, as well as to acquire the gold the boy -had so freely shown. - -“The people who are trying to keep Frank away from that strange and -mysterious Cloud island are at the bottom of it,” was Case’s final -comment on the incident. - -However, the boys were now well supplied with gasoline and provisions, -and there would be no further need of stopping at any town for a long -time. Frank seemed to have lost his desire for great speed, after -leaving the Madeira, and so the _Rambler_ lolled along the river for all -the world like a boat out with a summer-day picnic party. - -Now and then the boy watched the down-stream country with a glass, as if -expecting to see a steamer with green and yellow stripes on her stack -shooting swiftly against the current. Again, he sat for hours on the -little stern platform at night, watching the river and the shores for a -light which he never discovered. - -“What has gotten into the lad?” Case asked, one night when the _Rambler_ -lay at anchor in a bay just above the Rio Negro river. “He seems to be -watching for some sign or signal, but refuses to tell what it is.” - -No one ventured a reply, and Jule pointed away to the valley of the Rio -Negro. - -“That river,” he said, to change the subject, “is a thousand miles long. -Its head waters rise in Columbia and Guiana. Perhaps some of the water -that trickles down to the Amazon comes from the oldest land on the -continent.” - -“I guess not!” Alex interrupted. “The oldest land is somewhere near the -center of Peru.” - -“The oldest land is in Guiana,” insisted Jule. “Many millions of years -ago an island rose out of the water there. That was the first of the -continent of South America. The Andes were forced up later by the -wrinkling of the crust of the earth as it dried out. But the Andes -lifted and lowered a great many times before they got their noses into -the air for keeps. Why, there is a salt spring 14,000 feet above sea -level down here. That deposit of salt was made when the ocean washed the -spot where it lies!” - -“There’s gold down here, too,” Alex declared. “I’ve read that the gold -mines of Peru were sealed up when the Spanish came, and that they have -never been discovered to this day.” - -“What do you know about that, Frank?” asked Case, as the boy came up. - -Frank made no reply, but walked back to his old place on the rear -platform, which he reached by creeping over the low roof of the cabin. - -“Perhaps there is gold on this Cloud island,” suggested Jule. - -“There is something there worth fighting for,” Case argued. “Then, where -did the kid get all that gold? He brought it out with him, you know, and -hid it in a tree!” - -“Ho, ho!” laughed Jule, “there are no twenty-dollar gold pieces down in -the mines of Peru. All that gold he brought out saw the little old U. S. -long before it saw Peru!” - -The boys held many such conversations as this as they proceeded up the -river of their dreams. They never forgot those days and nights on the -Amazon, the splendid panorama of forest and stream ever before their -eyes, the perfect freedom from the restraints of city life. - -They were nearly under the equator, it is true, and the heat was almost -unbearable at times. The insects were numerous and annoying. But, after -all, they were out in the open, and they were free! The average lad of -seventeen will endure many privations and suffer many physical penalties -just to be free—to be brother for a time to the woods, the blue sky, and -the running water! - -Many an evening, in spite of the heat, they built great cooking fires in -some alluring cove and made a supper of fish, turtle eggs dug out of the -sand, and the flesh of a fowl resembling wild turkey. The boy dearly -loves to cook by a campfire! Often they got into territory which the -ants seemed to claim as their own, and now and then an anaconda or an -alligator supplied a mark for their revolvers. - -Those were entrancing moonlit nights. Often natives came from small -villages and visited with them. Traders are numerous along the Amazon, -and in nearly every settlement of natives there are some who speak -English and Spanish. As a rule the Indians were friendly and willing to -assist in the capture of game, but now and then the boys were glad to -get away from the vicinity of a town or a plantation because of the -vicious nature of the natives. - -The owners of the plantations they visited were usually Spanish, or of -Spanish descent. Their workmen were invariably natives. There are more -villages and cities on the banks of the upper Amazon than the maps show, -and the boys made a point of stopping at most of them. In fact, Frank -seemed determined to hold a conversation with someone in every -settlement they came to. Sometimes he would go ashore alone in the -row-boat and remain for a long time in conference with a planter or one -employed thereabouts. - -“He’s asking questions about Cloud island!” Jule explained, whenever -this strange habit of the boy’s was referred to. - -However, the boys liked best to get away from all civilization and tie -up at night in a little creek or bay, or in a channel forming one side -of an island. - -Here they caught fish, fought ants, captured opossums, and beat the -thickets for monkeys and snakes. - -The opossums of Brazil are not much larger than a good-sized rat, but -they are very good eating. Fish are plentiful, and there is plenty of -small game in the forests, so the boys had lots of fresh food to eat. In -that hot climate, however, it was necessary to procure fresh game every -day, as putrefaction soon sets in. Fish taken from the river soon -becomes offensive unless cut into thin strips and dried in the sunshine. - -Ever since leaving the Madeira the boys had slept in hammocks swung from -strong uprights on the forward deck. The deck was shut in by wire -netting, which afforded them partial protection from the insects. But of -course the impudent blood-seekers hung constantly about, and more than -one found its way into this screened place when the one door, opening at -the side, was in use. - -Lizards of all sizes, shapes and dispositions managed to take passage on -the _Rambler_, much to the disgust of the boys and the anger of Captain -Joe, who attacked them relentlessly but could not keep the boat free of -them. But if the lizards and snakes and ants were unwelcome guests on -the boat and at the little camps, there were plenty of other visitors -who more than compensated for them. These were the birds, whose shrill -voices and brilliant coloring made the night as well as the day musical -and gay. Taken all in all, the life the boys lived there on the mighty -river, under the equator, was ideal from a boy’s viewpoint. - -There were, besides many birds well known at the North, kingfishers, -green and blue tree-creepers, purple-headed tanagers, and humming birds. -Butterflies were everywhere, of every size and color. And there were the -cicadas, at home in every tree, sending out their jarring, reedy notes. -The forests were alive with sound, and the lads realized that even the -roar of Chicago would sometimes be small beside the constant ring of -wild life. - -One of the native weapons in use on the upper Amazon quite fascinated -Jule, and he never gave over bartering with the Indians until he secured -one. This was a zarabatana, or blow-gun. It consists of a hollow tube -through which an arrow is shot by the breath. The arrows are sharp as a -needle and are winged with fluff from the seed-vessels of the cotton -tree. The arrows are expelled with such force that the sound of their -exit from the muzzle is something like that made by a popgun. They are -frequently tipped with the fatal urari poison. - -One night, under the brilliant light of the moon, the boys saw a black -tiger or jaguar drinking at the edge of the little creek in which their -boat lay. They were anxious to take the fellow’s hide as a souvenir of -the trip, and so Clay and Alex cautiously left the boat and struck into -the forest back of the spot where the tiger was quenching his thirst. He -threw up his muzzle and dropped his ears, like a great cat, at the first -motion on the shore. - -Captain Joe, quivering with excitement, and entirely beyond control, -leaped to the shore and headed for the tiger, which backed, snarling, -into the jungle which the boys had thought to surround. The dog followed -on until he reached the spot from which the beast had disappeared. In a -moment Alex and Clay were at his side, the former trying to force his -way into the thicket. Finally he pressed in a yard or two and called to -the dog to follow. - -But Captain Joe was evidently going out of the tiger-hunting game -without loss of time, for he tilted his nose in the air, gave one growl -of defiance, and walked away in a very dignified manner indeed. - -“There,” Clay exclaimed, “Captain Joe knows more about tigers than we -do, so we’ll go back to the _Rambler_.” - -The waters of the upper Amazon are filled with alligators of all sizes. -They occasionally swarmed about the boat, and Captain Joe appeared to -enjoy watching their hungry little eyes as they gazed up at his plump -shoulders. Sometimes, while sleeping in rude hammocks swung from trees -and poles on sandy shores, the boys were disturbed by the reptiles. - -After midnight, however, the alligators keep away from the sands of the -shores, at least where there is a considerable stretch of it, for the -radiation of heat during the night from the sand makes these resting -spots cool, even chilly, in the morning. - -And so the boys leisurely proceeded up the Amazon, stopping to fish, to -hunt turtle eggs, to watch the monkeys climbing the great trees, to hunt -the black tiger in the thickets and the alligators in the rivers. They -frequently spoke with traders on the river, and now and then heard news -from Chicago. - -At last, along about the middle of September, they came to Tabatinga, -where the Amazon enters Ecuador. Here they secured additional supplies -of gasoline and such provisions as they would need and made a few -repairs to the boat. The upper Amazon country is never very “dry,” as -storms are likely to come on at any time during the early fall, so the -boys set up a little stove in the cabin and made ready for the days of -slow rain and wind which might come on. - -From the time of leaving Marajo island they had not seen or heard of the -_Señorita_, and the boys, all save Frank, were flattering themselves -that the pursuit had ceased. They had passed, and been passed, by many -steamers on the river, but none of them resembled the little vessel they -had first seen on the South Branch. But at Tabatinga their dream of -being free from pursuit by Frank’s enemies vanished. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.—JUST AHEAD OF A MOB - - -The _Rambler_ lay in front of Tabatinga, ready to take to the reaches of -the upper river, one morning, when Jule called Clay’s attention to a -small steamer, painted a silver gray, which was steaming into a crude -slip not far away. - -“That boat looks familiar,” the boy said. “How many times have we passed -her on the way up?” - -Clay viewed the boat critically and then went for his glass. Frank had -heard the question, seen Clay take the glass from the hook on the wall -of the cabin, and followed to the side of the boat. Clay looked long at -the steamer and then handed the glass to Frank. - -“What do you make of her?” he asked. - -“Which way did she come from?” asked the boy, placing the glass in -position. - -“Up river,” answered Jule, at an inquiring glance from Clay. - -“That’s strange!” Frank exclaimed. - -“What is?” demanded Jule. - -“The _Señorita_ coming from that direction,” was the reply. - -“The _Señorita_!” repeated Clay, in amazement. - -“Just what I thought!” Jule declared. - -“So that is our escort, all in a new suit of clothes!” Alex grinned, -looking over Frank’s shoulder at the freshly-painted steamer. - -“There is no doubt about it,” Frank replied. “But I can’t understand why -she is coming down stream.” - -“She’s been investigating Cloud island,” laughed Alex. - -“That is no joke,” Jule cut in. “Do you see our friend with the scar and -the funny little black mustache?” he added. - -“Señor Lewiso?” asked Frank. “Yes, he is on board, and is looking this -way.” - -“Give him the merry ha, ha!” advised Jule. - -“So that is his name?” Clay asked, turning to Frank. “Señor Lewiso. You -never mentioned that before!” - -“There was no occasion,” Frank said. - -While the boys inspected the _Señorita_, Señor Lewiso descended into a -small boat and was taken ashore. - -“I wish I knew what he wants in the town,” Frank mused. - -“Supplies, probably,” Clay suggested. - -Frank shook his head. - -“There is little need of her buying supplies here,” he said, “for she -has large provision refrigerators, and, besides, most of the food supply -up here would naturally come from the forest and river.” - -“Then he is going ashore to find out something about the _Rambler_. -Perhaps he did not see us.” - -This from Alex, who was now preparing for the shore. - -“Rest assured that he did see us!” Frank replied, noting the boy’s -preparations for a visit to the city. “Where are you going?” - -“Why, don’t you want to know what he’s up to?” asked Alex. - -“Of course, but you——” - -“Oh, yes I can!” broke in the boy. “I can take Captain Joe with me and -shadow him like a Sherlock Holmes!” - -“Of course we can!” decided Jule, also making ready for a visit to the -city. “You see, he doesn’t know us, and——” - -“Don’t you ever think he doesn’t!” Case interrupted. “That boat lay -close to the _Rambler_ in the South Branch for a number of days, and you -may be sure that he has a mental photo of everyone of us. Better cut -this visit out!” - -“You said,” turning to Frank, “that you would like to know what he -wanted in the city! Well, then!” - -“Run along!” Clay decided, seeing that Frank was about to appeal to him -for advice. “I see no harm in the boys going, but they would better -leave Captain Joe on the boat.” - -“I guess Captain Joe wants to feel the soil under his feet, just the -same as we do,” Alex exclaimed, patting the dog on the head, “but we’ll -leave him on board if you think best.” - -“He will be certain to get into a quarrel with some Brazilian pup,” -laughed Jule, “and may bring on international complications, so we’d -better kiss him bye-bye and be on our way.” - -The lads went ashore in the boat while Captain Joe stood on the prow and -threw glances of sorrow and reproach at them. When they reached the -shore, however, Alex gave out a long, shrill whistle and the next moment -Captain Joe was in the river, swimming to his feet! - -“Go it!” Case stormed. “He’ll get you into a fight, and we’ll have to -come and get you out. Go it, and have all the fun you want to, but -lookout for squalls.” - -“That is the first evil forecast I have heard from you in a long time,” -laughed Clay. - -“We’ve had too much of the real thing lately,” grinned Case, “to need -any imaginary woes. Say, I’m going to quit that prophet-of-evil role!” - -“I hope so,” Clay responded. - -During the absence of the boys and the dog Frank moved restlessly about -the hot little cabin and the crowded forward deck. It was plain to both -Clay and Case that he anticipated something important as a result of the -trip ashore. - -Alex and Jule were reckless and full of pranks, but he knew them to be -courageous, resourceful and tenacious of any purpose undertaken. He -thought they would have little difficulty in finding the man they -sought. The only question in his mind was as to whether they would not, -by some prankish trick, get themselves into trouble with the people of -the town. - -Señor Lewiso would not molest them. He knew that very well. He thought -he understood the man thoroughly, and counted on his trying to make -friends with the lads instead of antagonizing them. Clay questioned him -in vain when he said as much to his chum. Frank would not talk of the -man, his object in following them, or of the secrets of Cloud island. - -Noon came and the boys were still absent. Then Captain Joe came to the -shore where the row-boat lay and set up a request to be taken on board, -as they thought. Thinking that it might be just as well to have the boat -alongside, Case stripped to the waist and plunged into the river, -swimming with long, steady strokes to the shore. - -Captain Joe pranced, barking, around him, but would not enter the boat. -Instead he seized Case by one trousers leg and invited him to take a -stroll into the city, much to the delight of a crowd of boys and adult -loafers lounging about the water front. - -“What is it, Captain?” asked Case, as if the dog could answer him. -“Where did you leave the boys?” - -Again the dog drew at his clothes, urging him in the direction of the -town. - -“But I can’t go in this swimming rig,” said Case, arguing with the dog -as he would have argued with one of his chums. “You wait here while I go -on board and dress, then I’ll go with you.” - -The dog expressed his dissatisfaction with this arrangement by a series -of growls, but Case entered the boat and rowed to the _Rambler_, where -he found Clay and Frank ready for the shore, they having seen the dog’s -pantomime from the deck. - -“Just as I thought,” Case grumbled. “They’ve gone and got into some -trouble and sent the dog to tell us about it.” - -The situation looked grave, but Clay smiled as he nudged the boy in the -ribs. - -“You were going to quit that!” he said. - -“Well,” Case responded, with a grin, “they’ve found a diamond mine, and -have sent the dog to notify us to come and help carry away the wealth. -Does that suit you any better?” - -“Surely, that is much better!” smiled Clay. - -In the meantime Captain Joe was sitting on the little dock where the -boat had been moored in a very dignified attitude, his snarly nose -pointing up the street which ended at the river. This was not the main -street of the town, but one running back of the thoroughfare where most -of the places of business were situated. It was a street where old -warehouses and cheap eating and drinking places predominated. - -“See Captain Joe!” Frank exclaimed; “he scents mischief up there. We -would better be on our way.” - -“Someone must remain on the _Rambler_,” Clay declared, “and you, Frank, -ought to be the one. He, this Señor Lewiso, is not after us, but he may -make trouble for you.” - -“What a name!” Case exclaimed. “I’ll wager that his name is just plain -Lewis in the United States.” - -“That is probably correct,” Clay agreed. “Now for it!” - -Then the actions of the dog attracted their attention. He no longer held -his dignified pose, but was running to and fro on the dock, looking -alternately at the _Rambler_ and the street beyond the dock, as if in -doubt whether to chase up the street or swim to the boat. Presently he -darted away up the street. - -Believing that something serious was happening to Alex and Jule, Clay -and Case now sprang into the boat and rowed ashore. There was then no -need for them to advance up the street taken by Captain Joe. - -An excited mob was rushing down the thoroughfare, and at the head of it, -covering the ground like race-horses and dodging sticks and clubs as -they shot ahead, were Alex and Jule. - -The boys were not very far ahead of the crowd, but were gaining. Indeed, -they would soon have been beyond the reach of the missiles thrown in -their direction only for the fact that fresh recruits were continually -swinging into the race from nearby doorways and taking front positions -in the pursuit. - -Captain Joe was running at the heels of his master, pausing now and then -to check the pursuit by showing a dangerous set of teeth to the -pursuers. At such times those in advance fell back sullenly, not caring -to come to close quarters with the dog. - -When the boys reached the dock they were only a few paces ahead of the -front line of those who were giving chase. One sturdy fellow, far in -advance, evidently a Spaniard, was even reaching out to seize Alex when -he came to the boat. He might have succeeded in his attempt to prevent -the lad getting into the craft only that the dog sprang at him and bore -him back. As the two boys and the dog gained the boat the oncoming -rabble stumbled over the prostrate man and half a dozen pitched -headforemost into the river. - -These seemed to be too much astonished at their sudden immersion to -seize the boat or the oars, and so detain the boys, although those in -the rear shouted to them to do so, and Clay pushed out into the current. -While members of the mob sprang for nearby boats, Frank set the motors -going and picked up the boys halfway to the dock. - -Then the _Rambler_, for the second time during that trip, glided away, -leaving an angry, vindictive mob howling at her crew from the shore. -Once on the boat, and the boat showing clear water between herself and -the dock, Alex and Jule dropped down on deck and set up a succession of -mad shouts which echoed over the stream. Captain Joe put his paws on the -railing at the screen door and deliberately winked first one eye and -then the other at the defeated runners! Alex declares to this day that -he did it just to provoke his former antagonists! - -“Now, what is it all about?” asked Clay, as the _Rambler_ shot up the -Amazon at full speed. “Can’t you boys go on shore without bringing a mob -of uninvited guests back with you?” - -“That is our escort!” grinned Jule, waving an arm in the direction of -the gesticulating crowd on the dock. - -“How did you happen to stir up such a hornet’s nest?” asked Case. - -“It was this way,” Alex began, whistling to the dog and taking his head -into his lap as he sat on the deck, “when we got up there into the town -we saw—. Guess?” - -“Lewiso,” suggested Clay. - -“Give it up!” cried Case. “Go on!” - -“Well, we saw, not the man we went to look up, but the two Englishmen we -had the skirmish with in the bush down on Ruination creek!” - -“Then they must have passed us on a steamer,” Frank interrupted. “How -were they dressed?” - -“Fine! Oh, they’ve made a raise since we saw them trying to steal the -_Rambler_!” - -“That is why I failed to hear or see anything of them along the river as -we came up,” Frank mused. - -“So, when you were watching night and day that is why!” Case cried. “Did -you think they would walk up?” - -“I thought that they, being down on their luck, would be obliged to make -their way from town to town on tramp trading vessels, and that I might -hear of them somewhere.” - -“They look like they owned a yacht of their own now,” Jule put in. “They -sure have robbed a bank somewhere.” - -“Go on with your story,” Clay suggested, as the _Señorita_ left the dock -and started up stream. “If you have good luck you may be able to tell us -what is going on before that steamer comes up with us.” - -“Of course,” Jule said, taking up the story, “Alex had to follow the -Englishmen into a restaurant, where they were eating some funny -contraption and drinking something that looked like rum. They were so -busy they did not see us at first—busy over papers which looked like -maps they took from their pockets!” - -“Maps!” echoed Frank, excitedly. - -“Yes, maps, and they laid the bunch of papers down on the table, and -they looked good to me, and so I sent Captain Joe after them.” - -“You did?” shouted Clay and Case in a breath. “Did he get them?” - -This from Frank, whose eyes were shining with a spirit the boys never -seen there before. - -“Get them?” repeated Jule. “Of course he got them, and handed them to -me, and we beat it for the boat, and the Englishmen followed with a mob -at their heels, and we hotfooted it down the street.” - -“But Captain Joe——” - -“Yes, I know he got to the dock a long time before we did, for we got -sidetracked and had to hide from the mob in an old warehouse. It was -while we were in there that Captain Joe left us, and came after you.” - -“But the mob never found us,” Alex exclaimed, “until we broke and ran -for the river. I guess the Englishmen are looking for us back there in -the warehouse yet.” - -“The papers?” asked Frank. “Where are they?” - -Alex laid a packet on the deck by his side. - -“What are they?” he asked, provokingly holding them down with one hand -as Frank, catching sight of one, reached for them. - -“Maps of Cloud island!” was the quick reply. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX.—THE SECRET OF CLOUD ISLAND - - -The boys gathered around Frank as he took the papers into his hands and -ran them over hastily. - -“Are they really maps of Cloud island?” asked Clay. - -“Where is this Cloud island?” demanded Alex, grinning at the old -question. - -“What are the maps good for?” added Jule. - -“How far is it to Cloud island?” asked Case. - -“One question at a time, boys,” smiled Frank. “I’ll tell you all about -Cloud island now.” - -This statement was so extraordinary, in view of the boy’s previous -reticence on the subject, that even Captain Joe arose and looked the -speaker in the face and wagged his tail in applause. - -“Cloud island,” began Frank, but Clay caught him by the arm and pointed -to the _Señorita_, now under full headway, steaming up the river. - -“There comes your Señor Lewiso,” he raid. - -“Looks like he wants our maps!” Alex observed. - -The boys, at Frank’s request, did not increase the speed of the -_Rambler_. Instead, they loitered in order that the _Señorita_ might -come up with them. - -“What’s the notion?” asked Alex. “You ain’t going to give up those maps, -are you, Frank!” - -“Did you met this Señor Lewiso while on shore?” Frank answered the -question with another, as the steamer came abreast of the _Rambler_. - -The boy shook his head. - -“We were too busy doing those other chaps out of the maps,” he said. - -When the _Señorita_ came abreast the young man with the scar on his face -was seen on deck, gazing impudently at the boys. - -“Fine day!” yelled Jule, making a wry face. - -Clay gave a gesture of disapproval, but the boy went on: - -“Is this your river?” - -There was no answer whatever from Señor Lewiso, but someone not in view -called out, in good English: - -“You know it! The river and all the islands in it!” - -“Going to take the river up as you pass along?” demanded Alex. - -“Oh, quit it!” Case exclaimed. “There is nothing to be gained by that -sort of thing.” - -“He looked so bossy,” commented Alex, “that I didn’t know but he had the -key to the river in his pocket! He doesn’t look good to me, no way you -can put it!” - -The _Señorita_ swept on, and was soon lost to sight behind an island. -Then an entirely unexpected sight presented itself. - -A boat which looked like a launch, fitted with motors and well filled -with tanks and crates, shot out of a little bay and followed the -steamer. Frank sprang for the glass and succeeded in getting a good view -of the two occupants before the craft made the angle of the island just -ahead. - -“Where did that come from?” questioned Jule. “Say, but she is going -after the _Señorita_!” - -“It looks that way,” agreed Alex. - -“There go the two Englishmen!” Frank said, laying down the glass, as the -launch disappeared from sight. “They are going to follow the _Señorita_ -to Cloud island.” - -“Whew!” ejaculated Case. “This Cloud island seems to be in good demand. -I hope they won’t carry it away before we get there!” - -“Go on and tell us about it now,” Alex said, turning to Frank. “The -pursuers are all in the lead!” - -“Yes, we’re all crazy to know about Cloud island!” Jule added. - -“But there is one thing I don’t understand,” Case observed. “These -people have been following on behind us up to now. Why do they shoot -ahead at this stage of the race?” - -Frank’s face broke into a smile. - -“It seems to me,” he replied, “that I am believed by my enemies to be -out of the game just now! They appear to have left me for the pleasure -of pursuing each other!” - -“And you are sauntering along in order that they may have their wish and -fight it out between themselves. - -“Something like that,” Frank replied. “When we met those two men on -Ruination creek, I knew that they would keep the Señor Lewiso rather -busy, if they succeeded in getting up the river. I doubted their ability -to continue their journey, for they seemed to be in hard luck, but, -thinking they might, I watched and inquired all along to see if they had -gone on up ahead of us.” - -“I thought you acted strangely,” Clay said. - -“I had about given up all idea of their being anywhere near here when -the boys came upon them to-day,” Frank went on. “Where they secured -their outfit is more than I can imagine, but they certainly are in the -contest in excellent form. The Señor Lewiso will be troubled when he -sees the launch chasing him.” - -“Will the first one at Cloud island get what they are all going after?” -questioned Jule. “Will they get what we are going in search of, do you -think.” - -“Of course not!” Alex answered. “Don’t you forget that Frank knows -what’s he doing, loitering along the river. I guess he knows what he is -about part of the time!” - -“The fact is,” Frank replied, guardedly, “that neither one of them can -secure the Cloud island prize without help from me.” - -“Oh!” grunted Jule. - -“Then they’ll have to wait for you to come up?” asked Alex. “If that is -the idea, why don’t they stick around with you?” - -“Each one,” laughed Frank, “seems to have the idea that the other -possesses the information I have.” - -“I see!” grinned Alex. “And you’re going to let ’em fight it out?” - -“That is my present intention.” - -“But if they fight it out and discover that they have fought the wrong -parties, what then?” - -“Then the ones left alive will want to fight it out with me!” - -“Then there’s going to be a scrap!” Jule exclaimed. “Some day they are -sure to find out that they’ve each been watching the wrong party!” - -“Now, if you have satisfied the curiosity of these young sleuths,” Clay -remarked, “perhaps they will permit you to tell us about Cloud island, -and what reward is sought there.” - -From far up the shining surface of the river, its sound somewhat -deadened by the intervening island, came the report of a gun. In a -minute there came a second shot. - -“The _Señorita_ doesn’t like to be hugged by the launch!” smiled Case. - -“It is a case of war there!” Frank observed. “I’m glad I have two -parties opposed to me instead of one! They enjoy fighting each other, it -seems!” - -“Every time you get ready to tell us about Cloud island,” Clay laughed, -“there is an interruption. Let them fight it out, if they will, and you -go on with the story of that wonderful place.” - -Another reverberation came down the river, and then silence. There was -no more shooting at that time. - -“Nearly a thousand miles from here, as the river runs,” Frank began, -“the Amazon turns south and follows a valley running along between two -giant ridges of the Andes. Three or four hundred miles from the point -where it changes its course, it finds its source in a small mountain -lake. This lake is not much more more than one hundred miles from Lima, -the capital of Peru.” - -“The Amazon draws water almost from the Pacific!” Jule interrupted. - -“Yes, it comes very near crossing the continent of South America,” Frank -went on. “Well, about half way between the source and the point I have -mentioned lies Cloud island, not in the center of the river, but so -setting over to a rocky shore that the channel between the rocks and the -island is very narrow at low water.” - -“Low water?” asked Alex. “What makes high and low water away up in the -Andes?” - -“Rains, of course,” replied Frank. “During the wet season, which is due -to begin up there before long, now, the Amazon sometimes rises from -twenty to forty feet. Well, it is these inundations that make Cloud -island valuable.” - -“Like the valley of the Nile,” Alex hinted. - -“Not at all in that way! It is believed that Cloud island was once an -active volcano. Its top lifts above the river, at low water, about -thirty feet. The summit is not more than ten acres in extent, and is as -level as this deck, except that it tips gradually to the north.” - -“Just a mountain tableland?” asked Alex. - -“Yes, and not a very high one at that. But what makes the upper level so -peculiar is that in the center there is a great crater, which sends out -smoke and steam which at times hide the land. Hence the name Cloud -island.” - -“Why, of course!” Jule interrupted. “That is a volcanic region. But I -have never heard of any Cloud island volcano!” - -“It isn’t a volcano,” Frank went on. “There is never any eruption, never -has been one since the records of that region were opened. Deep down in -the crater are monster caverns, from which lava was tossed years ago, -and at the bottom of some of these are crevices through which the steam -seeps.” - -“I’ll get a Russian bath when I get there!” Alex promised himself. - -“You’ll get the hide scalded off you, if you go down there!” Jule -advised. “Won’t he, Frank?” - -“He will unless he knows where to go,” was the reply. “The steam guards -well the secret of those caverns. - -“Any gold there?” asked Case. - -“Yes, plenty of it.” - -“So that is what they are all after! Well, why don’t they get it?” - -“Do they have to dive for it?” asked Case. “The caverns must be full of -water, if they are deep.” - -“The water in the crater follows the surface of the river, of course,” -Frank answered. “When there is high water, the current sweeps over the -mouth of the crater, and when there is low water the bottoms of some of -the caverns are dry—the caverns which are shallow in comparison with the -others.” - -“I’ve got it now!” roared Alex. - -“Smarty!” Jule reproved. - -“What is it you’ve got?” asked Case. - -“The answer!” was the reply. - -“Give it, then!” - -“There is plenty of gold in the mountains of Peru,” Alex went on, while -Frank leaned back with a smile on his face. “I have read that there are -solid deposits a mile wide there.” he went on, with a nudge at Jule. -“The mother lode, in fact! Well, the waters carry this gold out of -crevices when it is at its highest and pass it down the river. And some -day the river, at high water, deposited a great quantity of gold in one -of the caverns Frank speaks of, and that gold is what all this mess is -about. Is that right, Frank?” - -“Very nearly right!” Frank replied. “Years ago, a very ocean of water -swept down the Andes and rushed through the valley, which is narrow and -rocky. During this period of high water, a great quantity of gold was -washed out of a mine and carried down, and a large amount of what was -swept over Cloud island lodged in the caverns—in one cavern especially, -and there my father found it. It is there still, for he died before he -could bring it out! It is this cavern those people ahead are seeking.” - -“And you know right where it is?” asked Jule. “What a snap!” - - - - -CHAPTER XX.—A CALL FOR HELP - - -“Then why didn’t you get it out a long time ago?” asked Alex. “If I knew -where there was a bunch of gold, I’d buy three automobiles and a motor -boat that would fly in the air!” - -“I couldn’t get it out,” Frank replied. “I was watched by thieves! The -minute my father died this Señor Lewiso, who had long been in the employ -of my father in the trading business, began watching me and searching -for the cavern.” - -“The caverns!” corrected Case. - -“You let him tell this story!” Alex exclaimed. - -“Perhaps caverns is more accurate,” Frank laughed, “but it is with one -special cavern that we have to do. There is only one cavern which is -believed to be full of gold. Father declared that it held millions, and -I have no reason to doubt either his judgment or his word.” - -“It ought to be easy to find, if he found it,” Jule broke in. - -“But it isn’t easy to find, unless you know just where to look for it,” -Frank continued. “As I have already stated, some of the caverns show -fissures through which steam oozes at times, forming misty clouds about -the island. In these caverns there is no gold, or a very little, if any, -as the rush of the water carries it through the openings to unknown -depths below. - -“During the great inundation I have referred to, gold was swept by the -current into a cavern where there were no fissures. Subsequent floods -and periods of high water increased the gold deposit in this cavern. -They also covered the yellow metal up with ooze and earth.” - -“Then it is still a guess! Of course, if it is covered up!” - -This from Case, who had hardly breathed during the latter part of the -narrative. - -“So, if you don’t know where to locate this particular cavern,” Frank -resumed, “you might hunt for it for years and never find it.” - -“And you really know right where it is?” asked Clay. “Well, all this was -worth while, wasn’t it?” - -“I think so!” smiled the boy. - -“Do any of these other people know?” asked Jule. - -“They have only a faint idea as to where the gold is, but they are -counting on taking their time and hunting until they find it.” - -“They may finally blunder on it,” Case remarked. - -He was about to say more, but, remembering his recent promise to get out -of the role of prophet of evil, he checked himself, much to the -satisfaction of the others. - -“Strictly speaking,” Frank resumed, “the cavern where the gold is, is -not a cavern at all! There was once a cavern there, but it was filled -with gold and the wash of the mountains, so it now presents a level -surface to the eye of one entering the crater.” - -“Is it above water at this time of the year?” asked the practical Clay. - -“Yes, I think so. In order to reach the gold, one must enter one of the -steam caverns and cut through to the one filled with gold and gravel. -This is what has puzzled them all, for there are many of these steam -holes, large and small, and one to investigate thoroughly would be -obliged to examine the entire inner surface of each one. Father found -the deposit by accident.” - -“What about this Señor Lewiso,” asked Clay. “You spoke of him in -connection with some action following the death of your father.” - -“He found what purported to be a map of the crater,” answered the boy, -“and began digging for the gold, which he knew to be there somewhere. I -never objected to his quest, as he was all wrong, but let him go on -while I looked for men I could trust to assist me in getting the gold -out.” - -“But he must have found some gold,” Jule argued, “for it took money to -get that steamer and follow you when you went out.” - -“He undoubtedly did,” Frank admitted, “but he did not discover the main -body of it. At least it was intact when I left for Chicago.” - -“Why Chicago?” - -“Because I believed my father’s people to be there.” - -“And you found them?” - -Frank shook his head. - -“All dead,” he said, sadly. “On the way out in my boat I was attacked at -the mouth of the Madeira, as I hinted before. Only for the fact that I -hid my gold, and—and other things—in a tree, I would have been plucked -clean by the Indians this scamp of a Lewiso sent upon me. - -“When I left Ruination creek I left $800 in a tree, as you know, to come -back to, for there was no telling what luck I would have outside. I left -too much there, as it turned out, for I was hungry and cold in Chicago, -even when I possessed——” - -The boy hesitated and Clay gave Case a nudge on the shoulder. - -“Possessed what?” asked Jule. - -“Something which would have brought money and plenty,” was the guarded -reply. “I heard of you boys, and used to hang about the _Rambler_ -nights, wondering if you would let me go with you. You see, this is an -ideal party to go in quest of that gold,” he went on, “for no one would -give us credit for being anything but a bunch of lads out for a -vacation.” - -“And you saw this Lewiso in Chicago, of course?” - -“Oh, yes, and he caused me to be robbed, and arrested, and put out of -hotels as a thief! I shall have a long account to settle with him when -the time comes!” - -“Then why didn’t you go to some man of wealth and state your ease to -him? You could have secured money enough for the trip back after the -gold,” suggested Clay. - -“I tried that,” Frank answered, “but never succeeded in closing a deal -with anyone. Lewiso caused me to be shadowed, and whenever I interested -a man in the enterprise he sought him out and discouraged him. At times, -until the very last, he would act friendly toward me, but this was only -to lead me on to confide in him. He probably followed me when I went to -the South Branch pier nights and learned of my desires. Anyway, he heard -plenty of talk about going to the Amazon, coming from the _Rambler_, and -doubtless took it for granted that I had joined hands with you, and that -we were going after the money.” - -“You think he bought the steamer there after hearing of our trip?” - -“I am sure of it. He was foolish enough to believe I would lead the way -to the gold and let him get it!” - -“And now where do these Englishmen come in?” asked Clay, desirous of -clearing up the whole mystery at once. - -“I never knew them at Cloud island, but it seems that they knew of me. -One of them, I am almost certain, was formerly the valet of an English -nobleman who visited father at his home on the upper Amazon. He -undoubtedly interested the other in the adventure. Where he got the maps -the boys secured is more than I know.” - -“Are they valuable?” - -“Not worth the paper they are drawn on.” - -“Still their loss evidently urged the fellows on,” Clay mused. “They -seem determined, now, to keep pace with the _Señorita_, doubtless -believing that Lewiso has secured, while shadowing you, the needed -information regarding the cavern.” - -“Something like that,” Frank replied. “I have often wondered how those -two men came to mention Cloud island at Ruination creek that night,” he -continued. “I can account for it only on the theory that Ugly, the -Indian who was with them there, had been a member of the party which -attacked and searched me in that vicinity. They engaged him as guide, -and he might have recognized me and told them about my being a member of -the other Cloud island party which had stopped there.” - -“I guess you have that sized up correctly,” Clay remarked. “I hope,” he -went on, with a broad smile, “to be somewhere near when Lewiso and the -Englishmen meet! Each one thinks the other has secured from you the -important information!” - -“In the meantime,” Frank remarked, “we’ll let them watch and shoot at -each other on the way to Cloud island. We can loiter along the river and -enjoy ourselves.” - -“Why not hustle right along, and take no chances on their getting the -gold?” asked Case, the most enthusiastic member of the party, now that -the goal seemed within reach. - -“You boys were planning a good time,” Frank answered, “when I joined -you. You were figuring on long days and nights on the Amazon, fishing -and hunting. Then I connected with you, bringing my troubles along as my -only baggage! Since then we’ve been kept busy keeping alive. We have -fought days and kept guard nights, until you must be sick of your -bargain, the bringing of yours truly along.” - -“Aw, it’s been fun!” Alex broke in, and the rest echoed the thought, -though not in the same words. “Besides you had baggage! You’ve got our -note now, this minute for $800!” - -“And now,” Frank went on, “I see no reason why we can’t fall back on the -old program, and loiter along, fishing and hunting and learning -something of the country. As for the note, I’ve burned that!” - -“That will be all right, too!” Jule cut in, “we all like that! But we’ll -pay it all the same, and if you say that we’ve got any the worst of it -by bringing you along, I’ll set the dog on you.” - -“We should have been lacking in excitement!” Alex added. - -“It would have been a quilting party without you,” Clay laughed. “Your -affairs have kept us busy—but we like to be busy,” he closed with a -friendly poke at Captain Joe, who immediately stood up on his hind legs -and dropped his forepaws into an attitude of meditation. - -“Oh, say what you will about it,” Frank protested, “I know that I’ve -been a marplot all through, and now I want you boys to join in with me -and have a game old time. Who’s for it?” - -Four lusty yells answered the challenge. - -“All right, then,” Frank continued, “we’ll tie up right here, in that -little bay, and see what sort of a country Ecuador is.” - -“I’d like to go into the interior,” Clay remarked. - -“It seems that the forest is more open here than on the Madeira.” - -“It surely is,” Alex confirmed, “and I move that we go back from the -river a short distance and look up a jaguar or an ant-eater.” - -“Whoo—pee!” - -This from Jule, who at once began pulling on a pair of long-legged boots -he had brought with him from Chicago. The boy was always obsessed to get -into the forest. - -“What about weapons?” asked Clay. - -“I’ll take my bean-shooter,” Alex proposed. - -“What’s that?” asked Frank. - -“Bean-shooter?” - -“Yes, what is it?” - -Alex brought out his long zarabatana, or blow-gun and shot an arrow to -the shore, twenty paces away, where it fluttered in the bole of a tree. - -“I have used those,” Frank laughed, “but I never before heard them -called bean-shooters.” - -“I’m going to hunt with this,” Alex went on. “If I see a jaguar I’ll -fill him so full of arrows that he’ll look like a feather bed turned -wrong side out.” - -“And what will he be doing all this time?” asked Jule. - -“Getting out of the way!” roared Alex. - -The _Rambler_ was soon anchored, and four of the lads went ashore, -leaving Case in charge of the boat. It was a beautiful afternoon, -though, of course, very warm, and the boys set out with high spirits to -inspect a bit of Ecuador forest which fringed a creek emptying into the -Amazon. - -As they proceeded through the forest Alex came to a great tree which -seemed to have been “slashed,” as the knights of old “slashed” their -doublets. It was almost red on the outside, and great “slashes” in the -bark showed a tender green. While the boy was looking at the tree in -wonder Frank came up and, catching one of the reddish strips, peeled it -from the trunk as one peels a banana. - -“What kind of a tree is that?” asked Alex. - -“Mulatto tree.” - -“Why mulatto tree?” asked Jule. - -“Because it is black before it begins to shed its bark.” - -“Shed its bark?” repeated Clay. - -“It sheds its bark every year, like a snake,” was Frank’s amazing reply. - -Clay ripped off one of the long slabs, disclosing a pretty green surface -underneath. - -“That is the new bark,” Frank explained. - -Clay dropped the slab of bark and turned it over with his foot. - -“Heavy?” asked Alex. - -“As a stone.” - -“It makes fine wood, and also fine shingles for a hut,” Frank went on. -“We’ll use some of it to cook supper with.” - -“Cook it now!” urged Alex, his hand on his stomach. - -“Right now!” Jule joined in the hungry request. - -“Earn your suppers!” grinned Clay. “Go and kill a jaguar.” - -“But don’t get far from the river,” warned Frank, “and don’t get lost in -the jungle back there.” - -“Any bears back there?” asked Jule, with a wink at Alex. - -“There’s worse—snakes a rod long.” - -“That’s my snake!” shouted Jule, and off he went, not stopping to permit -Alex to come up with him. - -“That kid has steam enough for a Central Lines locomotive,” Clay said, -as the boy disappeared. “Do you remember how ill he was that night on -the South Branch?” he added, turning to Frank. - -“He looked like death had him,” was the reply. - -“And look at him now,” Clay exclaimed, proudly, “look at him now! There -isn’t a healthier lad in nine states! Hear him yell, in there! Not much -like tuberculosis, eh?” - -“No,” Frank agreed, as he put up a hand for Clay to cease talking. - -“What is it?” - -Clay was all anxiety at once. - -“Sounds like the kid calling for help. Did he take a gun with him?” - -“Of course.” - -“Where’s Alex?” - -“He went the other way.” - -There was a short silence and then Jule’s voice rang out, sharp and -clear: - -“Help! Come on a run!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXI.—“A NICE, QUIET EXCURSION” - - -“Come a-running!” repeated Jule, his voice sounding close at hand. - -Clay swung his gun to the front as he rushed for the thicket. - -“Be careful!” warned Frank. “If there is a drove of wild hogs in there, -and you should happen to kill one, they would give you the fight of your -life.” - -“Can you follow the sound?” asked Clay, as they pushed along through the -undergrowth. - -“Straight ahead,” was the reply. - -“But there is a movement in the brush away to the left. That may be -Jule.” - -“It is Alex,” panted Frank, for they were moving fast and having a hard -time working their way through the jungle, which increased in density as -they proceeded. “Can’t you see the point of what he calls his -bean-shooter?” continued Frank. “See, he is coming this way.” - -In a moment Alex joined them as they ran, and the three made good -progress. Only once they stopped to listen. They had heard nothing from -the boy for a minute or more, and they were not quite sure they were -going in the right direction. - -“If he would only shoot, or call again,” Alex grumbled. - -Then the call came, from the dense copse just ahead: - -“Come on a run!” - -The voice sounded faint. - -“Coming!” exclaimed Alex. - -“Come on a run——” - -The voice ceased, and Alex darted ahead so fast that Clay and Frank were -left behind. In a moment they heard him shout: - -“Drop your head! Drop it!” - -There was no sound for a second, and then a great tumbling took place on -the small growths of the forest. Then came a sound like the fall of a -heavy body to the ground. This was followed by a whipping noise, like -that made by slapping a rug against a post to get the dust out of it. -And then the cracking of little bushes and plants, the rustling of -foliage, as if a street sweeper were being drawn over them. - -“Come on in!” yelled Alex. - -“The water’s fine!” came Jule’s voice, but it was not so strong as it -had been an hour before. - -“What has been going on in there?” asked Clay. “What is that noise, that -slapping, that threshing about?” - -“That’s probably a serpent—a boa—kicking the bucket,” Frank answered. - -“A what?” questioned Clay. “A serpent in there?” - -“Surest thing you know! And I imagine from familiar sounds that he -nearly got Jule!” - -“But how?” puzzled Clay. - -“Hypnotized him!” Frank answered. “But come on,” he continued. “We may -as well go in and learn the facts as to stand here and guess.” - -They passed through a fringe of thorny vines and came out in a small -glade. In the middle of this slight clearing stood Alex and Jule, the -latter looking pale and shriveled. At their feet lay the still writhing -body of a giant boa—one of the constrictor serpents which make the -forests of South America so dangerous. - -“Look at him,” Alex shouted, pointing to the serpent. “Look at the arrow -plump through his neck! Broke the backbone of him at the first shot. -Don’t you ever tell me that I can’t edit one of these bean-shooters! -What? That’s his snake!” he added, making a face at Jule. - -The serpent was still pounding about the glade, but his backbone had -been broken by the boy’s arrow, and his death was only a question of -time. Jule approached Clay with an apologetic smile on his face. - -“He near got me!” he said. - -“How?” asked Clay, not having understood Frank’s short explanation of -what might have taken place. - -“I guess he hypnotized me,” answered Jule. “You see, fellows, I was -walking along right here when I heard a hiss and a sliding motion in the -tree, the one straight ahead. I looked up quick, of course, and there -was that great flat, triangular head swinging back and forth before my -eyes.” - -“Why didn’t you duck and run?” - -Jule glanced at Alex scornfully and went on. - -“I just couldn’t move. All I could do was to wag my tongue, and I take -it you know what I said. I don’t. I know my head swayed back and forth -in response to the motions of the snake. I saw all kinds of bright and -beautiful lights in the wicked eyes of him. I felt his great, sticky -face rubbing against my cheek! Ough!” - -“That’s the way they charm birds and monkeys,” Frank said. - -“And then Alex came up and his arrow struck the serpent in the neck and -I was free from the fascination, but weak—just as weak as a cat!” - -“That was a good shot, Alex,” Frank said, stepping forward to inspect -the arrow, which had passed entirely through the neck of the great -reptile, protruding at both sides. - -“It is a wonder!” the boy replied. “I was so scared that I didn’t know -what I was doing. You see, this great brute had his head right on the -kid’s shoulder. I never saw a human face as white as his was at that -time!” - -“It wasn’t any whiter than I felt,” grinned Jule. The boys finished the -serpent with a couple of shots and started back to the river. They -walked a long ways, but still no water showed in the distance. - -Then Frank put out his hand and stood still. When he put it out to Clay -there was a drop of rain in the palm. - -“That’s fine!” Alex exclaimed. “Lost in the woods and the rain coming -down. Now what, fellows?” - -“Who has a searchlight?” asked Clay. - -“I have!” answered Jule. “I’ve got one tucked up under this sweater. -Never go away from the boat without it.” - -“Why didn’t you turn it on the serpent?” asked Alex, with a most -provoking laugh. - -“I hope you’ll get a snake on your shoulder some day!” Jule retorted. -“Then you’ll see what you are capable of doing. Turn it on the serpent!” -he repeated. “Why, I couldn’t have turned it over in my hand.” - -“What do you want of the light?” asked Frank. “It will soon be dark,” -Clay responded, “and then we shall have hard work finding our way back -to the boat.” - -“Unless a miracle takes place,” Frank predicted, “we’ll remain in the -forest to-night. We might as well try to bore through a mountain with a -gimlet as to pick our way through this jungle in the night.” - -“But it rains, and there are snakes and jaguars abroad!” protested Jule, -who was not in favor of giving the serpents of the forest another chance -at him.” - -“A fire will keep them both away.” - -With this comforting remark the boy set to work gathering up the long, -red slabs of the mulatto tree. The boys assisted him in bending and -tying down a small tree and the slabs were put over the horizontal -trunk, slanting to the ground. They were piled against each other so as -to more effectually keep out the rain, which was now falling in great -drops. - -“Now,” said Frank, after the roof was on the proposed habitation of the -night, “we’ll build a fire at one end and pile bark at the other. We -shall have a house as cozy as a bug-in-a-rug nest.” - -“If Case would only shoot!” Jule hinted, disliking the idea of a night -there, “I could find my way to the river. Perhaps he will, after a time, -for he will be lonesome and anxious as soon as it gets dark.” - -But no signals came from the river, which seemed a long ways off, and -the boys, hovering under the bark roof and listening to the patter of -the drops on the growths of the forest, began to wonder if something -hadn’t happened to the lad in the boat. - -Presently a wind came up, blowing great guns, and the boys were obliged -to cling tight to the swaying ridge-pole of their tent in order to -prevent the whole frail habitation being blown away. It looked as if a -dreary night lay ahead of them. - -After an hour or more had been passed in this way a faint drumming, -whirring sound was heard, followed by a sharp whistle and a splash of -paddles. - -“That’s Frank’s miracle!—a steamboat on the river!” cried Alex, jumping -out into the rain. “Now I reckon we can tell which way to go to the -_Rambler_!” - -Clay and Jule arose and peered out in the direction from which the -sounds appeared to come. Frank burst into a laugh. - -“Look the other way!” he cried. “That is the echo! The sound is stopped -by the foliage and hurled back.” - -“Not!” disputed Jule. “The boat is off that way. I can see a light over -there.” - -“If you do,” Frank returned, “you see a campfire. The river lies off in -the opposite direction.” - -“We’ll see when the boat gets nearer,” Clay conciliated. “If I had my -way about it now, I should chase off in the direction those sounds come -from.” - -The lads crept back under shelter and listened patiently as the sounds -came nearer. Then music was heard. It was evidently a large passenger -steamer, and a lady was playing and singing in the cabin! - -“Sounds like a bit of paradise!” declared Clay. “It has been a long time -since we have heard a woman sing.” - -“Her song points out our way,” Alex observed, as the lights of the boat -struck the green, wet foliage and flashed back a thousand tiny stars! - -“Give it up?” asked Frank, as the steamer passed and the lights and -music faded in the distance. “Give it up? You would have gotten deeper -into the woods if you had followed that echo.” - -The rain was now coming down harder than ever, and the wind was blowing -a perfect hurricane from the west. Clay stepped out of the shelter and -was nearly blown off his feet. - -“Never mind,” he said, bracing himself against the wind,” we can make it -if we try hard enough. We know where to go now.” - -“Dark?” Jule broke in, savagely. “Who said it was dark?” - -“No one!” scoffed Alex. “That isn’t a dark jungle out there! That is the -Great White Way!” - -“You’re crazy!” Jule laughed. “Who said there were snakes and jaguars in -the woods of Ecuador?” - -“Who’s crazy now?” chanted Alex. “Give my regards to Herald Square.” - -“I believe you are both afraid to make the journey back to the boat,” -Clay laughed. “Hence these meaningless observations.” - -“Who’s afraid?” demanded Jule. - -The next instant he was out in the rain, his flashlight shining in front -of him like a headlight to a locomotive. When the others called out to -him to wait a second and give them the benefit of his light, there was -no reply. Nettled at the seeming taunt, he had started off alone toward -the _Rambler_. - -It was dark, and the rain fell in torrents, and the wind was tipping -over great trees in the forest, but the boys started out toward the -river hoping to come upon Jule with his searchlight before long. - -Presently they saw it, coming toward them through the trees, and then -they heard the boy’s voice, raised to a great pitch to combat the clamor -of the wind and rain. - -“I’ve found the _Rambler_,” he said, “but Case isn’t there!” - -“Nice quiet excursion this,” said Alex, with an answering whoop. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII.—A BATH IN THE NIGHT - - -“A nice, quiet excursion, all right!” agreed Clay. “This is one of -Frank’s nature-loving trips!” - -“I wish I had some of these wild animals in Lincoln park!” Alex -grumbled. “I could live like a king on the income they’d bring as -promoters of sensations!” - -“There are said to be plenty of snakes along North Clark street,” -laughed Clay. - -“But most of them are not present to the senses,” Alex explained. - -Jule came up with his light, and better progress was made through the -forest, which grew thinner as it approached the river. The rain was -still falling in dashes, but the wind seemed to be going down. - -After walking a short distance they heard a call, seemingly coming from -the wrack of clouds overhead. - -“That was Case’s voice!” Clay declared. “He’s near by!” - -“Sure it was!” Jule agreed, “but where is he? Sounds like he was up in a -balloon.” - -Again the call came, and this time there was no doubt that the boy was -up above the surface of the ground. - -“He’s in a tree!” Clay concluded. “Now, what do you think of that? This -surely is a night for nature-loving kids!” - -“H-e-l-l-o!” called Case. “Lookout where you go. I’ve got a whole -menagerie down there.” - -The boys stood still and looked about, passing the searchlight from side -to side, but seeing nothing save the splash of the rain on the broad -leaves about them. Then Case called again: - -“Keep close to the light!” he cried. - -Then a great racket in the undergrowth reached the ears of the listening -lads. It sounded as if an elephant was engaged in deadly combat with an -alligator fresh from the river. Cries like those of a cat and grunts -like those of a huge hog came with the tumblings. Ripping sounds like -tearing tough cloth or leather succeeded. Presently the racket died out, -and nothing was heard save the drip-drip of the rain and the wind in the -tall trees. The night was clearing a bit, and the clouds responsible for -the shower were breaking and floating away, showing open spaces from -which stars looked down. - -A movement in the bushes caused Clay to present his gun in that -direction and Jule to advance his light. Instead of the wild beast they -anticipated seeing. Case came forward to meet them. His clothing was -torn, and his face showed contact with thorny vines. - -“What did you leave the boat for?” demanded Alex, glad of an opportunity -to “roast” the boy. “Someone might have carried it away in a hand-bag!” - -“I wanted to get that jaguar skin,” was the answer. - -“Did you get it?” asked Jule, anxiously, for it was the desire of his -heart that the party should take home such a trophy. - -“Something got it, I guess,” replied Case. “Go and look where that fight -was. “You’ll see what I bumped up against.” - -Frank took the searchlight and peered through the thicket to the spot -where the disturbance had been. - -“It was a jaguar, all right,” he said, “and the tamandua got him—and he -got the tamandua. Come here, boys.” - -On the ground, clasped in a deadly embrace, lay a tamandua and a jaguar. -The tamandua is best known as the ant-eater, and is a tough-skinned, -slothful animal, bulky, muscular, and dangerous when attacked. - -“I was stalking the jaguar,” Case said, approaching the bodies, “when he -turned on me. I didn’t know what to do, so I mounted a tree, which was -some climb—believe me! Then the ant-eater blundered along, and it looked -as if the tiger was so mad because he had been delayed in getting me -that he attacked the fellow. And there they lie! My, but they kept each -other busy for a spell.” - -“The jaguar would have kept you busy if the ant-eater hadn’t happened -along!” Frank declared. “He would have been up that tree in no time. You -are lucky to be alive!” - -The boys found their way back to the _Rambler_ and delighted the heart -of Alex by beginning preparations for supper. Clay decided that they -should have a “native” meal, as a fowl shot earlier in the afternoon -would form the piece d’ resistance. Besides the fowl, which was roasted -at a fire on the shore—alligators paddling about the shore and slapping -the water and the sand with their unwieldy tails as the roasting went -on—they had bread made of the product of the mandioca plant. This plant -means as much to the people of Brazil as the potato does to the -inhabitants of our Northern states. - -It produces farina, cassava, and tapioca, all of which are made from the -roots, which are peeled like potatoes. In order to produce most of the -products of the plant the pulp secured from the roots is squeezed dry by -twisting it in a bag. The juice thus secured is poisonous when new, but -when fermented it makes the whisky of the Amazon valley. - -The boys also had a fish fresh from the river, and Jule insisted on -having this roasted also. Even the coffee they had brought in with them -was a product of Brazil. - -After supper they sat for a long time watching the moon rise over the -river. It came out of a bank of clouds at first, but directly a long, -bright path lay along the rippling surface of the water, seeming to lead -straight back to the Atlantic coast. Alligators innumerable came out and -raced clumsily about—playing, Frank said. Off in the forest they could -hear the call of a jaguar, probably the mate of the one that had been -killed by the ant-eater. - -A great chattering in the trees told of the presence of monkeys, but the -boys did not molest them. The alligators, too, were immune from the guns -of the party. The only thing the lads killed relentlessly, at all times -and under all circumstances, was the snake. - -“I move,” Clay began, as they all sat under the wire netting, looking -out on the attractive and unfamiliar scene, “that we go on to Cloud -island in the morning and do our exploring when we come down. I have a -notion that this Lewiso and the Englishmen will do murder up there -unless we stifle their cause of combat by taking the gold ourselves.” - -“I second the motion!” Case cried. - -Case was really becoming one of the most enthusiastic and resourceful -members of the party. Only at rare intervals did he give way to his -imagination—an imagination, by the way, which was bright and suggestive, -even if inclined to bring out disagreeable points—and let out prophecies -of evil. - -“I shall be glad when it is all over with,” Frank admitted. “Of course I -want you boys to have all the fun you can on this trip, but I think we -can have better entertainment after this suspense is over, on the way -back to the coast.” - -“Are you going back with us?” asked Alex. - -“Yes; if you will permit it. Why not?” - -“Even if we do not get the gold?” - -“Why, certainly. If we get the gold I shall go out with you as a starter -on a series of travels to include all the large rivers in the United -States. If we do not get it, why, then I shall have to go out and find -something to do.” - -“Is this prospect of the gold all the interest you have up there?” asked -Clay. - -“Yes, nearly all; my father left considerable property, but it is about -gone. My guardian helped himself, and this Lewiso has cost me a lot of -money.” - -“Then we’ve just got to get the gold!” Alex exclaimed. “We just can’t go -back to Chicago broke!” - -“I like that idea of exploring all the large rivers of the country,” -Clay said, smiling at Alex’s enthusiasm. “If we win out with the gold, -we’ll form a Motor Boat Club and make it our business to visit all the -large streams our Uncle Sam owns.” - -“Correct!” shouted Alex. - -“You know it!” Jule contributed. - -“Glorious!” Case declared. - -The boys talked until midnight, looking over the moonlit river and -listening, at intervals to the sounds of the jungle. - -“It is just like a large city!” Case observed. “There is such a -continuous clamor that individual noises are lost. We hear only the -full-throated roar of races and forget the existence of the little -voices. But the little voices are there. They make the roar!” - -“We’ll all make a roar about getting up in the morning!” Jule said, “if -we don’t get to bed.” - -He looked about the crowded deck where so many hammocks swung and then -up to the roof of the cabin. - -“I wonder,” he mused, “if the mosquitos would eat me up before morning -if I should make a bed up on the cabin?” - -“They would do their best!” Alex replied. - -“Anyway,” Jule decided, “I’m going to try it.” - -So he hauled a rug and a blanket to the roof of the cabin and composed -himself to slumber. The boys on the deck were asleep almost as soon as -he was, and the alligators in the Amazon sported on without a human -audience. - -But the long silence of the boat seemed to attract the attention of the -huge reptiles, and they soon began to nose about the sides of the -_Rambler_. Pretty soon a whole school of the big fellows were swimming -close to the sides, evidently attracted by the odor of the supper which -had been eaten there. - -Presently a huge fellow bunted into another huge fellow in what seemed -to be defiance of the rules of river etiquette, and a battle was the -result. In the squabble one was forced with a bunt against the boat, and -the craft rocked perilously. Another bunt, and the top of the cabin -stood at an angle of about 75 degrees. The sleeper rolled off his -blanket and tumbled overboard, striking one of the fighters squarely on -the nose. - -The alligators seemed to be as much surprised at the sudden visitation -as Jule was to find himself floundering in the water, with the cold -noses of the ’gators touching his bare flesh. He let out a cry which -brought the boys out of their hammocks with their guns in their hands, -and directly a shower of lead fell into the river. - -When the boy was finally pulled on deck he looked at both legs and both -arms, and felt of the back of his head to see if he was all there. Alex -tried to convince him that one of the river “birds” had amputated his -intelligence, but Jule chased him away and lay down on his blanket -again. - -“You’re a nice fisherman!” Case cried. “Trying to catch an alligator by -the tail! We’ll have to tie you up!” - -Even Captain Joe seemed to be inclined to laugh at the lad for his -accident, but quiet was soon restored, and the boat was sent up the -river at great speed, Jule declaring that he would sit up and run her in -order to get out of that part of the country. Its snakes and alligators, -he intimated, were too numerous for him! - -For two days and nights they kept on their way, stopping once to -replenish their gasoline tanks. Then, on the morning of the third day, a -cloud lifted from the river and Frank pointed to it with a sigh of -relief. As he did so the wreck of a steamer floated past—a steamer which -had been the _Señorita_, and which had evidently been blown up with -dynamite. What had taken place, the boys asked, and where was the crew? - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII.—CLOUD ISLAND - - -Cloud Island was just a bulk of mist when the lads came opposite it. The -outlines of the shore were not to be seen, for steam pouring out of the -fissures in the rocks clouded everything. To the west, however, a small -hut was to be seen on the narrow rim which lay between the river and the -mountains. While they looked, checking the speed of the _Rambler_ until -it just held against the current, two figures moved out of the structure -and motioned to the boat. - -“That’s John!” Frank cried, putting his fingers to his lips and giving -out a long, wavering whistle which cut the air like a knife. “That is -John,” he went on—“the man I left in charge of my affairs here. I think -we would better land at the little pier just above.” - -But there was no pier there, only a mass of burned and twisted timbers -and blackened stones! However, Frank put ashore in the row-boat, soon -returning with the man who had motioned from the shore. He was a -muscular young fellow with the dusky complexion of the native Indian and -the regular features of the American. He was dressed in European -clothing and spoke English fluently, although Frank assured his friends -that he had never lived out of Peru. - -It was evident that Frank and John had discussed personal affairs on the -way to the deck of the _Rambler_, for the boy now asked: - -“What happened to the pier?” - -The boys gathered around to hear the reply, for the wreck which had -drifted by them told of violence which had not been confined to the -boat. - -“Before we go into that,” John replied, “suppose you head up to the -station just above—where your father used to live—and bring down a -surgeon. I have two patients at my hut.” - -“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” asked Frank. - -“I thought you might want to stop and talk with them,” was the reply, -“and every minute is precious if their lives are to be saved.” - -“Who are they?” asked Clay, unable to longer restrain his curiosity. - -Frank’s eyes asked the same question, and John continued: - -“You remember Lord Wilson? The Englishman who came here with a valet two -years ago? Well, one of the men in need of surgical aid is Edward, the -valet. He came in here a few days ago with another Englishman, in a -queer combination of launch and motor boat.” - -“Ahead of the _Señorita_?” asked Frank. - -“Just behind her. This man Lewiso, who formerly worked for your father, -was in charge of the _Señorita_, and the two men mixed at once. You -see,” he added with a smile, “they were both after the gold we have so -often talked about, and each believed that the other knew the exact -location of it. They both prowled about Cloud island, each watching the -other, until they came to blows.” - -“That was to have been expected,” Frank said. - -“The crew of the _Señorita_ deserted when shooting began, and Lewiso and -Edward had it out together, one day, on the pier, where the _Señorita_ -lay. Neither was much injured, but that night the steamer was blown out -of water with dynamite stolen from my warehouse. I pushed the wreck of -the vessel down stream not long ago.” - -“We just passed it.” - -“The companion of the Englishman, Edward, was killed that night, but -Lewiso escaped. Last night they came together—Edward and Lewiso—on Cloud -island, while searching for the gold, and this morning my men brought -them to my place wounded unto death. They are there now, and the -doctor’s house is in sight, and we’ll interrupt the conversation long -enough to get him on board,” John added, as the motor boat headed in at -a little cove on the west shore. - -The doctor was soon on board—a fussy little fellow with gray hair and a -beard like a goat—and the _Rambler_ shot down stream again. - -“Of course the men never found what they were looking for?” asked Frank, -as the boat sped on its way. - -“Certainly not, and for a very good reason!” - -“Not being able to find the right cavern, I suppose?” laughed Frank. - -“Oh, they found the right cavern, all right, but that helped them not a -bit.” - -“What do you mean?” - -Frank sprang to his feet excitedly, and the others gathered around, -anticipating the next sentence. There had been no gold in the cavern! -Frank’s father had been mistaken! Was that what John was about to say? -Had all this excitement, all these dreams of wealth, come to such a -dreary ending? - -“There was no gold there for them to get!” John said. - -Frank sank back with a sigh. - -“That is a corker!” he said. “No gold there?” - -“For the reason,” continued John, with a laugh, “that I had taken it out -and shipped it away!” - -Clay was about to ask the speaker if he considered it a good joke to rob -a fellow like that and then laugh over it, but there was so much humor -in John’s eyes that he hesitated to put the impertinent, accusing and -degrading question. - -Frank arose wearily and walked away, but John caught him by the arm and -turned him back. - -“When we get up to the hut,” he said, “I’ll show you how much I got for -the gold. It was sold at Para, at a small discount.” - -Frank did not appear at all interested in the price of this gold—the -gold he had considered his own. - -“All right!” he said, dully. “Then we’ll turn back.” - -“Not until you look over the island,” cried Alex. “I’ve a notion that -there’s something crooked been going on here, and I want to remain -here-abouts long enough to dig it out,” he continued, his eyes flashing -in John’s direction. John did not appear to mind this in the least, and -even Captain Joe seemed to make light of the hostile demonstration, for -he sniffed a moment at John’s trousers and then, taking him into his -confidence lay down at his feet! - -“You must have made a good thing off Frank’s gold!” Jule broke in. - -“Something like $300,000,” was the cool reply. - -“That’s nice!” cried Case, moving toward the speaker. - -“And the check for it all,” John went on, laughing as he talked, “is -waiting for Frank! It was his mine, you know, and if he wants to pay me -for my trouble, why——” - -An avalanche of boys flowed over John! They dragged him about the deck, -tore at his clothes, shouted his name—— - -“John! John! John! He’s a brick is John!” - -“Here’s for a revel! Bring him along! Who? John!” - -“That will answer for the present,” John managed to say. “Save the -pieces! I want to see a little of the world yet!” - -It took a long time for John to describe how the cavern had been opened -by himself, and how he had engaged men to work the gold out during the -night-time, and how it had been secretly shipped away, and how all the -money it brought lay at Frank’s disposal in a bank at Para! - -But the story was told at last, and then the _Rambler_ landed the -surgeon and all went up to John’s hut to see the two men who had fought -each other for an empty cavern! John’s servant opened the door for them -and pointed silently to two bunks standing next the wall. The figures on -the bunks were still, and a white cloth was laid over each face. - -The boys turned away and went back to the _Rambler_. And so the quest -for the Cloud island gold ended, and so the secret of Cloud island was -told. - -The boys remained a week at Cloud island, and then, accompanied by John, -started back down the Amazon. Before leaving, Frank gave to John what -was left of his father’s estate, and the latter refused to accept any -other reward for getting out the gold. The honest fellow had long ago -been taken into the confidence of Frank’s father in the matter of the -gold, and so it was, after all, no great wonder that he had found it! - -His idea in not acquainting Frank with the true condition of affairs -before the boy left for Chicago, was that the boy ought to go about a -bit and learn the value of money before taking such wealth into his -boyish hands. - -Then followed more magnificent days and nights on the Amazon. The boys -were now in the midst of the wet season on the upper river, and many of -the camps they had made on the way up were under water. However, the -_Rambler_ behaved admirably, and Captain Joe seemed so proud of her -conduct in the face of the flood that he was always found looking over -the stern with an air of dignity and triumph! - -And so, with Jule completely restored to health, the boys stepped out on -the pier on the South Branch one sharp day in early winter. And who -should be there but Captain Joe, with his ruddy face and wooden leg! The -dog immediately made friends with him, of course, and, in order that -names might not become mixed, was called merely “Joe” as long as the -boys remained in the city. - -When they set foot on the pier that first day Clay turned to Frank and -seized him by the neck, in mock anger. - -“Tell me!” he cried. “Tell me who put the marked newspaper on the boat -that morning!” - -“I did,” was the calm reply. “You see,” the boy continued, “those were -my diamonds, and——” - -“And you paid the reward!” - -“I pledged the stones to the lawyer to get the money to pay that -reward!” laughed Frank. - -It was so noisy for a time, on account of what the boys were saying and -doing to Frank, that nothing more was said. Then Clay: - -“But the diamonds were stolen?” - -“Stolen by a lad who had slept with me in a cheap lodging house on Clark -street,” was the reply. “You see, I had kept the stones, even when -hungry and cold, because they had been the last gift of my mother. When -they were stolen I followed the track of the thief until I came to this -dock, where we had often loitered together before. As it turned out, the -boy had repented of his act, and was here to return the stones to me, he -believing that I would come here to watch your boat, as we had done -together many a night. But Lewiso—whose name was Lewis, by the way—saw -him have the gems and fought him for them. He secured them and ran away, -as you know, before I could interfere or find breath to follow him. -Well, you saved the diamond, and the next morning I arranged for the -reward to come to you. I guess you know all the rest.” - -“Not yet!” broke in Captain Joe. “There is a matter of $300, you know!” - -“But you gave that, Captain!” - -The good-natured captain pointed to Frank. - -“After he gave it to me and told me what to do with it.” - -Then followed another demonstration which it is not necessary to -describe! Everything had been explained save the robbery of the boat -that night, and that would never be anything but a mystery. - -One of the first men to call on the boys was Dr. Holcomb, who made a -great claim for damages on his boat! But he was appeased when he saw how -well Jule looked, and offered the boat for another river trip. Finally -he called Jule aside and whispered: - -“Did you tell them?” - -Jule shook his head and Clay called out: - -“Tell them what?” - -Again the boys gathered around to hear a story told. - -“The day before you left,” the doctor began, “I found a little property -which belonged to Jule. You see, his parents had owned a lot out on -Cottage Grove avenue, and it had increased in value. Jule, it seems, had -been paying the taxes without knowing it, for the tenant of the place -had paid the claims for taxes and improvements and put the rest of the -rent money in bank. He did not know that Jule’s father was dead, but -expected him back any day to demand an accounting. I told Jule about it -that night, and kept him quite a long time doing it!” - -“Can’t you dig up a fortune for Alex and Clay now?” asked Case. “I would -just enjoy being the only poor one in the bunch. I’ve cut out the -prophet-of-evil business, and that is enough for me for one year.” - -“This property belongs to us all,” Jule cried. “At least the income from -it does, and right here we’ll form the Six Rivers Motor Boat Club and -get ready for a trip in the spring.” - -“Where?” asked the doctor. - -“The Colorado?” hinted Alex. - -“The Mississippi,” said Jule. - -“The St. Lawrence,” declared Case. - -“The Ohio,” Clay suggested. - -“Or the Columbia!” Frank mentioned. - -“That’s it!” they all cried. “The Columbia! And a larger boat, and no -gold caverns, and no snakes!” added Jule. - -The story of the adventures of the boys at the headwaters of the -Columbia will be found in the second volume of the Six-River Motor Boat -Club Series, entitled: “Motor Boat Boys on the Columbia; or, the -Confession of a Photograph.” - - THE END. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon, by -Harry Gordon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIVER MOTOR BOAT BOYS ON AMAZON *** - -***** This file should be named 50102-0.txt or 50102-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/1/0/50102/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.bookcove.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon - The Secret of Cloud Island - -Author: Harry Gordon - -Release Date: October 1, 2015 [EBook #50102] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIVER MOTOR BOAT BOYS ON AMAZON *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.bookcove.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - - <div class='figcenter id01'> - <img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' style='width:100%' alt=''/> - <div style='width:100%'> - Frank’s powerful searchlight showed the Indian, knife in hand, ready to spring. - </div> - </div> - - - <hr class='clearpage'/> - <div class='lgc'> - <div class='line' style='font-size: 1.6em; margin: 20px auto 10px auto;'>The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon</div> - <br/> - <div class='line'>OR</div> - <br/> - <div class='line' style='font-size: 1.2em; margin: 10px auto 20px auto;'>The Secret of Cloud Island</div> - <br/> - <div class='line' style='margin-bottom: 20px;'>By HARRY GORDON</div> - <br/> - <div class='line'>Author of</div> - <div class='cb-container'><div class='cb'> - <div class='line'>“The River Motor Boat Boys on the Mississippi,”</div> - <div class='line'>“The River Motor Boat Boys on the Colorado,”</div> - <div class='line'>“The River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence,”</div> - <div class='line'>“The River Motor Boat Boys on the Columbia,”</div> - <div class='line'>“The River Motor Boat Boys on the Ohio.”</div> - </div></div> - <br/> - <div class='line' style='margin-top: 20px;'>A. L. Burt Company</div> - <div class='line'>New York</div> - </div> - - - <hr class='clearpage'/> - <div class='lgc'> - <div class='line'>Copyright, 1913</div> - <div class='line'>By A. L. Burt Company</div> - <br/> - <div class='line' style='font-size: smaller;'>THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE AMAZON</div> - </div> - - - <hr class='clearpage'/> - <div class='lgc'> - <div class='line' style='margin-bottom: 10px;'>TABLE OF CONTENTS</div> - <br/> - </div> - <div class='cb-container'><div class='cb'> - <div class='line'><a href='#chI'>I. ALL READY FOR THE AMAZON</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chII'>II. A CALL FROM THE DARKNESS</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chIII'>III. THE BROWN LEATHER BAG</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chIV'>IV. TWO GUESTS AND AN ARREST</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chV'>V. THE BOY FROM PERU</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chVI'>VI. $500 REWARD—LIGHTS OF PARA</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chVII'>VII. A BOAT FROM THE SOUTH BRANCH</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chVIII'>VIII. AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chIX'>IX. AN ALARM IN THE NIGHT</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chX'>X. A CAMPFIRE IN THE JUNGLE</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXI'>XI. A HUMAN GUARD WITH HORNS</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXII'>XII. A PLOT AGAINST THE RAMBLER</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXIII'>XIII. A PLEASANT SURPRISE</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXIV'>XIV. A BATTLE FOR THE BOAT</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXV'>XV. THE VANISHING “CARGO”</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXVI'>XVI. “KEEP HER HEAD ON!”</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXVII'>XVII. NIGHTS ON THE AMAZON</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXVIII'>XVIII. JUST AHEAD OF A MOB</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXIX'>XIX. THE SECRET OF CLOUD ISLAND</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXX'>XX. A CALL FOR HELP</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXXI'>XXI. “A NICE, QUIET EXCURSION”</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXXII'>XXII. A BATH IN THE NIGHT</a></div> - <div class='line'><a href='#chXXIII'>XXIII. CLOUD ISLAND</a></div> - </div></div> - <hr class='clearpage'/> - - - <div class='lgc'> - <div class='line' style='font-size: 1.4em;'>The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon</div> - </div> - - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chI'>CHAPTER I.—ALL READY FOR THE AMAZON</h2> - -<p class='first'>The opening of a door cast an oblong shape of -light over the forward deck of a motor boat, against -which an April rain drummed fast or slow, as the -uncertain wind came in swift gusts or died down to -whispers. As the illumination traveled past the -splashed deck, bringing out a pier and a warehouse, -and a sluggish current pushing and fussing against -the piles of a pier farther down, the tousled heads -of two boys appeared outlined against the ruddy -doorway. In a moment their voices cut through -the wind and rain.</p> - -<p>“Jule? Oh, Jule!” one of them shouted.</p> - -<p>“Last call for dinner in the main cabin, young -man!” added the other.</p> - -<p>There was no reply, so the boys, after listening -a moment to the pounding of the rain, the complaining -of the river, the roar of the city which lay all -around them, closed the door, producing the effect -to one outside of obliterating the deck and the -pier, the warehouse and the river, as if they had -never existed at all.</p> - -<p>“Jule will get soaking wet and take cold!” -fretted a third voice as the door closed. “Besides, -being on guard, he ought never to have left the -boat!”</p> - -<p>One of the boys who had stood in the doorway -wiped the rain from his face as he listened and -grinned at the other.</p> - -<p>“No need to have a fit about it, even if Jule does -get soaked,” he said. “But he won’t get wet,” he -added, entirely for the benefit of the one who -had grumbled, “he’ll be back here in a minute as -dry as a pound of powder.”</p> - -<p>“How’s he going to get through all that,” with -a swing of the arm toward the door, “without getting -wet? I suppose you think he’ll be able to dodge -the drops!”</p> - -<p>“Anyway, what’s the use of getting him wet -and sick in our minds?” cut in another, -good-naturedly. “That won’t help any. Most of the -hard luck we’ve had lately never caught up with -us—except in our minds!”</p> - -<p>“Case”—Cornelius Witters where full names -are insisted on—turned a dejected face to the others.</p> - -<p>“He shouldn’t have gone out,” he grumbled.</p> - -<p>“Speaking of hard luck that never caught up -with us,” said Clay—he had inherited from his -parents, his only inheritance, by the way, the name -of Gayton Emmett—“do you remember the time -we lost $50 by taking in a counterfeit bill?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” laughed Alex—Alexander Smithwick -on state occasions—“we lost the $50 for one day -and one night, until we could get to a bank. -Then it wasn’t lost at all, for the note was genuine! -You know the story how a man hired a professional -worrier to take trouble off his mind? Suppose we -hire one? I reckon he’d have enough to do.”</p> - -<p>“Quit, boys!” Case broke in. “I know I’ve -got a grouch a mile high to-night, but I’ll soon -recover. Wait until I get busy with the supper we’re -going to have, and you’ll see!”</p> - -<p>Case seemed ashamed of his complaining, so the -boys silently accepted his implied apology and -busied themselves preparing the supper he had -spoken of. In the eyes of the lads that was Case’s -one fault. He was inclined to worry, and also to -express his worries in the most depressing -prophecies. But while they laughed at his premonition -of trouble for the absent boy, they listened anxiously -for the absent one’s return.</p> - -<p>Directly Clay took a handful of silver from a -pocket and laid it in a shining heap on the table.</p> - -<p>“I guess we’d better cash up,” he said. “I got -my last pay envelope from Slade & Co., to-day, and -here’s the coin. We must have more than $200 by -this time.”</p> - -<p>The other boys drew banknotes and silver from -their pockets, and heaped their contributions on the -table.</p> - -<p>“Now, we’ll put it with the other,” Clay said, -after it had been counted over at least half a dozen -times. “Just where is our bank to-night? I don’t -seem to remember where we deposited last time.”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t in a bank,” Case broke in, forgetting -his promise to get rid of his grouch, “though it -should have been. The idea of leaving $200 lying -loose in this old tub!”</p> - -<p>“Now you’re losing our money—in your mind!” -laughed Clay. “How many times before to-night -have you lost it, Case?”</p> - -<p>“Well, it isn’t safe, anyhow,” insisted Case, -“even with Jule here to watch it; and he runs out -and leaves the boat alone after dark!”</p> - -<p>“When will this professional worrier begin -work?” asked Alex with a sly grin at Clay. “He’s -needed here right now. Case doesn’t seem to be -able to acquire any peace of mind!”</p> - -<p>Case blushed, as if ashamed of his outburst so -soon after having resolved to mend his ways, and -moved toward the back of the cabin.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know just where Jule put the money -last time we counted it,” he said, making a great -show of looking for it, “but I presume it is here -somewhere.”</p> - -<p>In fumbling around next to the rear wall the boy -came upon a roll of drawings, which he brought out -and tossed on the table, his quest of the hidden -money momentarily forgotten.</p> - -<p>“Here’s the map of the Amazon, boys,” he said, -unrolling the paper. “I brought it in to-night. As -we leave to-morrow, we may as well run over it -now. Here’s where we strike the Brazilian coast, -at Para, and here’s where we camp on the Amazon, -away up near the foothills of the Eastern Andes. I -guess Jule will get well up there!”</p> - -<p>“Of course he will!” Clay asserted. “Didn’t -Dr. Holcomb say so? I guess he knows.”</p> - -<p>“He’s a brick, that Dr. Holcomb!” Alex declared. -“Only for him we wouldn’t be so near the -roof of the world as we are now.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see any roof of any world!” observed -Case, obstinately.</p> - -<p>“You will if you stick with us,” Alex continued. -“The mountains and tablelands of South America, -along there by Peru, you know, are often called the -roof of the world. When you get up to the top of -some of the mountains, you can’t get any higher in -this world, without going up in an aeroplane, and -then you wouldn’t be in the world at all, but out of -it and above it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we aren’t very near it yet,” Case replied.</p> - -<p>“But we will be nearer it, physically, to-morrow -night at this time,” Alex kept on. “Think of it! -Through the drainage canal like an arrow in -this good little motor boat, down the Mississippi -with a rush, into the Gulf of Mexico and the -Caribbean sea and out again, and then along the coast to -the mouth of the Amazon! Say, boys, do you know -that the Amazon has a mouth a hundred and fifty -miles wide?”</p> - -<p>“What a campaign orator she would have -made!” laughed Clay. “But, suppose we find the -money before we look over the map.”</p> - -<p>The motor boat <i>Rambler</i> lay in a secluded -warehouse slip in the South Branch, as the southwestern -arm of the Chicago river is called, and the three -hungry boys referred to and one other, Julian -Shafer, the lad the others were now anxious about, -constituted her crew and passenger list, all in one. -Clay, Alex and Case were busy with supper -arrangements, as stated, and all were listening for the -approach of Jule.</p> - -<p>The cabin, which was seven feet by nine, did not -seem quite like home without him. The rain, which -had come on with the going down of the sun, drove -in spiteful gusts from the southwest, so that the two -foot-square windows on that side were closed, but -from the open casements to the north the odor of -sizzling sausage and bubbling coffee traveled out on -the wet winds of the April evening.</p> - -<p>Many who passed the head of the driveway which -led down to the warehouse and the pier where the -<i>Rambler</i> lay stopped to sniff the fragrant reminder -of what the world owes to its stomach, and to look in -wonder at the odd little residence on the brown river.</p> - -<p>A patrolman, rustling along in a rubber coat which -came down to his great heels, swinging his -nightstick petulantly, as if in protest of the storm, drew -up at the entrance to the private way and glanced -down at the boat and stood for an instant imagining -how a good cup of that coffee would taste!</p> - -<p>It was while he stood there that the door was -opened, and it was while the light from the interior -lay over the pier and warehouse that the officer -thought he saw a slim figure skulking in an angle -of the building. When he reached the place where -the figure had stood, the light was gone and the -angle was empty, with the rain beating against it -in a particularly determined manner. So the -policeman went on about his business.</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i> had lain in the slip by the -warehouse all through the winter, and the boys had -called her cabin, which was so low that they could -stand upright only in the center, their “furnished, -steam-heated apartments,” being careful to speak -of it in the plural. She was a trim little craft, -twenty feet by seven over all, with the cabin -extending over almost half of the interior of the -shell, lengthwise.</p> - -<p>The cabin was a strongly-built structure, with -two foot-square windows on each side and one -looking out at the stern, where a platform four feet by -the width of the boat formed a floor for chairs, and -also a covering for the gasoline tanks underneath. -The front deck extended to the prow, the powerful -motors and other machinery being mostly under it, -near the middle of the craft, just in front of the -cabin door. Under this deck, forward of the -motors and apparatus for supplying electricity, were -storage spaces for provisions and gasoline.</p> - -<p>As has, perhaps, been gathered from the -conversation engaged in by the occupants of the cabin on -this night, the boys had arranged to take their -winter “bachelor hall” out on a long journey -during the summer. They were now ready to start on -the trip they had long planned—no less an -undertaking than a motor boat journey to the headwaters -of the Amazon! In fact, the boat was already -stocked with provisions, and the gasoline was to be -taken on the next day.</p> - -<p>The boys were all orphans, so far as they knew, -having been in the first instance brought together by -their homelessness. They had been reared in the -streets of the city, selling newspapers and running -errands and doing such odd jobs as boys can turn -hand to. Often, when very young, they had slept -together in hallways and in boxes in alleys. When -arrived at the age of fourteen, they had secured -employment in printing offices, and had of their own -volition become regular attendants at night schools.</p> - -<p>There are to-day thousands of boys in the large -cities who are living just as these boys lived in their -younger years, who sleep and eat where and when -they can, and who are too often brought into crime -by those who ought to teach them, from experience, -that crime is never pleasant or profitable in the -long run. Sometimes the law, in the guise of a -fat-bellied, egotistical, greedy police officer, assists these -wreckers of youth by arresting boys and seeing that -they are sentenced to months of association with -thieves.</p> - -<p>These four boys, the three in the cabin and the -one out somewhere in the rain, had fortunately been -spared the attentions of police officers, and had -grown to the age of seventeen with sturdy figures -and fairly-well trained intellects—all save Julian -Shafer, who had long been showing symptoms of -tuberculosis.</p> - -<p>It was the ill health of Jule that had at first -suggested the trip to the Equator. The boy, ordinarily -the merriest one of the lot, as full of pranks as a -young kitten, had been informed by Dr. Holcomb -that the climate of Chicago would bring his life to -a close in two years’ time, so the boys had planned -to take him away. Unselfishly they had set their -hands to the task, and now the first step was near -completion.</p> - -<p>It was while they were cudgeling their brains -for some way of accomplishing the desire of their -hearts that Dr. Holcomb had come to them, first as -a physician for the ailing boy, then as a sincere -friend. After becoming well acquainted with the -lads, and after making a few investigations as to -their habits of thought, their loyalty to each other, -the good doctor had said to them, one bright night -in early fall when they were assembled in his office:</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what, boys,” he had begun, “I have -a motor boat down in the South Branch which is of -little use to me. I used to enjoy trips in her, and -she has seen service on many of the lakes and rivers -of the Northwest, but I’m too busy now to take the -time to flirt with her. If you care to look after her -this winter, fix her up a little, and in the spring -provision her for a journey to some tropical climate, -you may have the use of her. What do you say?”</p> - -<p>What did they say! What would any group of -boys of seventeen say to such a proposition as that? -They almost hugged the doctor, and the occupants -of the other offices on that floor afterward -complained that the doctor’s patients were too noisy to -be good pay! As for Jule, when he understood that -it was all being done for him, he said nothing at -all, but there was a moisture in his bright eyes, a -tightening of his handclasp that night, which his -chums understood.</p> - -<p>“But you must save up at least $200,” the doctor -had stipulated, “for I don’t care to have the -<i>Rambler</i> tied up in some foreign port for -supply or repair bills. She will carry you anywhere, -on ocean or river, if you learn how to handle her, and -you needn’t be afraid of being caught by anything of her -size in a chase. Be good to her and she’ll be good -to you!”</p> - -<p>So the boys had slept and cooked for themselves -in the <i>Rambler</i> all that winter, to save more money, -and had learned to run the boat, and had made many -little repairs with their own hands. And now they -had saved the sum required, had given up their -positions, and were to sail away to the Amazon and the -Andes on the morrow! It all seemed too good to -be true!”</p> - -<p>“The money,” Clay said, after looking over the -map, “is, I remember now, in the round box, with -the tinned food, in a square box with a red cover. -Get it, Alex.”</p> - -<p>Alex brought the box—and found it empty. The -money was gone!</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chII'>CHAPTER II.—A CALL FROM THE DARKNESS</h2> - -<p class='first'>Yes, the hoarded money was gone!</p> - -<p>The square box with the red cover was empty. -The boys dropped back in their chairs and turned -their eyes away, neither caring to read what was in -the faces opposite. The money that had been ready -for the hoard still lay on the table. Case was first -to break the silence.</p> - -<p>“Our professional worry man,” he said, “would -better start on his job to-night. He’ll have a nice -little task to begin on.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t get sarcastic, Case,” Clay remonstrated. -“This may be one of the worries that won’t catch -up! Perhaps Jule has placed the money in a safer -place.”</p> - -<p>“That’s it!” cried Alex. “Of course that’s it! -Who would come in here and get our money?”</p> - -<p>“Then, where is Jule?” demanded the boy -addressed. “Why doesn’t he come in and let us know -where the money is?</p> - -<p>“Jule will be home in good time,” Clay said, -grimly, “and for the present it won’t be healthy -for anyone to suggest that he has done anything -mean or dishonest. He’ll be back, all right, and then -we’ll know all about it.”</p> - -<p>Case flushed furiously.</p> - -<p>“Say,” he expostulated, “I wasn’t saying -anything against Jule! At least I didn’t mean to. I -know that he’s true blue. Perhaps he discovered the -robbery before we did and chased off after the thief. -Don’t you ever think I’m blaming him!”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” admitted Clay, doubtfully. -“He’s above anything of that kind, you know. He’s -as honest a boy as ever lived!”</p> - -<p>“If he has put the money in another place,” -began Alex, but Case, still in bad humor, interrupted -him.</p> - -<p>“What a pleasant world this would be if there -were no if words in it! Someone said, not long -ago, that if it wasn’t for that word he could put Paris -in a bottle! He meant, of course, if Paris was -smaller or the bottle was larger. If he has put the -money in another place!”</p> - -<p>“I wonder why he doesn’t come?” Alex put in. -“We left him here to look after things, you know.”</p> - -<p>“He wasn’t here when I came,” Clay contributed. -“Everything was just as you see it now, only there -wasn’t any supper cooking, as there is now. He -never went off like this before.”</p> - -<p>There was an apparatus on board the <i>Rambler</i> for -making electricity when the boat was under way, but, -this being inoperative during the winter, the boys -had caused the motor boat to be wired so the light -came from the city lines. The cooking was partly -done by electricity, the stove being concealed in a -false couch at the back of the cabin. During the cold -weather the cabin had been warmed by a tiny, soft-coal -stove which now stood near the door, and some -of the cooking had been done on that.</p> - -<p>A smell of burning meat now filled the room, and -Clay hastened to switch off the current. The -coffee, neglected, was bubbling over on the coils of wire -at the bottom of the stove, and he set the coffee-pot -on the floor.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think I want any supper right now,” he -declared.</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to lose my supper,” argued Alex. -“I’ve lost my job and my trip to the Amazon, but -I’m not going to lose my supper. These sausages -are all right yet.”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t lost my trip to the Amazon,” Clay -gritted, his jaws setting. “Nor Jule hasn’t lost his -trip, or his one chance of life! I’ll have to think out -some way, but I’m going, and Jule’s going with -me!”</p> - -<p>Alex and Case both sprang up and reached for -the speaker’s hands.</p> - -<p>“And we’re with you!” they cried.</p> - -<p>“We’re for the Amazon, too! No matter if I do -get a grouch on now and then,” Case continued, -giving the hand he held an extra squeeze, “I’ll show -up right in the end!”</p> - -<p>“I know you will,” Clay said. “I know you’re -an all right boy, Case, he continued, “but you’d be -a better companion if you wouldn’t get such -grouches!”</p> - -<p>“If I ever get another,” pleaded the boy, “just -throw me out of the combination!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll set my white monkey on you, after we get -into the jungles of the Amazon valley,” laughed -Alex. “Do you know I’ve got a white monkey -there?” he added, with a look which he intended to -be serious. “Surely I have! He’ll throw Brazil -nuts down to me. Do you know how Brazil nuts -grow? I’ll tell you. They grow in nests, like -kittens, and when they get ripe the nest opens, just -like a kitten basket, and there you are. The nuts -fall to the ground and hunters gather them and -bring them to Chicago and we put them on -Christmas trees.”</p> - -<p>Alex was the most imaginative one of the party, -and sometimes he permitted his quaint fancies to -break into words. Just now he was doing his best -to seem cheerful, but, after all, it was hard work. -The money had meant so much to them. It had been -gathered together dime by dime, and every dollar -of it had meant, to them, an hour or a day on the -Amazon. Now it was gone, and Jule——</p> - -<p>But no one should say a word against Jule. That -was a point settled beyond dispute. They could -suspend judgment until he came back.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to bring home a cargo of Brazil -nuts,” the boy went on, “all packed in an elephant’s -trunk. I’ll sell ’em down on Water street and build -a motor boat that can put the <i>Rambler</i> into her -pocket. I wonder what Dr. Holcomb will say?”</p> - -<p>“He’ll just tell us to dig in and get more money!” -Case observed.</p> - -<p>“And that’s just what we’ll do,” Clay added. -Alex brought out plates and cups and began -setting the table, which was not very large, and which -was securely fastened to the floor in the center of -the cabin.</p> - -<p>“There’s one thing lacking in Clay,” the boy said, -whimsically, as he rattled the dishes. “If you could -take him apart, or look at him under x-rays, you -wouldn’t find any quit in him! The more things -happen to stop him, the more he goes ahead!”</p> - -<p>“That’s right!” declared Case. “When I get -grouches, and you get all discouraged and tell -monkey stories to hide what’s really in your mind, -Clay just shuts his jaws together and goes right -through! I guess this wouldn’t be much of a boat -club if it wasn’t for Clay.”</p> - -<p>“Why, boys, there’s nothing else to do in this -case,” Clay said, a flush of pleasure at such an -endorsement. “We can’t lie down before every little -hill that looms up before us! We can’t give up this -trip, and leave Jule to die in this beastly climate. -Now, can we?”</p> - -<p>“Not in a thousand years!” cried Alex.</p> - -<p>“That will do for you!” Case suggested, turning -to Alex with a grin.</p> - -<p>“Never said it!” insisted Alex. “We all agreed -not to talk slang, so slang’s cut out!”</p> - -<p>“Slang is cheap,” Clay remarked, to no one in -particular.</p> - -<p>“Alex will wash the dishes to-night, anyway, for -talking slang!” Case decreed with the air of a -judge sentencing a prisoner. “That was the -bargain. If anyone talked slang he was to wash the -dishes.”</p> - -<p>“And Case will assist,” laughed Clay, “for he -talked slang, too.”</p> - -<p>“What slang?” demanded Case.</p> - -<p>“You said that will do for you, and that was -slang!”</p> - -<p>“All right! I’ll help. But where do you think Jule is?</p> - -<p>He was about to say more, but Clay held up a -hand for silence.</p> - -<p>While the lads stood there, listening, the sausages -and coffee on the table, over which a snow-white -cloth had been spread, there came a choking cry -from somewhere in the darkness which lay over the -pier and the warehouse. The boys still listened. -Perhaps the next cry would give direction.</p> - -<p>Presently the cry came again, evidently from the -head of the pier. The boys all headed for the door, -crowding against each other in their efforts to get -out. A third cry, which was almost a scream, -caused them to block the doorway.</p> - -<p>“That’s Jule!” Case panted. “Let me out!”</p> - -<p>“Wait a second, boys!” Clay advised. “That -may be Jule, and it may not. Anyway, we mustn’t -all leave the boat at once. This may be a trick to -get us away from it. You remain here and I’ll go up -the pier and call back to you if I need help.”</p> - -<p>Still another cry came, followed, this time, by the -sound of blows and running feet.</p> - -<p>“Someone is being murdered out there!” Case -exclaimed, excitedly, as Clay dashed out into the -rain. “I’m not going to stay inside and let someone -be killed!”</p> - -<p>Alex took him by the shoulder and drew him back -as he started off.</p> - -<p>“You’ll obey orders and remain here,” he said. -“We can stand in the doorway and look out.”</p> - -<p>“I know it’s Jule!” prophesied Case. “He’s been -out after the thief, and has been attacked. Perhaps -he’s brought the money back with him, and that’s -why they’re attacking him.”</p> - -<p>“If it is Jule, and he comes in without mentioning -the loss of the money, don’t you say a word to him -about it! What’s the use, if he doesn’t know, of -telling him about it to-night? Let the kid get one -more night’s sleep before he knows what’s happened!”</p> - -<p>“All right,” Case answered, “and perhaps we -can tell by the way he acts whether he’s the—whether -he knows anything about it or not.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you say it!” warned Alex. “Don’t you -ever look at Jule with suspicion in your face! He’s -the one that will lose most by this, and you just -keep your thoughts and your sneers to yourself.”</p> - -<p>“I never——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I know,” Alex hastened to say, as they -waited, anxiously, in the doorway, the rain beating -in on their uncovered heads, “I know you don’t -really believe anything wrong about Jule. You’d -fight for him if anyone said there was, just as quick -as I would. It is only your grouchy way of looking -at things. You go and imagine the very worst that -can ever happen, and then try to make yourself -believe that is the way of it!”</p> - -<p>Case was about to tell Alex how right he was in -his analysis of his character, how thankful he was -that he was so well understood, when a call came -from some distance up the street.</p> - -<p>“That’s Clay!” Alex exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“I’m going up there!” insisted Case.</p> - -<p>“You’ll stay right here with me and watch,” Alex -declared, taking his uneasy chum by the arm and -holding on tight.</p> - -<p>It was dark up at the end of the pier by the side -of which the <i>Rambler</i> lay, but farther up, on the -north and south street which paralleled the river, a -corner lamp threw spears of light toward the -stream.</p> - -<p>There was no one in sight. Even what could be -seen of the thoroughfare under the lamp, and this -was not much, seemed deserted. Rainy, windy -nights are not popular with pedestrians in Chicago -any more than elsewhere.</p> - -<p>Even the occupants of vessels tied up at piers -above and below the motor boat were silent in -cabins or asleep in their bunks. A dull, heavy roar -came out of the city, telling of activities in the noisy -loop district, but there was little more than the -dash of the rain on the deck where the boys stood -listening and waiting.</p> - -<p>Presently they saw a figure detach itself from the -shadows at an angle of the warehouse, where it -seemed to have been hiding, and step into the lighted -space. There it acted queerly, walking up and down, -up and down in the rain! It was too dark for the -boys to see the face.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe it is Jule, though,” Case said.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chIII'>CHAPTER III.—THE BROWN LEATHER BAG</h2> - -<p class='first'>While Alex and Case waited in the doorway, -watching the figure near the warehouse, the circle -of light in the street beyond, the whole gloomy -prospect along the pier, the shrill voice of a police -whistle cut the heavy air. The boys started -nervously.</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t be strange if Clay got into trouble -up there.”</p> - -<p>This from Case, who was still in his despondent -mood, and was, as Alex had explained, imagining -the worst and making himself think that was what -was coming!</p> - -<p>Alex nudged him with his elbow, in gentle -reminder of his failing, and nodded toward the head -of the pier. Through the falling drops, they saw the -figure which had recently left the shelter of the -warehouse coming toward the boat.</p> - -<p>“Whoever it is,” muttered Case, “he’s alarmed at -the police whistle, and is coming down here to hide -away!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Case——”</p> - -<p>Alex got no farther with his protest against his -chum’s idle croakings of evil, for the figure was now -almost at the pier, a few yards from the prow of the -<i>Rambler</i>. It was moving slowly, in spite of the -storm beating upon it, hands in pockets, chin buried -in a turned-up coat collar, eyes on the ground.</p> - -<p>When almost to the head of the pier the boy, for -such the queer-acting stranger appeared to be, turned -sharply about and went back over the course he had -taken, head down, eyes evidently searching the -ground. This was repeated three times, then the -ring of footsteps above caused him to seek the shelter -of the warehouse again.</p> - -<p>Then Clay dashed into view, running at top speed -and bending low as if to better resist the storm, or to -avoid any attack which might be made upon him. -The boys could see the silent figure standing in the -shadow of the warehouse, standing there in a -listening, observant attitude. The thought came to -Alex that this might mean peril to Clay, and so he -called out to warn the skulker that help was at hand.</p> - -<p>“Hurry, Clay!” he shouted.</p> - -<p>Clay did not reply, but dashed on at increased -speed to the rotting planks of the pier, and was soon -inside the cabin, shaking the rain from his clothes -like a great dog just out of a pond. Alex closed -the door and locked it.</p> - -<p>“Did you see Jule?” Case asked, eagerly.</p> - -<p>Clay shook his head. His excursion into the -storm had evidently proved a disappointment to -him, but he made an effort not to show it.</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” he replied. “How could I -find Jule out in all that smother? He’s warm and -dry somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see the boy skulking by the warehouse -as you came in?” asked Alex. “He’s been there, -watching the boat, ever since you went out.”</p> - -<p>Clay shook his head.</p> - -<p>“There’s something odd going on around here -to-night,” he said. “I don’t know what to make of -it. Whew, but I’m all out of wind!” he continued, -dropping down into a chair and taking off his -soaked shoes.</p> - -<p>“Where did you go?” asked Case. “What was -the cop blowing his whistle for. Why did you -have to run?”</p> - -<p>“One at a time,” panted Clay. “When I got out -there I found a man and a boy fighting at the end -of the pier. At any rate the man was trying to get -something away from the boy, and the boy was -letting into him with teeth and nails. The boy was -calling for help. That’s the sound we heard, only -it was faint, on account of the man trying to choke -him.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of a boy was it?” asked Case, -thinking of the figure he had seen walking to and fro -under the light and skulking into the shelter of the -warehouse when Clay came running up.</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute,” Clay panted, “and I’ll tell you -all about it. Say, who’s going to give a cup of that -hot coffee? My tummy has a hole in it as big as a -rainwater barrel.”</p> - -<p>“That’s pretty close to slang!” warned Case.</p> - -<p>“Not so you could notice—that is, not intended -as such,” corrected the boy with a grin as he took -a cup of steaming coffee from Alex’s hand and sat -back in his chair with a look of contentment on his -face.</p> - -<p>“Now what about it?” asked Alex, when the -cup was empty.</p> - -<p>“Well, when I ran up, the man gave a vicious -yank and got something away from the boy. It -looked like, a leather bag. The boy let out a great -cry and fell flat down on his face. I saw his face -just a minute, looking like a snowflake in the mud, -it was so white and so small.</p> - -<p>I thought the thing which had been taken from -him must mean a lot, to cause him to look like that, -and so I left him lying there and chased on after -the man. It looked to me like a case of highway -robbery, and I just ached to get my hands on the -man.”</p> - -<p>“What is that in your hand?” asked Case, -indicating a brown object which was half concealed in -Clay’s coat-sleeve, but which dropped down to his -palm, and lay with an end resting there.</p> - -<p>“Never you mind!” Clay answered, with a -chuckle as he drew the object up the sleeve and out -of sight. “Just wait a minute. I overtook the man, -who couldn’t run at all, but lumbered along like an -old cow, and tripped him up by— Oh, you know -how to drop and catch a fellow by the ankles! He -went down kerflop in the muck, where wagons had -broken the pavement and cut the earth into a puddle. -I didn’t stop to see if he was hurt, but picked up the -thing I had seen him take from the boy and started -back with it.</p> - -<p>“When I got back to the place where I had left -the boy, with his pale face in the dirt, he wasn’t -there, so I just brought the object along with me, for -safe keeping, of course,” he added, with a laugh as -he drew a brown leather bag from his sleeve and -held it up to the light.</p> - -<p>“That’s certainly a brown leather bag!” -exclaimed Case. “What’s in it?”</p> - -<p>“Guess!” was the provoking answer.</p> - -<p>“It must be something valuable, with all the fuss -that’s been made over it,” Alex suggested. “Open -up!”</p> - -<p>“Do you know what’s in it?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“Of course I do; I peeked in as I came along.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what is it?”</p> - -<p>“Diamonds!”</p> - -<p>“Not real diamonds?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not!” Case ventured. “Just fake -stones, like the glad-hand men carry. They couldn’t -be real diamonds, hustled about in the rain like -this!”</p> - -<p>“But they are real diamonds,” insisted Clay. “If -I ever saw the real thing this is it.”</p> - -<p>He untied the brown leather bag, pressed open the -mouth with his fingers, and poured a gleaming -current of diamonds on the table, where they rolled -about like sparks of fire caught and held in captivity. -Alex and Case stood dumbly regarding their chum, -moving their eyes, presently, from his inscrutable -face to the gems on the table. This seemed to them -to be a leaf out of a fairy book. It was more -fantastic, more unreal, than one of Alex’s ridiculous -imaginings.</p> - -<p>“I wish Jule was here to see ’em!” Clay spoke, -breaking the silence with a long sigh. “He can’t be -long in coming now.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do with them?” asked -Alex.</p> - -<p>“First,” Clay answered, gathering up the stones -and looking cautiously about, “I’m going to get -them out of sight! Did you hear that motion at the -door while they lay here sparkling with -a “come-and-get-me” expression?”</p> - -<p>“I heard nothing,” Case replied, as Clay put the -gems back in the bag. “Where are you going to -hide them now? You know this isn’t a very safe -treasure house—this old boat.”</p> - -<p>“I think I have good reason to know that,” -replied Clay, looking ruefully at the box which had -held the stolen money. “Guess I’ll put them in the -coffee-pot, for the time being. Anybody want any -more?”</p> - -<p>Both boys declared they did, naturally! So the -coffee was poured and consumed. Then the pot was -emptied and the brown leather bag was deposited -therein.</p> - -<p>“What was it you said about someone being at -the door while the stones were on the table?” asked -Alex.</p> - -<p>“Did you see anyone there?” added Case.</p> - -<p>For answer Clay nodded his head toward the -single pane in the cabin door, which might have been -a panel of black velvet, so heavily did the darkness -press upon it.</p> - -<p>“What did you see there?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Nothing at all.”</p> - -<p>Clay moved toward the door and listened between -short steps as he walked.</p> - -<p>“If anyone rushes the door,” he said, amazing the -others by the seeming irrelevance of the remark, -“you both stand by to fight ’em off. They will be -after the diamonds—understand. You hold ’em -off and I’ll grab the coffee-pot and run. They will -go away without hurting you when they find out the -gems are not here. After the row is over I’ll come -back.”</p> - -<p>“What are you getting at?” demanded Alex.</p> - -<p>“You are surely getting ahead of yours truly in the -monkey-story record! Who’s going to rush the -door?”</p> - -<p>“Listen!”</p> - -<p>As Clay spoke there was a light step on the -deck outside, then a hand crept over the outer -surface of the door and came, fumbling, to the knob, -which turned a fraction of an inch under their eyes. -The lads stood quite still. Clay’s eyes were fixed on -the coffee-pot, now standing within reach of his -hand on the table. Case and Alex were closer to the -door, against which there now came the brushing -of wet garments.</p> - -<p>“It may be Jule!” Case whispered.</p> - -<p>“No, it is someone after the diamonds!” contended Alex.</p> - -<p>There was no farther movement at the door, but -the boys stood in the old positions, ready for -whatever might come.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do with the diamonds?” -asked Case.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know,” Clay answered, almost -fretfully. “I can’t decide on a thing like that in a -second—not right off the handle, you see. I found -them, you know, and——”</p> - -<p>“Finders keep and losers seek,” half chanted -Case.</p> - -<p>“That’s what’s in my mind,” Clay went on. “I -know that it isn’t just right, but I found them; and, -then, I don’t see no philanthropic person bringing -back our stolen money.”</p> - -<p>“No one knows we found them,” Alex suggested.</p> - -<p>Then the three boys looked into each other’s eyes -and smiled.</p> - -<p>“You know you won’t keep them!” Case declared. -“You know very well that you’ll hunt the -city, or the world, over for the owner if he doesn’t -come after them.”</p> - -<p>“You know you never meant to keep them,” Alex -added. “When I hinted that no one knew about -them being here I didn’t mean anything by it. You -know I didn’t.”</p> - -<p>“For just a second I meant to keep them,” Clay -confessed. “I was thinking what we might do with -them, you see. If we kept them Jule need never -know about the robbery. He really ought not to -have left the boat, not with all that money here, you -see, and so he’ll blame himself just as much as if -he had taken the money himself. But of course -that was just an impulse. I really don’t mean to -keep them!”</p> - -<p>“There’s that hand moving on the door again!” -whispered Alex.</p> - -<p>“How do you know it is a hand?” demanded -Case. “It may be the muzzle of a gun or the billy -of a policeman.”</p> - -<p>“The only way to find out,” suggested Clay, “is -to open the door and see who’s there.”</p> - -<p>Before this intention could be carried out, -however, another element forced itself into the case. -There came a shout from the shore and the sound of -heavy footfalls on the planking of the pier.</p> - -<p>“What’s going on here!” demanded a gruff -voice. “What’s all this running round in circles -about?”</p> - -<p>There was no answer from the outside, and the -boys in the cabin did not feel qualified to answer any -such questions, so they remained perfectly quiet, until, -in a second, the heavy voice came again.</p> - -<p>“Come out of that, you wharf rat!” it said. -“Come out where I can see you.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a member of the river police,” Clay -suggested. “They always talk about wharf rats.”</p> - -<p>“Who is he talking to?” queried Case, puzzled. -“The person on our deck, whoever he is,” Clay -decided.</p> - -<p>Then the nervous sounds on the door continued, -and a voice said:</p> - -<p>“Will you let me in, please?”</p> - -<p>“Sounds like a girl’s voice.”</p> - -<p>This from Alex, who stepped forward as he -spoke.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is the boy I saw fighting the man on -the pier,” Clay suggested. “He looked pale and -sick, and that voice doesn’t belong to a healthy -boy.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid of the police!” came the voice again. -“Please let me in. I’ll go away as soon as they are -gone.”</p> - -<p>“Anyway,” Clay decided, “risk or no risk, -diamonds or no diamonds, I’m going to open the door -and let him in!”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” echoed Alex, with a grin. “Let him -in. We’ve been chased by the river police, ourselves, -before now.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think the policeman saw you get the -brown leather bag?” asked Case, “and if he did -will he accuse you of stealing the diamonds?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll soon know all about it,” replied Clay, -unlocking the door.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chIV'>CHAPTER IV.—TWO GUESTS AND AN ARREST</h2> - -<p class='first'>The other boys made no protest, although the -fear and dread of having gems which probably had -been stolen—which, at least, did not belong to -them—discovered in the cabin was in their hearts, -so Clay swung the door open.</p> - -<p>A slender, black-eyed boy of about sixteen stood -there, an appealing look on his face. When he -dodged into the cabin they saw that his clothing -was shabby and insufficient for such a night, and -that it was soaked with rain. He shivered as he -stood by the table and motioned to Clay to lock -the door. Before he could thank them for the -hospitality so grudgingly extended, the policeman’s -strident voice came again from the deck.</p> - -<p>“Here!” he said, angrily. Don’t try to make -a fool of me. You come on out here! You don’t -belong in there, you know. There’s been robbery -on the river to-day, and I want you.”</p> - -<p>“If you’ll only tell him I belong here——”</p> - -<p>The boy did not finish the sentence, for now the -ring of the officer’s club came on the door in good -earnest, rattling the glass panel and echoing -through the little space within like the crack of -doom, as Alex afterward expressed it.</p> - -<p>“Open up! Open up, or I’ll break the door in! -I want the diamonds you stole, and I want you!”</p> - -<p>The boys looked at each other with apprehension -showing in their manner, and the stranger seemed -to sense that something not on the surface was -going on in their minds.</p> - -<p>“Well, officer, what do you want?”</p> - -<p>Clay spoke the words with his head half out of -the doorway, his eyes momentarily blinded by the -gleam of an electric flashlight in the red, wet hands -of a heavy man in the uniform of the Chicago -police.</p> - -<p>There was a short hesitation on the policeman’s -part.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the lad who just ran in here?” he -then demanded, inserting his club into the crack of -the door and forcing it wide open, in spite of the -efforts of the boy to retain control of it. “You?”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Clay, “I’m not the lad who just -ran in here. What do you want?”</p> - -<p>“You ought to know,” was the insolent rejoinder. -“There’s been a diamond robbery somewhere about -this pier, and I’m looking for the stones and the -thief. Let me in for a look around, or it will be the -station for yours.”</p> - -<p>Clay stepped aside, unwillingly, and the officer -stooped down so as to clear the low doorway and -brushed into the cabin. His great bulk, his fat red -face, his arrogant manner, seemed to reduce the -size of the small room by at least half. His helmet -was running water, and he removed it and shook -the drops over the table.</p> - -<p>In a moment he flashed his light around, resting -it longest, it seemed to the boys, on the coffee-pot -sitting on the electric stove. It seemed to the -imaginative Alex that he must see right through the -tin to the brown leather bag, and through the folds -of the brown leather bag to the stolen diamonds!</p> - -<p>Next the policeman felt of Clay’s clothes and -sniffed suspiciously when he found them wet. He -seemed disappointed when the garments of Case -and Alex proved dry to his touch. His face -brightened again when he found evidences of -recent retreat from the storm in the clothes of the -stranger.</p> - -<p>“So you are the one who just ducked in here?” -he said. “You’re the lad I saw skulking behind -the corner of the warehouse beyond not long ago. -What?”</p> - -<p>The stranger looked the policeman straight in -the face with his black eyes, but made no reply. The -chums looked on, wondering how they were to get -rid of the incriminating coffee-pot.</p> - -<p>They felt certain that the officer would make a -search of the place and discover the diamonds.</p> - -<p>Then they would, in all probability, be hustled off to -the police station. They were still anxious about -the strange absence of Jule, but, after all, right glad -that the boy was not there to share this suspicion.</p> - -<p>“Come,” grumbled the officer, shaking the -stranger roughly by the shoulder, “the game is up! -Give up the diamonds and come along.”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t got the diamonds,” faltered the lad. -“I don’t know where they are. I’m not a thief. I -belong here with these boys.”</p> - -<p>The officer turned to Clay, whom he now -recognized as one he had often seen about the boat, -and of whom he knew nothing discreditable.</p> - -<p>“Does he belong here?” he asked.</p> - -<p>Clay hesitated. The stranger looked so cold and -hungry, and his eyes were appealing, and his -manner asked for sympathy! He was sorely tempted to -make a statement in his behalf which was not true, -and which he knew would be regretted as long as he -lived.</p> - -<p>To deny the story told by the shivering lad would -certainly cause his arrest as a diamond thief. The -policeman might go away with his prisoner without -searching the cabin if he was told that the lad -had never set foot there before. In that case the -gems would not be discovered in the possession of -the occupants of the place.</p> - -<p>It was certainly in the interest of the boys that -the policeman should leave without searching the -cabin, and yet the stranger stood so in need of -protection that Clay could not for an instant decide -what to do. Then he caught the eyes of his chums, -fixed anxiously upon himself, and moved toward -the stove where the diamonds reposed in the -coffee-pot, surely an odd receptacle for so valuable a -parcel.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to tell you the truth, officer,” he -said, “though it may get me into trouble. I——”</p> - -<p>The stranger stepped forward, interrupting his -progress to the place where the stones were secreted.</p> - -<p>“Wait,” the boy said, “I’m not going to get you -all into trouble. Officer,” he continued, turning to -the wondering policeman, “I told you a lie just now. -I don’t belong here with these boys. I’ve never -been in this cabin before—before to-night. I’ve -often watched the boat when it was lighted up on -cold nights, and when there was a smell of cooking -coming from the windows, as there was to-night, but -I don’t belong here. If you’ll take me away now, -I’ll be glad, because I don’t want to get these boys -into any scrape.”</p> - -<p>“So you have loitered about here nights, have -you?” demanded Case, his sympathy for the lad -turning to suspicion. “What were you doing out -there by the warehouse a short time ago? Were -you in here after our chum went away. Are you the -thief who stole our money?”</p> - -<p>Clay tried to check the boy, but his words poured -out in a torrent of suspicion and reproach until the -officer interrupted him.</p> - -<p>“So ho!” he cried, “there’s been another robbery -in your vicinity to-night, has there? You’ve kept -yourself busy, eh? How much did you lose, lad?” -he continued, turning to Clay.</p> - -<p>“Case shouldn’t have mentioned it, because we -really don’t know, yet, whether it has been stolen or -not,” Clay explained, “but the sum we miss now is -two hundred dollars.”</p> - -<p>The policeman whistled softly.</p> - -<p>“Do you happen to have it with you, lad?” he -asked, facing the stranger with accusing eyes.</p> - -<p>“I never took it!” insisted the boy.</p> - -<p>“Search him!” cried Case, who seemed -determined to say and do exactly the wrong thing that -night.</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t look like a thief,” Clay suggested, -glad to be able to say something in the dejected lad’s -favor.</p> - -<p>“Much you know what a thief looks like!” said -the officer.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe he is a thief,” declared Alex. “I -don’t believe he ever stole the diamonds!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll pass it on to the judge,” grinned the -policeman. “Many’s the innocent face with a -black heart behind it. So I’ll be taking the boy to -the sergeant, and asking you boys to come to the -trial.”</p> - -<p>A fierce dash of rain came against the cabin -windows and a burst of thunder for an instant drowned -all other sounds. When the quick shock of it was -over the policeman was outside, pushing against the -wind and rain with his prisoner.</p> - -<p>“What kind of a dream is this?” asked Alex, -whimsically.</p> - -<p>“A dream of a thief!” responded Case.</p> - -<p>“Oh, quit it!” interposed Alex. “I think -sometimes you haven’t got common sense. -I don’t believe that boy ever stole our money.”</p> - -<p>“What was he hanging about for, then? I -shouldn’t wonder if he did worse—if he attacked -Jule and left him lying dead somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“You always go to extreme, Case,” smiled Clay. -“What I’m thinking about now is that the policeman -went away without searching the cabin and finding -the diamonds! He says they were stolen to-day. -Well, if he had found them here what would he have -done?”</p> - -<p>“Pinched us!” exclaimed Alex.</p> - -<p>“You’ll wash the dishes in the morning for that, -Alex,” grinned Case. “That’s slang.”</p> - -<p>“Not!” retorted the other. “That is what the -policemen call it themselves. They say ‘pinched,’ -and that brings the word into legitimate use. Guess -I know slang when I hear it.”</p> - -<p>“Is that the boy you saw fighting at the head of -the pier?” asked Case, in a moment, of Clay.</p> - -<p>“Not a bit like him,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“Well, what was he watching the boat for?”</p> - -<p>“He explained that. He was lonesome.”</p> - -<p>“Then why couldn’t he have gone home?” -grumbled Case. “I just think he knows something -about where Jule is, or why he went away. I wish -we had asked him.”</p> - -<p>“I’m getting anxious about Jule,” Clay said. -“There may be some connection between his -absence and the robbery.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll just bet he took the money with him when he -went away!” exclaimed Alex. “If he had to go -away somewhere, and there was no one to leave in -the boat, that’s just what he would have done.”</p> - -<p>“When he comes,” Clay advised, echoing Alex’s -request, “don’t say a word to him about the money. -If he has it, or if he put it away in another place, he -will say so soon enough. There’s someone else on -the deck!” he added, as a quick step was heard.</p> - -<p>“This seems to be a sort of reception night,” -Alex laughed. “Wonder who the new person can -be? Why, it’s Jule!”</p> - -<p>This last sentence as the door opened and a boy -much smaller than the others bounded inside. He -was covered from the crown of his red head to the -soles of his feet with oilskins, which, dripping, made -small lakes and rivers on the cabin floor.</p> - -<p>Alex darted forward and began pummeling the -boy on the shoulders with his fists.</p> - -<p>“Where have you been?” he cried. “You’ve -given us a bad evening, old man. Come. Tell us -about it.”</p> - -<p>Jule took off the oilskin coat, leggings, and hat -quite deliberately and turned his attention to the -electric stove where the coffee-pot was still sitting.</p> - -<p>The boys stood watching him with eager eyes. -Would he say anything about the money? Had he -taken it with him? Had he placed it in a more -secure hiding-place? The questions were in their -faces, although not spoken, and Jule saw that -something unusual was going on.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get the oilskins?” asked Alex, -glad of any excuse to break the pregnant silence.</p> - -<p>Jule lifted his red eyebrows with a comical -grimace and walked toward the coffee-pot. He was -small and thin, and his freckled face was pathetically -wasted as to flesh, but his blue eyes were bright -and merry. As he moved toward the electric -stove—the one place the boys wished him to keep away -from just then—a racking cough convulsed the -emaciated frame for a moment.</p> - -<p>“Wait!” Alex exclaimed, as Jule recovered -from the spasm of coughing and reached for the -coffee-pot. “Wait! I’ll get you the coffee!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve already connected with it,” answered the -boy, taking the pot by the handle and shaking it.</p> - -<p>The three stood by, waiting. After all, they -thought, it did not matter so much if he did know -about the diamonds. He would have to know -sometime. The only reason why they objected to the -gems coming into the case immediately was that the -boy would become excited and forget to tell -whatever he knew about the money.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to ask him, plump out!” whispered -Case to Clay, as Jule lifted the pot and balanced it -in his hand, as if to see what the chances were for a -full cup.</p> - -<p>Clay restrained the impulsive boy by a motion of -his hand. Jule did not seem pleased with the -investigation of the coffee-pot. There was a bumping -sound inside instead of the swish of the stimulating -liquid he sought. He lifted the lid and looked in.</p> - -<p>They saw him take out the brown leather bag and -hold it up between his eyes and the light. Then -he shook it, bringing forth from the bag the musical -tinkle of the gems. After a second’s hesitation, he -started to open the bag, but Alex snatched it away -from him.</p> - -<p>“Not until you tell us where you have been,” -grinned Alex, dangling the bag before Jule’s eyes. -“Not until you tell us where you got those oilskins. -Not until you tell us everything about what you’ve -been doing to-night! Then we’ll let you know -what’s in this bag!”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chV'>CHAPTER V.—THE BOY FROM PERU</h2> - -<p class='first'>What Alex really wanted to say was: “Not -until you tell us whether our money is safe.” But he -restrained his tongue and rattled the contents of the -bag alluringly.</p> - -<p>“That’s a funny thing to keep in a coffee-pot,” -Jule exclaimed. “What did you make the coffee -in to-night? What is in the bag?”</p> - -<p>“Tell us!” insisted Clay.</p> - -<p>“Well, after I saw you coming, down by the -warehouse, you know,” began the boy, nodding at -Clay and dropping into a chair, “I went on down to -Madison street and got to Doctor Holcomb’s office -without getting wet at all. The oilskins he sent -me did the business—kept me dry as tinder in all -that rain.”</p> - -<p>“So he sent for you, did he, and supplied the -oilskins?”</p> - -<p>It was Clay who asked the question. There was -hope in the lad’s breast now, for Jule would not -be apt to go so far away without taking some -precautions regarding the money.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I told you all about that,” Jule went on, -impatiently, as if reciting something already well -known. “I remained here until I saw you coming, -over there by the warehouse,” the boy continued, -turning to Clay, “then I went out to meet you, so as -to tell about my going away to see Dr. Holcomb. -When I got to the end of the wharf you were not -there, but in a moment I saw you at the corner of the -building, and called out to you to watch the boat -while I went to see the doctor.”</p> - -<p>“Did you wait until I got into the cabin?” asked -Clay, turning away so that the astonishment in his -face might not be seen.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I made sure you were in the cabin -before I went away,” was the disheartening reply. “I -wasn’t going to leave the boat, not with all our -money in it, alone for a minute,” he went on.</p> - -<p>Case opened his lips to speak, but Clay gave his -arm such a pinch of warning that he immediately -closed them again without speaking a word of the -hot sentence that was in his mind. The blow had -fallen. There was nothing more to say!</p> - -<p>Jule had mistaken some thief for Clay, had left -the boat in his care, and the money had been stolen! -There was nothing more to do except never to let -the boy know what the mistake had cost—and to go -about earning more!</p> - -<p>The three boys took the matter calmly. Up to -this minute they had all hoped and half believed that -Jule had either taken the money away with him or -hidden it in another spot. Now the last hope was -gone. They gathered about the table, glad of -something to engage their thoughts, exhibited the -diamonds, and told how they came to be in their -possession. Jule was enthusiastic over the find, as he -called it.</p> - -<p>“And now,” Clay said, after the story had been -told and the boys had expressed various opinions as -to the ownership of the stones, “we may as well -hide the diamonds away and make more coffee. -Where shall I put them?”</p> - -<p>“Why, with the money, of course!” exclaimed -Jule.</p> - -<p>“Not if you——”</p> - -<p>Alex stepped on Case’s toe and the remark was -never completed.</p> - -<p>“All right,” Clay grinned, “I’ll put them in the -square box with the red cover, and put that into the -round box. That is where the money was put, eh, -Jule? You handled it last.”</p> - -<p>“That’s where you’ll find it!” the boy answered, -and again the three turned away their faces.</p> - -<p>Clay put the diamonds in the box and laid it away. -Then more coffee was made, and rolls and sausages -brought out, and all four fell to with keen appetites, -Alex explaining that the previous meal that night -had not been satisfying because of the absence of -Jule, and because of the excitement of the -policeman’s visit and the arrest of the stranger.</p> - -<p>There was no doubt in the minds of the three now -that the boy who had been arrested had been the -one Jule had seen by the warehouse, the one who -had been seen to enter the cabin, the one who had -taken the money!</p> - -<p>The one thing in opposition to this theory was the -fact that the boy had returned to the vicinity of the -boat after taking the money—if, indeed, he had not -remained about the warehouse during all the time -which had intervened between the taking of the -money and the arrival of the officer. Then, too, he -had voluntarily entered the cabin, to escape from the -officer. That did not look like the act of a guilty -person.</p> - -<p>“Who do you think this strange boy is?” asked -Jule, at the conclusion of the story. “I like the way -he spoke up to the policeman and said he had lied -about belonging here. It is a sure thing he’s -honest, and never stole the diamonds. What do you -think?” he demanded, turning to his chums.</p> - -<p>“He may be honest,” Clay answered.</p> - -<p>“He’s a thief!” Case thundered.</p> - -<p>“He’s all right!” insisted Alex.</p> - -<p>“Anyway,” Jule continued, with a grin at the -diverse opinions of the stranger so expressed, “it is -certain he saw Clay pick up the brown leather bag, -and the chances are that he knew where the stones -were when the policeman took him away. You say -someone looked in at the window. Well, that was -this lad, and he saw the diamonds on the table, and -saw you put them in the coffee-pot. If he’s honest -he’ll wait until he finds the owner of the diamonds, -and then tell him where they are. If he is a crook -he’ll tell the police about seeing them here and get us -all into trouble.”</p> - -<p>“They were here when he was arrested,” Alex -urged, “and he never said a word about them. If he -knew about them, he would have told the officer, -wouldn’t he? I don’t believe he knows anything -about the diamonds or the mo——”</p> - -<p>Clay gave the boy’s leg a pinch under the table.</p> - -<p>“Or the manner in which they came here,” Alex -concluded, trying to change “money” into -“manner” and not succeeding very well.</p> - -<p>While the boys talked, they were preparing their -beds for the night There were two of these, And -they were almost like hammocks let down from the -low ceiling, being attached to strong rods by chains. -When drawn up the bottoms of the beds looked -exactly like the ceiling; when let down strong springs -and soft mattresses were disclosed.</p> - -<p>Case had already climbed into the one he occupied -with Clay when a timid knock came on the door.</p> - -<p>“Reception night!” gasped Alex.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is the policeman come back after the -diamonds,” suggested Case. “That little thief has -told about seeing them here, and we’re all to be -arrested!”</p> - -<p>“Imagine one notch farther, and get us hanged -for murdering the owner of the diamonds!” scorned -Alex. “You certainly do let out the rankest -prophecies! Shall I open the door, fellows?”</p> - -<p>There was another knock, and the boy did not -wait for an answer, but turned the key and threw -the door half open. Then he dodged back, and the -slender, black-eyed lad who had been taken away by -the policeman entered the cabin. It was still raining, -and his garments contributed tiny lakes and rivers to -the damp spots already on the floor. He stood silent -a moment, fumbling with his cap, wringing wet, and -then found his voice.</p> - -<p>“I thought,” he began.</p> - -<p>He stopped and looked toward the coffee-pot, still -steaming. Alex lifted it and poured out a cup of -strong coffee, which, together with a plate of cold -beans and a loaf of bread, he set before the wet boy.</p> - -<p>“I guess you’re hungry,” he said, unconcernedly.</p> - -<p>The stranger fell to, but there was a look of -amazement in his face which no one there failed to -observe. Case thought the look meant that he was -astonished to find that the diamonds were not in the -pot. Clay believed that the lad was upset by the -courteous treatment he was receiving. Alex -understood that it was because of Jule’s presence that the -boy was so all at sea, mentally.</p> - -<p>All the lads saw in the return of the boy some -faint chance to solve the mystery of the loss of the -money. “Perhaps,” hopeful Alex thought, “he has -repented and brought the money back with him.” -Clay watched the boy for a moment and said, tentatively:</p> - -<p>“They didn’t keep you at the station very long?” -“No,” was the confused reply. “I proved my -innocence and they let me go. I came back here to -let you know.”</p> - -<p>“Why have you been hanging around the boat?” -asked Case, leaning over the side of his bed. “You -were out there by the warehouse a long time -to-night, and someone from the boat called out to you.”</p> - -<p>Jule looked up suspiciously, but Case went on:</p> - -<p>“Then you came into the cabin.”</p> - -<p>The stranger shook his head.</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken,” he insisted.</p> - -<p>“Let him alone!” Alex ordered. “Give him a -chance to eat his supper, can’t you. What’s your -name, kid?” he continued, forgetful of his own -suggestion that the stranger be permitted to eat in -peace.</p> - -<p>“Frank Porter,” was the quick reply. “I was -born near the headwaters of the Amazon, in Peru. -I came to Chicago to attend to some business, and -haven’t been able to get back.”</p> - -<p>The four opened their eyes in wonder. Here -was a boy who had lived in the country they -had planned to visit, and who knew all about the -river they were so anxious to explore.</p> - -<p>“Go on!” Clay said, eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I heard that you boys were going to the -foothills of the Andes,” Frank went on, “and I thought -you might let me go with you, only I could -never find the courage to come and ask you -about it?”</p> - -<p>“And that is what you’ve been hanging around -here for?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Case continued, brutally, “it costs -money to run this boat. Can you pay your share of -the expense?”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t any money.” was the dejected reply.</p> - -<p>“You speak English pretty handily for a native -of Peru!” Case taunted, while Alex frowned at the -impudence of the suggestion.</p> - -<p>“My father was a Chicago man, and my mother -was a native of New Orleans,” was the -straight-forward answer. “I know English and Spanish and -a lot of Amazon valley dialects. I may be able to -make myself useful on the journey. You’ll need a -guide,” he added, hopefully.</p> - -<p>Neither of the three dared hint, in the presence of -Jule, how far away that journey now was! And -Jule did not know!</p> - -<p>“All right,” Alex agreed, putting off the evil -time when Jule would have to know, “you can go, -and we’ll let you stay here with us until we start. -We’ll need you. Isn’t that right, boys?”</p> - -<p>They all declared that it was entirely right, but -Case’s acquiescence seemed a little forced, though -the boy’s stay with them seemed to be only for that -night. Nothing whatever was said about the -diamonds, and Case took the precaution of putting them -inside his pillow-slip before he went to sleep. It -was daylight before the boys awoke, for the -evening had been an exciting one, and they had had much -to think over before they could sleep.</p> - -<p>Clay rolled out of bed and turned the electric -switch, for it was still dark in the cabin. The first -thing that met his eyes was the rude bed on the -floor which had been made up for Frank Porter. It -was empty, and the cabin door was ajar. The boy -had gone without a word of good-bye! Then Clay -saw something else. It was a copy of an evening -newspaper, open at the “lost and found” page. He -read the paragraph to which a pencil-made hand -pointed, and set up a great shout.</p> - -<p>“Boys!” he cried. “Wake up and hear the -blessed news! There’s a reward of $500 offered for -the return of the diamonds, and no questions asked. -We’ll go in style, go to-day! What?”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chVI'>CHAPTER VI.—$500 REWARD——LIGHTS OF PARA</h2> - -<p class='first'>“Why, of course we’re going to-day!” came -from Jule’s bed. “Why not? Haven’t we been -planning on to-day right along?”</p> - -<p>The boy bounced out of his bed. His three chums -regarded each other with glances of understanding. -They had almost forgotten, in the excitement of the -moment, that, though all hope of getting away in -the immediate future had been abandoned by them, -Jule did not know.</p> - -<p>“Of course, this very day!” shouted Case. “We -will be ready in no time, just as soon as we get -breakfast. Here, Alex,” he cried, “you make -coffee, and I’ll run over and see Captain Joe. We’ll -have to tell him about it.”</p> - -<p>“If Frank Porter is going with us,” Clay -declared, “he’ll have to be showing up.”</p> - -<p>Alex busied himself making coffee and frying -bacon and eggs and Clay stepped outside with Case.</p> - -<p>“Now, don’t get a grouch on,” he advised, “and -tell Jule that he came near defeating all our plans.</p> - -<p>He mistook someone for me, but that wasn’t -anything unusual. I’ve made mistakes about people -before now myself. Just let it all go, and the kid won’t -have the thing to worry over.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder where he went last night?” Case said, -doggedly.</p> - -<p>“Why, he told us that he went to see Dr. -Holcomb,” Clay explained. “He’ll tell us what he -went to see him about when he gets ready. Now, -don’t forget and let the cat out of the bag.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you ever think I will,” promised Case. -“I’ll go now and see Captain Joe, and tell him to be -quick with the gasoline, and he’ll have it on board -before noon. Good old boy, Captain Joe.”</p> - -<p>“There never was any better!” echoed Clay. -While they talked a stoutish, gray-haired man -with a very red face and a wooden leg not at all -concealed by his trousers came stumping down the pier, -waving a pudgy hand in greeting.</p> - -<p>“Morning, boys!” he cried.</p> - -<p>“Morning, Captain Joe!” answered the boys, in -a breath. “We were just going up to see you about -the gasoline. We’re off to-day, you know,” they -both shouted, talking so fast that neither sensed that -the other was speaking.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe came to where the boys stood and -looked the motor boat over critically. He had been -a sea captain for years, and was never so happy as -when passing judgment on a vessel. Two years -before he had met with an accident which had -deprived him of one leg, and since that time he had -gained a living by conducting a little ship and motor -boat supply store not far from the slip where the -<i>Rambler</i> lay. His practical suggestions had been -invaluable to the boys in fitting out the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>“She looks fit as a fiddle,” the old man declared, -cocking his head to one side and running his eyes -over the graceful lines of the craft. “When you -get out into the ocean just keep her head on, and -she’ll sail like a duck. My! It would be a treat to -go along with you!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll make an extra bunk for you, Captain Joe,” -Clay cut in, eagerly. “You know you’d be welcome.”</p> - -<p>“I’m too old, lads,” returned the captain, “and -besides. I’ve got my own little bread-and-butter shop -to look after. But here,” he continued, taking a -packet sealed in oilskin from his breast, “here’s a -little present for you. I’m giving it to you with -the understanding, though, mind, that you never -open it until you find yourself in a tight place! -There is a word of advice in it,” he went on, “and it -may cheer you up a bit when you open it.”</p> - -<p>Clay’s face was very grave as he took the packet. -“We’ll do just as you say, Captain Joe,” he -promised, “and we’ll think of you as often as you think -of us! But we hope never to get into a tight place. -You’ll come and see us off?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly—certainly!” declared the captain. -“I couldn’t let my boys sail away without being -there to wish ’em good luck. I’ll have the gasoline -down here in an hour, and then off you go, and may -every hope you have be thrifty and bud into two -more—all coming into harbor with sails set!”</p> - -<p>The old man stumped away, and the boys -returned to the cabin. While breakfast was being -eaten a knock was heard and Frank Porter’s face -showed through the glass panel. Alex opened the -door and grabbed him by the shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Come on in,” he shouted. “You’re just in time -for some of my world-without-end pancakes. No -one else ever made such pancakes as these. You’re -just in time, for we’re going to sail before noon.”</p> - -<p>The boys were so happy in their good fortune -that all suspicions of the integrity of the lad were -for the time forgotten, and he was given a very -friendly welcome indeed. He explained that he had -been out in the city for a walk, and had been -delayed by an accident which had blocked a street and -sent him a long way around.</p> - -<p>“Now,” said Clay, after breakfast, “I’ll go up -to this advertiser’s address and get the reward for -the restoration of the diamonds, and then we’ll be -all ready for blue water.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go with you,” volunteered Alex.</p> - -<p>“Not much you won’t,” Case put in. “You’ll -stay here on the boat and wash dishes as a penalty -for talking slang.”</p> - -<p>While the boys argued Clay and Jule started -away. It was a bright Spring morning, and the air -was clear and invigorating, for Chicago. Jule threw -out his chest as they walked along, taking in long -breaths.</p> - -<p>“I begin to feel well already!” he said. “Oh, -I’ll be well before we get to the Gulf of Mexico!”</p> - -<p>“What did Dr. Holcomb tell you last night?” -asked Clay, curious to know the reason for the visit -of the night before to the office of the physician. -Jule hesitated an instant, and then turned a pair of -merry blue eyes on his companion.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you wish you knew?” he asked, provokingly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, if it is anything private——” Clay began.</p> - -<p>“It is a secret!” acknowledged the boy. “I’m -not to tell anyone about it until we get back. I -think it jolly to have a secret.”</p> - -<p>“I know,” Clay guessed, “he said you were -going to get well down on the Amazon. Huh, we -knew that before!”</p> - -<p>“Guess again,” laughed Jule, as they turned the -corner of Madison and Dearborn streets. “I’ll tell -you—when we get back! But there is the Boyce -building, and here is the name of the lawyer who -advertised to give the reward for the return of the -diamonds—and no questions asked!”</p> - -<p>Lawyer Sharp had just reached his office as the -boys entered. He met them with a smile and -seemed to consider the return of the stones as a -matter of course. He opened his safe and took -therefrom a package of banknotes which seemed to -have been placed there for that special occasion.</p> - -<p>“I’m not to ask any questions, you know,” he -said, as Clay tendered the brown leather bag and -received the money, “but I would like to know -who sent you here with the diamonds. They are -worth fifty thousand dollars, I presume you -know?”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Clay, “we didn’t know that.”</p> - -<p>“I never knew there was that much money in -Chicago!” put in Jule.</p> - -<p>“But you didn’t answer my question.”</p> - -<p>“I found the diamonds on the ground,” Clay -replied, not referring to the way they came there, -“and saw the advertisement in an evening -newspaper. That’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you get the newspaper?”</p> - -<p>There was a twinkle in the lawyer’s eyes, as if he, -too, had a secret that was hard to keep.</p> - -<p>“Why,” Clay answered, “why——”</p> - -<p>He turned to Jule with a puzzled look on his face.</p> - -<p>“Where do you think that newspaper came -from?” he asked, puzzled, too.</p> - -<p>Jule shook his head, looking from the lawyer to -the brown leather bag, now empty, the gems being -in the lawyer’s hand.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” he said. “You found it on the -boat, I take it.”</p> - -<p>“Someone must have placed it there,” said the -lawyer.</p> - -<p>“It was marked,” Clay explained, “with a finger -pointing to the advertisement. Now, what do you -think of that? Why——”</p> - -<p>“Then someone put it there,” Jule declared. -“Someone who wanted us to get the reward! I’ll -bet it was Captain Joe.”</p> - -<p>“Or Dr. Holcomb,” Clay continued.</p> - -<p>“Very strange proceeding!” insisted the lawyer. -“If anyone knew where the diamonds were, and -saw fit to throw away $500, he might have done -that, but did this Captain Joe you speak of, or this -Dr. Holcomb, know that you had the stones?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not!” answered Jule. “No one knew.”</p> - -<p>“When were the diamonds stolen?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>“Early yesterday morning, though the loss was -not reported then.”</p> - -<p>“Who stole them?” was the next question.</p> - -<p>The lawyer laughed outright at this.</p> - -<p>“If we knew,” he said, “we’d have him in jail -But we don’t know. We thought that, perhaps, the -one who came for the reward might know.”</p> - -<p>“If you think that,” Clay exclaimed, flushing -with anger, “if you think I stole them, I will return -the reward!”</p> - -<p>“We don’t think so,” explained the lawyer. “If -we did we’d have had a policeman here. Well, -there’s your money. I’m busy!”</p> - -<p>The boys went out into the hall and took the -elevator without another word being said. The -lawyer’s mood had been more preoccupied and not -so friendly at the last.</p> - -<p>“There is something queer about it!” Jule -said, as they took a Madison street-car. “Lookout -there!”</p> - -<p>A young man who was running for the car -slipped and came near falling under the wheels as -the boy started up in his seat and involuntarily called -out.</p> - -<p>“That was a close call!” Clay exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“But he got on,” Jule said. “There he is, on -the back of the car.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” Clay whispered, “I saw that man in the -lower hall when we went up to the lawyer’s office, -and again when we came down. See that scar on -his cheek? Looks as if he had been wounded -there. Well, I noticed that both times.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he was thinking of getting the -diamonds or the money away from us,” suggested Jule. -“He’d have a good time doing it!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I guess not,” Clay replied, but he was -not quite easy in his mind until the young man—a -dark young man in a greenish suit, with little black -eyes and a tiny mustache, turned up at the ends, left -the car at the bridge.</p> - -<p>The gasoline was on board long before noon, -Captain Joe having seen to that personally, and then -all was bustle as the boys headed down the drainage -canal for the Mississippi. The last familiar figure -they saw as they got under way, the motors ticking -merrily under the hatch on the deck floor, was that -of Captain Joe, standing on the pier and waving a -white handkerchief from a pudgy hand.</p> - -<p>The boys were delighted with the trip down to the -Gulf of Mexico, and agreed that if they could ever -afford it they would some day take a leisurely -journey down the Mississippi in the motor boat.</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i> passed through the Caribbean sea -without mishap, though the boys were more than -once reminded of the advice of Captain Joe, to -“keep her head on.” It was rather more difficult -navigating the eastern coast, but there were no -serious accidents, and Jule gained in health every -minute. On the way down Frank, now a welcome -member of the party, gave the boys lessons in -Spanish, and many a friendly tilt they had over their -pronunciation of the tongue spoken principally in -South America.</p> - -<p>One evening in early June the lights of Para -gladdened the eyes of the boys, for there, away to the -north, ran the current of the mighty Amazon!</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chVII'>CHAPTER VII.—A BOAT FROM THE SOUTH BRANCH</h2> - -<p class='first'>The boys had headed the <i>Rambler</i> for Para, -which is some distance south of the mouth of the -Amazon, for two reasons. The first was that -supplies could be purchased there cheaper than at the -towns in the interior of Brazil, as the city is the -principal commercial port of that country. They -had put in a good supply of gasoline at New -Orleans, but there was not near enough in the tanks -to attempt the navigation of the long stretch of water -ahead of them. Besides, their supply of provisions -was running short.</p> - -<p>There are several cities of good size along the -Amazon and her tributaries, but excessive freight -rates would make purchases there too expensive -for the lessening supply of ready money. Trading -vessels from all parts of the world make a highway -of the Amazon, cargoes being put off and taken on -more than two thousand miles from the Atlantic -coast. In fact, navigation of the river and its -branches ends only at the gorges of the eastern -Andes.</p> - -<p>Para is a modern city in many ways, and boasts -a population of something over a quarter of a -million. It is sixty-five miles from the coast, on a -river of the same name, three thousand from New -York, and three thousand from Buenos Aires. The -river there is something like twenty feet in depth, -but so sloping are the shores that most of the -loading and unloading is done with the aid of lighters.</p> - -<p>The second reason for the decision to enter the -Amazon by way of Para was that the great -waterway of South America is treacherous. In the -language of the native Brazilian Indians, Amazon -means “boat destroyer.” There are monster tidal -waves at the mouth, and the wash from above so -reduces the depth that vessels are frequently -stranded on bars of sand. In addition to these -difficulties, there are numerous islands in the river, -which is fully fifty miles in width at a distance of -a hundred miles from the coast, and it requires the -service of an experienced pilot to keep the direct -course.</p> - -<p>The route to the foothills of the Andes is -considerably longer by way of Para, but the boys were -in no hurry to bring their pleasant excursion to a -close, and the above reasons were considered -sufficient for the choice they made. Besides, there -would be an opportunity to view the lower Amazon -on the way down.</p> - -<p>When the lights of Para came into view that -night, the boys decided to anchor a short distance -above the city and remain there through the -following day, purchasing the needed supplies. Then, on -the second morning, they could proceed westward, -passing through the estuaries and streams which -connect the Para river with the Amazon, and so on -to the mountains. The point of junction with the -Amazon is to the west of Marajo island, a body of -land larger than some of the New England states.</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i>, therefore, came to anchor in a slip -well to the west of the city, and, after partaking of -supper, the boys set out to see the sights of the first -foreign town they had ever set eyes on—that is, the -first foreign town of importance which they had seen -at close range. Case was left on board, and when -the shore party returned he sat on the prow of the -boat, watchful and alert.</p> - -<p>“What did you see in the city?” he asked, as the -boys began letting down the bunks.</p> - -<p>“Same old story,” yawned Jule. “Nothing but -houses! I can find just as queer places in Chicago -as I saw there.”</p> - -<p>“Good old Chicago!” exclaimed Alex, a flood of -memories brought up by the mention of the name.</p> - -<p>“Homesick?” asked Case, with a provoking -smile.</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it! I guess I can like a city, and -think of her, and the good times I’ve had there -without wanting to go straight back to her! This -is good enough for me right now.”</p> - -<p>“Did you try your Spanish on anyone?” laughed -Case, presently. “If you did, you probably had to -take to our heels in order to keep out of jail,” he -continued.</p> - -<p>Case and Alex had indulged in many a good-natured -squabble over the pronunciation of certain -Spanish words, and each had predicted all kinds of -trouble for the other when the time to use the -language came.</p> - -<p>“Sure I talked Spanish,” replied Alex, a whimsical -smile spreading over his face. “I delivered an -oration in the city hall! Didn’t I, Frank?”</p> - -<p>Frank Porter and Alex had become fast friends. -They bunked together and planned mischief together. -In fact, Clay and Case were having rather -a busy time with Alex, Jule, and Frank. Jule’s -health was improving so fast, and he was so full of -animal spirits because of his new lease of life, that -he kept things moving pretty lively, while Frank -and Alex were always engaged in some mischief, -not necessarily vicious mischief, but just fantastic -enough to keep the company stirred up most of the -time.</p> - -<p>Frank promptly backed Alex up in the ridiculous -assertion that he had made, and was as promptly -chased off the deck by Case, who growled at the -pranks of the boys one minute and joined in with -them the next. It was close on to midnight when -Case moved over to where Clay sat and began a -whispered conversation with him.</p> - -<p>“Did you see anyone you knew in Para, that is, -anyone besides your own party?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“That is a strange question,” Clay responded. -“Of course I did not. Why do you ask?”</p> - -<p>“One more question,” Case went on. “Have -you seen anything since you came here with a -familiar look to it?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. We are a long way from -anything I know the look of, except what came with us.”</p> - -<p>“Look around you now,” advised Case, “and see -if there isn’t something familiar in view.”</p> - -<p>“In the boat, you mean?”</p> - -<p>“No, in the river.”</p> - -<p>“There’s the water!” laughed Clay. “That -looks familiar.”</p> - -<p>“And the ships?”</p> - -<p>There was a moon nearly at the full, and a soft -light lay over the river and the sleeping city beyond. -Clay arose and looked over the scene and then -thoughtfully seated himself again. Case regarded -him expectantly, but waited for him to speak.</p> - -<p>“I know what you mean,” Clay said. “What -about it?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“When did you first see it?”</p> - -<p>“Of course you mean that smoky little steamer -with yellow and green on her stack? That is what -I am referring to.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Clay answered. “That is the only -familiar thing in sight, so far as I can see.”</p> - -<p>“You remember where you saw her last?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; in the South Branch. She lay near us -the day before we left on this trip.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Case went on, “you asked me when I -first saw her—here, I presume you mean—and I’ll -tell you that she came puffing in just after you boys -left for the shore. You were still in sight, on a pier, -when she anchored, and they got out a boat and -rowed over after you.”</p> - -<p>“Whew!” whistled Clay, in astonishment.</p> - -<p>“That’s why I asked you if you saw anybody in -Para that you had ever seen before.”</p> - -<p>“Did you recognize any of the people who went -ashore in the boat as persons you had seen before—in -Chicago or elsewhere?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; there was a man, a youngish man with a -scar on his cheek, his left cheek, almost under the -ear, with little black, piggy eyes, and a tiny black -mustache, with the ends turned up. He seemed to -be giving orders to the others. Ever see him -before?”</p> - -<p>Clay remembered that morning in Chicago, when -he had secured the reward for restoring the -diamonds. This was the man who had run after the -car which Jule and himself had taken at the corner -of Madison and Dearborn streets. He stated the -incident, briefly, to his companion.</p> - -<p>“Why, I saw that same man on the steamer in -the South Branch,” Case exclaimed. “That is why -I noted his appearance so carefully here. He wore -a greenish suit in Chicago.”</p> - -<p>“He had such a suit on when I saw him that -morning,” Clay said.</p> - -<p>“Well,” Case mused, directly, “he’s come after us?”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that?”</p> - -<p>“We might have delivered the stones to the wrong party.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” cried Clay. “The advertisement -would have brought the owner and an officer to the -place where they were to be returned and the -reward given out. A crook wouldn’t advertise in that -open way. This fellow is not on any legitimate -business, if his errand here is concerned with us.”</p> - -<p>“But why should he follow us?” persisted Case. -“That is just what I don’t know,” puzzled Clay. -“We have nothing he could rob us of, except the -boat, and that doesn’t belong to us. We haven’t -done anything anybody could take offense at, or -consider hostile.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he’s here,” Case concluded, “and it is -up to us to keep a sharp eye on him. There! He’s -returning to the steamer now.”</p> - -<p>As the boy spoke a boat put out from a pier on -the south shore and proceeded swiftly toward the -steamer with the yellow and green stack. It was -not light enough out on the river to enable the boys -to recognize any of the faces in the craft, but Case -put his hand on Clay’s arm, warning him to remain -silent until the rowers came under the prow light -of the steamer.</p> - -<p>“That’s the man!” he said presently, as a light -from the deck of the steamer struck fairly in the -faces of those in the boat.</p> - -<p>“Yes; that is the man!”</p> - -<p>“I hope we aren’t going to have our whole trip -spoiled by anyone sneaking after us like this and -making trouble!” Case wailed.</p> - -<p>“We’ll have to meet whatever comes,” Clay -reminded the other. “And now,” he continued, -“we’ll set a watch on deck for the night. In the -morning we’ll take on our supplies as early as -possible and get under way. We’ll soon find out -whether this fellow is following us, or whether his -appearance here is merely a coincidence.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll watch to-night,” Case volunteered, but Clay -had other views. The conversation with Case had -brought back to his mind something Frank Porter -had said on the night of his first appearance at the -<i>Rambler</i>’s pier. There certainly was mystery -connected with the boy’s sudden appearance, with his -watching about in the storm for a view of the -<i>Rambler</i> and her crew, with his anxiety to get back -to the country he had left with the boys as companions.</p> - -<p>So he explained to Case that he was not at all -sleepy, but might be on the next night, and so -persuaded the boy to go off to his bunk, with the -understanding that he (Case) should watch next if it was -thought best to station a guard. As soon as Case -was asleep, Clay went to the cabin and quietly awoke -Frank Porter.</p> - -<p>“Come out on deck,” he instructed the boy, “I -want to talk with you.”</p> - -<p>In five minutes the lad was out on the prow, -standing by Clay’s side, his face white, his figure -looking weak and irresolute.</p> - -<p>“I know what you’re going to say,” the boy -began, without waiting for Clay to open the conversation. -“I have been wanting to see you alone ever -since that boat,” pointing to the steamer, “anchored -near the <i>Rambler</i>.”</p> - -<p>“You recognize her?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>“The Senorita? Oh, yes, I saw her dropping -anchor here just as we reached the dock to-night, on -our way into the city.”</p> - -<p>“And you saw the boat pulling for the shore?” -“Yes; don’t you remember I loitered behind the -others, and that Alex came back for me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; well, you saw a man in that boat you knew?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir; a man I know and fear.”</p> - -<p>“Have you anything more to say?” asked Clay, -wishing to give the boy the chance to tell whatever -story he might have to tell in his own way.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” was the quick reply. “I’ll be short and -quick with it, too. I want you to put me ashore here -and go on without me.”</p> - -<p>“Is that all you have to say?”</p> - -<p>“Everything.”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t the least idea that we’ll do a thing -like that, have you?” asked Clay, pitying the -dejected boy from the bottom of his heart.</p> - -<p>“I thought you might be willing to do so.”</p> - -<p>“But why?”</p> - -<p>“Because you will all get into serious trouble if -you don’t. That man—I can’t tell you why—followed -me from Peru to Chicago. He persecuted me -in Chicago. You saw the plight I was in when I -came to you on that rainy night! I was hungry and -cold and afraid. You boys fed and warmed me and -took me into your lives. So I’m not going to let you -do anything more for me if it will make trouble for -you.”</p> - -<p>“But if we leave you here,” Clay urged, “this -man of whom you are in fear will have you at his -mercy, won’t he?”</p> - -<p>“I presume so, but he won’t set any traps for -you.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you tell me why he is following you?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” Clay declared, “you go back to your -bunk. You’re going to remain with us, and if -trouble comes we’ll fight it out together.”</p> - -<p>“But you don’t know,” began the other, but Clay -hustled him away!</p> - -<p>Then he sat for a long time in deep thought on -the dark deck.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chVIII'>CHAPTER VIII.—AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY</h2> - -<p class='first'>The river is wide at Para, and there are always -dozens of steamers and trading vessels anchored off -the city. This night was no exception. There was -a little group of vessels lying within hailing distance -of the motor boat. The one nearest, perhaps, was -the steamer which Frank had called the <i>Señorita</i>, not -a large boat, but one having the appearance of great -speed.</p> - -<p>There was little stir of life on the river, and Clay -watched light after light go out in the nearby craft -with a sensation of loneliness. Now and then, it -is true, he could hear a voice coming over the water, -but usually the words spoken were in an unfamiliar -tongue. The air was dry and warm.</p> - -<p>The moon, passing farther to the west, had -encountered a bank of clouds, and was visible only -a part of the time. In these darker intervals, -whenever the listening boy heard the rattling of an oar -it seemed to him that the boat in which it swung was -stealthily approaching the <i>Rambler</i> with some -sinister purpose in the hearts of those within her.</p> - -<p>He knew that Frank was not asleep, for he could -hear him tumbling about in his bunk, and more -than once he started up with the purpose of calling -to the lad and having the truth of the danger which -hung over him clearly defined, but each time he sat -down again, reluctant to press him on so delicate a -subject. His idea was that, at sometime during the -night, something would occur which might give him -an inkling of the threatened danger.</p> - -<p>Just before daylight, what he half feared, half -hoped for, took place. During a dark moment he -heard the bunt, felt the jar, of a prow against the -side of the <i>Rambler</i>. He sat still and listened, his -only motion being that of an arm to bring his -automatic revolver into position for use.</p> - -<p>Presently the light boat tipped a trifle to the east, -as if some heavy body or bodies were keeling her -over by clinging to the railing which ran around -the deck. Whispered words in Spanish followed, -and then the soft pad of a naked foot on the planks.</p> - -<p>Clay’s purpose in remaining inactive at this time -and permitting the intruders to gain the deck was to -allow the invasion of the <i>Rambler</i> to proceed -without interruption until the object of the visit was -made known by some unmistakable proceeding. -For all he knew the object of the intrusion might be -larceny. In that case he did not wish to take a -human life, as he would be almost certain to do -should he open fire with his automatic revolver.</p> - -<p>Presently the footsteps moved in the direction of -the cabin door, which was wide open. The bulk of -the cabin could only be outlined in the darkness, -and the creeping figure could not be seen at all. -The deck seemed empty save for himself, only the -soft pat-pat of naked feet showing the presence -of another.</p> - -<p>The restless tumblings in the cabin had ceased, -and Clay was under the impression that Frank had -dropped off into slumber, but in this he was -mistaken. He was already rising to his feet to switch -on the light in the cabin when another light shot out -of the doorway like a bullet.</p> - -<p>It proceeded from a powerful electric searchlight, -held in Frank’s left hand, and showed a weapon in -the right. Straight out of the doorway it flashed, -bringing into the center of a white circle the dusky -face and evil eyes of a native Indian, such as Clay -had observed on the streets of Para that evening.</p> - -<p>The Indian was crouching low, his shoulders -hunched as if for a quick spring, and a knife flashed -back the light, a knife clutched in his right hand, -already half lifted. The object of the night visit -was no longer in doubt. Clay stepped forward, but -quick as he was the Indian was too active for him.</p> - -<p>There was a sudden movement and a splash in the -river. When they cautiously peered over the -railing of the deck, a second later, nothing was to be -seen in the water below. Even the boat in which -the Indian had reached the <i>Rambler</i> had -disappeared. Frank threw the rays of his light far up -arid down the current, but no bobbing head came -within its circle.</p> - -<p>“It is of no use to look for him,” the boy said. -“He can swim beneath the surface as handily as on -top.”</p> - -<p>“But where is the boat?” asked Clay. “I -distinctly heard one strike the <i>Rambler</i>.”</p> - -<p>“It was probably taken away at once,” answered -Frank. “The Indian was to do his work on board -and take to the river. Lucky thing you were on -guard.”</p> - -<p>“It strikes me,” Clay returned, “that I had very -little to do with it. You heard him at first?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; I hadn’t been to sleep. I anticipated -something of the sort. I warned you to-night in order -that you might be prepared for anything.</p> - -<p>There was a short silence, during which both boys -turned their heads toward the <i>Señorita</i>, only a few -rods away.</p> - -<p>“I have a notion that we’ll hear something doing -on board our honorable escort, in a minute,” said -Frank, lightly. “They’ll want to know why he -fell down on the pleasant task they set him.”</p> - -<p>“You think he came from the steamer?”</p> - -<p>“I have no doubt of it.”</p> - -<p>They waited and listened a long time, but no -sounds of any kind came from the <i>Señorita</i>.</p> - -<p>“They are too clever to permit him to return after -a failure,” Frank concluded. “Now you see what -you’re up against,” he added. “Are you ready to -set me ashore in the morning?”</p> - -<p>“Hardly,” smiled Clay. “We started out -together, and we’ll stick together, if I have my way -about it. We’ll get our supplies in early and be out -of sight of Para long before night.”</p> - -<p>“If I have my way about it,” Frank said, with -an air of determination, “you’ll leave me behind. -It would be a poor return for all your kindness if I -should get you all murdered.”</p> - -<p>“Promise me that you will make no attempt to -leave us without my consent.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p>“Will you promise?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but you don’t know what is ahead of you if -I remain on the boat. We are going into a wild and -lawless country, and——”</p> - -<p>“I understand. See! It is getting light in the -east. There will be no further trouble to-night, so -we may as well go to bed.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep,” suggested -Frank.</p> - -<p>“Then sit here and watch,” Clay advised, “and -remember, old man, I hold you to your promise!”</p> - -<p>“You may trust me!”</p> - -<p>The voice was low and steady, and Clay knew -that the boy meant just what he said, so he went -off to bed and slept until nine o’clock. When he -came out on deck, rubbing his eyes, all the boys -were there save Alex. Case and Frank, mindful of -Clay’s wish to get away as early as possible, had -attended to getting the supplies on board, and the -<i>Rambler</i> was ready to set her nose against the -streams leading to the Amazon. Clay learned all -this while preparing his breakfast.</p> - -<p>“But where is Alex?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“He is still on shore,” replied Case. “I told him -not to go away, but he rushed off when I was away. -Now we’ll have to go into the city and get him out -of some scrape.”</p> - -<p>“You are mild in your prophecy of evil this -morning,” laughed Jule. “Ordinarily you would have -had him hung, drawn and quartered for trying to -rob a bank.”</p> - -<p>Case hung his head and smiled at the reference -to his failing.</p> - -<p>“Well, he ought to be here,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I should think you would go out of business as -a prophet,” laughed Jule. “All your -prognostications fail. See! This one fails, for here comes -Alex now. What is that he is carrying?”</p> - -<p>“Looks like a large Brazilian monkey,” replied -Frank.</p> - -<p>“And the kid has an escort, at that!” roared -Jule. “Just see the mob chasing after him!”</p> - -<p>“That is a dog he has,” Case exclaimed, looking -at the advancing boy through a glass. “If it isn’t a -half-grown, white bulldog. I’ll wash dishes for a -month. Must be heavy!”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Clay grinned, “Alex is making a try for -the running record, if it is heavy. Look at him -cover the ground!”</p> - -<p>“Better say, ‘How that boy did run, than here he -lies!’” hummed Jule.</p> - -<p>“I guess he’s got good cause to run,” Clay -observed. “Looks to me as if that mob meant -business. You don’t suppose he stole the dog, do you. -Case? Why doesn’t he put him down?”</p> - -<p>“Just like him to steal a dog and get the boat -held up here for a month,” Case answered. “Then -the rainy season will come on, and we’ll not enjoy -the trip at all.”</p> - -<p>The boys all laughed heartily at this new -manifestation of Alex’s failing, and the boy turned away -from them and jumped into the little row-boat, now -ready for the rescue, attached to the prow.</p> - -<p>“Here!” shouted Jule, “don’t go off that way! -I’m going with you. You can’t fight that mess -alone.”</p> - -<p>But Case was pushing off, and the next instant -was rowing with long, steady strokes toward the -pier down which Alex must pass to reach the river -front.</p> - -<p>The next minute Frank, who had planned to go -in the boat, was in the water, headed in the same -direction. The race on shore was now drawing to -a close.</p> - -<p>Clay called out to Case not to leave the boat, but -to hold it ready for the pursued youngster to leap -into, but this was unnecessary, as Alex reached the -end of the pier before the boat could be forced there. -Frank was swimming like a duck in the water, but -was slowly being swept down stream.</p> - -<p>Alex turned for an instant and faced a collection -of a score or more of disreputable-looking men and -boys who were dashing down the pier after him. -Then he lifted his face with a grin, gave out a long -“Whoop” of defiance and took to the river.</p> - -<p>He still held the dog in his arms as he leaped, and, -Alex being obliged to loosen his hold in order to -swim, that thoughtful animal immediately clawed -his way to the boy’s half submerged shoulders and -set up a howl which was as plainly a request for -sympathy and assistance as could be imagined.</p> - -<p>“Hang to the pup!” called Jule.</p> - -<p>But the dog, showing intelligence beyond his years, -seemed to realize the insecurity of his perch and -sprang for the boat, now advancing swiftly toward -the swimmer. The mob on the pier drew up at the -very edge of the water and contented itself by -showering both boy and dog with a volley of broken -bricks and clubs. Case caught the dog as it struck -the rim of the boat and drew it inside.</p> - -<p>By this time Alex was within reaching distance, -and was assisted in, his clothing torn and dripping. -Once in the boat, he turned toward his pursuers, -placed his thumb on the end of his nose, and swung -his four fingers derisively in the air.</p> - -<p>“Come on in!” he shouted. “The water’s fine!”</p> - -<p>A mixture of blackguard English, Spanish, and -Indian, accompanied by another volley of bricks -was the only answer. Then, having expressed his -indifference to the attacks of the mob, Alex turned -his attention to Frank, who was soon drawn out of -the water. The dog was the first one on the deck -of the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>“Start her up,” Alex grinned. “There’s more -coming.”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chIX'>CHAPTER IX.—AN ALARM IN THE NIGHT</h2> - -<p class='first'>“Now you’ve gone and got us into another row!” -grumbled Case, panting from his long pull at the -oars. “You’ve stirred up the whole city, I guess,” -he continued, as an addition to the mob on the pier -swung around a corner.</p> - -<p>“Well, I had to bring the dog, didn’t I?” -demanded Alex, with a most annoying smile. “He’s -my dog. I’ve named him Captain Joe, for the good -old sea captain!”</p> - -<p>“It strikes me you’d better get the <i>Rambler</i> out a -little farther,” suggested Jule. “Those muckers on -shore are getting a boat.”</p> - -<p>This seemed to be sound advice, for three boats -instead of one were being started away from the -pier. Clay set the motors going at full speed and -headed for the other side of the river. At the same -moment the <i>Señorita</i> shipped anchor and headed -shoreward, with the evident purpose of picking up -the approaching boats.</p> - -<p>“Let her out!” advised Alex, patting the wet dog -on the head. “If they catch us, with the help of -that steamer they’ll want my dog.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you get the pup?” asked Jule, trying -to make friends with Captain Joe, a heavy, ugly, -red-eyed, white bulldog about a year old.</p> - -<p>“Bought him,” replied Alex, “and then they -tried to steal him away from me. You’d better get a -move on, Clay!”</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i> was now headed up the river at her -best speed, and the <i>Señorita</i> soon dropped back. As -she turned to take up her old position Captain Joe, -who seemed to understand that he was now a dog -of great importance, put his paws upon the railing -and barked an insulting farewell to her and the -members of the mob she was taking on board.</p> - -<p>“That’s a fine dog,” said Jule.</p> - -<p>“You bet he is!” asserted Alex. “I saw him -doing tricks up in town and bought him of a boy, and -then an old man came along and claimed him, and I -bought the dog of him, and then another man came -along and said the dog was his, and I bought him -again, and then another man came along and said the -dog was his, and I bought him again, and then -another man came——”</p> - -<p>“To be continued in our next!” shouted Jule. -“Serves you good and right for going off without -me. Now, tell us what took place.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” Alex went on, making a wry face at the -<i>Señorita</i> as the <i>Rambler</i> shot around a point of land -and was slowed down a trifle, “I’m telling you -about it. I bought Captain Joe off a boy, and a -man came along and claimed him, and I bought him -off him, and then another man came along and -claimed the dog, and I bought him——”</p> - -<p>Jule chased Alex and his dog into the cabin and -left them there to recover from the effects of their -bath.</p> - -<p>“That lad certainly needs a mental tonic!” he -exclaimed, as he went on deck again.</p> - -<p>“I don’t doubt that he is telling the exact truth, in -his whimsical way, of course,” Frank argued, in -defense of his friend. “That is an old trick in this -country. You buy something of one man and -another claims it. Alex would have been buying that -dog yet if he had remained on shore. He just had -to run for it or lose the dog.”</p> - -<p>“He needs a dog about as much as I need a cupola -on top of my head,” Case put in.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how we’ve got along without a dog as -long as we have,” grinned Jule.</p> - -<p>“What sort of a river is this Para stream?” -asked Case, as the <i>Rambler</i> pressed on through what -seemed to be a lake anywhere from ten to fifteen -miles in width, with a row of long islands hugging -the south shore.</p> - -<p>“No river at all,” Frank replied. “It is merely -an estuary, as you will see when the Atlantic tide -meets the current coming down from the west. And -the river that runs into this estuary isn’t the Para at -all. It is the Tocantins, a stream a thousand miles -long. Why this body of water is put down on the -maps as the Para river is more than I can say.”</p> - -<p>About dark, after a run of sixty or seventy miles, -the boys came to the island which sits at the mouth -of the Tocantins river. At nine in the evening they -anchored in front of Cameta, which is a small town -on the west side of the Tocantins. Here they -decided to spend the night.</p> - -<p>“It seems like we were never going to get to the -Amazon,” Jule complained, as the lights of the town -vanished for the night.</p> - -<p>“We are still at least two hundred miles from the -Amazon,” Frank replied. “Across there, to the -North, is Marajo island. We will sail along on this -side of it all day to-morrow, probably, on an estuary -fully as wide as that we have been following. Then -we will come to a region of bayous from 50 to 100 -yards in width. There are trees two hundred feet -high in there, and the forest is so thick with tangled -vines that one can scarcely get through it. Then -we will come out on the Amazon, not far from -Gurupa, a place of some importance. Then, after we -pass the mouth of the Xingu river, we will be fairly -on our way to the foot of the Andes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, hurry up!” broke in Alex, snapping his -fingers at Captain Joe, “this honorable puppy wants -to get his paws into the earth again.”</p> - -<p>For two days the boys sat under an awning which -had been spread over the hot forward deck and -feasted their city-bred eyes on the luxuriance of the -tropical forest. It was all new and strange to them. -In some places the boughs of the great trees met -over their heads, making a green bower of the -bayou through which they were passing.</p> - -<p>Now and then a native Indian glided past them in -a canoe made of some light wood. These natives are -dark as negroes, but their hair is long and straight. -They are not at all warlike.</p> - -<p>The night before reaching the Amazon the boys -tied up in a bayou and put all lights out early.</p> - -<p>“If the <i>Señorita</i> is sneaking along after us,” Clay -said, “we must know it. This is as good a place to -fight it out as any other.”</p> - -<p>“They will never fight it out in the open,” Frank -declared, moodily. “They will wait for a chance to -blow us out of water, or to knife us from behind.”</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i> was dark and still at midnight, and -Alex was on watch, on the forward deck with Captain Joe -sniffing the heavy air at his side.</p> - -<p>“What do you see, old boy?” asked Alex, as the -dog ran, whining, toward the prow.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe lowered his ugly-looking muzzle and -appeared to be looking down into the water. Alex -groped about in the darkness for an instant and then -called Clay, speaking very softly, “so as not to queer -the act that is coming on,” he explained.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” whispered Clay, as the two -crouched in the prow, looking into the dark bayou.</p> - -<p>“Watch the dog,” advised Alex.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe appeared to be quivering from nose -to the tip end of his stumpy tail. His ears were -lifted as Alex patted his head, and his teeth snapped -between snarling lips. He whined softly as Alex -restrained him from jumping into the dark water.</p> - -<p>“There’s an Indian about,” Alex whispered. “I -bought him of an up-river Indian he seemed afraid -of, and every time we’ve passed one he’s acted like -this. Seems as if the Indian he’s scenting is in the -water—probably swimming toward the boat.”</p> - -<p>While the two stood there in silence, listening for -some ripple of water to give them the location of the -prowler, the quick, sharp ring of a steamer’s exhaust -came to their ears. They listened for what seemed -to them to be a long time, but the sounds came no -nearer.</p> - -<p>“That’s the <i>Señorita</i>,” Clay commented, “and she -is undoubtedly waiting back there in some bay for a -report from the mucker who has been sent on ahead -to see what the prospects for a midnight murder -are.”</p> - -<p>Captain Joe was growing more uneasy every -minute, and Alex was having a hard time holding -him. His sharp claws were making too much noise -on the deck, and the boy tried to throw him over on -his side.</p> - -<p>“Lie still!” he commanded, but Captain Joe had -other notions of what was best to do under the -circumstances. He wiggled away from the boy’s hands -in the dark and sprang into the water.</p> - -<p>“Now you’ve done it!” gritted Alex. “Wait -until I get you back on the boat!”</p> - -<p>There was now a great splashing in the water, -terminating in a shriek of terror and pain, and Clay -turned his searchlight on the scene of the -disturbance. Two heads were seen bobbing about in the -water, one of an Indian, the other of the dog.</p> - -<p>“Get him, Captain Joe!” cried Alex, overlooking -all caution in the excitement of the moment.</p> - -<p>There was a plunge and a cry and both heads -disappeared. Directly the flashlight showed the dog’s -head on the surface, swimming toward the boat. -The Indian was nowhere in sight.</p> - -<p>“He dove under and got away from the puppy,” -Alex explained, as he leaned far over the side of -the boat to assist Captain Joe on deck. “Did you -lose him, old boy?” he asked patting the dog on -the head.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid not,” Clay observed, turning his light -on the dog and disclosing bloody water dropping -away from the jaws.</p> - -<p>Alex bent over his pet and saw a long knife -wound on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>“They sure got together in the water,” he said. -“I guess that is a good Indian now!”</p> - -<p>“It is a terrible thing to take a human life,” Clay -said. “I hope the poor fellow got away.”</p> - -<p>“So he can come back some other night when -we’re not watching!” cried Alex. “If he hadn’t -been trying to get us he wouldn’t have been here, and -wouldn’t have been hurt.”</p> - -<p>Captain Joe moved back to the cabin and lay down -to lick his hurt.</p> - -<p>“You’ll have to keep him chained,” Clay -suggested, with a smile at the interested face of the boy.</p> - -<p>“Huh!” cried Alex. “You keep your old Indians -chained!”</p> - -<p>There was another long silence. The flashlights -were off, and the dog lay asleep at the cabin door. -Then the puff-puff of a steamer was in the air, and -the sound of churning water. As the boys listened -the sounds grew fainter.</p> - -<p>“They’ve gone back,” Alex ventured. “They’ve -given up all hope of getting us to-night. I wonder -why they are after Frank, and why he is so -close-mouthed about the matter?”</p> - -<p>“Whatever the difficulty is,” Clay said, “there is -likely to be more incidents like this before we get -back to the South Branch.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to stop at Gurupa?” asked Alex, -disappointed at the reticence of the other.</p> - -<p>“We must have more gasoline,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“Why, we filled the tanks at Para!”</p> - -<p>“Just so, but one of the tanks sprung a leak, -and we’ve got just about half enough for our -needs.”</p> - -<p>Alex gave a low whistle of amazement.</p> - -<p>“And we’ve got too little money to let it run out -of the tanks without getting us anywhere,” he said.</p> - -<p>“When we fill the tanks,” Clay said, dejectedly, -“we’ll be just about out of money.”</p> - -<p>Another long whistle from Alex.</p> - -<p>“What are we going to do?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Just keep on going.”</p> - -<p>“But we can’t run without gasoline.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll have to take in some sort of a cargo and -trade along the river,” suggested Clay. “We may -be able to get through in that way.”</p> - -<p>“It will be fun!” exclaimed Alex.</p> - -<p>“We might sell Captain Joe,” hinted Clay, with -a laugh, “if we could find anyone to buy him.”</p> - -<p>“I guess not!” exclaimed Alex, indignantly. -“If it hadn’t been for Captain Joe we might all -have been murdered in our beds!” No, sir; we’ll -starve before we’ll sell Captain Joe!”</p> - -<p>Clay chuckled, respecting the boy’s loyalty to the -dog, and nothing more was said on the subject.</p> - -<p>The remainder of the night passed without -incident, except that the occasional exhaust of steam -told the boys that the <i>Señorita</i>, or some other -meddlesome craft, was lying in the darkness to the -south. In the morning, however, there were no -signs of the pursuing boat.</p> - -<p>Shortly before noon the next day the <i>Rambler</i> -passed out of the narrow bayou she had been -following and speeded out on the Amazon, the river of -their dreams! It is needless to say that the boys -opened their eyes wide at sight of the famous -stream, which is dotted with islands at that point, -looking more like a lake than a river. It is so -wide that the shores are only dimly seen from the -center of the current.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon they reached the little harbor -where they were to buy gasoline. When, after some -haggling and unnecessary delay, the motors were -started again, Clay looked very sober.</p> - -<p>“We’re broke,” he announced. “If we get any -more gasoline we’ve got to earn it, in some way.”</p> - -<p>To the credit of the boys be it said that they -received the announcement with due gravity, but -refused to be much depressed by it. They declared -that they could earn more money, never stopping to -think that they were in South America and not in -Chicago!</p> - -<p>Straight to the west the mighty river lay, -stretching to the blue skyline. They passed the -Trombetas on the third day, and towards night -came to the Madeira, into which Frank, who was at -the wheel, directed the prow of the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>“Where might you be going, Frank?” Jule asked -as, after half an hour, the boy turned the <i>Rambler</i> -into a little creek perhaps five miles away from the -mouth of the Madeira. “Which of the big streams -that met back a ways is the Amazon?”</p> - -<p>“This is the Madeira,” Frank replied. “It is not -as long as the Amazon, but it is some river for all -that. I don’t know that this creek has any name, but -that won’t prevent us tying up for the night here. -I’ve a sort of affection for this place. You see, -boys,” he added, a grim smile on his face, “I stopped -here on the way down from Peru. I wasn’t exactly -looking for sport here, either! While here at that -time, I saw something that caused me to think we -might pick up a cargo here now—something we can -turn into gasoline and such tinned goods as we need. -From now on, of course, we can get most of our -food from the river and forest, as fish and game are -plenty. I’ll show you our dessert, directly.”</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i> was soon anchored for the night in -the creek, but the boys did not build a “cook” fire -on shore, as the wild tangle of undergrowth came -down to the edge of the creek. While Case was -frying bacon and eggs and making coffee, Frank went -ashore in the row-boat, “after dessert,” he said, the -motor boat having been anchored at least thirty feet -from the bank. When he returned he carried an -armful of green, tough-looking things, each -weighing not far from two pounds. He passed one to -each of his chums and sat grinning as they made -cautious examinations and asked questions about -the “fruit.”</p> - -<p>“They are custard apples,” he said, after the boys -had guessed for a time. “The natives call ’em -chirimoya. Some of them weigh ten pounds. See, -it is a pie, already made,” he added, breaking open -one of the “apples.”</p> - -<p>Inside was a delicious soft pulp, thickly sown with -black seeds. It reminded the boys of the Indiana -pawpaw. Jule said it was a banana, pine-apple, pear -and strawberry all in one. Several were consumed -that night and more collected for the next day.</p> - -<p>“Besides these,” Frank said, opening a second -“apple pie,” as he called it, “we’ll find something -worth while here.”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chX'>CHAPTER X.—A CAMPFIRE IN THE JUNGLE</h2> - -<p class='first'>“What do you mean by something worth -while?” demanded Alex, busy with pancakes at the -electric stove.</p> - -<p>“It probably isn’t a dog!” laughed Jule.</p> - -<p>“You let Captain Joe alone,” commanded Alex, -“or I’ll instruct him to make a supper of you. He’s -some dog!”</p> - -<p>“Where can any cargo procured here be disposed -of?” asked Clay, hopefully, remembering the empty -purse.</p> - -<p>“There’s a little town up the river where vessels -bound for Europe take on cargoes,” Frank -explained, with a knowing smile, “and we may find -something we can get rid of if we tell them we need -the money.”</p> - -<p>“We need the money, fast enough,” Case -grumbled. “If someone hadn’t let the gasoline run -away we’d have plenty now! Wonder it didn’t set -fire to the boat!”</p> - -<p>“Growl, bear, growl!” laughed Jule.</p> - -<p>“Whose heard anything of the <i>Señorita</i> to-day?” -asked Case, as they all lounged on the forward deck -after supper.</p> - -<p>“I think she must have gone back,” Clay -answered. “I haven’t seen or heard her for two -days.”</p> - -<p>“She hasn’t gone back,” Frank insisted. “She -will follow us to the foothills, unless something -unusual stops her. We are getting into her home -territory now, and may expect trouble.”</p> - -<p>“What is all this about?” asked Jule. “Why so -mysterious?”</p> - -<p>Frank did not answer, and the boy continued:</p> - -<p>“I wish the <i>Señorita</i> had blown up on the South -Branch.”</p> - -<p>“How would you like to be on the South Branch -to-night?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“This suits me well enough,” was Jule’s answer. -“If there’s any need of a guard to-night, who’s in -for it?” he added, looking about for more dessert. -Frank was on his feet in a moment.</p> - -<p>“I will watch to-night,” he said. “On the way -down from Peru, as I told you, I stopped here for a -couple of days, and I think, as I said before, I know -where we can find something that looks like money, -if we watch closely to-night.”</p> - -<p>The boys looked over the darkling scene, over the -narrow stream, over the broad Madeira, perhaps two -hundred yards away, over the forest, crowding down -to the rim of the little creek, and Case echoed the -sentiments of all the rest when he asked:</p> - -<p>“What in the world is there in here that we can -get money for?”</p> - -<p>“If we had some of this scenery on the Chicago -wood market, now,” Jule laughed, waving a hand -over the landscape, which showed trees more than -two hundred feet high, “we might be able to do -business on a cash basis, but I don’t see any -sustenance in this.”</p> - -<p>“It strikes me that you took a queer location for -your resting-place on the way out,” Alex put in.</p> - -<p>“Over there, a few hundred yards,” Frank -explained, “I found a pretty fair hotel—in a tree! It -seemed to me, at that time to be about the neatest, -coziest little hotel on earth!”</p> - -<p>“Hotel?” repeated Clay, wondering if the -strange boy was at last about to talk of the mystery -which surrounded him, after a silence of weeks.</p> - -<p>“You see,” Frank continued, “when I came down -the river I had—well, I had something in my -possession which—there was something the other -people wanted, you understand. They had followed me -pretty closely from Cloud island, and I thought I’d -drop in here and let them go by.”</p> - -<p>“And they did?” asked Clay, disappointed at the -guarded tone of the boy. “Did they go by?”</p> - -<p>“After three days,” was the reply. “It was while -I was hiding in the tree hotel I’ve been telling you -about that I saw—well, that I came upon—or, -rather, that I arranged for the cargo that we may be -able to turn into money—when we come to the ships -that are going to Europe!”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to know what you’re talking about!” -exclaimed Alex. “There is about as much coherence -to your explanation as there is to a railroad freight -schedule. What was it you ‘arranged for?’”</p> - -<p>“Where is Cloud island?” demanded Jule, not -waiting for the boy to reply.</p> - -<p>Frank flushed, as if caught in some dishonorable -evasion of the truth, and remained silent.</p> - -<p>“How long will it take to get this may-be cargo -out?” asked Clay, as much to break the painful -silence as for any other purpose.</p> - -<p>“Not very long,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“Can we do it in the night?” asked Jule. “Say, -but I’d like to go into that jungle in the night!”</p> - -<p>“Then we’ll take Captain Joe and go,” asserted -Alex.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe wagged his stumpy tail as if -seconding the proposition, and Alex began telling him -what a fine gentleman of a dog he was. Captain Joe -had already begun to fill out, he having been half -starved at the time Alex rescued him, and was now -a powerful fellow and as playful as a kitten. The -boys were teaching him to do all sorts of -tricks.</p> - -<p>“You’d better keep the dog on the boat,” Frank -warned. “He’ll only bark and attract attention to -us.”</p> - -<p>“In that wilderness!” ejaculated Case. “Who is -there in that bunch of tall timber to hear a dog -bark?”</p> - -<p>The boys talked over the proposed night visit to -the jungle while they finished supper and washed -and set away the dishes. Frank seemed to be of the -opinion that he could best do what was to be done -alone, though the others scoffed at the notion of his -bringing out, single handed, anything that might be -traded for gasoline and tinned goods!</p> - -<p>It was finally decided that Case should go with -Frank, and that the other boys should remain on the -boat and listen for such signals as the shore party -might send out. If help was needed in moving what -Frank vaguely referred to as “his cargo,” one long -call was to be the signal; if there was danger, three -long calls.</p> - -<p>The waters of the creek would carry the motor -boat only in the middle of the current, for the -shores, besides sloping over shallows, were here and -there lined with fallen tree-trunks.</p> - -<p>“It looks like ruination!” Alex commented, as -the row-boat was made ready, and from that -moment the stream was known as “Ruination Creek.”</p> - -<p>Clay rowed the two boys ashore, saw that they -were provided with automatic revolvers and -flashlights, and then took the boat back to the <i>Rambler</i>. -It was left ready for instant use, however, with -weapons and flashlights on the stern seat.</p> - -<p>“There’s something strange about that boy -Frank,” Jule commented, as the two boys -disappeared in what seemed from the boat to be a solid -wall of green foliage, their flashlights showing only -dimly through the heavy undergrowth. “I don’t -understand him at all. What kind of a cargo can -he get in there in the darkness? And what is -keeping him from telling us all about it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t quite understand why he should make -a mystery of the proposed cargo, as we are all equally -interested with himself in the matter,” Clay -admitted. “I don’t see why he shouldn’t be as -confidential with us as we have always been with him. -He has never explained to my satisfaction why he -was hanging around the warehouse in the rain that -night on the South Branch.”</p> - -<p>“Why, he was lonesome, and homesick, and -anxious to go along with us, yet afraid to ask,” -interposed Alex. “Anyway, he’ll tell us when he -gets good and ready. Don’t let’s knock!”</p> - -<p>“That’s slang!” Jule shouted. “You wash -dishes!”</p> - -<p>“Is that slang, Clay?” asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s a short and vigorous way of -expressing a sensible admonition, so we may as well let -it go,” Clay replied.</p> - -<p>“Sensible admonition! I’ll write that down!” -laughed Jule.</p> - -<p>“And the finding of the diamonds! And the -newspaper with the penciled hand pointing to the -advertisement offering the $500 reward for the -return of the gems,” Clay went on, “is another -strange thing. Who could have placed the marked -newspaper where it was found? You remember, -Jule, that the lawyer who paid over the reward asked -me how the newspaper came to be there, and I -couldn’t tell him!”</p> - -<p>“No one had been ashore that morning except -Frank,” Jule said, “and he went away early, and -might have sneaked back with the paper. It wasn’t -there the night before. It sure was either Frank or -Captain Joe who put the paper there.”</p> - -<p>Captain Joe, the dog, worthy representative of a -staunch old friend, put his chin on Alex’s knee, at -mention of his name, and wagged his tail as if -promising to unravel the whole mystery as soon as -he got time!</p> - -<p>“I wish someone would offer a reward now that -we could get,” Jule grinned. “I think we could use -a little old reward about now. Anyway, I don’t see -where all our $200 and the $500 reward went to. -We must have been tossing money to the birds!”</p> - -<p>Clay and Alex looked at each other with glances -of understanding. Jule had never been told of the -loss of the money.</p> - -<p>“Funny about that reward coming just at the -time it did, and just as it did,” began Alex, but here -a great chattering in the jungle cut the conversation -short. There was such a rustling in the foliage, now -invisible in the blackness of the night, and such a -medley of whisperings and shrill cries that the boys -involuntarily reached for their weapons. Then Jule -laughed and turned on the prow light, for they had -been sitting in the darkness.</p> - -<p>“You’ll see ’em in a second,” he told the others, -winking the light on and off to attract more -attention. “There’s a brigade of Brazilian monkeys in -there, and the boys have stirred them up with their -lights and noise.”</p> - -<p>“I doubt if we’ll get a look at them,” Clay -corrected, “for the Brazilian monkeys are shy little -chaps. Even Captain Joe seems to understand that -they will not be at home to callers to-night,” he -added, as the dog wagged his tail and lay down -again.</p> - -<p>As the two explorers in the forest passed farther -from the creek the protests of the monkeys died out, -and all was reasonably still again. Clay moved over -by the light switch so that Jule could not turn it on -again, as he considered it safer to sit in the darkness. -The bright prow light made too good a mark for a -hostile gun, he thought.</p> - -<p>While Clay, Alex, and Jule waited on the -forward deck of the <i>Rambler</i>, still discussing the -incomprehensible actions and silences of Frank, that young -man, accompanied by Case, was plunging through -the thickets lying south of Ruination Creek. Back -of them rolled the Amazon, only a short distance -away. To the east lay the Madeira, to the west the -level plain ending only at the Andes.</p> - -<p>They had proceeded perhaps half a mile when -Frank stopped in a little opening and looked about -with expectant eyes. The noises of the forest were -all about them. Birds, suddenly awakened from -sleep, cried out to each other from treetops, and -hidden things scurried along under the dense foliage -which everywhere concealed the rich black earth.</p> - -<p>“It was right here somewhere,” Frank said, “that -I found the tree hotel, and it is right about here -that we’ll get the cargo if we get it at all. Do you -smell anything unusual?” he added, sniffing the air.</p> - -<p>“Only wood burning.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that means a campfire!”</p> - -<p>“But who would be building a campfire in -this wilderness?” demanded Case. “Perhaps the -chimney of your hotel smokes!” he added, laughingly.</p> - -<p>“That is for us to find out!” Frank replied, and -Case detected a tone of anxiety in his voice. “If -anyone has been in here, looking around, why, my -cargo——”</p> - -<p>“What about your cargo?” asked Case, as the -other stopped suddenly.</p> - -<p>“Why, it will be gone,” Frank admitted, in a -moment.</p> - -<p>Directly Case caught his companion by the arm -and pointed straight ahead into the jungle.</p> - -<p>“There is where the smoke comes from,” he -explained. “There’s a fire in the thicket yonder, and -men moving around it.”</p> - -<p>Frank followed the direction of the pointing hand -and grasped his companion by the arm.</p> - -<p>“We may as well go back,” he whispered. -“Those men are here because they know about my -cargo. If we move silently, they will not know that -we are here. Come along! They must not see me -to-night!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to know something more about this -cargo before I give up hope of getting it,” Case -declared, stubbornly. “I’m not going to miss a -chance of getting the money we need for any little -interruption like this. Who are those men? Why -are you afraid to let them see you here? Do you -know why they are here? Ever see them before?”</p> - -<p>“Why, it is too dark to see their faces,” Frank -explained, hesitatingly, “and we couldn’t tell friend -from foe at that distance, anyway,” he added. “But -the fact that they are here is enough for me to -know! Come along! We’re going back to the -<i>Rambler</i> now, we can come again in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the trouble with you!” Case whispered, -reprovingly. “You are too much of a quitter!</p> - -<p>You were afraid to come on board the <i>Rambler</i>, -that night on the South Branch. Now you’re afraid -to go on, because you see two men standing by a -campfire! Well, I don’t know where your cargo is, -or what it is, and you all say I’m a kicker and a -prophet of evil, but I’m going on in and find out -why those men are camping in this jungle.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry you’ve got such a bad opinion of me,” -Frank said, slowly. “Perhaps you may change -your mind, in time. As for going in there, I’ll go, -if you insist upon it, but I’m telling you now that -you will regret it if you do.”</p> - -<p>The fire died down a bit, and the figures which -had stood before it were no longer in sight. The -boys shut off their lights, took firmer hold of their -weapons, and stood considering.</p> - -<p>But the decision was not with them, for while -they pondered two forms rose up behind them and -they were thrown to the ground.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXI'>CHAPTER XI.—A HUMAN GUARD WITH HORNS</h2> - -<p class='first'>Case and Frank were not permitted to lie on the -ground long after being seized from behind and -thrown down. Frank’s searchlight was taken from -his hand and directed upon his face.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” grunted a rumbling voice.</p> - -<p>“Only a kid!” grumbled a man who was looking -over the shoulder of the one who held the light, at -the same time holding Case to the earth with a -heavy knee.</p> - -<p>When the light shifted Frank saw two burly -figures with thick breasts and short necks, with -faces masked by great straggling beards. The men -were dirty and unkempt, and their clothes were torn -into tatters, probably, the boy thought, by contract -with the jungle.</p> - -<p>The lads struggled in vain. Their weapons were -taken from them and then they were hustled toward -the fire they had observed from the bush. It was a -roaring fire, built of some gum-running wood, and -the heat and smoke of it well-nigh blistered the faces -of the prisoners and stifled their breath.</p> - -<p>After being roughly searched, the captives were -bundled against the bole of a great tree which stood -some distance from the fire. They were so dazed at -what had taken place, at the tragic change of -situation, that at first they did not sense what was going -on around them. Then they saw as hideous an -object as they had ever set their eyes on bending so -close to the fire that it seemed to them that the flesh -must be cooking on his repulsive face.</p> - -<p>One of the men gave this object a stout push in -a moment and sent him whirling in the direction of -the tree.</p> - -<p>“Watch ’em, Ugly!” he ordered, and the object -settled down on his haunches and glared at the -prisoners until it seemed that the evil eyes must pop -out of his head.</p> - -<p>The creature who had been called “Ugly” -certainly appeared to merit the name. He was of -medium height, black as a negro, but with straight, -black hair, which was knotted and tangled until it -resembled a net complicated by nature as well as by -human hands. The boys knew from the looks of -the mass that it had recently been anointed with -some kind of grease, and that it held an odor all its -own.</p> - -<p>But the most striking thing about the stolid face -which now leered at them over the barrel of an -automatic rifle which lay in the fellow’s lap was its -seeming growth of horns. There were three of these, one -at the fullness of the under lip, and two just above -the corners of the cruel upper lip. These horns gave -the fellow’s face something of the appearance of -such representations of Mephisto as the boys had -seen in plays.</p> - -<p>“No, that is not the Old Nick!” Frank whispered -to Case, well knowing what was in the disturbed -mind of his companion in captivity, “that is a Mura -Indian, ornamented according to an ancient custom -of his people. He belongs to a peaceful tribe, and -may not be as fierce as he looks.”</p> - -<p>“Would he shoot if we made a break for the -tall timber?”</p> - -<p>“Probably.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to knock those horns down his throat!” -Case growled. “He has no right to keep us here. -Would the horns grow out again if I should knock -’em off?”</p> - -<p>Even in the serious plight the boys were in, Frank -could not keep from chuckling at this, for the horns -were of wood, and were held in place by being -pushed through the flesh from the inside. When -this was explained to Case his comment was that he -would enjoy having the job of fixing the things on.</p> - -<p>“He’d have a sore face for a time,” Case declared, -“just like I did when I had my teeth filled. We’ve -got to get away from him in some way. “We’ll be -murdered if we remain here, and we can only die in -an attempt to get back to the <i>Rambler</i>.”</p> - -<p>“We may have to make a run for it in time,” -Frank answered, “but we may as well wait until -we know more about what our capture means. I -understand something of the Mura dialect, and will -talk with him when I get a chance.”</p> - -<p>“Go on and do it now,” urged Case. “I’d like to -know what this pretty little scene is all about. What -are those Englishmen doing in here, anyway, and -what are they muttering about over there by the -fire?”</p> - -<p>Frank did not reply, for he was asking himself -the very same question without finding any answer.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps they’re here after your cargo,” suggested Case.</p> - -<p>Frank shrugged his shoulders despairingly.</p> - -<p>“That may be,” he admitted. “That is what I fear!”</p> - -<p>“Could they carry it away without a boat?”</p> - -<p>“Y-e-s,” Frank admitted, slowly. “Besides, they -may have a boat.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to know what kind of a cargo you’re -talking about,” said Case, half-angrily. “It can’t -be much if two men could carry it through these -jungles in their naked hands.”</p> - -<p>He looked Frank questioningly in the face as he -spoke, but the latter did not fall into the trap. He -maintained his accustomed silence regarding the -character of the cargo he had entered the thicket to -find.</p> - -<p>“Ask him what he’ll take to let us go?” suggested Case, directly.</p> - -<p>“We haven’t got anything to give,” objected -Frank. “You can’t bribe a fellow with hot air.”</p> - -<p>“If I could,” replied Case, sniffing at the heat of -the fire and the heat of the heavy air that breathed -out of the forest, “I could do some bribing. But -this chap would rather have one of our searchlights -than own the First National Bank of Chicago. Try -him on that!”</p> - -<p>“We haven’t got any searchlights,” answered -Frank, dejectedly, taking note of their electrics in -the ham-like hands of their captors. “Those men -have taken them. They seem to be preparing to -leave, and perhaps I’ll soon have a chance to talk -with Ugly, as they call him. See! The men are -pointing toward the boat I suppose they’ll be going -there next.”</p> - -<p>“I hope the boys will give them a red-hot reception!” -Case exclaimed in so loud a tone that one of -the Englishmen turned and scowled in that direction.</p> - -<p>“What you lads grumbling about?” he demanded. -“If you want to keep whole heads on -your necks, you’d better stow that chin. Ugly is a -bit nervous to-night, and his gun might go off.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do with us?” asked -Case, as calmly as the nature of the occasion would -admit of.</p> - -<p>“Keep you for pets!” roared the fellow, impatiently.</p> - -<p>“This object in front of us looks to me like the -kind of a pet a tough like you would want,” Case -answered, angrily.</p> - -<p>The two men whispered together for a moment, -paying no attention to the retort, and then one of -them asked:</p> - -<p>“How much petrol have you in your tanks?”</p> - -<p>Case eyed the speaker with no little curiosity. His -figure and dress, his lack of any orderly -arrangement of his ragged garments, told him that he -belonged to the lower grade of Englishmen, still his -speech and manner indicated no little degree of -refinement.</p> - -<p>“What’s petrol?” he asked, not that he needed -information on the subject, but to keep the other -talking.</p> - -<p>“You call it gasoline in this blawsted country,” -said the other. “How much have you in the tanks -of the <i>Rambler</i>?”</p> - -<p>“What’s it to you?” asked the boy. “You’re -not going to get the boat. If you go within reach -of the boys’ guns they’ll blow the tops of your ugly -heads off. Go on, if you want to! You’ll see!”</p> - -<p>“We really need a boat!” laughed the fellow. -“And so,” he added, “we’ll take our chances and -leave you to the polite attentions of Ugly while we -go and get the <i>Rambler</i>, with your permission, of -course!”</p> - -<p>“Where is your own boat?” demanded Case. -“Why do you have to steal ours. You aren’t river -pirates, are you?”</p> - -<p>“Never you mind what we are, sonny,” laughed -the Englishman, “and never you mind about our -boat. Perhaps, you know, we lost it on a reef at -Cloud island!” he added, glancing keenly at Frank.</p> - -<p>Frank dropped his eyes, showing either -embarrassment or lack of courage, Case could not -determine which. Once before, when Cloud island had -been thoughtlessly brought into the conversation by -the boy himself he had shown great confusion. -There must be some mystery about Cloud island, was -Case’s conclusion, some mystery of which the -Englishman as well as the boy had knowledge!</p> - -<p>Plainly the name of the island had been used to -bring to the boy’s mind some unpleasant recollection, -for it had not been necessary, in mentioning the loss -of a boat, to refer to the island at all. Therefore, -Case reasoned, the name meant something to the -Englishman as well as to Frank, and the reference to -it had been designed to warn or threaten the boy. -He resolved to know more about Cloud island as -soon as he found an opportunity to talk with Frank! -In the meantime, he might be able to get something -of a clue from the Englishman.</p> - -<p>“What do you know about Cloud island?” he -asked. “I don’t believe you’ve ever been there. -You’re only river thieves!”</p> - -<p>The Englishman, not at all angry at the epithet, -glanced keenly at Frank, as if asking a question with -his eyes, and the boy, who remained silent, studied -the bearded face intently.</p> - -<p>“I know enough about it, lad,” was the significant -reply, made directly to Frank, although he had not -spoken at all.</p> - -<p>“Are you going there?” continued Case. “To -Cloud island I mean?”</p> - -<p>“What else do you think I’m being roasted and -eaten alive by insects in this blawsted wilderness -for?” asked the other.</p> - -<p>“Then why don’t you move on and let us alone?” -asked Case.</p> - -<p>“All in good time, lad, all in good time!”</p> - -<p>“We’re going to move on up the river as soon -as you go down,” grunted the other Englishman, -looking significantly at Frank.</p> - -<p>With this declaration, which seemed to amount to -a threat, the fellow turned to his companion and the -two, after conferring together in whispers for a -short time and giving the Indian instructions in a -tongue unknown to Case, plunged into the thicket, -taking the general direction in which the <i>Rambler</i> -lay.</p> - -<p>“Now ask Ugly what this is all about!” directed -Case, as the backs of the two men disappeared from -the ring of light given out by the fire.</p> - -<p>Frank had little trouble in understanding the -Indian, and the latter seemed willing to talk, so all -the fellow knew of the purposes and movements of -the Englishmen was soon in the possession of the -boy. But the Indian watched the boys closely as he -talked, keeping his automatic trained on them. He -evidently stood in deadly fear of the Englishmen, -and was resolved to do their bidding, even if murder -resulted.</p> - -<p>“The Englishmen engaged him as guide,” Frank -interpreted to Case, “to take them to Cloud island, -at the headwaters of the Amazon. They lost their -boat some distance below, and are determined to take -possession of the <i>Rambler</i>. He is to shoot us if we -try to get away, and is to have his ears cut off and his -nose pulled out by the roots if he does not obey -orders. That’s all.”</p> - -<p>“That’s enough, I think!” Case commented. -“But they can’t get the boat! The boys are there, -and will put up a fight for it.”</p> - -<p>“The Englishmen will do their best, because they -want to turn us back. Failing in this, they will kill -us if they can.”</p> - -<p>“Look here!” Case demanded. “What is this all -about? Have you ever seen those men before? -Where is Cloud island? What mutual understanding -concerning it lies between you and these men? -You may as well tell me, for I’ll have it out of you.”</p> - -<p>Frank gave unsatisfactory replies, and a sullen -silence fell between the two chums.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if they will find the boys asleep when -they get to the <i>Rambler</i>?” Frank asked, anxiously, -after a time. This was no time for anger between -them.</p> - -<p>“They surely won’t!” answered Case. “If they -do find the boys asleep they’ll find Captain Joe there -with the goods I Say,” the boy added, “I’ve a good -notion to take a hop-step-and-jump for the <i>Rambler</i>. -I could get there before they did, and make it a -sure thing that the boys would not be asleep. I -believe it is worth trying.”</p> - -<p>“Ugly would put half a dozen bullets into you -before you got a dozen feet away,” Frank objected. -“See! He’s suspicious of us now.”</p> - -<p>“He hears something in the forest back of us,” -Case observed. “I wonder if he will shoot if I -turn around to see what it is? It might be a wild -animal, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Watch him! Watch Ugly!”</p> - -<p>Frank uttered the cry as he arose to his feet and -pointed with one hand toward the guard, now also -standing on his feet, the gun lying on the ground. -There was a look of terror on the man’s ugly face -which would have been comical if it had not been so -expressive of abject horror. The fellow’s eyes -“hung out like a hat pin,” as Case afterwards -expressed it, and his mouth dropped agape, as if there -were no strength in the fellow to control the action -of his jaws.</p> - -<p>“For the love of Madge!” cried Frank. “What -does the man see?”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to stop to answer that question!” -Case replied. “It’s me for the <i>Rambler</i>!”</p> - -<p>Ugly did not even notice the lads as they started -away. He stood perfectly still for an instant, then -turned and ran, diving head first into the thicket as -a swimmer dives into an oncoming breaker. Case -and Frank paused by the fire and looked back, to -discover, if possible, the danger from which the -fellow had flown. What they saw was a face and a -hand of fire, lifting from the ground, behind the -tree, pointing and nodding in the direction Ugly had -taken.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXII'>CHAPTER XII.—A PLOT AGAINST THE RAMBLER</h2> - -<p class='first'>In the meantime, the three boys on the <i>Rambler</i> -were becoming a bit restless, and not a little anxious -too. The Brazilian night was dark, and there was -a whisper of wind in the trees. The water lapped -the shores and the sides of the boat unceasingly, as -if uttering a warning to them to be up and away. It -was almost unbearably hot, too, for they were nearly -under the equator.</p> - -<p>“I think I know what the kid is thinking about -when he talks of a cargo,” Alex said, presently. -“He has often talked to me about gathering Brazil -nuts and taking a load out to some shipping point. -They bring good prices in New York.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean these three-cornered nuts?” asked -Jule.</p> - -<p>“Sure! The ones you whittle the shells from with -a knife, and find a solid, triangular piece of meat -on the inside. They grow in big clusters which look -like hornets’ nests, and they break open the heads of -the Indians when they fall from the tree. A ton -would bring nearly $400 in Chicago, and that would -help some, especially as we’ll probably get back -there broke and hungry.”</p> - -<p>“When did you take up Case’s role of prophet -of evil?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>Alex laughed and said no more at that time.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got a better guess than that,” Jule began, -then. “He is going after rubber. They tap trees -and a white sap runs out, and they cook the sap in -smoke, over moulds, and make rubber coats. I’ll -wager he’s got a cache of rubber in there.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder where the rubber trees first came -from?” asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they came down from the mountains.”</p> - -<p>This from Jule, who had been reading books -about South America all the way down—books presented by Captain Joe.</p> - -<p>“A few million years ago,” Jule went on, glad of -a chance to air his knowledge, “a sort of -Mediterranean sea covered all the Amazon basin. The -mouth of the big river was away up to the west -there, near the foothills. Then the rains of the long -years washed the soil down into the valley, inch -by inch, and the rivers pushed it along until the -continent east of the mountains was formed.”</p> - -<p>“Must have taken a long time to wash this -continent down!” yawned Alex.</p> - -<p>“I said millions of years, didn’t I?” reproved -Jule. “And the continent isn’t finished yet. Do -you comprehend that, boys? The continent isn’t -finished to-day! Not after millions of years!”</p> - -<p>“That’s about the length of time Case and Frank -have been gone!” declared Alex, nudging Clay to -watch Jule display anger at the irrelevant observation.</p> - -<p>“The continent won’t be completed for millions -of years,” Jule went on, not at all put out by the -alleged witticism. “The Amazon alone is carrying -enough sediment to the Atlantic every day to -make a cube of earth five hundred feet each way. -How long will it take all the rivers running down -from the Andes to wash the hills into the sea? -Perhaps you can tell me that, Smarty?” he added, -tapping Alex on the head with his open palm, -whereat Captain Joe rolled up his red eyes, though -the boys could not see them in the darkness, and -emitted a series of low growls.</p> - -<p>“Where will it all end?” asked Clay, musingly.</p> - -<p>“When there are no more mountains,” Jule -answered, proudly, sure of his ground. “The -mountains will be washed into the seas, and the seas -will fill up, and then the world will be finished.”</p> - -<p>“I wish this night was finished!” Alex broke in. -“I wish Case and Frank would come back, cargo or -no cargo.”</p> - -<p>“I think I’ll go a little way into the forest and -see what they are up to,” Clay suggested, and Alex -and Jule were on their feet in a moment.</p> - -<p>“That’s just what we’ll do,” Jule cried. “We -will go look ’em up!”</p> - -<p>“But we can’t all go and leave the boat alone.”</p> - -<p>“Why, the boat won’t run away!”</p> - -<p>“Someone might run away with it, though.”</p> - -<p>“Tell you,” Jule suggested, “we’ll leave the -prow light burning, so we can see if anyone goes -near it, and then we won’t go out of sight of the -light. How will that answer?”</p> - -<p>“Fine!” Alex panted, trying to pull Captain Joe -back into the cabin. His highness, the dog, did not -relish the notion of being locked up in the hot little -coop while the boys had a run on shore, so he drew -back with all his strength.</p> - -<p>Alex won at last, however, and the door was -closed on the indignant bulldog. To speak the -truth, Clay was rather glad that the boys had chosen -to accompany him to the shore, for it was dark and -uncanny in the forest. There was an indication of -rain, though it was in the midst of the dry season, -and a strange odor which they could not account -for came to the nostrils of the lads.</p> - -<p>“A Brazilian forest,” Jule said, as they left the -row-boat tied up in a thicket and faced the jungle, -“is about the most mysterious place on the round -earth. Down here where we are, in the basement, -it is always twilight, even at noon of a sunny day. -We see only the stems of plants and creepers and -the boles of the trees. The beauty, the blossoms, -the colors, the magnificence, is all at the top. -Someone said that the only place from which to view a -South American forest in all its glory is from the -top of a mountain, or from an aeroplane.”</p> - -<p>“There isn’t much magnificence down here,” -Alex answered. “Here, Jule, what you got in -your clothes that smells like matches, and what -you sneaking off there alone for?”</p> - -<p>“Never you mind!” Jule replied. “You just -stick to your guesses and let me alone. I’m going -to give those boys the scare of their lives. I’ll teach -them to go off and stay like this!”</p> - -<p>“You stay here!” commanded Clay, but the -mischievous boy was already gone. They heard him -pushing through the underbrush for a time, saw -the round eye of his flashlight as it swept aloft, and -then the jungle was once more still—save for the -natural life within it—and dark.</p> - -<p>“Shall we go on in after him?” asked Alex. -“He may get into trouble, and he’s none too strong -yet.”</p> - -<p>“I think we would better remain here,” Clay -replied. “If there is danger we will hear the signal -agreed upon.”</p> - -<p>“Frank says he remained hidden in a tree in -there for some time,” Alex remarked, then. -“Now, what was he hiding from, and how did he -get down here? If he came in a steamer, and the -steamer was waiting for him outside, that wouldn’t -be hiding at all. Might as well try to hide while -riding on the neck of an elephant!”</p> - -<p>“Have you ever thought that Frank may be the -one who put the marked paper on the <i>Rambler</i> that -morning?” asked Clay, irrelevantly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have thought of that, but why should he -have done it—if he did? If he knew where the -diamonds were, why didn’t he arrange things so he -could secure the reward for himself? He needed -the money badly enough, according to his own -story.”</p> - -<p>“But how could he know where the diamonds -were?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>“Well, the person who left the marked paper on -the boat knew where the stones were! You can’t get -away from that! Besides, Frank had been seen -loitering outside, and there had been a motion at -the glass panel of the door just before he showed -himself. Oh, it is all rather suspicious!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll have to give the boy time to explain -everything,” Clay admonished. “I have great faith in -him.”</p> - -<p>“How long do you think that kid, Jule, will remain in there?” Alex yawned.</p> - -<p>“Not long, I hope.”</p> - -<p>It had been the original intention to enter the -jungle as far as the boat light could be seen, but -now the necessity of remaining where they were, or -close to the shore, was apparent, as they had no -means of knowing in which direction either of -the boys had gone, and there were three wanderers -to watch for instead of only two. If they -followed in the direction supposed to have been taken -by Frank and Case, they would be apt to get -farther and farther from Jule, and if they tried -to follow the latter, it would be the two who -would be farthest from their help, should help be -required.</p> - -<p>The only course to pursue, then, with reference to -boys who were in the dark forest, was to remain -where they were, guard the boat, and be prepared -to get back to the <i>Rambler</i> in quick time should -necessity demand such action.</p> - -<p>The boys waited with premonitions of approaching -evil in their minds. Now and then Captain Joe, -disgusted with the conduct of his master, sent out -a call for sympathy and liberty, and the voice of -the dog sounded cheerful and friendly to the anxious lads.</p> - -<p>Small creatures of air and thicket were talking -all around them, and now and then a gruffer utterance -in the distance told of larger denizens of -the forest aroused by the visit of the boys. After -a time a crunching in the undergrowth warned the -listeners that some creature of large size was -approaching them on a visit of inspection.</p> - -<p>“It may be an Indian!” Alex whispered, when -the sounds were very close indeed.</p> - -<p>“An Indian wouldn’t advance in the midst of a -racket like that,” Clay reasoned. “It is probably -some wild animal coming up to see what all this -row is about. Keep your automatic and your flashlight ready.”</p> - -<p>Alex did not need any such warning, for he stood -with the automatic in one hand and the dark -flashlight in the other.</p> - -<p>The trampling came on, closer and closer, and -the boys involuntarily drew nearer together. They -could hear shrubs cracking and breaking under the -heavy tread of their approaching visitor.</p> - -<p>“It must be a jaguar!” whispered Alex. “Shall -I turn on my light before he gets up to us?”</p> - -<p>“More likely a peccary, or wild hog,” Clay -suggested. “They are dangerous only when attacked.”</p> - -<p>Snorts and grunts coming from the thicket soon -proved the correctness of this supposition, and then -the peccary turned back, much to the relief of the -boys and the disgust of Captain Joe, who had from -the cabin scented a possible enemy and a chance at -pursuit.</p> - -<p>Then another and much more surprising and -disquieting sound came from the forest. This was -nothing less than the gruff voices of two men, -speaking in English. The boys listened in wonder -and dismay. Who could these people be? Why -were they there in that lonely spot? Were their -intentions friendly or hostile? These questions were -soon answered, and in a most unsatisfactory manner.</p> - -<p>“The Indian will take care of the two kids, all -right,” they heard a coarse voice say, “and we’ll get -into the boat before the others wake up.”</p> - -<p>“Lucky to find a boat here—and a motor boat at -that,” another voice said. “It won’t take us long -to get to the headwaters now.”</p> - -<p>The boys stood perfectly still, listening to the -throaty chuckles which followed this last remark. -And so the new comers were enemies, and had designs -on the boat! More than that, their conversation -indicated that two of the boys, probably Case -and Frank, had been discovered by the marauders -and left in the custody of a native! The situation -was serious, especially as the prow light disclosed -the deserted condition of the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>One of the men moved out to the shore, so that -a burly figure was outlined against the light on the -prow of the boat. The lads moved forward a pace, -in order to inspect the intruder at closer range, and -a snapping twig betrayed their presence.</p> - -<p>“Stay where you are!” a rough voice called -back to them, “and we’ll just take charge of this -boat!”</p> - -<p>“Step into that light,” Clay answered, “and -you’ll take charge of a bullet!”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXIII'>CHAPTER XIII.—A PLEASANT SURPRISE</h2> - -<p class='first'>Little dreaming of the desperate situation at the -boat, yet understanding that the Englishmen had set -out to take possession of her, Case and Frank stood -silently, watchfully, at the campfire while the thing -the Indian had fled from stepped out of the -darkness and approached them.</p> - -<p>Two conflicting emotions held them motionless, -speechless. One was of joy at the flight of their -guard, the other was something akin to the terror -which had sent Ugly into the bush at headlong -speed.</p> - -<p>The noise of the Indian’s progress through the -forest might still be heard as trailing vines tore at -his garments and sent him floundering to the ground -only to leap to his feet and dash recklessly on once -more. The thing advancing upon them was silent, -the crouching figure moving over the ground like an -ape, the features obliterated as to outline by a veil -of yellow flame from which misty emanations proceeded.</p> - -<p>Case was not at all superstitious. He saw in the -queer figure only a trick of some enemy, and so -sprang for the automatic rifle which the Indian had -cast away in his flight. The next moment it was -leveled at the advancing figure. The result was as -remarkable as it was instantaneous.</p> - -<p>The figure dropped to the ground, rolling about, -kicking spasmodically at the empty air, and emitting -shouts of laughter which rang oddly through the -forest. Case understood and darted forward, -shouting that it was Jule, up to another of his tricks!</p> - -<p>“Whoo—pee!” yelled Jule, rolling about in an -abandonment of mirth.</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you!” Case cried, taking the boy -by the back of the neck. “I’ll show you what we do -to spooks in Brazil!”</p> - -<p>Frank stood as if still unconvinced.</p> - -<p>“Quit!” Jule remonstrated, as Case lifted him -to his feet. “You let me go! Don’t you know any -more than to take a fellow by the hair of his head. -“Quit, I tell you!”</p> - -<p>Case released the boy, whose face and hands -were still shining with the sulphur which he had -rubbed from old-fashioned matches, and pushed him -away as he arose to his feet.</p> - -<p>“You smell like a match factory!” he said.</p> - -<p>Jule leaned against the bole of the tree and -laughed until the woods rang again, while Frank -stood looking on with wonder in his eyes.</p> - -<p>“I thought he was the Old Scratch!” the boy -commented, in a moment. “Where did he get that -fire paint?”</p> - -<p>“Rubbed it off from matches,” answered Case. -“It makes a great show in the dark. No wonder -Ugly took to his heels!”</p> - -<p>“Who is your horned friend?” asked Jule, -nodding his head in the direction the Indian had taken. -“He is some runner!”</p> - -<p>Then Jule glanced about at the fire, at the -unfamiliar automatic gun in Case’s hands, and at a -collection of simple cooking implements which lay -to one side, and asked:</p> - -<p>“Where did all this come from, and what are you -boys doing here? Where’s the cargo?” then, -breaking in upon each other, as if that would hasten the -relation of the strange story they had to tell, each -one giving an entirely different version of the -incident, the boys informed Jule of what had taken -place. Case described the Englishmen as bushmen, -similar to the natives who prowl the forests of -Australia, while Frank insisted that they were -educated men gone back to primitive life because of -degenerate dispositions or because of fear of -punishment for crimes committed.</p> - -<p>“It looks to me, then,” Jule commented, looking -suspiciously about, “that I came up in good time, -and that my desire to give you a good scare brought -you out of a bad situation. Oh, my!” he added, -throwing back his head, “how that Indian did take -to the woods! I don’t believe he will stop this side -of the Arctic circle. He certainly can go some!”</p> - -<p>“He probably has gone to warn the others,” -Case suggested.</p> - -<p>“That is exactly where he has gone!” cried Jule, -“and we’d better be getting back. If we keep right -along behind him, we’ll have the brutes between two -fires.”</p> - -<p>“How did you manage to get away from Clay?” -asked Case. “He didn’t want you to leave the -boat.”</p> - -<p>“Why, when we all came ashore to see why you -boys did not come back, I just naturally sneaked -away.”</p> - -<p>“You all came ashore!” echoed Case. “Do you -mean to say that there is no one in the boat? No -one on board at all?”</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t when I came away!” admitted -Jule, sheepishly.</p> - -<p>“That’s a nice thing, too!” cried Case, reprovingly.</p> - -<p>Without waiting to further discuss the situation, -anxious only for the safety of their friends and the -boat, the three made their way through the black -jungle at reckless speed. The night had cleared a -trifle, and now and then a glance upward, through -the jealous foliage of the trees and creepers, revealed -a star looking down into the aisles of the wood.</p> - -<p>Now and then they came to a little glade clearer -of undergrowth than the general run of the jungle -through which they were struggling, and at such -time, with only the complaints of the creatures of -the forest about them, they halted and listened. -Presently, during such a halt, they heard a shot, and -then the sharp, snappy, full-throated barking of a -dog.</p> - -<p>“Captain Joe!” Jule cried.</p> - -<p>“He’s on the boat?” asked Frank.</p> - -<p>“Sure he is, unless he’s found the key and unlocked -the cabin door,” replied Jule, with a grin.</p> - -<p>“If they get hold of Captain Joe,” Case observed, -not without a grin of satisfaction, “they’ll know -they’ve come to a scrapper.”</p> - -<p>“He’ll climb on their roofs and claw their shingles -off!” exclaimed Jule.</p> - -<p>“I won’t have to wash dishes in a month!” -crowed Case. “That is the slangiest slang I ever -heard!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” Jule answered as he swung a -hanging creeper out of his eyes. “That is just -what Captain Joe will do if he gets a chance. But -you needn’t go and tell Clay that I said it, all the -same!” he added, with visions of many dishes to -wash before his eyes.</p> - -<p>Another shot came as the boys started away, and -Case declared that it undoubtedly came from an -automatic revolver, and proved that the boys were -putting up a fight.</p> - -<p>“Captain Joe told us that,” Jule insisted.</p> - -<p>Several other shots were fired before the boys -came to the bank of Ruination creek. It was still -dark, although a star reflected in the water at rare -intervals. Still, the outlines of the trees could be -faintly seen across the creek, and the prow light -burning on the <i>Rambler</i> cast a white radiance -farther down stream.</p> - -<p>The three crept out to the margin of the creek and -peered over a low, bush-crowned headland toward -the boat. From where they stood the forward deck -was in plain sight. At the back an overhanging -tree made a black blot about the stern. There was -no one to be seen.</p> - -<p>Another shot came from farther down, and the -barking of the dog became fierce and incessant.</p> - -<p>“Captain Joe will be eating up that cabin next,” -Jule volunteered. “I wish I could tell him what to -say!”</p> - -<p>“Why don’t they go into the cabin and let him -out?” asked Frank.</p> - -<p>“Because neither side can get into the boat,” -replied Case, grasping the situation at once. -“Anyone showing himself under that prow light would -be shot to death in a second. The only way the -ruffians can get to the <i>Rambler</i> is to shoot out the -light.”</p> - -<p>“Then how are we ever to get on board?” asked Frank.</p> - -<p>“Drive the outlaws away!” replied Case.</p> - -<p>“Sure!” Jule put in, thoughtfully, “and I’ve -found a way to do it. You just watch me.”</p> - -<p>The two boys watched Jule with both wonder and -amusement in their eyes as he drew out a great -bunch of old-fashioned sulphur matches and began -rolling them between the palms of his hands. Very -little came from his efforts, and Case began poking -fun at him.</p> - -<p>“Doesn’t work like it did when you scared the -wits out of the Indian, does it?” he demanded. “I -reckon we ran so fast through the thickets that we -left the sulphur stuff behind, leaving only the dry -sticks in your pocket!”</p> - -<p>“Never you mind,” Jule answered, “you just -wait until I get ready, then I’ll show you something -worth while.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what Frank said about his cargo!” cried -Case, apparently determined to find whatever humor -there was in the situation. “Where is that cargo -now, kid?” he added, turning toward Frank and -giving him a pull by the arm. “Do you think that -Indian carried it off with him?”</p> - -<p>“I’m going after the cargo before daylight,” the -lad replied, stubbornly.</p> - -<p>“Yes you are!” Jule broke in. “We’re going to -get as far away from Ruination creek as we can -before sunrise! You see what Clay says about your -going into that mess again! Why, kid, those men -you saw—the friends of yours who are trying to -get the boat now!—will hang around here for a -month if we don’t go away—just on the chance of -getting the <i>Rambler</i>.”</p> - -<p>“I’m going after that cargo again,” repeated -Frank, “and I’m going to get it—if those -Englishmen haven’t carried it off. Friends of mine, you -call ’em! Well, I guess not!”</p> - -<p>“How many will it take to carry the cargo out -to the boat,” asked Case, giving Jule a sly dig in the -ribs, “if we get it away from your friends?”</p> - -<p>Frank laughed at the attempt to provoke him, -but made no reply, and in a moment Jule resumed -his work with the sulphur matches. This playing -“spook” with matches was an old trick of the boy’s, -and he had brought these old-fashioned ones along -on the chance of finding them useful. He was more -than satisfied with the result of his first tryout with -them, and chuckled as he thought of the fright of -Ugly, and also of the assistance he had been able -by their aid to render his friends.</p> - -<p>Only for his childish prank, he reflected, Case and -Frank would still be in the custody of the Indian, -and Clay and Alex would be facing the renegades -alone.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do when you get through -that monkey work?” asked Case, presently, as Jule -continued to roll matches in his hands.</p> - -<p>“I’m going on board the <i>Rambler</i>,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to let Captain Joe out, and tell him what -to do to the men in the bush.”</p> - -<p>Case glanced again at the lighted prow of the -boat and at the wide space one attempting to reach -the deck would have to cross under rifle fire.</p> - -<p>“You never can do it!” he declared.</p> - -<p>“See that tree back there, at the stem of the -boat?” asked Jule, in a whisper. “Well, I’m going -to swim under water until I get to the black spot -under that tree, where the light is shut out by the -foliage and the cabin, and then I’m going to climb -up on the back platform of the boat and through the -window to the interior of the cabin. Any objections, -Sober Sides?”</p> - -<p>“You can’t do it,” Frank Whispered. “You are -not well yet. Suppose you let me try?”</p> - -<p>“Not in a hundred years!” chuckled Jule. “I -guess you don’t know I’m the champion under-water -swimmer of Chicago! I’ll be inside the boat in no -time, and then there will be doings. I’ll show my -devil face to the bushmen and let the dog out, and -there won’t be anything to it. Perhaps I’d better -make a devil dog out of Captain Joe!”</p> - -<p>“Try it, and he’ll eat you up!” cried Case. -“Don’t be foolish.”</p> - -<p>“The sulphur will wash off,” warned Frank.</p> - -<p>“Water will only make it all the brighter,” -insisted Jule. “Now watch me go to it! When I -get in, you boys come. Will you? All right! Now -here goes for a swim! Be sure and keep well under -water when you come!”</p> - -<p>There was a slight splash in the creek, and Jule -was out of sight.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXIV'>CHAPTER XIV.—A BATTLE FOR THE BOAT</h2> - -<p class='first'>Case had expressed the situation exactly in -answering Frank’s question as to why the boys did -not go into the cabin and release Captain Joe. The -prow light cast a circle of illumination over the -forward deck and also over the water between the prow -and the shore.</p> - -<p>Anyone stepping into that circle would simply be -a mark for the bullets of his enemies. The only -way in which the boat could be safely entered, with -the bushmen and the boys watching each other, -would be to shoot out the light and make a rush -for it.</p> - -<p>This Clay did not care to do, for he had hope that -the boys back in the forest might in time come to -his assistance. He had understood from the few -words spoken in his hearing by the intruders that -Case and Frank had been attacked by the fellows, -but he did not know the exact situation, of course. -And even if Case and Frank were in as great need -of help as he himself was, there was still -Jule—resourceful, courageous, and quite likely to turn -up in the most unexpected place at the right time.</p> - -<p>The Englishmen, also, hoped to take the boat -without destroying the prow light, for they knew -very well that they would have need of it in the -hasty journey they had planned to start out on the -minute they gained possession of the <i>Rambler</i>. The -outcome of all this was that the two parties remained -hidden in the forest, each watching the other, and -each hoping that the other would make a rush for -the deck of the boat.</p> - -<p>This was the situation when Jule plunged into the -creek and, under water, in a slow current, struck -out for the rear of the boat, protected by the boughs -of the tree and the bulk of the cabin from the rays -of the light on the prow. The last thing he heard as -he leaped into the warm waters of Ruination creek -were the words of Case and Frank promising to -follow him by the under-water route to the cabin and -the noisy expostulations of Captain Joe at being kept -out of the fight!</p> - -<p>“The dog will be frantic when he hears me -opening the window,” thought the lad, as he turned on -his back and came up for a mouthful of air. “I hope -he won’t advertise the fact that I’ve come aboard.”</p> - -<p>So, while Frank and Case were waiting in the -keenest anxiety at the point from which Jule had -entered the water, while Clay and Alex were in the -bushes not far away, watching with all the eyes in -their heads for a shot at their enemies, and while the -two Englishmen were trying to mature some plan -for getting into the boat without running the risk of -passing under the light, Jule made his way along -the bottom of the creek, rising to breathe only at -rare intervals, and finally came up, without being -discovered, at the rear of the boat.</p> - -<p>The rear deck, or platform, for it was little more, -was entirely out of sight and range of the fighters -in the forest on the bank the boy had just left, so he -climbed up on it with confidence. But a new peril -awaited him. Captain Joe set up such a volley of -barks, and growls, and scratchings that it seemed -to the boy that those on shore must understand that -something unusual was going on in the boat and -make a rush for it. The dog was certainly doing his -duty, so far as noise went, in guarding the <i>Rambler</i>!</p> - -<p>“Captain Joe!” called Jule.</p> - -<p>The dog let out a fiercer challenge than before.</p> - -<p>“Captain Joe!” repeated the lad. “If you don’t -quit that I’ll come in there and crack your crust!”</p> - -<p>Jule checked himself and broke into a chuckle. -He had been much given to the use of slang in the -old days, and it still seemed to come involuntarily to -his lips, so did more than his share of the -dish-washing as a result. There was never anything profane -or coarse about his lapses into the dialect of the -street, but by common consent all slang had been -barred. Now he was glad that Clay was not near -to hear this new outburst.</p> - -<p>The dog began sniffing at the window on the inside. -He would have recognized Jule, doubtless, in -a moment only for the odor of sulphur with which -his clothes, even though they were wet, was permeated.</p> - -<p>“Lie down, dog!” Jule whispered.</p> - -<p>Then Captain Joe recognized the voice and gave -forth a low whine of recognition and -reproach—recognition in spite of the sulphur, and reproach -because of his having been left there alone while the -others took an outing in the forest!</p> - -<p>Jule finally managed to unfasten the window and -crawl into the cabin. Captain Joe gave him an -appropriate reception, and then sat down to look from -the boy to the door, and back and forth, until his -eyes and the motions of his head seemed to say:</p> - -<p>“Well, why don’t you hurry up and let me out?”</p> - -<p>“All right, old chap!” Jule answered the look. -“I’ll let you out just as soon as it is safe for you -to go.”</p> - -<p>Captain Joe insisted that he wanted to go at once, -in order that he might see what was going on -outside, but Jule consoled him with a caress and stood -waiting for Case and Frank to make their appearance. -Before long a commotion in the water back -of the boat told of the approach of someone.</p> - -<p>Jule crept back to the platform and waited, -thinking that Frank might need assistance in getting -out of the water. When he turned to look back he -saw that Captain Joe had followed him to the window -and was now trying his best to follow his -example and get through. However, he seemed to -have stuck in the narrow opening, not knowing how -to bring his hind legs up to the sill.</p> - -<p>The dog whined a warning and Jule turned back -to the dark pool of river at the stern. A head lifted -darkly from the surface and a face masked by -heavy whiskers and seen only in outline regarded -the boy blankly. The attacking party, it seemed, -had adopted the same tactics to get into the boat as -had the boy.</p> - -<p>“Come off there!” commanded the gruff voice of -the fellow, as he took hold of the boat “Come off -or I’ll be the death of you!”</p> - -<p>“What do you want here?” demanded Jule.</p> - -<p>The intruder made no reply, but exerted himself -climbing to the platform, from which he could have -taken possession of the boat in spite of the efforts of -the boy, who was unarmed, having left his -automatic and searchlight with Case on shore.</p> - -<p>He looked about for some weapon with which to -repel the boarder, but the platform was clear. Then -he sprang to the window, hoping to get through it -and barricade himself in the cabin.</p> - -<p>But he found Captain Joe stuck in the opening! -The dog was doing his best to wiggle out, his eyes -flaming fiercely, his snarling jaws showing two rows -of capable teeth, as he eyed with disfavor the faint -figure of the man who was already climbing on the -boat. It was a desperate situation, but at the same -time it had its humorous features, as Captain Joe -certainly was in a comical plight, half in and half -out of the window.</p> - -<p>“Get him, Joe!”</p> - -<p>Jule urged the dog on by pointing as he spoke. -Captain Joe licked his chops, as if anxious to -sample the intruder, but he was stuck fast, and the -boarder was now half out of the water.</p> - -<p>“Get him, Joe! Get him!”</p> - -<p>The boy gave a yank at the dog’s head as he gave -the command, and then something happened. The -dog slipped out of the window opening, passed -through Jule’s arms like a white flash of light and -launched himself on the man who was almost on -the platform.</p> - -<p>The two, the dog and the bearded man, went over -the rear together with a great splash, and directly -two heads were dimly seen on the surface. Captain -Joe had caught the Englishman by the shoulder, and -a stain of red dropped from his jaws before his head -disappeared from sight again.</p> - -<p>The boy did not want to see the dog kill the man, -and he shouted to Captain Joe, entreating, -commanding, coaxing, but the water was deep and the -unequal combat was going on beyond the reach of -words.</p> - -<p>While Jule waited for the fighters to come to the -surface again, hoping that he might be able to do -something toward releasing the man, Alex came -bobbing around the corner of the boat. At the first -sound of Jule’s voice on the boat he had leaped into -the water and made for the stern platform. This -interruption saved the man’s life, for Captain Joe, -coming to the surface, recognized his master and, -releasing his hold, swam toward him.</p> - -<p>Though half drowned and seriously injured by -the teeth of the dog, the intruder managed to make -his way to the dark shore. When, a moment later, -the boys looked for him he had disappeared in the -thicket. Jule had blazed the way to the boat, and -in a short time all the boys were on the stern deck -or in the cabin.</p> - -<p>There was no indication of a fresh attack from -the shore, and when a single shot was fired, some -distance away, the boys took that for a signal from -one ruffian to his mate. One was now on the north -side of Ruination creek and the other on the south -side, and it would be some time before they could -plan any more mischief together.</p> - -<p>Clay looked at Jule’s face as he climbed to the -platform and burst into a laugh. There was a good -showing of phosphorus still in sight.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get it?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“No wonder that man hustled off into the -woods!” Alex added.</p> - -<p>“That didn’t frighten him a bit!” Jule explained. -“He seemed to be wise to the trick. Anyway he -would have been in charge here now if Captain Joe -hadn’t risen to the occasion. Good old Captain -Joe!” he continued, patting the dog on the head.</p> - -<p>“We’d better be moving,” Clay said, presently, -after Case and Frank had briefly explained the -events of the night in the forest. “Those men will -hang around us as long as we remain here.”</p> - -<p>“But Frank wants to get his cargo!” Jule -laughed.</p> - -<p>“Indeed I do,” put in the boy.</p> - -<p>“It seems to me,” Case suggested, “that Frank -has already secured his cargo—a cargo of experience!”</p> - -<p>“We can’t exchange experience for money!” -Jule declared, “not always!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve jut got to get that cargo,” Frank insisted. -“It is too dark to attempt to move out of this -narrow creek anyway,” he urged, “and so we may as -well remain here until morning.”</p> - -<p>“That won’t be very long,” Clay said, “for there -is a faint smudge of daylight in the east.”</p> - -<p>“If it is most morning,” Alex cried, “that -accounts for the empty condition of my stomach. I’m -going to get something to eat!”</p> - -<p>“That suits me,” Jule grinned, and Case and Clay -were not slow in agreeing to the proposition.</p> - -<p>Frank seemed lost in thought. He said nothing -regarding supper, or breakfast, rather, and sat -quietly near the door of the cabin while the boys, -now apparently safe from attack, fried bacon and -made pancakes and coffee. When the bacon, -pancakes and coffee were steaming on the table, Clay -turned to the forward deck and called to the boy. -But Frank was not there.</p> - -<p>It was now quite light in the eastern sky, though -the forest still showed dark and dreary. Clay went -to the side of the boat and looked down to the place -where he had tied the row-boat, which had been -brought out soon after the disappearance of the -man who had been attacked by the dog. The boat -was nowhere to be seen.</p> - -<p>“Frank has gone!” Clay shouted.</p> - -<p>“He’s determined to have that cargo!” Alex -explained. “It is a risky thing to do, this going -into the jungle alone, but I can’t say as I blame -him!”</p> - -<p>The boys did not enjoy their early meal very -much, for they were anxious over Frank’s -disappearance. They knew well enough where he had -gone. The cargo he insisted on securing must be -somewhere near the scene of the night’s adventures -in the jungle, and he had gone there—alone!</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXV'>CHAPTER XV.—THE VANISHING “CARGO”</h2> - -<p class='first'>The sun rose red and hot, looking like the bottom -of a newly-scoured brass bowl. It was insufferably -warm, and there was no breeze. Alex got out a -spyglass and went to the prow.</p> - -<p>“What are you looking for?” asked Case. “Expect -to see Frank through a mile of trees?”</p> - -<p>“No,” grinned Alex. “I’m looking for the -equator! It is so hot here that it seems to me as if -it must have sagged down toward the creek.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a very bad joke!” laughed Case.</p> - -<p>In a moment Alex turned his glass toward the -shore, scanning the jungle into which they had -penetrated the night before. Presently his eyes -brightened and he handed the glass to Clay with a -whoop of joy.</p> - -<p>“There’s Frank!” he shouted. “Coming on a -run—or as near to a run as a thousand creeping -vines tangled around his legs will admit of. And I -don’t see him carrying any cargo. Seems to be -running in ballast!”</p> - -<p>“See anyone chasing him?” asked Jule of Clay, -who was now looking anxiously through the glass.</p> - -<p>“Not a soul,” replied Clay. “He is at the -row-boat now, and is putting off for the <i>Rambler</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Guess it doesn’t require any spyglass to see -that!” Jule broke in. “Hello, there, kid!” he -shouted, leaning over the railing, “where have you -been? You’ve missed a square meal.”</p> - -<p>Frank rowed out to the motor boat and climbed -wearily to the deck before attempting any reply. -Then he handed a closely-tied oblong packet to Clay -and dropped into a convenient chair.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” demanded the boys in a chorus. -“The cargo!” smiled Frank.</p> - -<p>Clay hastily untied the strings which secured the -paper wrapping of the packet, disclosing a canvas -bag, which gave forth a pleasant, tinkling sound as -the boy bounced it up and down in his hand.</p> - -<p>“What’s in it?” asked Jule. “Sounds like -something you can turn into gasoline, all right.”</p> - -<p>Frank replied with a motion for Clay to open -the bag. He did so, and a roll of gold coins was -exposed to view. Amazement, incredulity, joy, all -showed on the faces of the boys, who now gathered -closer about Clay and began fingering the coins, of -which there were about two score.</p> - -<p>“It is the real stuff!” Alex decided, turning his -head critically.</p> - -<p>“American twenty-dollar pieces!” gasped Case.</p> - -<p>“Where in the name of all the seven seas did you -get it?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>But the lads did not wait for Frank to reply. -They seized him by the arms, the neck, the legs, and -hustled him about, thumping him with their fists in -the way boys have of expressing great appreciation. -Even Captain Joe came out of the cabin and joined -in the celebration.</p> - -<p>“You just wait!” Alex shouted, when the excitement -had in a measure died out—that is, when -Frank was permitted to stand on his own feet -again—“just you wait until I feed you up proper for this! -There’s a tin of roast beef left that we’ve been saving -for a joy-feast, and that is what you’re going to -get for breakfast! And fish! And wild fowl! And -dessert! And there’s a can of honey, and some -sixty-cent coffee we’ve been hoarding! You just wait and -I’ll show you a feed that will make your eyes stick -out!”</p> - -<p>Alex at once set about celebrating the receipt of -the wonderful “cargo” by getting Frank such a -breakfast as had not been seen on the <i>Rambler</i> -since she had turned her nose out of the Mississippi. -This characteristic expression of approval was -seconded by the others, and all Frank’s efforts to -induce the others to share his meal were ignored. -Captain Joe deigned to accept a bit of the roast -beef, but he did it as one conferring a great favor.</p> - -<p>“Now, where did you get it?” asked Clay, when -Frank drew back from the little cabin table and -sought the cooler air under the awning which ran -over the forward deck. “Did you know all the time -that you could find it here? Then why didn’t you -tell us?”</p> - -<p>“Did you see anything of Ugly in there?” asked -Case, his mind going back to the dark hours in the -jungle.</p> - -<p>“Ugly!” Jule exclaimed. “Why, that Indian is -running yet.”</p> - -<p>“Or the Englishmen?” persisted Case.</p> - -<p>“We went in the wrong direction last night,” -Frank replied, dodging the questions. “This morning, -when it began to get daylight, I saw right -where my tree hotel was, and went to it without -difficulty.”</p> - -<p>“You never found that in a tree!” Jule objected.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I did,” answered Frank. “I found it in a -tree because I put it in a tree on the way down. -That is one reason why I wanted to get back in a -motor boat. We could stop here without attracting -attention and get the money.”</p> - -<p>“But we did attract attention! And you said—you -said you found the cargo here, in a tree, when -you were on your way down the river!” insisted -Alex.</p> - -<p>“I did find it in a tree, but only after I had hidden -it there,” Frank explained. “You see, as I have -already told you, I was pursued on the way out, and, -thinking I might be caught and searched—as I -was—I hid the money in a tree—the money and, other -things I valued more than the money. Then, after -my pursuers went away, I went back to the tree and -took out some of the money, and something else, -and made my way out of the country.”</p> - -<p>“What was this something else?” asked Alex, -always curious to know everything connected with -the boy’s past life.</p> - -<p>“I shall have to tell you about that some other -time,” laughed Frank. “Just now, I think, we’d -better be getting out into the Amazon again, for we -still have a long way to go before we sight Cloud -island.”</p> - -<p>“There’s that Cloud island again!” cried Jule. -“I’d like to know what you mean by keeping the -secret of it from us.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll have to wait!” was all Frank would say.</p> - -<p>Early in the forenoon the <i>Rambler</i> was headed -for the Madeira, and then, much to the surprise of -the others, Frank turned the prow down the stream -toward the Amazon.</p> - -<p>“What about this little town up the river where -you were going to dispose of your cargo?” demanded Alex.</p> - -<p>“You refer to Rosarinho?” asked the boy.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know the name,” Alex answered, “except -that it sounds to me like rhino—which means -hard cash in some localities in Chicago.”</p> - -<p>“That is a good town to visit for the purchase of -supplies,” Frank said, “but I have an idea that the -Englishmen we have been having trouble with will -go there, so we’ll give them the slip and buy our -supplies at Monteiro, which is on the right bank of -the Madeira, near the junction with the Amazon. -It is not wise to hunt trouble by following those -men.”</p> - -<p>“What did they want in that jungle?” asked Jule. -“They were stranded,” answered Case, who had -heard the story told Frank by the Indian. “They -wanted our boat—that’s all.”</p> - -<p>Then Case turned and whispered to Frank:</p> - -<p>“Ever see those men before? I thought one of -them seemed to have a mutual understanding with -you about—well, about Cloud island, you know. -What is all this talk about Cloud island?”</p> - -<p>“As I have told you boys before, I can’t tell you -anything now. I may tell you all about it in time, -but just now there is nothing to say.”</p> - -<p>“But about those men?” persisted Case.</p> - -<p>“I don’t remember either face,” Frank replied, -slowly, “but I have an idea that they knew me—that -is, that they have heard of me, somewhere, -before we met in the jungle. If they are going to -Cloud island, as they told the Indian, they certainly -knew something about my affairs before they -started. Now, that is all I’m going to tell you -about it,” he added with a smile.</p> - -<p>Arrived at Monteiro, Clay brought out the -company purse and showed that it was empty.</p> - -<p>“We’ll have to borrow from Frank,” he said. -“I was in hope that we could get a real cargo -somewhere, and so get through on our own resources, -but it seems that we’ve either got to go back, -drifting down, or run in debt.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” Frank said, astonished, “this money -belongs to the common fund—it is just as much -yours as it is mine.”</p> - -<p>“I fail to see it in that light,” Clay insisted. -“The money belongs to you individually, and if -we use any portion of it we’ll pay it back.”</p> - -<p>“And here I’ve been riding with you, and living -off you, for weeks,” urged Frank. “If you took all -this money you wouldn’t have any too much pay for -what you’ve done for me. If you don’t take it, I’ll -get off at Monteiro and wait for a steamer going up -the river.”</p> - -<p>“If you try that,” Alex declared, “I’ll set the dog -on you.”</p> - -<p>“Aw, give the money to me!” Jule cut in. “I’ll -borrow it and contribute it as my share of the -expense. Anytime a boy wants to give away money, -I’ll accommodate him!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll give a note for it,” suggested Case, and -so the boys counted out the gold pieces—there were -forty of the denomination of $20—and gave a joint -note for $800. Jule laughed as he put his name to -the paper in letters an inch long.</p> - -<p>“I’ll make ’em good and big,” he explained, -“because the name is all there is to it, the names, I -mean. We are all infants in the eyes of the law, -you know.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you learn that term?” asked Alex. -“You must have been studying law.”</p> - -<p>“Dr. Holcomb says I’m an infant in the eyes of -the law, anyway!” the boy replied. “Now, if -you’ve got this money matter settled, suppose we go -ashore and feed up. I’m hungry for something that -hasn’t been lugged about in tin cans for a month.”</p> - -<p>“Rich we are!” shouted Alex, “and we’ll have -a feed on shore that will put an inch of fat on our -ribs! Hurry up, fellows!”</p> - -<p>“Someone must remain on the boat,” suggested -Frank, and I’ll be the guard. I can go ashore after -you all get back.”</p> - -<p>“You furnish the money and stay out of the -feast!” cried Jule. “Not if I know it. I’ll remain -on the boat, and you can bring me a modest meal -in a bushel basket. You’ll need Frank as -interpreter, anyway.”</p> - -<p>It was finally arranged that Jule should remain -on board, and the others soon set off in the little -boat. They reached the town in a few moments, -wandered about the illy-kept streets for a time, and -then hunted up a place where motor boat supplies -were sold. The order for gasoline and provisions -was given, Clay promising to pay when the goods -were delivered on board the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>“These people may be all right,” Clay explained -to the others, “but it is just as well to pay on -delivery.”</p> - -<p>Finally they came to a public restaurant which -seemed to be tolerably clean. It was a small public -eating house, such as one finds at Havana and Para, -operated in Spanish style and boasting a fair menu. -The boys found that they could get steaks there -and ordered liberally. An extra one was ordered -cooked for Jule.</p> - -<p>The lads enjoyed their dinners greatly, Alex -declaring that the only thing lacking to make it -perfect was the motion of a boat on a stream! The -cooking was good and the attendance perfect, but -there was something about the seeming friendliness -of the proprietor, who insisted on personally -attending to the wants of the boys, which was not -wholly sincere—at least so it seemed to Case.</p> - -<p>When he referred to the matter, however, the -others laughed at him, and Clay even showed a -handful of gold when he paid for the dinners and the -basket which was going back to Jule, well loaded -with eatables. After leaving the place Clay turned -back.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to have some of that odd-tasting -coffee put into the basket for Jule,” he said. “I meant -to have it done while we were in there. I’ll go back -and have it put in, and you boys go on around the -town and meet me there.”</p> - -<p>The others protested against Clay going back -alone, but he only laughed at their fears. Half an -hour later, after walking through the main streets of -the odd Brazilian city, the boys entered the restaurant -to find Clay sitting at the table they had occupied -with his head on an arm, which was resting on the -table. He seemed to be sound asleep, and Case and -Alex shook him vigorously.</p> - -<p>“He has been asleep for a long time,” the -proprietor explained, in Spanish, translated by Frank, -“and I let him alone. He had company with him at -the table first, and they ordered coffee—coffee to -drink and more coffee to put in the basket.”</p> - -<p>The boys lifted Clay to his feet and shook him -until he opened his eyes. He seemed to be dazed, -and Frank set the boy back into a chair and gave -his attention to his pockets. They were all turned -wrong side out and empty!</p> - -<p>The proprietor insisted on calling in the police. -He declared that one of the men Clay had visited -with at the table was not above suspicion, and began -to talk vaguely about getting the money back.</p> - -<p>“Wait,” Frank said to him. “We’ll go on board -with him first. You see,” he continued, talking to -the boys after they had finally succeeded in getting -Clay out of the place, apparently against the wishes -of the owner, “if he calls in the police we’ll be held -no one knows how long as witnesses. One of us -may even be accused of taking the money. They -are all against foreigners here, so the best thing for -us to do is to pocket the loss and get away as soon -as possible.”</p> - -<p>This was agreed to, with many sighs at the loss of -the money, and the boys were soon on board the -<i>Rambler</i>, where they found Jule arguing fiercely -with a man who did not know what Jule was saying -any more than Jule knew what he was saying. -Frank listened and turned a pale face to Clay.</p> - -<p>“We’re tied up,” he said, “until the stores are -paid for!”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXVI'>CHAPTER XVI.—“KEEP HER HEAD ON!”</h2> - -<p class='first'>“Tied up!” repeated Alex. “Does that mean -that we can’t give ’em back their stuff and take the -<i>Rambler</i> away?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll find out,” Frank volunteered, turning to the -Spaniard who was now shaking his fists’ angrily in -the air and almost foaming at the mouth.</p> - -<p>There was a short conference, and then Frank -turned back to the boys, his manner not at all -encouraging.</p> - -<p>“He wants his pay, or the boat!” he said. “He -says he’s been to all the trouble of getting the goods -on board, and that he’s not going to go to the -further bother of taking them off. He says we can’t -leave this harbor until we settle in full.”</p> - -<p>“But he can’t hold the boat,” urged Case. “It -doesn’t belong to us, but to Dr. Holcomb.”</p> - -<p>Again Frank conferred with the excited dealer -in marine supplies.</p> - -<p>“He says that in law that makes no difference,” -was the discouraging report.</p> - -<p>“He got here pretty quickly after the robbery,” -Case suggested. “Ask him if he knows that Clay -was drugged and robbed,” he added.</p> - -<p>Frank talked with the merchant again, and he -answered that he had heard something about it, but -thought it all a Yankee trick. During this -conversation Clay had not opened his mouth to speak. -He stood leaning against the cabin door frame, his -hands in his pockets, his eyes on the deck. Now he -turned and entered the cabin, closing the door behind -him. Case followed him with his eyes until the door -closed, then spoke to Alex.</p> - -<p>“Go in there and see what he’s up to,” he said. -“He is taking this too hard. Tell him we don’t -blame him a bit—that it would have been the same -if either one of us had had the money. Tell him to -buck up!”</p> - -<p>Alex rushed into the cabin and Case gave his -attention to the Spanish merchant, who was now -gesticulating and calling to three men who were -putting off in a row-boat.</p> - -<p>“He means to have the <i>Rambler</i>,” Frank said, -dejectedly. “Those men are officers. Once they -get their feet on this deck it will be impossible to -continue on our way.”</p> - -<p>Jule heard and turned toward the motors. In a -moment sharp explosions which denoted full speed -were heard, and the boat began backing out into the -river. The men in the row-boat shouted and waved -weapons in the air, but did not fire. The Spanish -merchant fairly danced up and down in frantic rage, -declaring that the boys would all go to jail for what -they were doing.</p> - -<p>Seeing that these threats and demonstrations made -no difference in the speed of the boat, he leaped -toward Jule, who stood by the open hatchway over -the motors. While the deck was kept closed over the -machinery on ordinary occasions, it was so arranged -that a square of the deck lifted like a patch above the -motors whenever special attention was being given -to them.</p> - -<p>The Spaniard was almost to the boy when Case -tripped him and he fell headlong to the deck. -Captain Joe stood watching him for a moment, -showing his teeth, and then lay down within a foot -of the fellow’s face, his lips snarling, his jaws working.</p> - -<p>“If you try to get up we can’t restrain the dog,” -Case said, gravely, “so if you think anything of -your hide you’d better remain where you are.”</p> - -<p>The row-boat followed the <i>Rambler</i> out into the -river for a short distance and then turned back. As -she did so the smoke of a steamer lifted to the east.</p> - -<p>The Spaniard continued his verbal attacks on the -boys, though he was careful not to swing his arms -nearer to Captain Joe.</p> - -<p>“What is he saying?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“He is saying that this is piracy,” answered -Frank.</p> - -<p>“And the worst of it is that he is right,” grumbled -Case. “What are we ever going to do with this -fellow. It isn’t fair to take him off with us just -because he wants his money.”</p> - -<p>“No, it isn’t,” admitted Frank, “but we’re in a -tight fix.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll help him off when he wants to go!” Jule -volunteered. “I’ll pitch him overboard!”</p> - -<p>“Play fair!” urged Case. “We’re in a sorry -plight, but play fair!”</p> - -<p>“He isn’t playing fair!” asserted Jule. “He -heard of our trouble, and came right down to take -possession of the boat. I believe he knows -something about that robbery.”</p> - -<p>When the row-boat turned back the <i>Rambler</i> was -slowed down so as to keep abreast of the current. -The Spaniard was still cursing wildly, and Frank -was saying something to him which appeared to -make him all the more indignant.</p> - -<p>“If he was in Massachusetts,” laughed Jule, -“he’d want the state troops called out!”</p> - -<p>“What are we going to do with him?” asked -Case, and Frank shook his head gravely. “Looks -like he has the law with him!”</p> - -<p>Then the cabin door opened and Alex came running -out with a handful of banknotes waving aloft, -his feet fairly dancing along the deck, his lips set -for one long whoop, which, being finished, gave the -boys a chance to ask questions.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get it?”</p> - -<p>“Is there a bank in there?”</p> - -<p>“How much is there in the roll?”</p> - -<p>This last from Jule, who beckoned to Alex to -call Captain Joe off guard duty. The dog left -reluctantly and joined Clay in the cabin, for the boy -who was in a degree responsible for the situation -insisted on remaining out of sight until he had -“had it out with himself,” as he expressed it.</p> - -<p>“Now,” Case snapped out, catching Alex by the -shoulder and facing him around. “You keep still -long enough to tell us if you’ve found a mine of -banknotes in the cabin just when we were in great -need. Get on with the story!”</p> - -<p>Alex was too excited to talk for a time. He just -danced up and down and shook the fluttering ends -of the banknotes in the faces of his chums whenever -he came in contact with him. In the meantime the -Spaniard had arisen to his feet, and now, the -Rambler having stopped, stood beckoning to the men in -the row-boat to come on.</p> - -<p>“Where’s your bill?” asked Case, approaching -the gesticulating merchant. “We’re going to cash -up. Here, Alex, bring me that money!”</p> - -<p>Alex calmly drew a $50 banknote between each -of the fingers of his right hand and waved it in -the hot air, like a fan.</p> - -<p>“Give him our notes!” he said. “Frank accepts ’em!”</p> - -<p>Finally Case secured the statement which the -fellow had brought on board for payment and -handed it over to Frank.</p> - -<p>“It is $100,” said the boy, “and most of the -charges are double what they should be.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what can we do about it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll see.”</p> - -<p>Frank continued his talk with the fellow, who -was now shaking his head and pointing to the -advancing boat. Jule started the motors again and -the distance between the two craft increased.</p> - -<p>“He won’t take paper money,” Frank said. “He -demands gold.”</p> - -<p>“All right!” Case cried.</p> - -<p>The boy took the paper into his hand, thrust two -$50 banknotes into the unwilling hand of the -merchant—who looked on in rage and wonder at -the bold action!—and handed out a pencil. As long -as the row-boat containing the officers was coming -on, the fellow would not sign the receipt, insisting -that exchange fees must be added, but when the -<i>Rambler</i> began to edge out toward the Amazon he -seized the pencil with a growl and wrote his name -under the column of charges.</p> - -<p>This done, he pointed to the row-boat, asking -Frank to permit it to come along side, in order to -take him off. Frank consented to this, and the boat -drew nearer.</p> - - -<p>“If those officers get within reaching distance I’m -afraid they’ll make us trouble.”</p> - -<p>This from Case, who stood by Alex and Captain -Joe, the latter looking disappointed at the apparently -peaceful solution of the trouble.</p> - -<p>Alex grinned and whispered to Captain Joe. The -dog cocked up his ears and opened his jaws with a -snarl.</p> - -<p>“Say, mister,” Alex called out to the Spaniard, -then, “I can’t control this dog much longer. -Jump!”</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t understand!” Case observed. “I -wish he did!”</p> - -<p>“Tell him, Frank!” Alex ordered.</p> - -<p>As Frank ceased speaking, after this request, -Alex let the dog out at arm’s length, holding only -to the collar they had made for him. He made as -if he were nearly exhausted holding the animal, now -clawing the deck, and the Spaniard stepped to the -side of the boat.</p> - -<p>Alex let go his hold, the dog sprang forward, -and the merchant jumped into the river, making a -great touse as he struck the surface on his back and -dropped under.</p> - -<p>“Hope he’ll drown!” was Jule’s observation.</p> - -<p>“No; he won’t drown. The row-boat is heading -this way and will pick him up. Now, perhaps we’d -better be on our way. I rather think we have -committed assault and battery—or, rather, that Captain -Joe has—on that chap, and he may want us all -arrested.”</p> - -<p>Alex laughed as he spoke, making faces at the -angry men in the boat. Directly the merchant was -hauled, streaming and vociferating, from the river. -Then the <i>Rambler</i> was headed out of the mouth of -the Madeira and was soon breasting the slow -current of the Amazon again.</p> - -<p>“Now, about that money!” demanded Case. -“Where did it drop from?”</p> - -<p>“Why, you know Captain Joe gave us a package, -to be opened only when we had come to the end -of our rope? Well! we had not only come to the -end of our rope, but had lost the rope!”</p> - -<p>“And so you opened Captain Joe’s package?”</p> - -<p>“Of course we did.”</p> - -<p>“I had forgotten all about it,” Case remarked.</p> - -<p>“And so had I,” Alex went on. “It was Clay -who thought of it. He got it and opened it.”</p> - -<p>“How much money is there?”</p> - -<p>“Three hundred dollars!”</p> - -<p>Both Case and Jule gave vent to a low whistle.</p> - -<p>“How did he ever save that much money?” Case -asked.</p> - -<p>“Why did he give it to us?” was what Jule said. -“It is remarkable,” Frank added.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he wrote something and put it in with -the money,” suggested Case, in a moment.</p> - -<p>“Never thought of that!”</p> - -<p>Alex bounced into the cabin and came back in a -moment pushing Clay in front of him. Clay, looking -half ashamed, half triumphant, held a sheet of -writing paper in one hand.</p> - -<p>“Just read it!” Alex cried out.</p> - -<p>Clay held it out so that the large, irregular -character written on it might be seen from a distance.</p> - - <div class='lgc'> - <div class='line'>“KEEP HER HEAD ON!”</div> - </div> - -<p>That was the message!</p> - -<p>It seemed to the boys, all of whom were greatly -affected, that the words had come directly from the -kindly lips of the Captain, straight over four -thousand miles of sea and land, to put them all in good -cheer again.</p> - -<p>“Good old Captain Joe!” Jule exclaimed. “How -did he know?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, anyone would know that such a fool as I -am—such a heedless fool—would get any company -he traveled with into trouble, and——”</p> - -<p>Alex clapped a hand over the speaker’s mouth.</p> - -<p>“That will be all for you,” he said.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXVII'>CHAPTER XVII.—NIGHTS ON THE AMAZON</h2> - -<p class='first'>Neither then nor at any other time was Clay -permitted to speak to his chums of the loss of the gold. -He was allowed, briefly, to explain that two men -who claimed to be interested in motor boats had -approached him as he re-entered the restaurant, -that he had invited them to seats at the table, where -he had ordered another cup of coffee—the quality -served before having been excellent—that he had -felt drowsy after drinking one cup, and that the next -he knew the boys were pulling him to his feet. That -was all.</p> - -<p>There was no doubt in the minds of the boys that -the coffee had been drugged in the kitchen before -being brought to the table, or that the two men were -confederates of the restaurant keeper; but they were -in no position to demand investigation in a hostile -country, and so resolved to continue their journey up -the Amazon and say nothing more about it. There -were even suspicions in the minds of Clay and Case -that the whole thing had been planned by Frank’s -old enemies to keep the <i>Rambler</i> tied up in the -harbor for a long time, as well as to acquire the gold -the boy had so freely shown.</p> - -<p>“The people who are trying to keep Frank away -from that strange and mysterious Cloud island are at -the bottom of it,” was Case’s final comment on the -incident.</p> - -<p>However, the boys were now well supplied with -gasoline and provisions, and there would be no -further need of stopping at any town for a long -time. Frank seemed to have lost his desire for great -speed, after leaving the Madeira, and so the <i>Rambler</i> -lolled along the river for all the world like a boat -out with a summer-day picnic party.</p> - -<p>Now and then the boy watched the down-stream -country with a glass, as if expecting to see a steamer -with green and yellow stripes on her stack shooting -swiftly against the current. Again, he sat for hours -on the little stern platform at night, watching the -river and the shores for a light which he never -discovered.</p> - -<p>“What has gotten into the lad?” Case asked, one -night when the <i>Rambler</i> lay at anchor in a bay just -above the Rio Negro river. “He seems to be -watching for some sign or signal, but refuses to tell -what it is.”</p> - -<p>No one ventured a reply, and Jule pointed away -to the valley of the Rio Negro.</p> - -<p>“That river,” he said, to change the subject, “is -a thousand miles long. Its head waters rise in -Columbia and Guiana. Perhaps some of the water -that trickles down to the Amazon comes from the -oldest land on the continent.”</p> - -<p>“I guess not!” Alex interrupted. “The oldest -land is somewhere near the center of Peru.”</p> - -<p>“The oldest land is in Guiana,” insisted Jule. -“Many millions of years ago an island rose out of -the water there. That was the first of the -continent of South America. The Andes were forced -up later by the wrinkling of the crust of the earth -as it dried out. But the Andes lifted and lowered a -great many times before they got their noses into -the air for keeps. Why, there is a salt spring 14,000 -feet above sea level down here. That deposit of salt -was made when the ocean washed the spot where it -lies!”</p> - -<p>“There’s gold down here, too,” Alex declared. -“I’ve read that the gold mines of Peru were sealed -up when the Spanish came, and that they have never -been discovered to this day.”</p> - -<p>“What do you know about that, Frank?” asked -Case, as the boy came up.</p> - -<p>Frank made no reply, but walked back to his old -place on the rear platform, which he reached by -creeping over the low roof of the cabin.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps there is gold on this Cloud island,” -suggested Jule.</p> - -<p>“There is something there worth fighting for,” -Case argued. “Then, where did the kid get all that -gold? He brought it out with him, you know, and -hid it in a tree!”</p> - -<p>“Ho, ho!” laughed Jule, “there are no twenty-dollar -gold pieces down in the mines of Peru. All -that gold he brought out saw the little old U. S. long -before it saw Peru!”</p> - -<p>The boys held many such conversations as this as -they proceeded up the river of their dreams. They -never forgot those days and nights on the Amazon, -the splendid panorama of forest and stream ever -before their eyes, the perfect freedom from the -restraints of city life.</p> - -<p>They were nearly under the equator, it is true, -and the heat was almost unbearable at times. The -insects were numerous and annoying. But, after all, -they were out in the open, and they were free! The -average lad of seventeen will endure many privations -and suffer many physical penalties just to be free—to -be brother for a time to the woods, the blue sky, and -the running water!</p> - -<p>Many an evening, in spite of the heat, they built -great cooking fires in some alluring cove and made a -supper of fish, turtle eggs dug out of the sand, and -the flesh of a fowl resembling wild turkey. The -boy dearly loves to cook by a campfire! Often they -got into territory which the ants seemed to claim as -their own, and now and then an anaconda or an -alligator supplied a mark for their revolvers.</p> - -<p>Those were entrancing moonlit nights. Often -natives came from small villages and visited with -them. Traders are numerous along the Amazon, -and in nearly every settlement of natives there are -some who speak English and Spanish. As a rule the -Indians were friendly and willing to assist in the -capture of game, but now and then the boys were -glad to get away from the vicinity of a town or a -plantation because of the vicious nature of the -natives.</p> - -<p>The owners of the plantations they visited were -usually Spanish, or of Spanish descent. Their -workmen were invariably natives. There are more -villages and cities on the banks of the upper Amazon -than the maps show, and the boys made a point of -stopping at most of them. In fact, Frank seemed -determined to hold a conversation with someone -in every settlement they came to. Sometimes he -would go ashore alone in the row-boat and remain -for a long time in conference with a planter or one -employed thereabouts.</p> - -<p>“He’s asking questions about Cloud island!” -Jule explained, whenever this strange habit of the -boy’s was referred to.</p> - -<p>However, the boys liked best to get away from -all civilization and tie up at night in a little creek or -bay, or in a channel forming one side of an island.</p> - -<p>Here they caught fish, fought ants, captured -opossums, and beat the thickets for monkeys and -snakes.</p> - -<p>The opossums of Brazil are not much larger than -a good-sized rat, but they are very good eating. -Fish are plentiful, and there is plenty of small game -in the forests, so the boys had lots of fresh food to -eat. In that hot climate, however, it was necessary -to procure fresh game every day, as putrefaction -soon sets in. Fish taken from the river soon -becomes offensive unless cut into thin strips and dried -in the sunshine.</p> - -<p>Ever since leaving the Madeira the boys had slept -in hammocks swung from strong uprights on the -forward deck. The deck was shut in by wire -netting, which afforded them partial protection from -the insects. But of course the impudent blood-seekers -hung constantly about, and more than one -found its way into this screened place when the one -door, opening at the side, was in use.</p> - -<p>Lizards of all sizes, shapes and dispositions -managed to take passage on the <i>Rambler</i>, much to -the disgust of the boys and the anger of Captain Joe, -who attacked them relentlessly but could not keep -the boat free of them. But if the lizards and -snakes and ants were unwelcome guests on the boat -and at the little camps, there were plenty of other -visitors who more than compensated for them. -These were the birds, whose shrill voices and -brilliant coloring made the night as well as the day -musical and gay. Taken all in all, the life the boys -lived there on the mighty river, under the equator, -was ideal from a boy’s viewpoint.</p> - -<p>There were, besides many birds well known at the -North, kingfishers, green and blue tree-creepers, -purple-headed tanagers, and humming birds. -Butterflies were everywhere, of every size and color. -And there were the cicadas, at home in every tree, -sending out their jarring, reedy notes. The forests -were alive with sound, and the lads realized that -even the roar of Chicago would sometimes be small -beside the constant ring of wild life.</p> - -<p>One of the native weapons in use on the upper -Amazon quite fascinated Jule, and he never gave -over bartering with the Indians until he secured one. -This was a zarabatana, or blow-gun. It consists of -a hollow tube through which an arrow is shot by -the breath. The arrows are sharp as a needle and -are winged with fluff from the seed-vessels of the -cotton tree. The arrows are expelled with such -force that the sound of their exit from the muzzle -is something like that made by a popgun. They are -frequently tipped with the fatal urari poison.</p> - -<p>One night, under the brilliant light of the moon, -the boys saw a black tiger or jaguar drinking at the -edge of the little creek in which their boat lay. -They were anxious to take the fellow’s hide as a -souvenir of the trip, and so Clay and Alex cautiously -left the boat and struck into the forest back of the -spot where the tiger was quenching his thirst. He -threw up his muzzle and dropped his ears, like a -great cat, at the first motion on the shore.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe, quivering with excitement, and -entirely beyond control, leaped to the shore and -headed for the tiger, which backed, snarling, into -the jungle which the boys had thought to surround. -The dog followed on until he reached the spot from -which the beast had disappeared. In a moment -Alex and Clay were at his side, the former trying -to force his way into the thicket. Finally he pressed -in a yard or two and called to the dog to follow.</p> - -<p>But Captain Joe was evidently going out of the -tiger-hunting game without loss of time, for he -tilted his nose in the air, gave one growl of defiance, -and walked away in a very dignified manner indeed.</p> - -<p>“There,” Clay exclaimed, “Captain Joe knows -more about tigers than we do, so we’ll go back to -the <i>Rambler</i>.”</p> - -<p>The waters of the upper Amazon are filled with -alligators of all sizes. They occasionally swarmed -about the boat, and Captain Joe appeared to enjoy -watching their hungry little eyes as they gazed up -at his plump shoulders. Sometimes, while sleeping -in rude hammocks swung from trees and poles on -sandy shores, the boys were disturbed by the reptiles.</p> - -<p>After midnight, however, the alligators keep away -from the sands of the shores, at least where there is -a considerable stretch of it, for the radiation of heat -during the night from the sand makes these resting -spots cool, even chilly, in the morning.</p> - -<p>And so the boys leisurely proceeded up the -Amazon, stopping to fish, to hunt turtle eggs, to -watch the monkeys climbing the great trees, to hunt -the black tiger in the thickets and the alligators in -the rivers. They frequently spoke with traders on -the river, and now and then heard news from -Chicago.</p> - -<p>At last, along about the middle of September, -they came to Tabatinga, where the Amazon enters -Ecuador. Here they secured additional supplies of -gasoline and such provisions as they would need and -made a few repairs to the boat. The upper Amazon -country is never very “dry,” as storms are likely to -come on at any time during the early fall, so the -boys set up a little stove in the cabin and made ready -for the days of slow rain and wind which might -come on.</p> - -<p>From the time of leaving Marajo island they had -not seen or heard of the <i>Señorita</i>, and the boys, -all save Frank, were flattering themselves that the -pursuit had ceased. They had passed, and been -passed, by many steamers on the river, but none of -them resembled the little vessel they had first seen -on the South Branch. But at Tabatinga their dream -of being free from pursuit by Frank’s enemies -vanished.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXVIII'>CHAPTER XVIII.—JUST AHEAD OF A MOB</h2> - -<p class='first'>The <i>Rambler</i> lay in front of Tabatinga, ready to -take to the reaches of the upper river, one morning, -when Jule called Clay’s attention to a small steamer, -painted a silver gray, which was steaming into a -crude slip not far away.</p> - -<p>“That boat looks familiar,” the boy said. “How -many times have we passed her on the way up?”</p> - -<p>Clay viewed the boat critically and then went for -his glass. Frank had heard the question, seen Clay -take the glass from the hook on the wall of the cabin, -and followed to the side of the boat. Clay looked -long at the steamer and then handed the glass to -Frank.</p> - -<p>“What do you make of her?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Which way did she come from?” asked the -boy, placing the glass in position.</p> - -<p>“Up river,” answered Jule, at an inquiring glance -from Clay.</p> - -<p>“That’s strange!” Frank exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“What is?” demanded Jule.</p> - -<p>“The <i>Señorita</i> coming from that direction,” was -the reply.</p> - -<p>“The <i>Señorita</i>!” repeated Clay, in amazement.</p> - -<p>“Just what I thought!” Jule declared.</p> - -<p>“So that is our escort, all in a new suit of -clothes!” Alex grinned, looking over Frank’s -shoulder at the freshly-painted steamer.</p> - -<p>“There is no doubt about it,” Frank replied. -“But I can’t understand why she is coming down -stream.”</p> - -<p>“She’s been investigating Cloud island,” laughed -Alex.</p> - -<p>“That is no joke,” Jule cut in. “Do you see our -friend with the scar and the funny little black -mustache?” he added.</p> - -<p>“Señor Lewiso?” asked Frank. “Yes, he is on -board, and is looking this way.”</p> - -<p>“Give him the merry ha, ha!” advised Jule.</p> - -<p>“So that is his name?” Clay asked, turning to -Frank. “Señor Lewiso. You never mentioned that -before!”</p> - -<p>“There was no occasion,” Frank said.</p> - -<p>While the boys inspected the <i>Señorita</i>, Señor -Lewiso descended into a small boat and was taken -ashore.</p> - -<p>“I wish I knew what he wants in the town,” Frank mused.</p> - -<p>“Supplies, probably,” Clay suggested.</p> - -<p>Frank shook his head.</p> - -<p>“There is little need of her buying supplies here,” -he said, “for she has large provision refrigerators, -and, besides, most of the food supply up here would -naturally come from the forest and river.”</p> - -<p>“Then he is going ashore to find out something -about the <i>Rambler</i>. Perhaps he did not see us.”</p> - -<p>This from Alex, who was now preparing for the -shore.</p> - -<p>“Rest assured that he did see us!” Frank replied, -noting the boy’s preparations for a visit to the city. -“Where are you going?”</p> - -<p>“Why, don’t you want to know what he’s up to?” -asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“Of course, but you——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes I can!” broke in the boy. “I can take -Captain Joe with me and shadow him like a Sherlock -Holmes!”</p> - -<p>“Of course we can!” decided Jule, also making -ready for a visit to the city. “You see, he doesn’t -know us, and——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you ever think he doesn’t!” Case -interrupted. “That boat lay close to the <i>Rambler</i> in -the South Branch for a number of days, and you may -be sure that he has a mental photo of everyone of -us. Better cut this visit out!”</p> - -<p>“You said,” turning to Frank, “that you would -like to know what he wanted in the city! Well, -then!”</p> - -<p>“Run along!” Clay decided, seeing that Frank -was about to appeal to him for advice. “I see no -harm in the boys going, but they would better leave -Captain Joe on the boat.”</p> - -<p>“I guess Captain Joe wants to feel the soil under -his feet, just the same as we do,” Alex exclaimed, -patting the dog on the head, “but we’ll leave him -on board if you think best.”</p> - -<p>“He will be certain to get into a quarrel with -some Brazilian pup,” laughed Jule, “and may bring -on international complications, so we’d better kiss -him bye-bye and be on our way.”</p> - -<p>The lads went ashore in the boat while Captain -Joe stood on the prow and threw glances of sorrow -and reproach at them. When they reached the -shore, however, Alex gave out a long, shrill whistle -and the next moment Captain Joe was in the river, -swimming to his feet!</p> - -<p>“Go it!” Case stormed. “He’ll get you into a -fight, and we’ll have to come and get you out. Go it, -and have all the fun you want to, but lookout for -squalls.”</p> - -<p>“That is the first evil forecast I have heard from -you in a long time,” laughed Clay.</p> - -<p>“We’ve had too much of the real thing lately,” -grinned Case, “to need any imaginary woes. Say, -I’m going to quit that prophet-of-evil role!”</p> - -<p>“I hope so,” Clay responded.</p> - -<p>During the absence of the boys and the dog Frank -moved restlessly about the hot little cabin and the -crowded forward deck. It was plain to both Clay -and Case that he anticipated something important -as a result of the trip ashore.</p> - -<p>Alex and Jule were reckless and full of pranks, -but he knew them to be courageous, resourceful and -tenacious of any purpose undertaken. He thought -they would have little difficulty in finding the man -they sought. The only question in his mind was as -to whether they would not, by some prankish trick, -get themselves into trouble with the people of the -town.</p> - -<p>Señor Lewiso would not molest them. He knew -that very well. He thought he understood the man -thoroughly, and counted on his trying to make -friends with the lads instead of antagonizing them. -Clay questioned him in vain when he said as much -to his chum. Frank would not talk of the man, his -object in following them, or of the secrets of Cloud -island.</p> - -<p>Noon came and the boys were still absent. Then -Captain Joe came to the shore where the row-boat -lay and set up a request to be taken on board, as they -thought. Thinking that it might be just as well to -have the boat alongside, Case stripped to the waist -and plunged into the river, swimming with long, -steady strokes to the shore.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe pranced, barking, around him, but -would not enter the boat. Instead he seized Case -by one trousers leg and invited him to take a stroll -into the city, much to the delight of a crowd of boys -and adult loafers lounging about the water front.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Captain?” asked Case, as if the -dog could answer him. “Where did you leave the -boys?”</p> - -<p>Again the dog drew at his clothes, urging him in -the direction of the town.</p> - -<p>“But I can’t go in this swimming rig,” said Case, -arguing with the dog as he would have argued with -one of his chums. “You wait here while I go on -board and dress, then I’ll go with you.”</p> - -<p>The dog expressed his dissatisfaction with this -arrangement by a series of growls, but Case entered -the boat and rowed to the <i>Rambler</i>, where he found -Clay and Frank ready for the shore, they having -seen the dog’s pantomime from the deck.</p> - -<p>“Just as I thought,” Case grumbled. “They’ve -gone and got into some trouble and sent the dog to -tell us about it.”</p> - -<p>The situation looked grave, but Clay smiled as he -nudged the boy in the ribs.</p> - -<p>“You were going to quit that!” he said.</p> - -<p>“Well,” Case responded, with a grin, “they’ve -found a diamond mine, and have sent the dog to -notify us to come and help carry away the wealth. -Does that suit you any better?”</p> - -<p>“Surely, that is much better!” smiled Clay.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Captain Joe was sitting on the -little dock where the boat had been moored in a -very dignified attitude, his snarly nose pointing up -the street which ended at the river. This was not -the main street of the town, but one running back of -the thoroughfare where most of the places of -business were situated. It was a street where old -warehouses and cheap eating and drinking places -predominated.</p> - -<p>“See Captain Joe!” Frank exclaimed; “he -scents mischief up there. We would better be on -our way.”</p> - -<p>“Someone must remain on the <i>Rambler</i>,” Clay -declared, “and you, Frank, ought to be the one. -He, this Señor Lewiso, is not after us, but he may -make trouble for you.”</p> - -<p>“What a name!” Case exclaimed. “I’ll wager -that his name is just plain Lewis in the United -States.”</p> - -<p>“That is probably correct,” Clay agreed. “Now -for it!”</p> - -<p>Then the actions of the dog attracted their -attention. He no longer held his dignified pose, but -was running to and fro on the dock, looking -alternately at the <i>Rambler</i> and the street beyond the -dock, as if in doubt whether to chase up the street -or swim to the boat. Presently he darted away up -the street.</p> - -<p>Believing that something serious was happening -to Alex and Jule, Clay and Case now sprang into -the boat and rowed ashore. There was then no -need for them to advance up the street taken by -Captain Joe.</p> - -<p>An excited mob was rushing down the thoroughfare, -and at the head of it, covering the ground -like race-horses and dodging sticks and clubs as -they shot ahead, were Alex and Jule.</p> - -<p>The boys were not very far ahead of the crowd, -but were gaining. Indeed, they would soon have -been beyond the reach of the missiles thrown in -their direction only for the fact that fresh recruits -were continually swinging into the race from nearby -doorways and taking front positions in the pursuit.</p> - -<p>Captain Joe was running at the heels of his master, -pausing now and then to check the pursuit by -showing a dangerous set of teeth to the pursuers. -At such times those in advance fell back sullenly, -not caring to come to close quarters with the dog.</p> - -<p>When the boys reached the dock they were only -a few paces ahead of the front line of those who -were giving chase. One sturdy fellow, far in -advance, evidently a Spaniard, was even reaching out -to seize Alex when he came to the boat. He might -have succeeded in his attempt to prevent the lad -getting into the craft only that the dog sprang at -him and bore him back. As the two boys and the -dog gained the boat the oncoming rabble stumbled -over the prostrate man and half a dozen pitched -headforemost into the river.</p> - -<p>These seemed to be too much astonished at their -sudden immersion to seize the boat or the oars, and -so detain the boys, although those in the rear -shouted to them to do so, and Clay pushed out into -the current. While members of the mob sprang for -nearby boats, Frank set the motors going and picked -up the boys halfway to the dock.</p> - -<p>Then the <i>Rambler</i>, for the second time during -that trip, glided away, leaving an angry, vindictive -mob howling at her crew from the shore. Once on -the boat, and the boat showing clear water between -herself and the dock, Alex and Jule dropped down -on deck and set up a succession of mad shouts which -echoed over the stream. Captain Joe put his paws -on the railing at the screen door and deliberately -winked first one eye and then the other at the -defeated runners! Alex declares to this day that he -did it just to provoke his former antagonists!</p> - -<p>“Now, what is it all about?” asked Clay, as the -<i>Rambler</i> shot up the Amazon at full speed. “Can’t -you boys go on shore without bringing a mob of -uninvited guests back with you?”</p> - -<p>“That is our escort!” grinned Jule, waving an -arm in the direction of the gesticulating crowd on -the dock.</p> - -<p>“How did you happen to stir up such a hornet’s -nest?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“It was this way,” Alex began, whistling to the -dog and taking his head into his lap as he sat on the -deck, “when we got up there into the town we -saw—. Guess?”</p> - -<p>“Lewiso,” suggested Clay.</p> - -<p>“Give it up!” cried Case. “Go on!”</p> - -<p>“Well, we saw, not the man we went to look up, -but the two Englishmen we had the skirmish with in -the bush down on Ruination creek!”</p> - -<p>“Then they must have passed us on a steamer,” -Frank interrupted. “How were they dressed?”</p> - -<p>“Fine! Oh, they’ve made a raise since we saw -them trying to steal the <i>Rambler</i>!”</p> - -<p>“That is why I failed to hear or see anything of -them along the river as we came up,” Frank mused.</p> - -<p>“So, when you were watching night and day -that is why!” Case cried. “Did you think they -would walk up?”</p> - -<p>“I thought that they, being down on their luck, -would be obliged to make their way from town to -town on tramp trading vessels, and that I might hear -of them somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“They look like they owned a yacht of their own -now,” Jule put in. “They sure have robbed a bank -somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“Go on with your story,” Clay suggested, as the -<i>Señorita</i> left the dock and started up stream. “If -you have good luck you may be able to tell us what -is going on before that steamer comes up with us.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” Jule said, taking up the story, -“Alex had to follow the Englishmen into a restaurant, -where they were eating some funny contraption -and drinking something that looked like rum. They -were so busy they did not see us at first—busy over -papers which looked like maps they took from their -pockets!”</p> - -<p>“Maps!” echoed Frank, excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, maps, and they laid the bunch of papers -down on the table, and they looked good to me, -and so I sent Captain Joe after them.”</p> - -<p>“You did?” shouted Clay and Case in a breath. -“Did he get them?”</p> - -<p>This from Frank, whose eyes were shining with -a spirit the boys never seen there before.</p> - -<p>“Get them?” repeated Jule. “Of course he got -them, and handed them to me, and we beat it for -the boat, and the Englishmen followed with a mob -at their heels, and we hotfooted it down the street.”</p> - -<p>“But Captain Joe——”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know he got to the dock a long time -before we did, for we got sidetracked and had to hide -from the mob in an old warehouse. It was while -we were in there that Captain Joe left us, and came -after you.”</p> - -<p>“But the mob never found us,” Alex exclaimed, -“until we broke and ran for the river. I guess the -Englishmen are looking for us back there in the -warehouse yet.”</p> - -<p>“The papers?” asked Frank. “Where are -they?”</p> - -<p>Alex laid a packet on the deck by his side.</p> - -<p>“What are they?” he asked, provokingly holding -them down with one hand as Frank, catching sight -of one, reached for them.</p> - -<p>“Maps of Cloud island!” was the quick reply.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXIX'>CHAPTER XIX.—THE SECRET OF CLOUD ISLAND</h2> - -<p class='first'>The boys gathered around Frank as he took the -papers into his hands and ran them over hastily.</p> - -<p>“Are they really maps of Cloud island?” asked -Clay.</p> - -<p>“Where is this Cloud island?” demanded Alex, -grinning at the old question.</p> - -<p>“What are the maps good for?” added Jule.</p> - -<p>“How far is it to Cloud island?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“One question at a time, boys,” smiled Frank. -“I’ll tell you all about Cloud island now.”</p> - -<p>This statement was so extraordinary, in view of -the boy’s previous reticence on the subject, that even -Captain Joe arose and looked the speaker in the face -and wagged his tail in applause.</p> - -<p>“Cloud island,” began Frank, but Clay caught -him by the arm and pointed to the <i>Señorita</i>, now -under full headway, steaming up the river.</p> - -<p>“There comes your Señor Lewiso,” he raid.</p> - -<p>“Looks like he wants our maps!” Alex observed.</p> - -<p>The boys, at Frank’s request, did not increase the -speed of the <i>Rambler</i>. Instead, they loitered in -order that the <i>Señorita</i> might come up with them.</p> - -<p>“What’s the notion?” asked Alex. “You ain’t -going to give up those maps, are you, Frank!”</p> - -<p>“Did you met this Señor Lewiso while on -shore?” Frank answered the question with another, -as the steamer came abreast of the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>The boy shook his head.</p> - -<p>“We were too busy doing those other chaps out -of the maps,” he said.</p> - -<p>When the <i>Señorita</i> came abreast the young man -with the scar on his face was seen on deck, gazing -impudently at the boys.</p> - -<p>“Fine day!” yelled Jule, making a wry face.</p> - -<p>Clay gave a gesture of disapproval, but the boy -went on:</p> - -<p>“Is this your river?”</p> - -<p>There was no answer whatever from Señor Lewiso, -but someone not in view called out, in good English:</p> - -<p>“You know it! The river and all the islands in -it!”</p> - -<p>“Going to take the river up as you pass along?” -demanded Alex.</p> - -<p>“Oh, quit it!” Case exclaimed. “There is nothing -to be gained by that sort of thing.”</p> - -<p>“He looked so bossy,” commented Alex, “that I -didn’t know but he had the key to the river in his -pocket! He doesn’t look good to me, no way you -can put it!”</p> - -<p>The <i>Señorita</i> swept on, and was soon lost to sight -behind an island. Then an entirely unexpected sight -presented itself.</p> - -<p>A boat which looked like a launch, fitted with -motors and well filled with tanks and crates, shot out -of a little bay and followed the steamer. Frank -sprang for the glass and succeeded in getting a good -view of the two occupants before the craft made the -angle of the island just ahead.</p> - -<p>“Where did that come from?” questioned Jule. -“Say, but she is going after the <i>Señorita</i>!”</p> - -<p>“It looks that way,” agreed Alex.</p> - -<p>“There go the two Englishmen!” Frank said, -laying down the glass, as the launch disappeared -from sight. “They are going to follow the <i>Señorita</i> -to Cloud island.”</p> - -<p>“Whew!” ejaculated Case. “This Cloud island -seems to be in good demand. I hope they won’t -carry it away before we get there!”</p> - -<p>“Go on and tell us about it now,” Alex said, -turning to Frank. “The pursuers are all in the -lead!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, we’re all crazy to know about Cloud -island!” Jule added.</p> - -<p>“But there is one thing I don’t understand,” Case -observed. “These people have been following on -behind us up to now. Why do they shoot ahead at -this stage of the race?”</p> - -<p>Frank’s face broke into a smile.</p> - -<p>“It seems to me,” he replied, “that I am believed -by my enemies to be out of the game just now! -They appear to have left me for the pleasure of -pursuing each other!”</p> - -<p>“And you are sauntering along in order that they -may have their wish and fight it out between themselves.</p> - -<p>“Something like that,” Frank replied. “When -we met those two men on Ruination creek, I knew -that they would keep the Señor Lewiso rather busy, -if they succeeded in getting up the river. I doubted -their ability to continue their journey, for they -seemed to be in hard luck, but, thinking they might, -I watched and inquired all along to see if they had -gone on up ahead of us.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you acted strangely,” Clay said.</p> - -<p>“I had about given up all idea of their being -anywhere near here when the boys came upon them -to-day,” Frank went on. “Where they secured their -outfit is more than I can imagine, but they certainly -are in the contest in excellent form. The Señor -Lewiso will be troubled when he sees the launch -chasing him.”</p> - -<p>“Will the first one at Cloud island get what they -are all going after?” questioned Jule. “Will they -get what we are going in search of, do you think.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not!” Alex answered. “Don’t you -forget that Frank knows what’s he doing, loitering -along the river. I guess he knows what he is about -part of the time!”</p> - -<p>“The fact is,” Frank replied, guardedly, “that -neither one of them can secure the Cloud island prize -without help from me.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” grunted Jule.</p> - -<p>“Then they’ll have to wait for you to come up?” -asked Alex. “If that is the idea, why don’t they -stick around with you?”</p> - -<p>“Each one,” laughed Frank, “seems to have the -idea that the other possesses the information I have.”</p> - -<p>“I see!” grinned Alex. “And you’re going to -let ’em fight it out?”</p> - -<p>“That is my present intention.”</p> - -<p>“But if they fight it out and discover that they -have fought the wrong parties, what then?”</p> - -<p>“Then the ones left alive will want to fight it out -with me!”</p> - -<p>“Then there’s going to be a scrap!” Jule exclaimed. -“Some day they are sure to find out that -they’ve each been watching the wrong party!”</p> - -<p>“Now, if you have satisfied the curiosity of these -young sleuths,” Clay remarked, “perhaps they will -permit you to tell us about Cloud island, and what -reward is sought there.”</p> - -<p>From far up the shining surface of the river, its -sound somewhat deadened by the intervening island, -came the report of a gun. In a minute there came a -second shot.</p> - -<p>“The <i>Señorita</i> doesn’t like to be hugged by the -launch!” smiled Case.</p> - -<p>“It is a case of war there!” Frank observed. -“I’m glad I have two parties opposed to me instead -of one! They enjoy fighting each other, it seems!”</p> - -<p>“Every time you get ready to tell us about Cloud -island,” Clay laughed, “there is an interruption. -Let them fight it out, if they will, and you go on with -the story of that wonderful place.”</p> - -<p>Another reverberation came down the river, and -then silence. There was no more shooting at that -time.</p> - -<p>“Nearly a thousand miles from here, as the river -runs,” Frank began, “the Amazon turns south and -follows a valley running along between two giant -ridges of the Andes. Three or four hundred miles -from the point where it changes its course, it finds -its source in a small mountain lake. This lake is not -much more more than one hundred miles from Lima, -the capital of Peru.”</p> - -<p>“The Amazon draws water almost from the -Pacific!” Jule interrupted.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it comes very near crossing the continent -of South America,” Frank went on. “Well, about -half way between the source and the point I have -mentioned lies Cloud island, not in the center of -the river, but so setting over to a rocky shore that -the channel between the rocks and the island is -very narrow at low water.”</p> - -<p>“Low water?” asked Alex. “What makes high -and low water away up in the Andes?”</p> - -<p>“Rains, of course,” replied Frank. “During -the wet season, which is due to begin up there -before long, now, the Amazon sometimes rises from -twenty to forty feet. Well, it is these inundations -that make Cloud island valuable.”</p> - -<p>“Like the valley of the Nile,” Alex hinted.</p> - -<p>“Not at all in that way! It is believed that Cloud -island was once an active volcano. Its top lifts -above the river, at low water, about thirty feet. -The summit is not more than ten acres in extent, -and is as level as this deck, except that it tips -gradually to the north.”</p> - -<p>“Just a mountain tableland?” asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and not a very high one at that. But what -makes the upper level so peculiar is that in the -center there is a great crater, which sends out smoke and -steam which at times hide the land. Hence the -name Cloud island.”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course!” Jule interrupted. “That is -a volcanic region. But I have never heard of any -Cloud island volcano!”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t a volcano,” Frank went on. “There -is never any eruption, never has been one since the -records of that region were opened. Deep down in -the crater are monster caverns, from which lava was -tossed years ago, and at the bottom of some of -these are crevices through which the steam seeps.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll get a Russian bath when I get there!” Alex -promised himself.</p> - -<p>“You’ll get the hide scalded off you, if you go -down there!” Jule advised. “Won’t he, Frank?”</p> - -<p>“He will unless he knows where to go,” was the -reply. “The steam guards well the secret of those -caverns.</p> - -<p>“Any gold there?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“Yes, plenty of it.”</p> - -<p>“So that is what they are all after! Well, why -don’t they get it?”</p> - -<p>“Do they have to dive for it?” asked Case. -“The caverns must be full of water, if they are -deep.”</p> - -<p>“The water in the crater follows the surface of -the river, of course,” Frank answered. “When -there is high water, the current sweeps over the -mouth of the crater, and when there is low water -the bottoms of some of the caverns are dry—the -caverns which are shallow in comparison with the -others.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got it now!” roared Alex.</p> - -<p>“Smarty!” Jule reproved.</p> - -<p>“What is it you’ve got?” asked Case.</p> - -<p>“The answer!” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“Give it, then!”</p> - -<p>“There is plenty of gold in the mountains of -Peru,” Alex went on, while Frank leaned back with -a smile on his face. “I have read that there are -solid deposits a mile wide there.” he went on, with -a nudge at Jule. “The mother lode, in fact! Well, -the waters carry this gold out of crevices when it -is at its highest and pass it down the river. And -some day the river, at high water, deposited a great -quantity of gold in one of the caverns Frank speaks -of, and that gold is what all this mess is about. Is -that right, Frank?”</p> - -<p>“Very nearly right!” Frank replied. “Years -ago, a very ocean of water swept down the Andes -and rushed through the valley, which is narrow and -rocky. During this period of high water, a great -quantity of gold was washed out of a mine and -carried down, and a large amount of what was swept -over Cloud island lodged in the caverns—in one -cavern especially, and there my father found it. It -is there still, for he died before he could bring it -out! It is this cavern those people ahead are seeking.”</p> - -<p>“And you know right where it is?” asked Jule. -“What a snap!”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXX'>CHAPTER XX.—A CALL FOR HELP</h2> - -<p class='first'>“Then why didn’t you get it out a long time -ago?” asked Alex. “If I knew where there was a -bunch of gold, I’d buy three automobiles and a -motor boat that would fly in the air!”</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t get it out,” Frank replied. “I was -watched by thieves! The minute my father died -this Señor Lewiso, who had long been in the employ -of my father in the trading business, began -watching me and searching for the cavern.”</p> - -<p>“The caverns!” corrected Case.</p> - -<p>“You let him tell this story!” Alex exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps caverns is more accurate,” Frank -laughed, “but it is with one special cavern that we -have to do. There is only one cavern which is believed -to be full of gold. Father declared that it -held millions, and I have no reason to doubt either -his judgment or his word.”</p> - -<p>“It ought to be easy to find, if he found it,” Jule -broke in.</p> - -<p>“But it isn’t easy to find, unless you know just -where to look for it,” Frank continued. “As I -have already stated, some of the caverns show -fissures through which steam oozes at times, forming -misty clouds about the island. In these caverns -there is no gold, or a very little, if any, as the rush -of the water carries it through the openings to -unknown depths below.</p> - -<p>“During the great inundation I have referred to, -gold was swept by the current into a cavern where -there were no fissures. Subsequent floods and -periods of high water increased the gold deposit in -this cavern. They also covered the yellow metal up -with ooze and earth.”</p> - -<p>“Then it is still a guess! Of course, if it is -covered up!”</p> - -<p>This from Case, who had hardly breathed during -the latter part of the narrative.</p> - -<p>“So, if you don’t know where to locate this -particular cavern,” Frank resumed, “you might hunt -for it for years and never find it.”</p> - -<p>“And you really know right where it is?” asked -Clay. “Well, all this was worth while, wasn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“I think so!” smiled the boy.</p> - -<p>“Do any of these other people know?” asked Jule.</p> - -<p>“They have only a faint idea as to where the -gold is, but they are counting on taking their time -and hunting until they find it.”</p> - -<p>“They may finally blunder on it,” Case remarked.</p> - -<p>He was about to say more, but, remembering his -recent promise to get out of the role of prophet of -evil, he checked himself, much to the satisfaction of -the others.</p> - -<p>“Strictly speaking,” Frank resumed, “the cavern -where the gold is, is not a cavern at all! There was -once a cavern there, but it was filled with gold and -the wash of the mountains, so it now presents a level -surface to the eye of one entering the crater.”</p> - -<p>“Is it above water at this time of the year?” -asked the practical Clay.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think so. In order to reach the gold, one -must enter one of the steam caverns and cut through -to the one filled with gold and gravel. This is what -has puzzled them all, for there are many of these -steam holes, large and small, and one to investigate -thoroughly would be obliged to examine the entire -inner surface of each one. Father found the deposit -by accident.”</p> - -<p>“What about this Señor Lewiso,” asked Clay. -“You spoke of him in connection with some action -following the death of your father.”</p> - -<p>“He found what purported to be a map of the -crater,” answered the boy, “and began digging for -the gold, which he knew to be there somewhere. I -never objected to his quest, as he was all wrong, but -let him go on while I looked for men I could trust -to assist me in getting the gold out.”</p> - -<p>“But he must have found some gold,” Jule -argued, “for it took money to get that steamer and -follow you when you went out.”</p> - -<p>“He undoubtedly did,” Frank admitted, “but he -did not discover the main body of it. At least it was -intact when I left for Chicago.”</p> - -<p>“Why Chicago?”</p> - -<p>“Because I believed my father’s people to be -there.”</p> - -<p>“And you found them?”</p> - -<p>Frank shook his head.</p> - -<p>“All dead,” he said, sadly. “On the way out in -my boat I was attacked at the mouth of the Madeira, -as I hinted before. Only for the fact that I hid my -gold, and—and other things—in a tree, I would -have been plucked clean by the Indians this scamp of -a Lewiso sent upon me.</p> - -<p>“When I left Ruination creek I left $800 in a -tree, as you know, to come back to, for there was no -telling what luck I would have outside. I left too -much there, as it turned out, for I was hungry and -cold in Chicago, even when I possessed——”</p> - -<p>The boy hesitated and Clay gave Case a nudge -on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Possessed what?” asked Jule.</p> - -<p>“Something which would have brought money -and plenty,” was the guarded reply. “I heard of -you boys, and used to hang about the <i>Rambler</i> -nights, wondering if you would let me go with you. -You see, this is an ideal party to go in quest of that -gold,” he went on, “for no one would give us credit -for being anything but a bunch of lads out for a -vacation.”</p> - -<p>“And you saw this Lewiso in Chicago, of course?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, and he caused me to be robbed, and -arrested, and put out of hotels as a thief! I shall have -a long account to settle with him when the time -comes!”</p> - -<p>“Then why didn’t you go to some man of wealth -and state your ease to him? You could have secured -money enough for the trip back after the gold,” -suggested Clay.</p> - -<p>“I tried that,” Frank answered, “but never succeeded -in closing a deal with anyone. Lewiso caused -me to be shadowed, and whenever I interested a -man in the enterprise he sought him out and -discouraged him. At times, until the very last, he -would act friendly toward me, but this was only to -lead me on to confide in him. He probably followed -me when I went to the South Branch pier nights and -learned of my desires. Anyway, he heard plenty of -talk about going to the Amazon, coming from the -<i>Rambler</i>, and doubtless took it for granted that I -had joined hands with you, and that we were going -after the money.”</p> - -<p>“You think he bought the steamer there after -hearing of our trip?”</p> - -<p>“I am sure of it. He was foolish enough to believe -I would lead the way to the gold and let him -get it!”</p> - -<p>“And now where do these Englishmen come in?” -asked Clay, desirous of clearing up the whole -mystery at once.</p> - -<p>“I never knew them at Cloud island, but it seems -that they knew of me. One of them, I am almost -certain, was formerly the valet of an English -nobleman who visited father at his home on the upper -Amazon. He undoubtedly interested the other in -the adventure. Where he got the maps the boys -secured is more than I know.”</p> - -<p>“Are they valuable?”</p> - -<p>“Not worth the paper they are drawn on.”</p> - -<p>“Still their loss evidently urged the fellows on,” -Clay mused. “They seem determined, now, to keep -pace with the <i>Señorita</i>, doubtless believing that -Lewiso has secured, while shadowing you, the -needed information regarding the cavern.”</p> - -<p>“Something like that,” Frank replied. “I have -often wondered how those two men came to mention -Cloud island at Ruination creek that night,” he -continued. “I can account for it only on the theory -that Ugly, the Indian who was with them there, had -been a member of the party which attacked and -searched me in that vicinity. They engaged him as -guide, and he might have recognized me and told -them about my being a member of the other Cloud -island party which had stopped there.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you have that sized up correctly,” Clay -remarked. “I hope,” he went on, with a broad -smile, “to be somewhere near when Lewiso and the -Englishmen meet! Each one thinks the other has -secured from you the important information!”</p> - -<p>“In the meantime,” Frank remarked, “we’ll let -them watch and shoot at each other on the way to -Cloud island. We can loiter along the river and -enjoy ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“Why not hustle right along, and take no chances -on their getting the gold?” asked Case, the most -enthusiastic member of the party, now that the goal -seemed within reach.</p> - -<p>“You boys were planning a good time,” Frank -answered, “when I joined you. You were figuring -on long days and nights on the Amazon, fishing and -hunting. Then I connected with you, bringing my -troubles along as my only baggage! Since then -we’ve been kept busy keeping alive. We have fought -days and kept guard nights, until you must be sick -of your bargain, the bringing of yours truly along.”</p> - -<p>“Aw, it’s been fun!” Alex broke in, and the rest -echoed the thought, though not in the same words. -“Besides you had baggage! You’ve got our note -now, this minute for $800!”</p> - -<p>“And now,” Frank went on, “I see no reason -why we can’t fall back on the old program, and -loiter along, fishing and hunting and learning -something of the country. As for the note, I’ve burned -that!”</p> - -<p>“That will be all right, too!” Jule cut in, “we all -like that! But we’ll pay it all the same, and if you -say that we’ve got any the worst of it by bringing -you along, I’ll set the dog on you.”</p> - -<p>“We should have been lacking in excitement!” -Alex added.</p> - -<p>“It would have been a quilting party without -you,” Clay laughed. “Your affairs have kept us -busy—but we like to be busy,” he closed with a -friendly poke at Captain Joe, who immediately stood -up on his hind legs and dropped his forepaws into -an attitude of meditation.</p> - -<p>“Oh, say what you will about it,” Frank protested, -“I know that I’ve been a marplot all -through, and now I want you boys to join in with -me and have a game old time. Who’s for it?”</p> - -<p>Four lusty yells answered the challenge.</p> - -<p>“All right, then,” Frank continued, “we’ll tie up -right here, in that little bay, and see what sort of a -country Ecuador is.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to go into the interior,” Clay remarked.</p> - -<p>“It seems that the forest is more open here than on -the Madeira.”</p> - -<p>“It surely is,” Alex confirmed, “and I move that -we go back from the river a short distance and -look up a jaguar or an ant-eater.”</p> - -<p>“Whoo—pee!”</p> - -<p>This from Jule, who at once began pulling on a -pair of long-legged boots he had brought with him -from Chicago. The boy was always obsessed to get -into the forest.</p> - -<p>“What about weapons?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take my bean-shooter,” Alex proposed.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” asked Frank.</p> - -<p>“Bean-shooter?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, what is it?”</p> - -<p>Alex brought out his long zarabatana, or blow-gun -and shot an arrow to the shore, twenty paces -away, where it fluttered in the bole of a tree.</p> - -<p>“I have used those,” Frank laughed, “but I never -before heard them called bean-shooters.”</p> - -<p>“I’m going to hunt with this,” Alex went on. -“If I see a jaguar I’ll fill him so full of arrows that -he’ll look like a feather bed turned wrong side out.”</p> - -<p>“And what will he be doing all this time?” asked -Jule.</p> - -<p>“Getting out of the way!” roared Alex.</p> - -<p>The <i>Rambler</i> was soon anchored, and four of -the lads went ashore, leaving Case in charge of the -boat. It was a beautiful afternoon, though, of -course, very warm, and the boys set out with high -spirits to inspect a bit of Ecuador forest which -fringed a creek emptying into the Amazon.</p> - -<p>As they proceeded through the forest Alex came -to a great tree which seemed to have been “slashed,” -as the knights of old “slashed” their doublets. It -was almost red on the outside, and great “slashes” -in the bark showed a tender green. While the boy -was looking at the tree in wonder Frank came up -and, catching one of the reddish strips, peeled it -from the trunk as one peels a banana.</p> - -<p>“What kind of a tree is that?” asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“Mulatto tree.”</p> - -<p>“Why mulatto tree?” asked Jule.</p> - -<p>“Because it is black before it begins to shed its -bark.”</p> - -<p>“Shed its bark?” repeated Clay.</p> - -<p>“It sheds its bark every year, like a snake,” was -Frank’s amazing reply.</p> - -<p>Clay ripped off one of the long slabs, disclosing a -pretty green surface underneath.</p> - -<p>“That is the new bark,” Frank explained.</p> - -<p>Clay dropped the slab of bark and turned it over -with his foot.</p> - -<p>“Heavy?” asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“As a stone.”</p> - -<p>“It makes fine wood, and also fine shingles for a -hut,” Frank went on. “We’ll use some of it to cook -supper with.”</p> - -<p>“Cook it now!” urged Alex, his hand on his -stomach.</p> - -<p>“Right now!” Jule joined in the hungry request.</p> - -<p>“Earn your suppers!” grinned Clay. “Go and -kill a jaguar.”</p> - -<p>“But don’t get far from the river,” warned -Frank, “and don’t get lost in the jungle back there.”</p> - -<p>“Any bears back there?” asked Jule, with a wink -at Alex.</p> - -<p>“There’s worse—snakes a rod long.”</p> - -<p>“That’s my snake!” shouted Jule, and off he -went, not stopping to permit Alex to come up with -him.</p> - -<p>“That kid has steam enough for a Central Lines -locomotive,” Clay said, as the boy disappeared. -“Do you remember how ill he was that night on the -South Branch?” he added, turning to Frank.</p> - -<p>“He looked like death had him,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“And look at him now,” Clay exclaimed, proudly, -“look at him now! There isn’t a healthier lad in -nine states! Hear him yell, in there! Not much -like tuberculosis, eh?”</p> - -<p>“No,” Frank agreed, as he put up a hand for Clay -to cease talking.</p> - -<p>“What is it?”</p> - -<p>Clay was all anxiety at once.</p> - -<p>“Sounds like the kid calling for help. Did he -take a gun with him?”</p> - -<p>“Of course.”</p> - -<p>“Where’s Alex?”</p> - -<p>“He went the other way.”</p> - -<p>There was a short silence and then Jule’s voice -rang out, sharp and clear:</p> - -<p>“Help! Come on a run!”</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXXI'>CHAPTER XXI.—“A NICE, QUIET EXCURSION”</h2> - -<p class='first'>“Come a-running!” repeated Jule, his voice -sounding close at hand.</p> - -<p>Clay swung his gun to the front as he rushed for -the thicket.</p> - -<p>“Be careful!” warned Frank. “If there is a -drove of wild hogs in there, and you should happen -to kill one, they would give you the fight of your -life.”</p> - -<p>“Can you follow the sound?” asked Clay, as they -pushed along through the undergrowth.</p> - -<p>“Straight ahead,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“But there is a movement in the brush away to -the left. That may be Jule.”</p> - -<p>“It is Alex,” panted Frank, for they were moving -fast and having a hard time working their way -through the jungle, which increased in density as -they proceeded. “Can’t you see the point of what -he calls his bean-shooter?” continued Frank. “See, -he is coming this way.”</p> - -<p>In a moment Alex joined them as they ran, and -the three made good progress. Only once they -stopped to listen. They had heard nothing from the -boy for a minute or more, and they were not quite -sure they were going in the right direction.</p> - -<p>“If he would only shoot, or call again,” Alex -grumbled.</p> - -<p>Then the call came, from the dense copse just -ahead:</p> - -<p>“Come on a run!”</p> - -<p>The voice sounded faint.</p> - -<p>“Coming!” exclaimed Alex.</p> - -<p>“Come on a run——”</p> - -<p>The voice ceased, and Alex darted ahead so fast -that Clay and Frank were left behind. In a moment -they heard him shout:</p> - -<p>“Drop your head! Drop it!”</p> - -<p>There was no sound for a second, and then a -great tumbling took place on the small growths of -the forest. Then came a sound like the fall of a -heavy body to the ground. This was followed by a -whipping noise, like that made by slapping a rug -against a post to get the dust out of it. And then -the cracking of little bushes and plants, the rustling -of foliage, as if a street sweeper were being drawn -over them.</p> - -<p>“Come on in!” yelled Alex.</p> - -<p>“The water’s fine!” came Jule’s voice, but it was -not so strong as it had been an hour before.</p> - -<p>“What has been going on in there?” asked Clay. -“What is that noise, that slapping, that threshing -about?”</p> - -<p>“That’s probably a serpent—a boa—kicking the -bucket,” Frank answered.</p> - -<p>“A what?” questioned Clay. “A serpent in -there?”</p> - -<p>“Surest thing you know! And I imagine from -familiar sounds that he nearly got Jule!”</p> - -<p>“But how?” puzzled Clay.</p> - -<p>“Hypnotized him!” Frank answered. “But -come on,” he continued. “We may as well go in -and learn the facts as to stand here and guess.”</p> - -<p>They passed through a fringe of thorny vines and -came out in a small glade. In the middle of this -slight clearing stood Alex and Jule, the latter -looking pale and shriveled. At their feet lay the still -writhing body of a giant boa—one of the -constrictor serpents which make the forests of South -America so dangerous.</p> - -<p>“Look at him,” Alex shouted, pointing to the -serpent. “Look at the arrow plump through his -neck! Broke the backbone of him at the first shot. -Don’t you ever tell me that I can’t edit one of these -bean-shooters! What? That’s his snake!” he -added, making a face at Jule.</p> - -<p>The serpent was still pounding about the glade, -but his backbone had been broken by the boy’s arrow, -and his death was only a question of time. Jule -approached Clay with an apologetic smile on his face.</p> - -<p>“He near got me!” he said.</p> - -<p>“How?” asked Clay, not having understood -Frank’s short explanation of what might have -taken place.</p> - -<p>“I guess he hypnotized me,” answered Jule. -“You see, fellows, I was walking along right here -when I heard a hiss and a sliding motion in the tree, -the one straight ahead. I looked up quick, of -course, and there was that great flat, triangular head -swinging back and forth before my eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you duck and run?”</p> - -<p>Jule glanced at Alex scornfully and went on.</p> - -<p>“I just couldn’t move. All I could do was to -wag my tongue, and I take it you know what I said. -I don’t. I know my head swayed back and forth in -response to the motions of the snake. I saw all -kinds of bright and beautiful lights in the wicked -eyes of him. I felt his great, sticky face rubbing -against my cheek! Ough!”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way they charm birds and monkeys,” -Frank said.</p> - -<p>“And then Alex came up and his arrow struck -the serpent in the neck and I was free from the -fascination, but weak—just as weak as a cat!”</p> - -<p>“That was a good shot, Alex,” Frank said, -stepping forward to inspect the arrow, which had -passed entirely through the neck of the great reptile, -protruding at both sides.</p> - -<p>“It is a wonder!” the boy replied. “I was so -scared that I didn’t know what I was doing. You -see, this great brute had his head right on the kid’s -shoulder. I never saw a human face as white as -his was at that time!”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t any whiter than I felt,” grinned Jule. -The boys finished the serpent with a couple of -shots and started back to the river. They walked a -long ways, but still no water showed in the distance.</p> - -<p>Then Frank put out his hand and stood still. When -he put it out to Clay there was a drop of rain in -the palm.</p> - -<p>“That’s fine!” Alex exclaimed. “Lost in the -woods and the rain coming down. Now what, -fellows?”</p> - -<p>“Who has a searchlight?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>“I have!” answered Jule. “I’ve got one tucked -up under this sweater. Never go away from the -boat without it.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you turn it on the serpent?” asked -Alex, with a most provoking laugh.</p> - -<p>“I hope you’ll get a snake on your shoulder some -day!” Jule retorted. “Then you’ll see what you -are capable of doing. Turn it on the serpent!” -he repeated. “Why, I couldn’t have turned it over -in my hand.”</p> - -<p>“What do you want of the light?” asked Frank. -“It will soon be dark,” Clay responded, “and -then we shall have hard work finding our way back -to the boat.”</p> - -<p>“Unless a miracle takes place,” Frank predicted, -“we’ll remain in the forest to-night. We might -as well try to bore through a mountain with a gimlet -as to pick our way through this jungle in the night.”</p> - -<p>“But it rains, and there are snakes and jaguars -abroad!” protested Jule, who was not in favor of -giving the serpents of the forest another chance at -him.”</p> - -<p>“A fire will keep them both away.”</p> - -<p>With this comforting remark the boy set to work -gathering up the long, red slabs of the mulatto tree. -The boys assisted him in bending and tying down a -small tree and the slabs were put over the horizontal -trunk, slanting to the ground. They were piled -against each other so as to more effectually keep out -the rain, which was now falling in great drops.</p> - -<p>“Now,” said Frank, after the roof was on the -proposed habitation of the night, “we’ll build a -fire at one end and pile bark at the other. We shall -have a house as cozy as a bug-in-a-rug nest.”</p> - -<p>“If Case would only shoot!” Jule hinted, -disliking the idea of a night there, “I could find my -way to the river. Perhaps he will, after a time, for -he will be lonesome and anxious as soon as it gets -dark.”</p> - -<p>But no signals came from the river, which seemed -a long ways off, and the boys, hovering under the -bark roof and listening to the patter of the drops -on the growths of the forest, began to wonder if -something hadn’t happened to the lad in the boat.</p> - -<p>Presently a wind came up, blowing great guns, -and the boys were obliged to cling tight to the -swaying ridge-pole of their tent in order to prevent -the whole frail habitation being blown away. It -looked as if a dreary night lay ahead of them.</p> - -<p>After an hour or more had been passed in this -way a faint drumming, whirring sound was heard, -followed by a sharp whistle and a splash of paddles.</p> - -<p>“That’s Frank’s miracle!—a steamboat on the -river!” cried Alex, jumping out into the rain. -“Now I reckon we can tell which way to go to the -<i>Rambler</i>!”</p> - -<p>Clay and Jule arose and peered out in the -direction from which the sounds appeared to come. -Frank burst into a laugh.</p> - -<p>“Look the other way!” he cried. “That is the -echo! The sound is stopped by the foliage and -hurled back.”</p> - -<p>“Not!” disputed Jule. “The boat is off that -way. I can see a light over there.”</p> - -<p>“If you do,” Frank returned, “you see a -campfire. The river lies off in the opposite direction.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll see when the boat gets nearer,” Clay -conciliated. “If I had my way about it now, I should -chase off in the direction those sounds come from.”</p> - -<p>The lads crept back under shelter and listened -patiently as the sounds came nearer. Then music -was heard. It was evidently a large passenger -steamer, and a lady was playing and singing in the -cabin!</p> - -<p>“Sounds like a bit of paradise!” declared Clay. -“It has been a long time since we have heard a -woman sing.”</p> - -<p>“Her song points out our way,” Alex observed, -as the lights of the boat struck the green, wet foliage -and flashed back a thousand tiny stars!</p> - -<p>“Give it up?” asked Frank, as the steamer -passed and the lights and music faded in the -distance. “Give it up? You would have gotten -deeper into the woods if you had followed that -echo.”</p> - -<p>The rain was now coming down harder than ever, -and the wind was blowing a perfect hurricane from -the west. Clay stepped out of the shelter and was -nearly blown off his feet.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” he said, bracing himself against -the wind,” we can make it if we try hard enough. -We know where to go now.”</p> - -<p>“Dark?” Jule broke in, savagely. “Who said it -was dark?”</p> - -<p>“No one!” scoffed Alex. “That isn’t a dark -jungle out there! That is the Great White Way!”</p> - -<p>“You’re crazy!” Jule laughed. “Who said -there were snakes and jaguars in the woods of -Ecuador?”</p> - -<p>“Who’s crazy now?” chanted Alex. “Give my -regards to Herald Square.”</p> - -<p>“I believe you are both afraid to make the -journey back to the boat,” Clay laughed. “Hence these -meaningless observations.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s afraid?” demanded Jule.</p> - -<p>The next instant he was out in the rain, his -flashlight shining in front of him like a headlight to a -locomotive. When the others called out to him to -wait a second and give them the benefit of his light, -there was no reply. Nettled at the seeming taunt, -he had started off alone toward the <i>Rambler</i>.</p> - -<p>It was dark, and the rain fell in torrents, and the -wind was tipping over great trees in the forest, but -the boys started out toward the river hoping to come -upon Jule with his searchlight before long.</p> - -<p>Presently they saw it, coming toward them -through the trees, and then they heard the boy’s -voice, raised to a great pitch to combat the clamor -of the wind and rain.</p> - -<p>“I’ve found the <i>Rambler</i>,” he said, “but Case -isn’t there!”</p> - -<p>“Nice quiet excursion this,” said Alex, with an -answering whoop.</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXXII'>CHAPTER XXII.—A BATH IN THE NIGHT</h2> - -<p class='first'>“A nice, quiet excursion, all right!” agreed -Clay. “This is one of Frank’s nature-loving -trips!”</p> - -<p>“I wish I had some of these wild animals in -Lincoln park!” Alex grumbled. “I could live like -a king on the income they’d bring as promoters of -sensations!”</p> - -<p>“There are said to be plenty of snakes along -North Clark street,” laughed Clay.</p> - -<p>“But most of them are not present to the senses,” -Alex explained.</p> - -<p>Jule came up with his light, and better progress -was made through the forest, which grew thinner -as it approached the river. The rain was still -falling in dashes, but the wind seemed to be going -down.</p> - -<p>After walking a short distance they heard a call, -seemingly coming from the wrack of clouds overhead.</p> - -<p>“That was Case’s voice!” Clay declared. “He’s -near by!”</p> - -<p>“Sure it was!” Jule agreed, “but where is he? -Sounds like he was up in a balloon.”</p> - -<p>Again the call came, and this time there was no -doubt that the boy was up above the surface of the -ground.</p> - -<p>“He’s in a tree!” Clay concluded. “Now, -what do you think of that? This surely is a night -for nature-loving kids!”</p> - -<p>“H-e-l-l-o!” called Case. “Lookout where you -go. I’ve got a whole menagerie down there.”</p> - -<p>The boys stood still and looked about, passing -the searchlight from side to side, but seeing nothing -save the splash of the rain on the broad leaves about -them. Then Case called again:</p> - -<p>“Keep close to the light!” he cried.</p> - -<p>Then a great racket in the undergrowth reached -the ears of the listening lads. It sounded as if an -elephant was engaged in deadly combat with an -alligator fresh from the river. Cries like those of a -cat and grunts like those of a huge hog came with -the tumblings. Ripping sounds like tearing tough -cloth or leather succeeded. Presently the racket -died out, and nothing was heard save the drip-drip -of the rain and the wind in the tall trees. The night -was clearing a bit, and the clouds responsible for -the shower were breaking and floating away, -showing open spaces from which stars looked down.</p> - -<p>A movement in the bushes caused Clay to present -his gun in that direction and Jule to advance his -light. Instead of the wild beast they anticipated -seeing. Case came forward to meet them. His -clothing was torn, and his face showed contact with -thorny vines.</p> - -<p>“What did you leave the boat for?” demanded -Alex, glad of an opportunity to “roast” the boy. -“Someone might have carried it away in a hand-bag!”</p> - -<p>“I wanted to get that jaguar skin,” was the -answer.</p> - -<p>“Did you get it?” asked Jule, anxiously, for it -was the desire of his heart that the party should -take home such a trophy.</p> - -<p>“Something got it, I guess,” replied Case. “Go -and look where that fight was. “You’ll see what I -bumped up against.”</p> - -<p>Frank took the searchlight and peered through -the thicket to the spot where the disturbance had -been.</p> - -<p>“It was a jaguar, all right,” he said, “and the -tamandua got him—and he got the tamandua. -Come here, boys.”</p> - -<p>On the ground, clasped in a deadly embrace, lay -a tamandua and a jaguar. The tamandua is best -known as the ant-eater, and is a tough-skinned, -slothful animal, bulky, muscular, and dangerous when -attacked.</p> - -<p>“I was stalking the jaguar,” Case said, -approaching the bodies, “when he turned on me. I didn’t -know what to do, so I mounted a tree, which was -some climb—believe me! Then the ant-eater blundered -along, and it looked as if the tiger was so mad -because he had been delayed in getting me that he -attacked the fellow. And there they lie! My, but -they kept each other busy for a spell.”</p> - -<p>“The jaguar would have kept you busy if the ant-eater -hadn’t happened along!” Frank declared. -“He would have been up that tree in no time. You -are lucky to be alive!”</p> - -<p>The boys found their way back to the <i>Rambler</i> -and delighted the heart of Alex by beginning -preparations for supper. Clay decided that they should -have a “native” meal, as a fowl shot earlier in the -afternoon would form the piece d’ resistance. -Besides the fowl, which was roasted at a fire on the -shore—alligators paddling about the shore and -slapping the water and the sand with their unwieldy -tails as the roasting went on—they had bread made -of the product of the mandioca plant. This plant -means as much to the people of Brazil as the potato -does to the inhabitants of our Northern states.</p> - -<p>It produces farina, cassava, and tapioca, all of -which are made from the roots, which are peeled -like potatoes. In order to produce most of the -products of the plant the pulp secured from the roots -is squeezed dry by twisting it in a bag. The juice -thus secured is poisonous when new, but when -fermented it makes the whisky of the Amazon valley.</p> - -<p>The boys also had a fish fresh from the river, and -Jule insisted on having this roasted also. Even the -coffee they had brought in with them was a product -of Brazil.</p> - -<p>After supper they sat for a long time watching -the moon rise over the river. It came out of a bank -of clouds at first, but directly a long, bright path -lay along the rippling surface of the water, seeming -to lead straight back to the Atlantic coast. -Alligators innumerable came out and raced clumsily -about—playing, Frank said. Off in the forest they -could hear the call of a jaguar, probably the mate -of the one that had been killed by the ant-eater.</p> - -<p>A great chattering in the trees told of the -presence of monkeys, but the boys did not molest them. -The alligators, too, were immune from the guns of -the party. The only thing the lads killed -relentlessly, at all times and under all circumstances, was -the snake.</p> - -<p>“I move,” Clay began, as they all sat under the -wire netting, looking out on the attractive and -unfamiliar scene, “that we go on to Cloud island in -the morning and do our exploring when we come -down. I have a notion that this Lewiso and the -Englishmen will do murder up there unless we stifle -their cause of combat by taking the gold ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“I second the motion!” Case cried.</p> - -<p>Case was really becoming one of the most -enthusiastic and resourceful members of the party. -Only at rare intervals did he give way to his -imagination—an imagination, by the way, which was -bright and suggestive, even if inclined to bring out -disagreeable points—and let out prophecies of evil.</p> - -<p>“I shall be glad when it is all over with,” Frank -admitted. “Of course I want you boys to have all -the fun you can on this trip, but I think we can have -better entertainment after this suspense is over, on -the way back to the coast.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going back with us?” asked Alex.</p> - -<p>“Yes; if you will permit it. Why not?”</p> - -<p>“Even if we do not get the gold?”</p> - -<p>“Why, certainly. If we get the gold I shall go -out with you as a starter on a series of travels to -include all the large rivers in the United States. If -we do not get it, why, then I shall have to go out -and find something to do.”</p> - -<p>“Is this prospect of the gold all the interest you -have up there?” asked Clay.</p> - -<p>“Yes, nearly all; my father left considerable -property, but it is about gone. My guardian helped -himself, and this Lewiso has cost me a lot of money.”</p> - -<p>“Then we’ve just got to get the gold!” Alex -exclaimed. “We just can’t go back to Chicago -broke!”</p> - -<p>“I like that idea of exploring all the large rivers -of the country,” Clay said, smiling at Alex’s -enthusiasm. “If we win out with the gold, we’ll form -a Motor Boat Club and make it our business to visit -all the large streams our Uncle Sam owns.”</p> - -<p>“Correct!” shouted Alex.</p> - -<p>“You know it!” Jule contributed.</p> - -<p>“Glorious!” Case declared.</p> - -<p>The boys talked until midnight, looking over the -moonlit river and listening, at intervals to the -sounds of the jungle.</p> - -<p>“It is just like a large city!” Case observed. -“There is such a continuous clamor that individual -noises are lost. We hear only the full-throated roar -of races and forget the existence of the little -voices. But the little voices are there. They make -the roar!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll all make a roar about getting up in the -morning!” Jule said, “if we don’t get to bed.”</p> - -<p>He looked about the crowded deck where so many -hammocks swung and then up to the roof of the -cabin.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” he mused, “if the mosquitos would -eat me up before morning if I should make a bed -up on the cabin?”</p> - -<p>“They would do their best!” Alex replied.</p> - -<p>“Anyway,” Jule decided, “I’m going to try it.”</p> - -<p>So he hauled a rug and a blanket to the roof of -the cabin and composed himself to slumber. The -boys on the deck were asleep almost as soon as he -was, and the alligators in the Amazon sported on -without a human audience.</p> - -<p>But the long silence of the boat seemed to attract -the attention of the huge reptiles, and they soon -began to nose about the sides of the <i>Rambler</i>. Pretty -soon a whole school of the big fellows were -swimming close to the sides, evidently attracted by the -odor of the supper which had been eaten there.</p> - -<p>Presently a huge fellow bunted into another huge -fellow in what seemed to be defiance of the rules of -river etiquette, and a battle was the result. In the -squabble one was forced with a bunt against the -boat, and the craft rocked perilously. Another -bunt, and the top of the cabin stood at an angle of -about 75 degrees. The sleeper rolled off his blanket -and tumbled overboard, striking one of the fighters -squarely on the nose.</p> - -<p>The alligators seemed to be as much surprised at -the sudden visitation as Jule was to find himself -floundering in the water, with the cold noses of -the ’gators touching his bare flesh. He let out a cry -which brought the boys out of their hammocks with -their guns in their hands, and directly a shower of -lead fell into the river.</p> - -<p>When the boy was finally pulled on deck he looked -at both legs and both arms, and felt of the back of -his head to see if he was all there. Alex tried to -convince him that one of the river “birds” had -amputated his intelligence, but Jule chased him away -and lay down on his blanket again.</p> - -<p>“You’re a nice fisherman!” Case cried. “Trying -to catch an alligator by the tail! We’ll have to -tie you up!”</p> - -<p>Even Captain Joe seemed to be inclined to laugh -at the lad for his accident, but quiet was soon -restored, and the boat was sent up the river at great -speed, Jule declaring that he would sit up and run -her in order to get out of that part of the country. -Its snakes and alligators, he intimated, were too -numerous for him!</p> - -<p>For two days and nights they kept on their way, -stopping once to replenish their gasoline tanks. -Then, on the morning of the third day, a cloud lifted -from the river and Frank pointed to it with a sigh -of relief. As he did so the wreck of a steamer -floated past—a steamer which had been the <i>Señorita</i>, -and which had evidently been blown up with -dynamite. What had taken place, the boys asked, -and where was the crew?</p> - </div> - - <div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='chXXIII'>CHAPTER XXIII.—CLOUD ISLAND</h2> - -<p class='first'>Cloud Island was just a bulk of mist when the -lads came opposite it. The outlines of the shore -were not to be seen, for steam pouring out of the -fissures in the rocks clouded everything. To the -west, however, a small hut was to be seen on the -narrow rim which lay between the river and the -mountains. While they looked, checking the speed -of the <i>Rambler</i> until it just held against the -current, two figures moved out of the structure and -motioned to the boat.</p> - -<p>“That’s John!” Frank cried, putting his fingers -to his lips and giving out a long, wavering whistle -which cut the air like a knife. “That is John,” he -went on—“the man I left in charge of my affairs -here. I think we would better land at the little pier -just above.”</p> - -<p>But there was no pier there, only a mass of burned -and twisted timbers and blackened stones! -However, Frank put ashore in the row-boat, soon -returning with the man who had motioned from the shore. -He was a muscular young fellow with the dusky -complexion of the native Indian and the regular -features of the American. He was dressed in -European clothing and spoke English fluently, -although Frank assured his friends that he had never -lived out of Peru.</p> - -<p>It was evident that Frank and John had discussed -personal affairs on the way to the deck of the -<i>Rambler</i>, for the boy now asked:</p> - -<p>“What happened to the pier?”</p> - -<p>The boys gathered around to hear the reply, for -the wreck which had drifted by them told of -violence which had not been confined to the boat.</p> - -<p>“Before we go into that,” John replied, “suppose -you head up to the station just above—where your -father used to live—and bring down a surgeon. I -have two patients at my hut.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” asked -Frank.</p> - -<p>“I thought you might want to stop and talk with -them,” was the reply, “and every minute is precious -if their lives are to be saved.”</p> - -<p>“Who are they?” asked Clay, unable to longer -restrain his curiosity.</p> - -<p>Frank’s eyes asked the same question, and John -continued:</p> - -<p>“You remember Lord Wilson? The Englishman -who came here with a valet two years ago? -Well, one of the men in need of surgical aid is -Edward, the valet. He came in here a few days ago -with another Englishman, in a queer combination -of launch and motor boat.”</p> - -<p>“Ahead of the <i>Señorita</i>?” asked Frank.</p> - -<p>“Just behind her. This man Lewiso, who formerly -worked for your father, was in charge of the -<i>Señorita</i>, and the two men mixed at once. You -see,” he added with a smile, “they were both after -the gold we have so often talked about, and each -believed that the other knew the exact location of it. -They both prowled about Cloud island, each watching -the other, until they came to blows.”</p> - -<p>“That was to have been expected,” Frank said.</p> - -<p>“The crew of the <i>Señorita</i> deserted when shooting -began, and Lewiso and Edward had it out together, -one day, on the pier, where the <i>Señorita</i> lay. -Neither was much injured, but that night the -steamer was blown out of water with dynamite -stolen from my warehouse. I pushed the wreck of -the vessel down stream not long ago.”</p> - -<p>“We just passed it.”</p> - -<p>“The companion of the Englishman, Edward, -was killed that night, but Lewiso escaped. Last -night they came together—Edward and Lewiso—on -Cloud island, while searching for the gold, and this -morning my men brought them to my place wounded -unto death. They are there now, and the doctor’s -house is in sight, and we’ll interrupt the conversation -long enough to get him on board,” John added, as -the motor boat headed in at a little cove on the west -shore.</p> - -<p>The doctor was soon on board—a fussy little fellow -with gray hair and a beard like a goat—and the -<i>Rambler</i> shot down stream again.</p> - -<p>“Of course the men never found what they were -looking for?” asked Frank, as the boat sped on its -way.</p> - -<p>“Certainly not, and for a very good reason!”</p> - -<p>“Not being able to find the right cavern, I -suppose?” laughed Frank.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they found the right cavern, all right, but -that helped them not a bit.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>Frank sprang to his feet excitedly, and the others -gathered around, anticipating the next sentence. -There had been no gold in the cavern! Frank’s -father had been mistaken! Was that what John was -about to say? Had all this excitement, all these -dreams of wealth, come to such a dreary ending?</p> - -<p>“There was no gold there for them to get!” John -said.</p> - -<p>Frank sank back with a sigh.</p> - -<p>“That is a corker!” he said. “No gold there?”</p> - -<p>“For the reason,” continued John, with a laugh, -“that I had taken it out and shipped it away!”</p> - -<p>Clay was about to ask the speaker if he considered -it a good joke to rob a fellow like that and then laugh -over it, but there was so much humor in John’s eyes -that he hesitated to put the impertinent, accusing -and degrading question.</p> - -<p>Frank arose wearily and walked away, but John -caught him by the arm and turned him back.</p> - -<p>“When we get up to the hut,” he said, “I’ll show -you how much I got for the gold. It was sold at -Para, at a small discount.”</p> - -<p>Frank did not appear at all interested in the price -of this gold—the gold he had considered his own.</p> - -<p>“All right!” he said, dully. “Then we’ll turn -back.”</p> - -<p>“Not until you look over the island,” cried Alex. -“I’ve a notion that there’s something crooked -been going on here, and I want to remain here-abouts -long enough to dig it out,” he continued, -his eyes flashing in John’s direction. John did not -appear to mind this in the least, and even Captain -Joe seemed to make light of the hostile demonstration, -for he sniffed a moment at John’s trousers and -then, taking him into his confidence lay down at his -feet!</p> - -<p>“You must have made a good thing off Frank’s -gold!” Jule broke in.</p> - -<p>“Something like $300,000,” was the cool reply.</p> - -<p>“That’s nice!” cried Case, moving toward the -speaker.</p> - -<p>“And the check for it all,” John went on, -laughing as he talked, “is waiting for Frank! It was his -mine, you know, and if he wants to pay me for my -trouble, why——”</p> - -<p>An avalanche of boys flowed over John! They -dragged him about the deck, tore at his clothes, -shouted his name——</p> - -<p>“John! John! John! He’s a brick is John!”</p> - -<p>“Here’s for a revel! Bring him along! Who? -John!”</p> - -<p>“That will answer for the present,” John managed -to say. “Save the pieces! I want to see a little -of the world yet!”</p> - -<p>It took a long time for John to describe how the -cavern had been opened by himself, and how he had -engaged men to work the gold out during the night-time, -and how it had been secretly shipped away, -and how all the money it brought lay at Frank’s -disposal in a bank at Para!</p> - -<p>But the story was told at last, and then the <i>Rambler</i> -landed the surgeon and all went up to John’s hut -to see the two men who had fought each other for an -empty cavern! John’s servant opened the door for -them and pointed silently to two bunks standing next -the wall. The figures on the bunks were still, and -a white cloth was laid over each face.</p> - -<p>The boys turned away and went back to the -<i>Rambler</i>. And so the quest for the Cloud island -gold ended, and so the secret of Cloud island was -told.</p> - -<p>The boys remained a week at Cloud island, and -then, accompanied by John, started back down the -Amazon. Before leaving, Frank gave to John what -was left of his father’s estate, and the latter refused -to accept any other reward for getting out the gold. -The honest fellow had long ago been taken into the -confidence of Frank’s father in the matter of the -gold, and so it was, after all, no great wonder that -he had found it!</p> - -<p>His idea in not acquainting Frank with the true -condition of affairs before the boy left for Chicago, -was that the boy ought to go about a bit and learn -the value of money before taking such wealth into -his boyish hands.</p> - -<p>Then followed more magnificent days and nights -on the Amazon. The boys were now in the midst -of the wet season on the upper river, and many of -the camps they had made on the way up were under -water. However, the <i>Rambler</i> behaved admirably, -and Captain Joe seemed so proud of her conduct in -the face of the flood that he was always found -looking over the stern with an air of dignity and -triumph!</p> - -<p>And so, with Jule completely restored to health, -the boys stepped out on the pier on the South Branch -one sharp day in early winter. And who should be -there but Captain Joe, with his ruddy face and -wooden leg! The dog immediately made friends -with him, of course, and, in order that names might -not become mixed, was called merely “Joe” as long -as the boys remained in the city.</p> - -<p>When they set foot on the pier that first day Clay -turned to Frank and seized him by the neck, in mock -anger.</p> - -<p>“Tell me!” he cried. “Tell me who put the -marked newspaper on the boat that morning!”</p> - -<p>“I did,” was the calm reply. “You see,” the boy -continued, “those were my diamonds, and——”</p> - -<p>“And you paid the reward!”</p> - -<p>“I pledged the stones to the lawyer to get the -money to pay that reward!” laughed Frank.</p> - -<p>It was so noisy for a time, on account of what -the boys were saying and doing to Frank, that -nothing more was said. Then Clay:</p> - -<p>“But the diamonds were stolen?”</p> - -<p>“Stolen by a lad who had slept with me in a cheap -lodging house on Clark street,” was the reply. -“You see, I had kept the stones, even when hungry -and cold, because they had been the last gift of my -mother. When they were stolen I followed the track -of the thief until I came to this dock, where we had -often loitered together before. As it turned out, the -boy had repented of his act, and was here to return -the stones to me, he believing that I would come here -to watch your boat, as we had done together many a -night. But Lewiso—whose name was Lewis, by the -way—saw him have the gems and fought him for -them. He secured them and ran away, as you know, -before I could interfere or find breath to follow him. -Well, you saved the diamond, and the next morning -I arranged for the reward to come to you. I guess -you know all the rest.”</p> - -<p>“Not yet!” broke in Captain Joe. “There is a -matter of $300, you know!”</p> - -<p>“But you gave that, Captain!”</p> - -<p>The good-natured captain pointed to Frank.</p> - -<p>“After he gave it to me and told me what to do -with it.”</p> - -<p>Then followed another demonstration which it is -not necessary to describe! Everything had been -explained save the robbery of the boat that night, and -that would never be anything but a mystery.</p> - -<p>One of the first men to call on the boys was Dr. -Holcomb, who made a great claim for damages on -his boat! But he was appeased when he saw how -well Jule looked, and offered the boat for another -river trip. Finally he called Jule aside and whispered:</p> - -<p>“Did you tell them?”</p> - -<p>Jule shook his head and Clay called out:</p> - -<p>“Tell them what?”</p> - -<p>Again the boys gathered around to hear a story -told.</p> - -<p>“The day before you left,” the doctor began, “I -found a little property which belonged to Jule. You -see, his parents had owned a lot out on Cottage -Grove avenue, and it had increased in value. Jule, -it seems, had been paying the taxes without knowing -it, for the tenant of the place had paid the claims for -taxes and improvements and put the rest of the rent -money in bank. He did not know that Jule’s -father was dead, but expected him back any day to -demand an accounting. I told Jule about it that -night, and kept him quite a long time doing it!”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you dig up a fortune for Alex and Clay -now?” asked Case. “I would just enjoy being the -only poor one in the bunch. I’ve cut out the -prophet-of-evil business, and that is enough for me for one -year.”</p> - -<p>“This property belongs to us all,” Jule cried. -“At least the income from it does, and right here -we’ll form the Six Rivers Motor Boat Club and get -ready for a trip in the spring.”</p> - -<p>“Where?” asked the doctor.</p> - -<p>“The Colorado?” hinted Alex.</p> - -<p>“The Mississippi,” said Jule.</p> - -<p>“The St. Lawrence,” declared Case.</p> - -<p>“The Ohio,” Clay suggested.</p> - -<p>“Or the Columbia!” Frank mentioned.</p> - -<p>“That’s it!” they all cried. “The Columbia! -And a larger boat, and no gold caverns, and no -snakes!” added Jule.</p> - -<p>The story of the adventures of the boys at the -headwaters of the Columbia will be found in the -second volume of the Six-River Motor Boat Club -Series, entitled: “Motor Boat Boys on the -Columbia; or, the Confession of a Photograph.”</p> - - <div class='lgc'> - <div class='line' style='margin: 10px auto 20px auto;'>THE END.</div> - </div> - - </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon, by -Harry Gordon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIVER MOTOR BOAT BOYS ON AMAZON *** - -***** This file should be named 50102-h.htm or 50102-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/1/0/50102/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.bookcove.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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