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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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