CHAPTER XII
A FALSE FRIEND
"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Tom springing from his cot andhastening to the side of his chum in the tent. "What has happened,Ned?"
"I don't know, but Jacinto is yelling something about vampires!"
"Vampires?"
"Yes. Big bats. And he's warning us to be careful. I stuck my headout just now and I felt that same sort of shadow I felt this eveningwhen we were down near the river."
"Nonsense!"
"I tell you I did!"
At that instant Tom flashed a pocket electric lamp he had taken frombeneath his pillow and in the gleam of it he and Ned saw flutteringabout the tent some dark, shadow-like form, at the sight of which Tom'schum cried:
"There it is! That's the shadow! Look out!" and he held up his handsinstinctively to shield his face.
"Shadow!" yelled Tom, unconsciously adding to the din that seemed topervade every part of the camp. "That isn't a shadow. It's substance.It's a monster bat, and here goes for a strike at it!"
He caught up his camera tripod which was near his cot, and made a swingwith it at the creature that had flown into the tent through an openingit had made for itself.
"Look out!" yelled Ned. "If it's a vampire it'll----"
"It won't do anything to me!" shouted Tom, as he struck the creature,knocking it into the corner of the tent with a thud that told it mustbe completely stunned, if not killed. "But what's it all about,anyhow?" Tom asked. "What's the row?"
From without the tent came the Indian cries of:
"Oshtoo! Oshtoo!"
Mingled with them were calls of Jacinto, partly in Spanish, partly inthe Indian tongue and partly in English.
"It is a raid by vampire bats!" was all Tom and Ned could distinguish."We shall have to light fires to keep them away, if we can succeed.Every one grab up a club and strike hard!"
"Come on!" cried Tom, getting on some clothes by the light of hisgleaming electric light which he had set on his cot.
"You're not going out there, are you?" asked Ned.
"I certainly am! If there's a fight I want to be in it, bats oranything else. Here, you have a light like mine. Flash it on, andhang it somewhere on yourself. Then get a club and come on. Thelights will blind the bats, and we can see to hit 'em!"
Tom's plan seemed to be a good one. His lamp and Ned's had small hookson them, so they could be carried in the upper coat pocket, showing agleam of light and leaving the hands free for use.
Out of the tents rushed the young men to find Professor Bumper and Mr.Damon before them. The two men had clubs and were striking about inthe half darkness, for now the Indians had set several fires aglow.And in the gleams, constantly growing brighter as more fuel was piledon, the young inventor and his chum saw a weird sight.
Circling and wheeling about in the camp clearing were many of the blackshadowy forms that had caused Ned such alarm. Great bats they were,and a dangerous species, if Jacinto was to be believed.
The uncanny creatures flew in and out among the trees and tents, nowswooping low near the Indians or the travelers. At such times clubswould be used, often with the effect of killing or stunning the flyingpests. For a time it seemed as if the bats would fairly overwhelm thecamp, so many of them were there. But the increasing lights, and theattacks made by the Indians and the white travelers turned the tide ofbattle, and, with silent flappings of their soft, velvety wings, thebats flew back to the jungle whence they had emerged.
"We are safe--for the present!" exclaimed Jacinto with a sigh of relief.
"Do you think they will come back?" asked Tom.
"They may--there is no telling."
"Bless my speedometer!" cried Mr. Damon, "If those beasts orbirds--whatever they are--come back I'll go and hide in the river andtake my chances with the alligators!"
"The alligators aren't much worse," asserted Jacinto with a visibleshiver. "These vampire bats sometimes depopulate a whole village."
"Bless my shoe laces!" cried Mr. Damon. "You don't mean to say thatthe creatures can eat up a whole village?"
"Not quite. Though they might if they got the chance," was the answerof the Spanish guide. "These vampire bats fly from place to place ingreat swarms, and they are so large and blood-thirsty that a few ofthem can kill a horse or an ox in a short time by sucking its blood.So when the villagers find they are visited by a colony of thesevampires they get out, taking their live stock with them, and stay incaves or in densely wooded places until the bats fly on. Then thevillagers come back.
"It was only a small colony that visited us tonight or we would havehad more trouble. I do not think this lot will come back. We havekilled too many of them," and he looked about on the ground where manyof the uncanny creatures were still twitching in the death struggle.
"Come back again!" cried Mr. Damon. "Bless my skin! I hope not! I'vehad enough of bats--and mosquitoes," he added, as he slapped at hisface and neck.
Indeed the party of whites were set upon by the night insects to suchan extent that it was necessary to hurry back to the protection of thenets.
Tom and Ned kicked outside the bat the former had killed in their tent,and then both went back to their cots. But it was some little timebefore they fell asleep. And they did not have much time to rest, foran early start must be made to avoid the terrible heat of the middle ofthe day.
"Whew!" whistled Ned, as he and Tom arose in the gray dawn of themorning when Jacinto announced the breakfast which the Indian cook hadprepared. "That was some night! If this is a sample of the wilds ofHonduras, give me the tameness of Shopton."
"Oh, we've gone through with worse than this," laughed Tom. "It's allin the day's work. We've only got started. I guess we're a bit soft,Ned, though we had hard enough work in that tunnel-digging."
After breakfast, while the Indians were making ready the canoes,Professor Bumper, who, in a previous visit to Central America, hadbecome interested in the subject, made a brief examination of some ofthe dead bats. They were exceptionally large, some almost as big ashawks, and were of the sub-family _Desmodidae_, the scientist said.
"This is a true blood-sucking bat," went on the professor. "This," andhe pointed to the nose-leaves, "is the sucking apparatus. The batmakes an opening in the skin with its sharp teeth and proceeds toextract the blood. I can well believe two or three of them, attackinga steer or mule at once, could soon weaken it so the animal would die."
"And a man, too?" asked Ned.
"Well a man has hands with which to use weapons, but a helplessquadruped has not. Though if a sufficient number of these batsattacked a man at the same time, he would have small chance to escapealive. Their bites, too, may be poisonous for all I know."
The Indians seemed glad to leave the "place of the bats," as theycalled the camp site. Jacinto explained that the Indians believed avampire could kill them while they slept, and they were very muchafraid of the blood-sucking bats. There were many other species in thetropics, Professor Bumper explained, most of which lived on fruit or oninsects they caught. The blood-sucking bats were comparatively few,and the migratory sort fewer still.
"Well, we're on our way once more," remarked Tom as again they were inthe canoes being paddled up the river. "How much longer does yourwater trip take, Professor?"
"I hardly know," and Professor Bumper looked to Jacinto to answer.
"We go two more days in the canoes," the guide answered, "and then weshall find the mules waiting for us at a place called Hidjio. Fromthen on we travel by land until--well until you get to the place whereyou are going.
"I suppose you know where it is?" he added, nodding toward theprofessor. "I am leaving that part to you."
"Oh, I have a map, showing where I want to begin some excavations," wasthe answer. "We must first go to Copan and see what arrangements wecan make for laborers. After that--well, we shall trust to luck forwhat we shall find."
"There are said to be many curious things," went on
Jacinto, speakingas though he had no interest. "You have mentioned buried cities. Haveyou thought what may be in them--great heathen temples, idols, perhaps?"
For a moment none of the professor's companions spoke. It was asthough Jacinto had tried to get some information. Finally thescientist said:
"Oh, yes, we may find an idol. I understand the ancient people, whowere here long before the Spaniards came, worshiped idols. But weshall take whatever antiquities we find."
"Huh!" grunted Jacinto, and then he called to the paddlers to increasetheir strokes.
The journey up the river was not very eventful. Many alligators wereseen, and Tom and Ned shot several with the electric rifle. Toward theclose of the third day's travel there was a cry from one of the rearboats, and an alarm of a man having fallen overboard was given.
Tom turned in time to see the poor fellow's struggles, and at the sametime there was a swirl in the water and a black object shot forward.
"An alligator is after him!" yelled Ned.
"I see," observed Tom calmly. "Hand me the rifle, Ned."
Tom took quick aim and pulled the trigger. The explosive electricbullet went true to its mark, and the great animal turned over in adeath struggle. But the river was filled with them, and no sooner hadthe one nearest the unfortunate Indian been disposed of than anothermade a dash for the man.
There was a wild scream of agony and then a dark arm shot up above thered foam. The waters seethed and bubbled as the alligators foughtunder it for possession of the paddler. Tom fired bullet after bulletfrom his wonderful rifle into the spot, but though he killed some ofthe alligators this did not save the man's life. His body was not seenagain, though search was made for it.
The accident cast a little damper over the party, and there was afeeling of gloom among the Indians. Professor Bumper announced that hewould see to it that the man's family did not want, and this seemed togive general satisfaction, especially to a brother who was with theparty.
Aside from being caught in a drenching storm and one or two minoraccidents, nothing else of moment marked the remainder of the riverjourney, and at the end of the third day the canoes pulled to shore anda night camp was made.
"But where are the mules we are to use in traveling to-morrow?" askedthe professor of Jacinto.
"In the next village. We shall march there in the morning. No use togo there at night when all is dark."
"I suppose that is so."
The Indians made camp as usual, the goods being brought from the canoesand piled up near the tents. Then night settled down.
"Hello!" cried Tom, awakening the next morning to find the sunstreaming into his tent. "We must have overslept, Ned. We were tostart before old Sol got in his heavy work, but we haven't hadbreakfast yet."
"I didn't hear any one call us," remarked Ned.
"Nor I. Wonder if we're the only lazy birds." He looked from the tentin time to see Mr. Damon and the professor emerging. Then Tom noticedsomething queer. The canoes were not on the river bank. There was notan Indian in sight, and no evidence of Jacinto.
"What's the matter?" asked the young inventor. "Have the others goneon ahead?"
"I rather think they've gone back," was the professor's dry comment.
"Gone back?"
"Yes. The Indians seem to have deserted us at the ending of this stageof our journey."
"Bless my time-table!" cried Mr. Damon. "You don't say so! What doesit mean? What has becomes of our friend Jacinto?"
"I'm afraid he was rather a false friend," was the professor's answer."This is the note he left. He has gone and taken the canoes and allthe Indians with him," and he held out a paper on which was somescribbled writing.
Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders; Or, The Underground Search for the Idol of Gold Page 12
