by James Otis
CHAPTER XX.
A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
There was no necessity for the outcry. The splashing of the water toldCummings what had happened even before Jake had time to shout, and hestarted forward at full speed, carrying with him the materials fortorches.
When Jake and Teddy were in a condition to understand anything, for thesudden attack had bewildered them to a certain extent, Neal was lyingface downward upon the sand, and being slowly dragged backward.
The alligator had evidently snapped at his leg, and, missing his aim,had caught the boy's trousers rather than the flesh. Instead ofreleasing his hold for a better grip, he was trying to drag Neal intodeeper water, and once there the struggle would have been quickly ended.
Neal had dug his hands into the sand, straining every muscle to preventbeing pulled into the stream; but despite all efforts the monster wasrapidly getting the best of him.
Cummings lost no time after arriving on the scene of action. The boys'cries had guided him to the exact spot, and he waited only long enoughto kindle a blaze before joining in the fight.
"Teddy, go back to the entrance, get one of the guns, and be sure thatno one comes through, for we are likely to make so much noise here thatif any of the enemy are in the vicinity we shall be discovered. Jake,you are to hold the torch, and take good care that it burns brightly."
Cummings was armed with nothing but his hunting knife and by this timethe alligator had dragged fully half of Neal's body into the water.There seemed to be but little hope that the boy could be rescued beforeserious injury had been inflicted.
Pulling off his coat and belt Cummings leaped boldly on the back of thesaurian monster, burying the blade of his knife in the alligator's eyeat the same time, and then ensued a most terrific struggle.
Instead of releasing his hold on Neal the reptile held firm, and putforth every effort to sink in the deeper water to dislodge the moreformidable antagonist who was striking beneath the surface with hisweapon in the hope of hitting some vulnerable spot.
Jake stood on the bank holding the torch high above his head to preventit from being extinguished by the showers which were sent up by thelashing of the monster's tail, and powerless to aid in the fight forlife.
Slowly but surely Neal was being pulled from the shore. With only thesand to clutch he could retard, not check the saurian's movements, andwork as he might, it seemed impossible for Cummings to strike a fatalblow.
"Drop your torch and seize the boy by the arms," the latter shouted ashe saw that the battle was going against him. "At this rate I shall soonbe where it will be out of the question to prolong the struggle."
Jake did as he was commanded, and in the darkness the remainder of theterrible fight was waged.
The engineer pulled until to Neal it seemed as if his arms would be tornfrom their sockets, and the alligator retained his hold as he struggledto throw off Cummings.
The noise of the combat sounded almost deafening to Teddy, who was doinghis best to listen for any unusual disturbance among the foliageoutside, and he felt confident that if the enemy was anywhere in thevicinity the secret of their hiding place would soon be discovered.
The struggle lasted only five minutes; but Neal would have said an hourhad passed since he was first seized, and then Cummings won the victoryby slipping from the alligator's back regardless of the rapidly movingtail, and stabbing him under the fore leg.
Even then it appeared as if the victory was to be purchased at a greatcost, for, in order to avoid being killed by the monster's dyingstruggles, Cummings was forced to release his hold, and the currentcarried him rapidly toward the channel formed by the waters through therock.
"Light the torch!" he shouted, putting forth all his strength in orderto breast the tide. "I'm in the middle of the stream, and likely to becarried through the wall."
Jake had pulled Neal high up out of the water the instant thealligator's hold was released, and at this appeal he dropped himsuddenly, groping around for the bundle of wood so hurriedly cast aside.
It was several seconds before he could find it, and then much valuabletime was lost in trying to ignite the fuel made damp by the spray whichhad been thrown up. It seemed to him that never had he been so clumsy,and the anxiety to move quickly only served to retard his efforts.
Finally, after what to Teddy appeared to be a very long while, the fatwood was ignited, and then it could be seen that Cummings was in a mostdangerous position. He was not more than six feet from the aperturethrough which the water raced with redoubled force because the openingwas several inches lower than the surface, and swam as if nearlyexhausted.
Jake was the only one who could render any assistance just at thismoment, and he proved to be equal to the occasion.
Seizing one of the guns he waded into the water to his waist, andsucceeded in extending the weapon sufficiently for Cummings to grasp theend of the barrel.
"Hold on for grim death; I've got to drop the torch!" he shouted,suiting the action to the words, and Teddy could see no more because thelight was suddenly extinguished.
Now the sentinel forgot that the enemy might creep upon them and runningforward he cried:
"Don't give in, Jake; I'll help you."
Before he could reach the stream the work was accomplished. Jake pulledCummings on the bank by the side of Neal, and proceeded to relight thetorch, a difficult matter since the matches in his pocket had beenspoiled by the action of the water.
In this last work Teddy was able to render some assistance, and theflame had but just sprung up from the wood when Cummings said hurriedly:
"Extinguish that light. If we haven't advertised our whereabouts to theIndians already there is no reason for taking foolish risks. We'llattend to matters here, Teddy, and you get back to the entrance."
This command was obeyed at once, and the sentinel heard only a faintsound from the direction of the stream until his companions rejoinedhim, none the worse for the battle except in the respect of beingdecidedly wet.
"Have you heard anything suspicious?" Cummings asked anxiously.
"Not the slightest noise. If there had been any Indians in the vicinitythey would surely have made an attempt to enter when all hands wasraising such an uproar."
Cummings crept through the short tunnel and investigated in theimmediate vicinity of the opening before he could believe they had beenso fortunate, and when he returned Jake said:
"I thought you wouldn't find anything. If those imps had had theslightest inkling of where we are it wouldn't have been necessary towait so long as this before the fact was made known."
"It was better to be sure. Poyor was so careful to caution us about anoise that I was afraid he knew some of them were lurking near by. It isall right, however, and we can congratulate ourselves on a fortunateescape from more than one danger."
The weather was so warm that no one felt any serious effects from theinvoluntary bath. A portion of the wet clothing was taken off and hungon the guns set in the sand as stakes, to dry, and since their fearsregarding the proximity of the Indians had been partially set at rest byCummings' survey, there was a general disposition to talk of somethingforeign to the struggle through which they had just passed.
"You have said very much about the poisoned arrows which the Chan SantaCruz Indians use," Neal began, "and I would like to know how they manageto render them so deadly."
"It is by no means a difficult matter, and as Poyor's people use verynearly the same method of increasing the death-dealing power of theirweapons, I can describe the process exactly," Cummings replied, speakingin a whisper, regardless of the Indian's remark that "he who talkscannot listen." "You have heard me say many times that the nahuyaca isthe most venomous of serpents, and instead of being content with asingle bite, as is the case with snakes in general, he strikes manytimes with almost incredible rapidity. When the Indians wish to preparethe poison for their arrows or spears they first get the liver of atapir, or some other animal as large, and then hunt for the species ofse
rpent I have spoken of. Once found he is pinned to the ground with aforked stick in such a manner that he can use his head freely; but yetbe unable to escape, and the liver, fastened to a long pole, is heldwhere he can strike at it.
"When the snake refuses longer to bite he is killed, and the liverplaced where it will decompose without any of the moisture being lost.You can imagine what a mixture it is when thus prepared, and in it theweapons are dipped.
"It is said that the venom retains its deadly properties for many weeks,and, in fact, I know of a native who came very near losing his life bybeing scratched with an old arrow that must have been poisoned nearly ayear previous."
"I should think they might make a mistake when shooting game, and use adoctored arrow rather than one of the ordinary kind," Teddy said.
"That could only result from sheer carelessness. The point of a poisonedweapon is covered with a reddish brown substance which cannot bemistaken, and, for greater security, the feathers used for the tip areinvariably green. A Central American Indian never takes a green shaftedarrow, nor a spear on which is painted a band of the same color, when hegoes out to procure food."
"Then if we happen to meet these fellows who are hunting for us, we arelikely to come out second best even though they have only bows withwhich to shoot," Jake suggested grimly, and, evading a direct answer,Cummings replied:
"We will hope that we shan't get near enough to let any such thing asthat trouble us."
Then the conversation gradually ceased. Neal and Teddy, after learningthat Cummings intended to remain on watch until Poyor returned, lay downtogether, where for at least the hundredth time they discussed thechances of reaching home within a reasonable number of days, and,hopeful though both tried to appear, neither could bring himself to setany definite day for the end of the dangerous journey which might neverbe finished.
"There is so much certain," Neal said decidedly after a short pause,"once we get out of this section of the country we'll go to the nearestsea-port and wait there for a steamer or a vessel, without ever settingour feet outside the town. There'll be no more delays if we get clear ofthis scrape."
"You can count me in on that, and now I'm going to sleep. It seems as ifa week had passed since we started from the last cavern."
Jake had already taken advantage of the opportunity to indulge inslumber, and soon Cummings was the only one on the alert; anxiety kepthis eyes very wide open, for he believed Poyor should have returned sometime before.
