In Search of El Dorado

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  THE QUEST BEGINS.

  The expedition consisted of fifteen persons all told, namely, WilfridEarle, the chief and leader; Dick Cavendish, his lieutenant; Peter,Earle's negro cook and a _chef_ of surpassing skill, capable ofconcocting appetising dishes out of the most meagre and unpromisingmaterials; and the twelve recruits from Conceicao, one of whom, namedInaguy, at once the most masterful and intelligent of them, Earleimmediately appointed headman of the gang, with a small increase of pay,at the same time making him responsible for the good behaviour of thoseunder him.

  There was a fresh easterly breeze blowing when the double canoe--orraft, as they agreed to term her--cast off from alongside the _Mohawk_,and under its influence the craft, with one leeboard down, slid acrossthe Javari at a speed that was as surprising as it was gratifying. Andwhen at length she slid in between the low, forest-clad banks of theTecuachy, the breeze was still fair for her, although the closerproximity of the shores to each other caused it to come at times inbaffling flaws. Dick, as the sailor of the party, was naturally incommand, and when at length the sunlight vanished from the tree-tops onthe eastern shore of the stream, giving warning of the near approach ofnight, he ran the raft into a convenient bight on the lee shore--thatthe mosquitoes might not come off to them against the wind during thenight--and came to an anchor in the midst of what seemed to be anunpeopled wilderness.

  But if the country round about them was empty of human inhabitants--andeven of this they could not be certain--it seemed to be full tooverflowing of life of another sort, for no sooner had the swift tropicnight descended upon the adventurers, than the hot, humid air becamevibrant with sound, the dominant note of which was the _chur_ and hum ofmyriads of insects haunting the dense forest on either hand, and thestill more dense undergrowth which cumbered the soil between the trunksof the trees. This great volume of indescribable sound--amazing becauseof its intensity, coupled with the knowledge that it was created, forthe most part, by creatures of almost microscopic dimensions--wascontinuous, merely rising and falling at irregular intervals, like thesough of the wind through the tree-tops; but it was constantly broken inupon by other sounds, the most prominent of which was perhaps thecroaking of innumerable frogs, sounding like the rapid whirr of woodenrattles and lasting continuously for a period of several minutes, andthen ceasing abruptly, as though at a signal, to recommence as abruptlya few minutes later. These sounds were commonplace enough, and after anhour or two to allow the ear to become accustomed to them, would ofthemselves have been soothing and conducive to somnolence rather thanthe reverse, but they were constantly being broken into by others sostrange, and in some cases so weird, that the night threatened to be asleepless one for at least the two white men of the party. Forinstance, at pretty frequent intervals there came from the depths of theforest, now here, now there, what sounded like the notes of a bell,followed perhaps by a weird unearthly scream, which would be taken upand repeated on all hands until it needed but a small effort of theimagination to convince the listener that some ghastly tragedy was beingenacted in his immediate vicinity. And the effect was furtherheightened by strange moanings and groanings, as of people in mortalagony, queer sobbing sounds, cries as of children in distress, and,intermingled with these, savage grunts and snarlings, barking, as ofangry dogs, loud whistling, coughing, roaring, sudden and violentrustlings among the underbush, an occasional loud crash proclaiming thefall of some forest giant, and, nearer at hand, sudden rushes andswirling sounds in the water about the raft.

  Immediately after coming to an anchor for the night Earle had drawnforth from among the many bales and packages that were stowed on thedeck of the raft a long bundle, which, upon being cast loose, resolveditself into the constituents of a double-skinned tent, the inner skinbeing made of loosely woven cotton canvas, while the outer skin--withsix inches of air space between it and the inner--was made of light butthoroughly waterproof material, warranted by its maker to withstand eventhe assault of a tropical deluge. This tent the two white men quicklyset up on the deck of the raft, between the two masts, when it was seento be roomy enough to accommodate two camp beds with a table ofconvenient size between them, high enough for even Dick to stand uprightin it, and with sufficient space between the table and the entrance toaccommodate two deck chairs. When the beds were made up on the foldingpallets, a lighted hurricane lamp suspended from the ridge pole of thetent, and the table laid for dinner, the interior presented an eminentlycosy and comfortable appearance, and its two occupants sat down to themeal provided for them by the inestimable Peter with excellentappetites.

  But they did not linger long over the pleasures of the table, for therewas still work to be done before they could conscientiously seek thebeds that wooed them, that work consisting in the unpacking of theirweapons and ammunition, and making the former ready for instant service.This task they undertook immediately after dinner, sitting side by sidejust within the entrance of the tent.

  Earle had been, according to Dick's notion, lavishly extravagant in theprovision of firearms for the expedition, the total armoury amounting tono less than twenty-one weapons; namely, three Westley-Richardsfive-shot .318 repeating rifles; three Remington U.M.C. five-shot 35repeating rifles, firing soft-nosed bullets; two 12A Standard U.M.C.fifteen-shot .22 repeating rifles--the last five being especiallyintended for big game and fighting; three Westley-Richards double-barrel12-gauge smooth-bores; two Smith hammerless 10-gauged ditto; twoRemington U.M.C. 12-gauge six-shot repeating smooth-bores; and six ColtGovernment model seven-shot .45 calibre automatic pistols. But, asEarle explained, "when you go exploring and hunting, you need a varietyof weapons for different purposes; and there is also the contingency ofpossible loss to be considered; moreover, in a fight, with tremendouslyheavy odds against you, a strong battery of weapons rapidly used, willoften put the enemy to flight before he has time to get to closequarters."

  The two friends were busily engaged in unpacking, setting up and loadingtheir weapons, chatting animatedly together meanwhile, and pausing fromtime to time to gaze contemplatively into the velvet darkness whichrepresented the forest-clad nearer bank of the river before them, whensuddenly Dick caught sight of what looked like two small greenish-yellowlamps close together that had suddenly revealed themselves in theblackness. They were quite motionless, and the lad scarcely knew whatto make of them.

  "Look, Earle," he murmured. "Do you see those two small lights overthere? What can they be, I wonder?"

  Earle, who was intent upon his work, looked up.

  "Lights!" he exclaimed. "Where? Oh, yes, I see. They are not lights,my unsophisticated youth, they are the eyes of an animal--a carnivorousanimal, I judge, by the look of them--which has come down to the riverto drink, and is doubtless wondering who and what the dickens we are."

  He glanced eagerly about him for a moment, then pointed to one of theweapons which Dick had already put together and loaded.

  "Just hand me that Remington U.M.C. rifle, old chap--it is loaded, isn'tit? Good! This will be a capital chance to try it."

  The eyes were still plainly visible, apparently staring steadily at thelamp-lit entrance of the tent and the two figures seated therein.Without rising from his seat, Earle slowly lifted the rifle to hisshoulder, and the next instant the whip-like report of it rang out, tobe instantly succeeded by a tremendous outburst of every imaginablesound from the forest, amid which the cries of countless startled birdsand the sudden rush of their wings predominated. But Dick had kept hisgaze steadily riveted upon those two faintly shining orbs across therein the blackness, and when the flash of the rifle lit up that blacknessfor the fraction of a second he caught an instantaneous glimpse of aforeshortened tawny-hided black-spotted form, with a rounded head andshort ears, standing at the very edge of the water, staring steadfastlytoward the raft. Then, as the vision vanished, a snarling sound, halfroar, half shriek, met his ears, followed by a few convulsive splashes--then stillness.

  "By Jove! I believe you've h
it him," he exclaimed, excitedly startingto his feet. "It was a leopard; I saw him by the flash of the rifle."

  "No; not a leopard, my son," answered Earle. "So far as I know, thereare no leopards in America--except in menageries. But it may have beena panther or jaguar. Let's get into the canoe and investigate. We'lltake the lantern with us, and the rifle, to guard against possibleaccidents."

  Part of the equipment of the expedition consisted of a very handsomelittle fifteen-foot cedar-built canoe, intended to be towed astern ofthe raft, and there it now floated, attached to the raft by a slenderpainter. Unhooking the hurricane lamp, Dick led the way aft, followedby Earle with the rifle in his hands, and presently they had both takentheir seats in the cockleshell of a craft. She was fitted with rowlocksfor use, with a short pair of sculls for the especial benefit of Dick,who knew nothing as yet of how to handle a paddle. They were half wayto the shore when Earle, holding up the lantern on the end of aboathook, caught sight of the motionless body of his victim lying halfin and half out of the water.

  "There he is, and stone dead, if I'm any judge!" he exclaimed. And evenas he spoke a great black head appeared close to the body, the sound ofsnapping jaws was heard, and with a sudden swirl of water both head andbody disappeared in the black depths, to be seen no more.

  "Con-found it!" exclaimed Earle, savagely. "Now, if that isn't too bad!My first jaguar, too, and a fine one at that; and a beastly 'gator hasstolen him from almost under my nose. Let up, Dick--or, rather, turnback. It's no good. That darned 'gator has got my jaguar safe downthere in the mud, and we shall never see him again. Well, never mind, Idaresay we shall get plenty of other chances. But I'll watch out andnot be caught napping next time."

  What Earle said was true; the jaguar was gone beyond hope of recovery,and the only thing to be done was to turn back. Back they accordinglywent, to resume their work of putting their battery in order; nor didthey cease their labours until every weapon had been unpacked, puttogether, thoroughly cleaned, and loaded in readiness for any emergency.Then they retired to their respective couches, and after Peter hadcarefully closed the mosquito curtains round them and extinguished thehurricane lamp, proceeded to "woo the drowsy god."

  But the novelty of their surroundings, the enervating heat, and themultitudinous sounds that filled the night kept sleep at bay for severalhours, and it was not until the cool air that usually heralds morning inthe tropics blew in upon them through the open flap of the tent thatthey actually sank into a sound slumber, from which they were awakenedonly too soon by Peter with their matutinal cup of chocolate.

  "I suppose," mused Dick, as he stepped out of the tent, pyjama-clad, andgazed down into the turbid waters of the river, "it would be hardly wiseto indulge in a swim, though I feel that it is just the one thing I needabove all others to freshen me up."

  "Swim!" retorted Earle, who stood beside him. "My dear chap, I don'tknow the precise depth of water just here, but I would be prepared tobet a substantial sum that if a man were foolish enough to take a headeroff here, he would never come up again; for if he didn't stick in themud of the bottom, that alligator who stole my jaguar last night, orsome of his relations, would have him before he could come to thesurface again. No, no; no swimming for us at present, my boy; we shallhave to make out as best we can with our collapsible `tubs,' which I seePeter has already filled for us, aft there. There! what did I tell you?See that? What sort of a chance do you think you would have with achap like that?" And as he spoke he pointed to a spot not half a dozenyards away, where the head of an alligator had suddenly broken water,lazily swimming up against the current. The ripples which marked theslight movements of the brute's tail showed that he must have measuredquite fifteen feet from end to end.

  They bathed and breakfasted at leisure; and then, as there was no wind,and Earle did not wish to impose upon his crew the labour of sweepingthe raft up-stream against the current if it could be avoided, the twowhite men took the canoe, a repeating rifle and a smooth-bore, and wentashore, effecting a landing at the spot where the jaguar had been shoton the previous night, and which they now saw had been formed into atiny bit of beach through the breaking down of the bank by the animalswhich evidently came to that particular spot to drink. They had nodifficulty in finding the spoor of the lost jaguar, indeed it was thefirst thing to attract their attention upon stepping ashore, and asEarle gazed down upon the deep indentations in the plastic mud heexecrated the thieving alligator afresh, for the prints were as big asthe palm of his hand, indicating that the beast must have been aparticularly fine specimen.

  At first they experienced very little difficulty in making their waythrough the dense undergrowth, their plan being simply to follow thepath beaten down by the animals; but after travelling about a hundredyards this path became merged into a number of others, evidently notquite so much used, and in these the going was much more difficult, thescrub not being so completely beaten down. So difficult of passage didthey at length find it that they were seriously discussing theadvisability of giving up the attempt and turning back, when Earle, whowas leading the way, suddenly declared that he saw light ahead, andpushing resolutely on, the explorers presently burst their way into awide open space of some ten or twelve acres extent, in which, for someunknown reason, no trees were growing, save a few scattered saplings,the tallest of which was not more than nine or ten feet high.

  As they emerged into the open the pair involuntarily came to a halt,entranced by the extraordinary beauty of the scene that met their gaze.The open space, roughly circular in shape, was completely hemmed in onevery side by trees, some of which were of enormous size, while thetints of their foliage varied through every shade of green, from that ofthe young bud to a depth of tone that was nearly black. Nor was greenby any means the only tint displayed; for some of the trees appeared tobe clothed with flowers of vivid flaming scarlet, instead of leaves,while the leaves of others, instead of being green, were of a deep, richcrimson hue, or a fine ruddy bronze, like that of the copper beech.And, as though this were not in itself enough of beauty, many of themore sombre foliaged trees were draped and festooned in riotousprofusion with parasitic creepers, the blooms upon which would havedriven a painter to distraction, so rich and varied were their tints,while the shapes of some of them were fantastic enough to suggest thatDame Nature must have been under the influence of a nightmare when sheformed them. A few of them were merely giant creepers, but Earle, whopossessed more than a smattering knowledge of botany, declared that mostof them were orchids, several of which were new to him. The air of theplace was heavy with mingled odours--one might almost have called themperfumes, were it not for a certain smack of rankness and pungency inthem--and alive with birds, varying in size from that of a bumble bee upto that of a carrion crow, a few specimens of which could be seenperched here and there on the topmost branches of the tallest trees.Several of the birds were of the humming bird or sunbird species, andthese, of course, gleamed and flashed in the sunlight like wingedjewels, while nearly all boasted plumage of pronouncedly vividcolouring.

  The two friends were still standing together on the spot where they hadcome to a halt when first entering the clearing, and Earle wasexpatiating upon the beauty and rarity of some of the orchids in theirimmediate neighbourhood, when they suddenly became aware of the presenceof a large deer on the opposite side of the clearing. So silently hadthe creature come that neither of those who now stood watching him hadbeen aware of the moment of his coming, nor could they discern the spotfrom which he had emerged. The animal was standing as motionless as astatue, with head erect, and he seemed to be sniffing the air, searchingit for hostile odours, so to speak. He appeared to be quite unaware oftheir presence, a fact not very difficult to account for, since the sunwas shining strongly in his eyes, while the two friends were not onlystanding in deep shadow, but also chanced to have come to a haltimmediately behind a thick bush, which effectually hid all but theirheads from the deer.

  Instinctively, Earle began slowly t
o lift his rifle, but only to lowerit again, as he murmured to Dick:

  "Too far off--a good three-hundred yards if an inch. We'll wait a bit.I believe he has not yet seen us, and if so, he may come a bit nearer.I guess this is where he comes every day to graze. Ah! I thought so"--as the animal lowered his head and began to crop the rich grass."Crouch down and keep silent; with luck and patience we'll get himbefore long."

  It was weary work, to Dick at least, crouching behind that bush, for thegrass was long, and full of ticks, ants and other minute pests, whichlost no time in insinuating themselves between his clothes and his skin,until the torment of his itching became almost unendurable. But Earlewas, or seemed to be, inured to such trifling discomforts, andcontinued, motionless as a graven image, to kneel on one knee behind thebush, intently watching through its interstices the movements of theunsuspecting deer. And those movements were exasperatingly deliberate,for the grass was rich, luscious and abundant, enabling the animal tosecure several mouthfuls before it became necessary for it to move by somuch as a step, while, further to tax the patience of the watchers, themovements were vexatiously erratic, now here, now there, and as often asnot away from rather than toward the spot where the two men crouchedbehind the screen of shrub.

  At length Earle's patience began to show signs of giving out. He verycautiously altered his position, changing from one knee to the other; alittle later he knelt upon both knees, and a little later he sat down.Finally, finding this attitude unfavourable for shooting, he again gotupon one knee. By this time, however, the insect invaders of his personwere making their presence so distinctly felt that even his ironself-control was beginning to succumb to their persistence, and atlength he murmured to Dick:

  "Guess I'll have to risk a long shot, after all. At this rate it may behours before the beast will draw appreciably nearer, and meanwhile, atany moment something may happen to scare him away." And very slowly andcarefully he proceeded to raise the rifle to his shoulder.

  It was while he was doing this that the deer suddenly stopped feeding,and, with his head still close to the ground, seemed gradually tostiffen until his whole body became rigid.

  "What's the matter now?" grumbled Earle, becoming rigid in his turn."Wonder whether he has scented us. But I guess not--at this distance.There is no wind, and--Gee! that explains it." And he excitedly sprangto his feet, his example being instantly followed by Dick.

  What had happened was this. The deer had stood perfectly rigid forperhaps half a minute, during which Earle had also suspended allmovement, under the impression that the quarry had caught a momentaryglimpse of something suspicious behind the screening bush. Then, whilethe watchers waited tensely for the next development to occur,something--for the moment it was impossible to say precisely what itwas--had flashed into view from out of the long grass, within a yard orso of where the deer stood, and the next second the unfortunate creaturewas enveloped in the coils of a huge python. As the watchers of theunexpected tragedy sprang to their feet they distinctly heard the bonesof the deer crack as the serpent constricted its coils about its victim;and then Earle, with an ejaculation of anger, sprang out from behind thebush, and, with Dick at his elbow, started at a run towards the spot asthe deer sank with a groan into the long grass.

  A few seconds sufficed the pair to reach their goal, or at least nearenough to it for them to see that the unfortunate deer was not yet quitedead, for its hind legs, which were not involved in the coils of thepython, were kicking out feebly, while its eyes gazed up at thempitifully with an expression that might easily have been interpretedinto a prayer for deliverance from its sufferings. As for the python,it was already relaxing its awful grip upon the body of its victim, andhad thrown off one coil as the two friends came into view. Earle, whoseemed to know something of the nature of the creature, warned Dick tostand back, as the reptile was loosening itself in readiness to make aspring. But he himself evidently had no fear of the snake, for as itreared its great head and gave vent to an angry hiss, he threw up hisrifle, and, standing his ground, fired a shot that went crashing throughits right eye and out at the back of the skull.

  The next instant Dick received a blow across the chest that not onlyknocked the breath out of him, but sent him to the ground with a crash,while the threshing of the creature's body upon the earth, as it writhedand twisted convulsively in its death agony, might have been heard fromone end of the glade to the other. Earle dashed forward and quicklydragged Dick out of the way before assisting the lad to regain his feet,and it was well that he did so, for the next moment the monster waswrithing and pounding upon the very spot from which Dick had beendragged. And it was quite upon the cards that, but for Earle's promptaction, the young Englishman might have been enveloped by those writhingcoils, and every bone in his body broken. As it was, no great harm wasdone; and as soon as Earle saw that his friend was safe, and that in itsstruggles the python was moving steadily away from the spot, he sprangin, and whipping out his big hunting knife, quickly drew it across thedying deer's throat, thus terminating its sufferings.

  "Poor brute!" he murmured, regarding the mangled body of the dead deer;"if I had but made up my mind and pressed the trigger a few secondsearlier, you would have been spared a good deal of terror and suffering.As it is--well, let us get back to the raft, Dick, and send a couple ofmen to bring in the deer. Its tongue and hind-quarters are untouched,and will afford all hands a meal of fresh meat, if we can secure itbefore the vultures come along. But we shall have to hurry, for unlessI am mistaken, there is the vanguard of their army already." And hepointed upwards towards a few small dark dots in the sky that hadsuddenly and mysteriously appeared.

  They hastened back to the raft and hurriedly explained to Inaguy, theIndian headman, what had happened, and what Earle wanted done; and a fewminutes later two of the blacks sprang into the canoe and paddled awayto the shore, to return an hour later, with the head, hind-quarters, andskin of the deer, but with the declaration that they had been whollyunable to find the body of the python.

  By this time a little breeze had sprung up from a quarter which wouldjust enable the raft to lay her course up the reach of the river inwhich it then was, and the sails were accordingly set and the craft gotunder way. But the wind was so scant that the raft was able to dolittle more than hold her own against the current; and when theyanchored that night, they estimated that they had covered little morethan eight miles of ground.

  For an entire week the journey up the stream progressed in pretty muchthe same deliberate fashion, at the end of which time they were detainedfor a whole day by a furious outburst of wind, rain, thunder andlightning, in the course of which the raft broke adrift, and, but forDick's skilful handling of the situation, would probably have been lost,with all the party's belongings, and, quite possibly, a few lives aswell. As it was, they were driven back some ten miles down streambefore a suitable refuge could be found and the raft again safelyanchored. It was the worst storm that Dick had experienced, and evenEarle admitted that it far surpassed the worst that he had everencountered, even in the interior of Africa. The wind blew withhurricane force, stripping the trees of their leaves and even of some oftheir branches, so that the air was full of flying debris, while thelightning flashed and the thunder roared and boomed and crashed in acontinuous deafening medley of sound that might almost have excused thebelief that the foundations of the earth were being torn asunder. Andall the time the rain came pounding down out of the storm-riven cloudsin such a deluge that it was difficult to draw one's breath whileexposed to it. But even this does not convey any very clear idea of thecopiousness of the downpour, which will perhaps be more easily realisedfrom the statement that within the short space of twenty minutes itcompletely filled and swamped the canoe. This storm burst upon thetravellers about eleven o'clock at night, and it continued with unabatedfury all through the next day until within about half an hour of sunset.

  For the following three days the weather continued unsettled; then itcleared, and t
he raft resumed her journey. But her progress was slow,owing to the scantness of the wind, and for the next ten days they wereable to accomplish only a few miles a day, the current running strongagainst them. Then, late on a certain afternoon, they reached a pointwhere the bed of the river was obstructed by rapids, and the raft wasmoored for the night so that the banks might be explored on the morrowfor portage facilities. And now it was that the real difficulties ofthe journey began to reveal themselves; for upon attempting to find apath through the forest, which grew right down to the water's edge onboth banks of the river, the explorers found the undergrowth to be soabsolutely impenetrable that, even to make their own way through it, itwas necessary to employ a gang of men to cut a path. And this was aslow process, for not only had the tough tangle of creepers, of whichthe underbush was chiefly composed, to be cut away, but it had to beafterwards removed from the path, so that the better part of three dayswas consumed in this way before a road was cleared to the upper end ofthe rapids.

  Then followed the laborious task of carrying the various items of theirequipment up through the quarter of a mile of roughly cut pathway, whichconsumed the whole of another day. And finally came the dismembering ofthe raft itself, and the porterage of its component parts and the canoeto the upper end of the rapids, where it was put together again. Thus,altogether, the intervention of those rapids involved the travellers ina loss of no less than five days.

  The four which followed were much more favourable, the raft covering adistance of nearly sixty miles during that period. Then a stretch ofsome four miles of river bed was encountered so cumbered and choked withrocks that its navigation was impossible, and the raft had again to betaken to pieces and transported overland. And when this obstacle was atlength surmounted, it was found that the channel of the stream hadbecome so contracted that the further use of the raft as a concretestructure was out of the question; the wooden platform, with the mastsand sails, as also the metal decks of the two canoe-like pontoons, weretherefore abandoned, after carefully enveloping them in tarpaulinsbrought along for the purpose; and after their place of concealment hadbeen marked, so that it might easily be found again in the event of theexpedition returning by that route, the journey was continued in theopen pontoons and the canoe. Finally, when at length the party had beentravelling for nearly five weeks upon the river, they reached a pointwhere navigation was no longer possible, even for the small canoe, andit became necessary to take to the forest, still, however, keeping intouch with the stream as nearly as possible, for the sake of the water.

  It is not necessary for the purposes of this story to enlarge upon thedifficulties with which the travellers now had to contend; they may beleft to the imagination of the reader, merely remarking that in manyplaces the trees grew so thickly together, and the undergrowth betweenthem was so dense, that to accomplish a march through it of three milesbetween sunrise and sunset of a single day was regarded as a feat worthyof especial note. Not, however, it must be understood, that theseconditions uniformly prevailed; very far from it indeed; for there weredays when, from circumstances difficult to account for, the going was socomparatively easy that a distance of ten, or even twelve miles wasaccomplished. But this did not occur until some time after they hadfinally lost touch with the river and had got away from the vast plainson to higher ground, where the forest was less dense, the undergrowthmuch thinner--becoming in some places altogether non-existent--and whereopen glades became increasingly frequent and of ever extending area.

  Thus far the travellers had met with no very remarkable experiences.There is nothing exciting in the work of hewing a path for oneselfthrough miles of tough, tangled undergrowth, or in toiling thirstilyhour after hour in sweltering heat, wondering meanwhile how much longerit will be before the welcome sound of trickling water will reach one'sears; even crouching in concealment for hours at a stretch, rifle inhand, in the hope that something eatable will come within shot, soongrows monotonous; while, as for the multitudinous nocturnal sounds ofthe forest, so weird and thrilling when first heard, the party soonbecame accustomed to them, and slept soundly through them all.

  But, naturally, in the course of a long journey through the unexploredwilds of South America, interesting incidents are by no means uncommon,while others of a more weird and thrilling character occur occasionally,as our friends were to learn in due time. It was, however, one of themerely interesting kind that awaited them in an open glade which theyentered on a certain evening, after a long and toilsome journey, just asthe sun's last rays were gilding the tree-tops on the eastern side ofthe clearing.

  The weary, sweat-drenched travellers celebrated their arrival in thiswide open space with shouts of joy, for a tiny streamlet meanderedthrough the middle of it, while in other respects it was ideal, not onlyas a camping place for the coming night, but also as a spot upon whichto halt and recuperate for a few days--a relaxation which they had beenpromising themselves during the past fortnight. It was the bone-wearyIndian carriers who were loudest in the expression of their rejoicing asthey stumbled through the tangled grass toward the margin of the tinystream, upon the bank of which their camp would be pitched; and as theygladly flung down their burdens on the chosen spot, they emitted a finalyell of satisfaction which, to the astonishment of all, was answered,from some distance on the opposite side of the stream, by a wailing cry,as of some person--or, more probably, some creature--in extreme anguish.The cry was so peculiar, so expressive of suffering, so piercing, yetat the same time so feeble, that it instantly arrested the attention ofeverybody, and all stood staring tensely in the direction from which ithad come.

  "Hillo!" exclaimed Dick, who was the first to find his voice after thefirst moment of surprise had passed. "What on earth does that mean?"

  "Don't know," answered Earle, who was glancing about him in search of afavourable spot upon which to pitch the tent; "but we'll soon find out.Pitch the tent anywhere you like, Peter, so long as it is not too closeto the water. Where you are standing now will do quite well. Come on,Dick, and bring your rifle with you. It was somewhere over in thatdirection."

  The pair took the brook at a bound, and, despite their fatigue, set offat a run in the direction from which the sound had proceeded. As theywent, the peculiar sound--half whine, half scream--pealed out again uponthe still air, thus guiding them afresh, so that in the course of acouple of minutes they reached its source.

  And this was what they saw.

  A young black panther--a somewhat rare animal--about three-parts grown,lying stretched out upon its left side in the long grass, apparently ina dying condition. There was a broad trail in the grass leading fromthe spot where it lay toward the far edge of the timber; but the trailwas short, not more than a few yards long, growing less and lessdistinct as it receded, showing that the miserable creature had been inthe clearing for several days, dragging itself slowly, and doubtlesswith infinite suffering, toward the water, which it had thus far failedto reach. Its coal-black coat, "watered" with the characteristicmarkings of the panther, also in black, was dull and staring, the resultof neglect, and probably also of suffering; its tongue, dry and parched,lolled out of its open jaws, which were lightly fringed with froth; andits half-closed eyes were glassy yet burning with fever. It was in thelast stage of emaciation, its ribs and backbone showing clearly beneathits skin.

  "Poor brute!" ejaculated Dick, whose sympathies were easily aroused."It's evidently dying, and in great pain, too. Better put it out of itsmisery, hadn't we?" And he raised his rifle suggestively.

  "Not on your life," interposed Earle, hastily. "Yes, the poor beast ispretty well pegged out; but I guess we can save him, with care and alittle trouble. He's dying of hunger and thirst, that's what is thematter with him, and that"--pointing to the creature's enormouslyswollen right forepaw--"is what has brought on all the trouble. Anexaggerated case of abscess, rendering it impossible for the beast tohunt, or, finally, even to walk. But I guess I can fix him all right,so far as the abscess is concerned, afte
r which we will see if we can'tpull him round and tame him. I'm very fond of animals, and I guess hewould make a fine pet, and look mighty picturesque basking on one'shearthrug winter nights. You stay here, and I'll bring along a hammockand a couple of `boys' to tote him over to the camp. I shall be betterable to see what I am doing there than here. You stay and keep the poorchap company. I believe he knows that we sympathise with him." Withwhich whimsical remark Earle started back hot foot for the camp, now inprocess of being pitched, leaving Dick to keep the dying beast company.

  Now, whimsical as that idea of Earle's might at first seem, Dick came tothe conclusion that there really might be something in it; for not onlydid the unhappy panther show no fear of his visitors or anger at theirclose proximity, but there was a certain pitiful expression in hisfevered eyes that, to Cavendish's imagination at least, seemed to appealfor compassion and help. Of course, it may have been that the creaturewas too near dissolution to feel either anger or fear; but Dick decidedthat that remained to be seen. He eagerly awaited the return of Earle,and was unfeignedly relieved when, after a somewhat lengthy interval, hesaw his friend returning, accompanied by two Indians bearing a lightedlantern and a hammock arranged as a stretcher.

  Rejoining Dick, Earle at once got to work, displaying a quiet activityand sureness of himself that at once excited the young Englishman'samazement and admiration. Bidding the Indians to stand back a fewpaces, and taking the lighted lantern from them, the American depositeda mahogany case upon the ground, which, upon being opened, proved tocontain a complete surgical outfit. Withdrawing from this a sponge anda bottle, he rapidly saturated the former with the contents of thelatter, and then, stepping fearlessly up to the suffering beast, heapplied the sponge to its nostrils, holding it there for a short timeuntil the creature's eyes closed and it seemed to lapse intounconsciousness. Then, beckoning the natives to approach with thestretcher, he and Dick, with the help of the Indians, lifted the nowinanimate body of the panther and deposited it upon the stretcher, whichhe then ordered the Indians carefully to convey to the camp, Dickleading the way with the lantern while the American paused a moment toreplace the bottle and sponge and close the case. But he overtook thelittle procession before it was half way to the camp, and hurried on tocomplete his preparations for the operation which he contemplated.These preparations were complete by the time that the stretcher-bearersreached the camp, and the moment that the Indians laid down theirburden, Earle handed Dick the sponge, with instructions to hold it witha gentle pressure against the panther's mouth and nostrils. This done,the American seized a lancet, and, lifting the swollen paw, made aquick, long incision in it, upon which an amazing quantity ofexceedingly offensive matter spurted out. With deft manipulations ofthe member, the American quickly pressed all the matter out of it, afterwhich he carefully washed out the cavity with warm water, treated itwith an antiseptic, stitched up the wound, dressed it, and finally boundit up tightly with a bandage enclosing a thick pad of cotton wool.

  "There!" he exclaimed, with a sigh of satisfaction, as he completed theoperation, "I guess that is fixed all right, and when the poor beastcomes round, he won't know himself, he will feel so easy andcomfortable. That will do with the sponge, Dick. Now, while I clean mylancet and put matters generally straight, will you be good enough tosee that the beast has water and food placed handy, so that he can getit without troubling to move? Thanks. Then we will get our supper.Food and drink, and a good long sleep, ought to work wonders for ourpatient, and we shall see how he shapes to-morrow. If he feels verychipper, he may decide to give us the slip during the night; but somehowI don't think he will."