Rob Harlow's Adventures: A Story of the Grand Chaco

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  THE LILY LAGOON.

  "Like it, gentlemen? That's right. On'y you are sure--quite sure?"

  "Oh yes, we're sure enough!" replied Rob, as he watched the endlessscenes of beautiful objects they passed. "It's glorious."

  "Don't find it too hot, I s'pose, sir?"

  "Oh, it's hot enough," interposed Giovanni; "but we don't mind, do we,Rob?"

  "Not a bit. What fruit's that?"

  "Which?" said Shaddy.

  "That, on that tree, high up, swinging in the wind--the dark brownthing, like a great nut with a long stalk."

  He pointed to the object which had taken his attention.

  "G'long with yer," growled Shaddy. "I thought you was in arnest."

  "So I am," cried Rob, looking at the man wonderingly. "I mean that one.It isn't a cocoa-nut, because the tree is different, and I know thatcocoanuts grow on a kind of palm."

  "And that kind o' nut don't, eh?" said Shaddy, puckering his face. "Whyyou are laughing at me."

  "Nonsense! I am not!" cried Rob. "You don't see the fruit I mean.There, on that tallest tree with the great branch sticking out andhanging over the others. There now! can you see?"

  "No," said Shaddy grimly; "it's gone."

  "Yes; how curious that it should drop just at that moment. I saw it godown among the trees. You did see it?"

  "Oh yes. I see it plain enough."

  "And you don't know what fruit it was?"

  "Warn't a fruit at all, sir."

  "What then? some kind of nut?"

  "No, sir; warn't nut at all. It was a nut-cracker."

  Rob looked at him seriously.

  "Who's joking now?" he said.

  "Not me, sir," replied Shaddy. "That was a nut-cracker sure enough."

  "Is that the native name?"

  Joe burst into a roar of laughter, and Rob coloured, for there was afeeling of annoyance rising within him at being the butt of the others'mirth.

  "Have I said something very stupid?" he asked.

  "Why, couldn't you see?" cried Joe eagerly. "It was a monkey."

  "I did not see any monkey," said Rob coldly. "I was talking about thatgreat brown husky-looking fruit, like a cocoa-nut hanging by a longstalk in that tree. Look! there are two more lower down!" he criedeagerly, as the boat glided round a bend into a long reach, two of themen being at the oars backing water a little from time to time with agentle dip, so as to keep the boat's head straight and check her toenable Brazier to scan the banks through the little binocular glass hecarried, and be rowed close in when he wished to obtain specimens.

  "Yes: there's two more lower down," said Shaddy, with his face puckeredup like the shell of a walnut, and then Rob's mouth expanded into a grinas wide as that of Joe's, and he laughed heartily.

  "Well," he cried, "that is comic, and no mistake. I really thought itwas some kind of fruit. It _was_ a monkey."

  "You ain't the first as made that mistake, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy."You see, they just take a turn with their tails round a branch, drawstheir legs up close, and cuddles them with their long arms round 'em,and then they looks just like the hucks of a cocoa-nut."

  "Like the what?" cried Rob.

  "Hucks of a cocoa-nut."

  "Oh--husk."

  "You may call it `husk' if you like, sir: I calls it `hucks.' Then theyhangs head downwards, and goes to sleep like that, I believe. Wonderfulthing a monkey's tail is. Why I've seen the young ones hold on to theirmother by giving it a turn round the old girl's neck. They're all likethat out here. Ring-tail monkeys we call 'em."

  While they were talking the last two monkeys had swung themselves to andfro, and then lowered themselves down among the branches to get close tothe river and watch the boat, like a couple of tiny savages strickenwith wonder at the coming of the strange white men, and chattering awayto each other their comments on all they saw.

  The progress made was very slow, for the boat was constantly beinganchored, so to speak, by the men rowing in and holding on by thehanging boughs of trees, while Brazier cut and hacked off bulb andblossom in what, with glowing face, he declared to be a perfectnaturalist's paradise.

  They had been floating down a few miles when, right ahead, the streamseemed to end, the way being blocked entirely by huge trees, and as theydrew nearer there appeared to be a repetition of the entrance from thegreat river, where they passed along through the dark tunnel overhung bytrees.

  "Oh, it's all right, sir," said Shaddy, on being appealed to. "Dessaywe shall find a way on."

  "Of course," replied Brazier, who only had eyes for the plants he wascollecting and hardly looked up; "this great body of water must gosomewhere."

  "Look sharp round to the left!" cried Rob, standing up in the boat asthey glided round a bend where the stream nearly turned upon itself andthen back again, forming a complete S; and as they moved round thesecond bend Rob uttered a shout of delight, for the banks receded oneither hand, so that they appeared to have glided into a wide openingabout a mile long, floored with dark green dotted with silver, throughwhich in a sinuous manner the river wound. A minute later, though, thetwo lads saw that the river really expanded into a lake, the stream inits rapid course keeping a passage open, the rest of the water beingdensely covered with the huge, circular leaves of a gigantic water-lily,whose silvery blossoms peered up among the dark green leaves.

  "Look at the jacanas!" cried Joe, pointing to a number ofsingular-looking birds like long-necked and legged moorhens, butprovided with exaggerated toes, these being of such a length that theyeasily supported their owners as they walked about or ran on thefloating leaves.

  "Wouldn't be a bad place for a camp, sir," suggested Shaddy, when theywere about half-way along the lake, and he pointed to a spot on theirleft where the trees stood back, leaving a grassy expanse not unlike theone at which they had first halted, only of far greater extent.

  "Yes, excellent," replied Brazier; "but can we get there?"

  "Oh yes, sir; I'll soon make a way through the leaves."

  Shaddy seized a pole, said a few words to his men, and stepped right tothe front of the boat, where he stood thrusting back the vegetation asit collected about the bows, while the men rowed hard forcing the boatonward, the huge leaves being sent to right and left and others passingright under the keel, but all floating back to their former positions,so that as Rob looked back the jacanas were again running over thevegetation which had re-covered the little channel the boat had made.

  In all probability a vessel had never entered that lake before, and itcaused so little alarm that great fish, which had been shelteringthemselves beneath the dark green disk-like leaves, lazily issued fromtheir lurking places to stare so stupidly, often even with their backfins out of water, that the boys had no difficulty in startling a few ofthem into a knowledge of their danger by gently placing a hand under andhoisting them suddenly into the boat, where they displayed their alarmby leaping vigorously and beating the fragile bottom with their tails.

  "Better hold hard, young gentlemen!" cried Shaddy, as soon as half adozen were caught; "them fish won't keep, and we can easily catch more.Ah! Why, Mr Joe, sir, I did think you knowed better."

  This was to Joe, who had leaned over as far as he could to try andperform the same feat upon a long dark object floating half hidden by aleaf, but was met by a quick rush and a shower of water as the creaturetwisted itself round and dived down.

  "It was only a little one, Shaddy," said Joe.

  "Little dogs have sharp teeth, my lad; and them small 'gators can bitelike fury. You take my advice, and don't do it again."

  "Hah!" cried Brazier as he leaped ashore, "this is glorious. We canmake quite a collection here. See that the boat is fast, Naylor."

  This was soon done, and the men were about to light a fire, but Brazierchecked them, preferring to make a little expedition for explorationpurposes all about their new camping place, partly to see if there werenoxious beasts at hand, partly to try and secur
e a few natural historyspecimens, especially birds, which abounded, before the noise and thefire should drive them away.

  "Hand out the guns and cartridge bags," said Brazier; and this beingdone the men were left in charge of the boat, and the little partystarted, keeping close up to the trees on their left with the intentionof going all round the opening and so returning by the right side to theboat.

  The walking was hard, for the earth was tangled with dense growth sothat they progressed very slowly, while the heat was intense; but thatpassed unnoticed in the excitement caused by the novel objects which mettheir eyes at every step--flowers, such as Rob had never before seen,looking up as if asking to be plucked; butterflies which flapped aboutso lazily that they could, he felt, easily be caught, only without netor appliances it seemed wanton destruction to capture and mutilate suchgorgeously painted objects. There were others too, resembling thehawk-moths in shape, with thick body and long pointed wing, which wereconstantly being taken for humming-birds, so rapid was their dartingflight. As for these latter, they flashed about them here, there, andeverywhere, now glittering in the sunshine, now looking dull andplum-coloured as they hovered on hazy wings before the long trumpetblossoms of some convolvulus-like flower whose twiny stems trailed overor wrapped the lower growth.

  Beetles, too, were abundant in every sun-scorched spot or on the baretrunks of the trees, though bare places were rare, for the trees wereclothed densely with moss and orchid.

  Rob's fingers itched as bird after bird flew up, and he longed to bringthem down for specimens, whose brilliant colours he could gloat over.Now it was a huge scarlet-and-blue macaw, now one painted by Nature'shand scarlet, yellow, and green, which flew off with its long tailfeathers spread, uttering discordant shrieks, and startling the smallerparrots from the trees which they were stripping of their fruit.

  But Brazier had told him not to fire at the smaller birds, as it was anecessity to keep their larder supplied with substantial food, the fourboatmen and Shaddy being pretty good trencher-men, and making the deermeat disappear even without the aid of trenchers.

  "We ought to find a deer here surely," said Brazier, when they wereabout half-way round.

  "Well, I don't know, sir," replied their guide; "deer ain't like humanbeings, ready to go walking in the hot sunshine in the middle of theday. They like to lie up in the shade all through the sunny time, andfeed in the morning and evening."

  "Then you think we shall not see a deer?"

  "Can't say, sir; but if a turkey goes up I should make sure of him atonce. So I should if we came upon a carpincho, for this is a likelyplace for one of them."

  "But are they good eating?"

  "Capital, sir. Now, look at that."

  He faced round at a loud, fluttering sound, and guns were raised, butthe great bird which had taken flight was far out of shot, and wingingits way higher and higher, so as to fly over the tops of the trees andaway into the forest.

  "Fine great turkey that, sir," said Shaddy.

  "Yes: can we follow it?"

  Shaddy shook his head.

  "Far more sensible for us to walk straight away, sir, through the openwhere that turkey got up: we might start another or two."

  "But the going is so laborious," pleaded Brazier; "some of us would behaving sunstroke. No, let's keep on, we may put up something yet."

  "And try for the turkeys toward sundown, sir?"

  "Yes. Come on," said Brazier; "we had better get slowly back now to theboat. It is too hot."

  He stood wiping the perspiration from his forehead as he spoke, andthen, with Shaddy by his side carrying a spare gun, went on along by theedge of the forest, Rob and Joe following some distance behind.

  "I might as well have shot some of those beautiful toucans," said Rob;"I could have skinned them, and they would be delightful to bring out athome and show people, and remind one of this place in years to come."

  "Yes, we shouldn't have scared away much game," replied Joe. "What'sthat they can see?"

  For Shaddy was holding up his hand to stop them, and Brazier, who hadforgotten all about being languid and weary in the hot sunshine, washurrying forward bending down and making for one of several clumps ofbushes about half-way between them and the river.

  Rob noted that clump particularly, for it was scarlet with the blossomsof a magnificent passion-flower, whose steins trailed all over it,tangling it into a mass of flame colour, looking hot in the sunshine,which made the air quiver as if in motion.

  The lads stopped at Shaddy's signal and looked intently, but they couldsee no sign of any game, and, rightly concluding that the object ofBrazier's movement must be hidden from them at the edge of the forest,they crouched down and waited for fully five minutes.

  "Here, I'm sick of this," whispered Rob at last; and he rose from hisuncomfortable position.

  "So am I," said Joe, straightening himself. "Hullo! Where's oldShaddy?"

  "Lying down and having a nap, I expect," replied Rob. "I can't see himnor Mr Brazier neither. Shall we go on."

  "No: let's wait a bit. They may be seeing a chance for something goodat supper-time."

  They waited another five minutes, ten minutes, and had at lastdetermined to go on, when Brazier's piece was heard, the sharp reportcoming from about three hundred yards farther on toward the river.

  "There's Shaddy running," cried Joe; and they saw now where he had beencrawling, far beyond the scarlet passion-flower, from whose shelter MrBrazier had evidently made a long stalk till he was close to the objectof his search, a bird or animal, which had probably fallen, from thehaste being made to reach the spot.

  "Let's make haste," cried Joe, pushing forward.

  "No, thank you; I'm too tired," said Rob. "I was not so fagged before,but after lying down there so long I'm as stiff as can be. Oh, bother!something stung me. It's one of those ants. Brush them off."

  Joe performed the kindly duty, and they were on the way to join theothers, when there was a rustling sound just in front, and the youngItalian started back.

  "A snake--a snake!" he panted, as he caught Rob's arm. "Shoot!"

  "Well, you shoot too," said the latter rather sharply, for Joe seemed tohave forgotten that he had a gun in his hand.

  But Rob could not boast, for as the dry grass and scrubby growth infront moved he raised his piece, and drew first one trigger, then theother: there was no result--he had forgotten to cock.

  Lowering the gun he rapidly performed this necessary operation, and wasabout to raise it again and wait, for in the hurry and excitement he hadbeen about to obey his companion and deliver a chance shot almost atrandom amongst the moving grass--so great was the horror inspired by thevery name of one of the reptiles which haunted the moist swamps near theriverside.

  But, to the surprise of both, it was no huge anaconda which had beenworming its way toward them; for at the sound of the lock--_click_,click--a beautiful warm-grey creature bounded lithely out almost towhere they stood, and there paused, watching them and waving its longblack tail.

  "A lion," whispered Joe, who remained as if paralysed by the suddenbound of the cat-like creature, which stood as high as a mastiff dog,but beautifully soft-looking and rounded in its form, its ears erect,eyes dilated, and motionless, all but that long writhing tail.

  In those few moments Rob's powers of observation seemed as if they wereabnormally sharpened, and as he noted the soft hairs toward the end ofthe tail erected and then laid down, and again erected, making it lookthick and soft, he noted too that the muzzle was furnished with longcat-like whiskers, and the head was round, soft, and anything but crueland fierce of aspect.

  "Shoot--shoot!" whispered Joe: "the ball--not the small shot."

  But Rob did not stir; he merely stood with the muzzle of the gunpresented toward the beast, and did not raise it to his shoulder. Notthat he was stupefied by the peril of his position, but held back by thenon-menacing aspect of the puma. Had there been a display of its fangsor an attempt to crouch for a spring, the g
un would have been at hisshoulder in a moment, and, hit or miss, he would have drawn the trigger.

  "Why don't you shoot?" whispered Joe again.

  "I can't," replied Rob. "It must be a tame one."

  "Nonsense! You're mad. We're right away in the wilds."

  "I don't care where we are," said Rob, who was growing cool andconfident; "this must be a tame one. I shall go forward."

  "No, no--don't! He'll claw you down."

  "He'd better not. I've got my finger on the trigger. Here! Hallo, oldchap! puss! puss! whose cat are you?"

  "He's mad," whispered Joe as Rob advanced, and the puma stood firmwatching him, till they were so close together that, in full confidencethat they had met with a tame beast, the property of some settler orIndian, he laid his gun in the hollow of his left arm, and stretched outhis right hand.

  The puma winced slightly, and its eyes grew more dilate; but, as Robstood still, the wild look passed slowly away, and it remainedmotionless.

  "Don't! pray don't!" cried Joe in a hoarse whisper; "it will seize yourhand in its jaws."

  "Nonsense! It's as tame as an old tom-cat," said Rob coolly. "Poor oldpuss, then!" he continued, reaching out a little farther, so that hecould just softly touch the animal's cheek, passing his fingers alongtoward its left ear.

  "There, I told you so," he said, with a laugh, for the puma pressed itshead against his hand, giving it a rub in regular cat fashion, while as,to Joe's horror, Rob continued his caress and began gently rubbing theanimal's head, it emitted a soft, purring noise, rolled its head about,and ended by closing up and leaning against the lad's leg, passingitself along from nose to tail, turning and repeating the performance,and again on the other side.

  "I am glad I didn't shoot," said Rob, bending down to stroke theanimal's back. "I say, isn't he a beauty! Come and make friends. He'sa bit afraid of us yet."

  Joe stood fast, with the loaded gun presented, ready to fire and savehis friend's life the moment the creature seized him, when, to hisastonishment, the puma so thoroughly approved of the first human caressit had ever received that it lay down, rolled over, wriggling its spinewhen all four legs were in the air, rolled back again, scratching theground, and finally crouched and looked up as much as to say, "Go on."

  Rob answered the appeal he read in the puma's eyes, and going down onone knee, he patted and stroked it, when, quick as the movement of aserpent, it threw itself over on its back, seized the lad's hand betweenits bent paws, patted it from one to the other, and then held it tightlyas it brought down its mouth as if to bite, but only began to lick thepalm with its rough tongue.

  "There!" said Rob; "what do you say now? Isn't it a tame one?"

  "I--I don't know yet. Hadn't I better fire and kill it?"

  "You'd better not," cried Rob. "That'll do, old chap; you'll have theskin off. I say, his tongue is rough. Why, what beautiful fur he has,and how soft and clean! I wonder whose he is."

  In the most domestic cat-like fashion the puma now curled itself round,with its forepaws doubled under, and kept up its soft purr as it watchedthe lad by its side. But as he rose the animal sprang up too, buttedits head affectionately against his leg, and then looked up as if tosay,--

  "What next?"

  "Why don't you come and stroke it?" cried Rob. "Because I'm sure it'swild and fierce," was the reply. "Well, it isn't now."

  "Ahoy!" came from a distance, and the puma looked sharply about, withears erect and an intense look, as if it were listening.

  "Ahoy!" shouted back Rob. "Let's go to them. Come along, puss."

  He took a few steps forward, the puma staring at him and twisting itstail from side to side; but it did not stir. "There, I told you so. Itis wild."

  "Well, it may be, but it's quite ready to make friends, and it will nothurt us. Come along."

  Joe did not possess his companion's faith, and keeping his face to thepuma as much as he could, he advanced toward where they could seeBrazier waving his hand to them to come on.

  As they advanced Rob kept on stopping and looking back at the puma,calling it loudly; but the animal made no response. It stood there withits eyes dilating again, waving and twisting its tail, till they werethirty or forty yards distant, when, with a sudden movement, it halfturned away, crouched, its hind legs seemed to act like a spring, and itwas shot forward into the low growth and disappeared.

  "Gone!" said Joe, with a sigh of relief.

  "Why, you're actually afraid of a cat," said Rob mockingly.

  "I am--of cats like that," replied his companion. "I've heard my fathersay that some of them are friendly. That must be a friendly one, butI'm sure they are not fit to be trusted. Let's make haste."

  Rob did not feel so disposed, and he looked back from time to time asthey forced their way through the grass and low growth, but there was nopuma visible, and finally, taking it for granted that the animal wasgone, but making up his mind to try and find it again if they stayed, hestepped out more quickly to catch up to Joe, who was pressing on towardwhere he could now see both of their companions and a hundred yardsbeyond the boatmen coming to meet them.

  "Hi! What have you shot, Mr Brazier?" cried Rob as he drew nearer.

  "Deer! Very fine one!" came back the reply.

  "Venison for dinner, then, and not `only fish,'" said Rob as he changedshoulders with his gun. "Shouldn't care to be always tied down tofresh-water fish, Joe. They're not like turbot and soles."

  "I say, don't talk about eating," said the young Italian testily.

  "Why not?"

  "Makes me so hungry."

  "Well, so much the better. Proves that you enjoy your meals. I say, Iwish that great cat had followed us."

  "Nonsense! What could you have done with it?"

  "Kept it as a pet. Taught it to catch birds for us, and to fetch thosewe shot like a dog. Oh, what a beauty!"

  This was on seeing the fine large fat deer which had fallen to Brazier'sgun.

  "Yes," said Brazier, with a satisfied smile; "it was a piece of goodfortune, and it will relieve me of some anxiety about provisions."

  "But it will not keep," said Rob.

  "Yes; cut in strips and dried in the sun, it will last as long as wewant it. You see, we have no means of making up waste in our stores,Rob, and the more we get our guns to help us the longer our expeditioncan be."

  The boatmen and the two lads reached the deer just about the same time,and the latter stood looking on with rather an air of disgust upon theircountenances as the crew set to work and deftly removed the animal'sskin, which was carried off to the boat to be stretched over the awningto dry, while those left rapidly went to work cutting the flesh instrips and bearing it off to the boat.

  "I say, Mr Brazier," said Rob after watching the proceedings for sometime, "hadn't those strips of flesh better be dried on shore somewhere?"

  "Why?"

  "Because they'll smell dreadfully."

  "I hope not," said Brazier, smiling.

  "Not they, sir," put in Shaddy. "Sun soon coats 'em over and takes thejuice out of them. They won't trouble your nose, Master Rob, sir, trustme; and as to drying 'em on shore, that would be a very good plan inevery way but one."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Why, that it would be very convenient, sir, and the meat would drynicely; but when we wanted it you may take my word it wouldn't bethere."

  "Would some one steal it?" cried Rob. "No; you told me there were noIndians about."

  "So I did, sir; but there are hundreds of other things would take it."

  "Hang it up in a tree, then."

  "Ready for the vultures to come and carry it off? That wouldn't do,sir. No; there's no way of doing it but hanging it up in your boat.The animals can't get at it, nor the ants neither, and the birds areafraid to come."

  "I did not think of that," said Rob apologetically.

  "No, sir, s'pose not. I used to think as you did. I didn't want tohave anything that might smell on my boat, and I did
as you advised tillI found out that it would not do. Don't take too much at a time," hegrowled to the man who was loading himself, "and mind and lay out allthe pieces separate. Is the fire burning?"

  The man replied in his own tongue, and went off.

  "I'll get on now, sir," said Shaddy, "and see to the pieces frizzlingfor our dinner, if you'll stop and see that the men don't leave beforethey are done."

  "How am I to speak to them? I don't know their tongue."

  "No need to speak, sir. If they see you're watching them they won'tneglect anything, but will do it properly. I was only afraid of theirwanting to step off to the fireside to begin broiling bones."

  Shaddy shouldered his gun, and went off after the man who was loadedwith strips of flesh to make what is called biltong, and the two leftworked on very diligently, with the boys wandering here and there insearch of objects of interest and finding plenty--brilliantmetallic-cased beetles, strange flowers which they wanted named, birdswhich it was a delight to watch as they busied themselves about thefruit and flowers of the trees at the forest edge.

  "I shall be glad when they've done," said Joe at last, as they werewalking back to where Brazier stood leaning upon the muzzle of his gun."I am so hungry. Wonder whether these berries are good to eat!"

  He turned aside into the bushes to begin picking some bright yellowfruit, and scaring away a little parrot from the feast.

  "I want something better than those," said Rob contemptuously; and hewent on, expecting that Joe was close behind.

  All at once, when he was about twenty yards away from where Brazier wasstanding, Rob saw him start, raise his gun, and cock it as he glaredwildly at his young companion.

  "Anything the matter, sir?" cried Rob, hastening his steps.

  "Yes!" cried Brazier hoarsely. "Stand aside, boy! Take care! Out ofmy line of fire! You're being stalked by a wild beast!"

  Rob stared, looked round, and saw at a glance that the puma hadevidently been hiding among the dead grass and thick growth, but hadbeen following and watching him ever since he had seen it leap into thebushes. Then the truth dawned upon him that of course Mr Brazier couldnot know what had passed, and there he was with his gun raised to fire.

  "Stand aside, boy!" was roared again; and, obeying the stronger will,Rob sprang aside, but only to leap back.

  "Don't fire! don't fire!" he shrieked, but too late. The gun belchedforth rapidly its two charges, and Rob fell and rolled over upon theearth.