Guy in the Jungle; Or, A Boy's Adventure in the Wilds of Africa
Page 26
CHAPTER XXV.
THE JOURNEY ON THE LAKE.
In the deep silence all heard distinctly the low, steady dip of apaddle.
"Be ready with a match," whispered Guy. "When the canoe comes opposite,light the torch and I will cover the fellow with my rifle."
The sound grew louder and plainer, and Melton's finger was alreadytrembling on the match when a terrific splash echoed over the water,followed instantly by a most awful and heartrending wail of agony, thatcaused every one to shudder from head to foot.
Perfect silence ensued, and the dip of the paddle was no longer heard.With nervous haste Forbes lit the torch, and the sudden light revealedan empty canoe floating bottom up a few yards out in the stream.
They paddled quickly alongside, and leaning over Guy turned the driftingboat right side up.
It was empty, of course. The contents had gone to the bottom, and nearthe center the frail sides, seen plainly in the torchlight, wereactually crushed inward like a shattered egg-shell.
Where was the occupant of a moment before? What tremendous force hadwrought this havoc?
The current carried them on and on, but no one spoke; no one dared utterthe thoughts that were in his mind.
At last Guy said in faltering tones, "Nothing but a serpent could haveinflicted that injury to the canoe."
"That was the meaning of the splash," replied Melton. "The huge coilsmust have been thrown around it. The poor fellow had only time for onecry when he was dragged out."
"Then the serpent must have been following us down the river," cried thecolonel. "I supposed he was dead after that bullet lodged in his neck."
"_That_ serpent is dead," said Forbes solemnly, "or I should never haveescaped from his coils. This is another serpent. The river must be theabode of many like them."
This alarming statement was unfortunately only too likely to be true.Sir Arthur was terribly distressed, and prophesied a speedy reappearanceof the monster and a fate similar to that of the poor savage in storefor them all.
His anxiety was shared by his companions, though not expressed asopenly, and all possible haste was made to get away from the horriblespot.
A brief search was carried on in hopes of finding the lost provisionbags, but, with the exception of a single floating paddle, nothing waspicked up. The bags must have sunk with the lamp and oil-flask.
Nothing was seen of the other canoe--the one originally taken by thesavage--and they came to the conclusion that it had been purposelyabandoned farther up the river.
The balance of that day they traveled with a dread sense of impendingdanger. The terrible scene so recently witnessed had left anineffaceable impression and by tacit consent they paddled in silence,afraid of the sound of their own voices.
The river had suddenly become narrow, and ran with dizzy speed betweentwo rocky walls that reflected on both sides the glow of the torch whichSir Arthur carried in the stern.
Half a dozen times they dashed through brawling rapids, but no mishapoccurred, and, as their increasing drowsiness warned them that night wasclose at hand, they succeeded in finding a landing-place on the leftshore which offered some protection until morning.
A small quantity of wood still remained, and with this a fire was keptburning all night, while they took turns at guarding the camp, for afterthe recent events they no longer dared to sleep unprotected and in utterdarkness.
The scant amount of food now remaining was a source of great uneasiness,but Chutney infused fresh hope into the party by the confidentprediction that if the present daily rate of speed were maintained thesupply would last until the end of the journey.
Already the pure air of the cavern had done wonders for Sir Arthur andthe colonel, and they had nearly recovered their usual health andstrength. The one canoe held them all very comfortably, and they seemedto make better progress than when they had been divided into separateparties.
That night nothing occurred to cause any alarm, and they resumed thecruise in fairly good spirits. The river still continued narrow and thecurrent swift. No dangerous water was encountered, and everything wasgoing on satisfactorily when Guy suddenly shouted with all his might,"Back water! Quick! quick!" and looking ahead they saw a steep rockypromontory, against which the current split and swung off into twochannels, one to the right, the other to the left.
In spite of their utmost efforts they continued to float down inch byinch.
Which was the proper channel? It was a puzzling problem on which perhapshung life and death. There was no time for consideration, and under thecircumstances Guy adopted the only possible course.
"Head the canoe straight for the center of the rock and let her drift,"he cried. "The current shall decide for us."
This was instantly done and they drifted with perfect accuracy straightfor the splitting point in the stream.
For a moment it looked as though they would be flung against the rocksand upset, but as the canoe reached the turning-point it trembled aninstant in the balance and then darted headlong into the channel to theright.
"A good omen," cried the colonel. "The river Juba lies on our right.This must be the proper channel."
It was a very narrow channel, at all events, and a very swift one, too,for the rocky walls on either side were almost close enough to touchwith the paddles, and they were moving at a dizzy rate of speed.
"There are rapids below us," said Forbes. "I can hear them dimly."
Melton's hearing was unusually acute, for as yet the rest could hearnothing, but in a few seconds the distant roar was audible to all, andit grew ominously louder with every second.
They grasped the sides of the canoe in anxious suspense--for it wasuseless to paddle--and the angry waters were almost in sight, when SirArthur dropped his torch, and instantly they were plunged in totaldarkness.
No time remained to strike a fresh light. The sullen crash of the watersdrowned the sound of their voices, and the canoe blindly took its owncourse and they felt the chill spray spattering their faces.
"Bump, bump, bump," went the quivering boat, grinding and crashing onloose rocks, and then with one terrific lurch, that sent them sprawlingon their knees, the violent tossing subsided and the choppy wavessmacked the bottom of the canoe.
With some difficulty Guy lit a fresh torch, and its light revealed astrange condition of things.
No shore was visible on either side, and overhead was empty spaceinstead of the low lying roof that always met their gaze.
"We are no longer moving," cried the colonel in astonishment.
"Impossible!" exclaimed Guy, but on putting his hand in the water alldoubt was instantly removed. The canoe was stationary.
They paddled on to the right, to the left, in every direction, but thedark water lay calm and sluggish on all sides.
"We are on a lake," said Guy. "There is no doubt of it; a vastunderground lake."
"There must be an outlet on the other side, though," replied Melton."All we need do is to paddle across and find it."
"But which is the proper side?" said Canaris. "Are we headed straightnow?"
"By Jove, I don't believe we are," replied Guy. "I'm afraid we arecompletely mixed up. We will paddle until we reach the shore, and thenfollow it till we come to the outlet."
"Yes, that will do very well," said the colonel. "The lake cannot be sovery large. I wish we had time to complete a survey of it. I should liketo make a report to the Royal Geographical Society."
"I wish the honorable members of the R. G. S. could change places withus," said Sir Arthur, with a groan. "I have no doubt some of thoselunatics would enjoy this beastly hole. There is no accounting fortaste, Carrington."
The colonel made no reply. He was keeping stroke with Chutney's paddle,sharing with him the outlook ahead. The minutes passed on, but still nosigns of any shore.
"It's a pretty fair-sized lake after all," said Guy.
"And we are the first white men to navigate its waters," remarked thecolonel solemnly. "This is a wonderful discovery
. Our fame as greatexplorers will be assured if we ever get back to England."
"Land ahead!" shouted Guy suddenly, and snatching the torch from SirArthur, he stood erect as the canoe shot gently toward a dim object thatrose from the gloom twenty yards distant. Amid breathless silence thekeel nicked the sandy beach and Guy sprang out.
One brief second he held the flaming torch aloft.
Then he turned and tottered with trembling limbs towards the canoe. Hetried to speak, but no words came, and his face was pallid andhorror-stricken.