The Forced Get-away
"Bob!"
"Joe!"
"Did you see it?"
"Yes. Human bones! These savages are _cannibals_!"
It was night--a dark, lowering night. The moon was nowhere in sight.
Not a star twinkled down from the heavy jungle sky. Huge, roaring
fires blazed in front of the chief's large hut, while about them
danced scores of painted savages, shouting and screaming and
gesticulating.
It was a scene wild enough to strike terror to the heart of anyone.
Bob and Joe gazed fearfully into the raging mob, wondering if the
lives of them and their companions would be taken for the feast.
The boys moved over to their elders, who were standing at the other
side of their thatched dwelling.
"Cannibals!" Professor Bigelow was muttering. He had seen too.
Mr. Holton and Mr. Lewis nodded, on their faces a grave expression.
They were so taken aback as to be almost speechless.
"I think perhaps we had better get away from here," said the
professor, who, although deeply attentive to scientific work, knew
when he was in a dangerous situation. "I know enough of the ways of
primitive people to surmise what they'll probably do to us if we stay.
Their appetites for human flesh will be so stimulated that they will
no doubt kill us also. Lucky that this happened as late as it did. I
wouldn't have wanted to leave so soon if I had not secured about all
the information there is to be obtained about them."
Just before leaving, Bob and Joe got out their cameras and took motion
pictures of the gruesome feast, and in the end they were almost
convinced that nothing of this kind had ever been shown on the silver
screen.
With the aid of flashlights, whose beams, by the way, were concealed
from the savages, the explorers had gathered their belongings together
and were now ready to leave for the boats. Of course it would be
perilous traveling at night through the jungle, but the chance had to
be taken.
At that moment an Indian entered their hut, glanced about, and then
started to call to the others.
Displaying a quickness remarkable for his size and weight, Mr. Holton
launched himself full force at the fellow, sending him to the ground
unconscious.
"Now let's get away--quick!" he said. "There's no telling when the
whole tribe will be in here after us."
As quietly as possible, the explorers and their Indian crew dashed
away down the trail for the stream, never looking back, but fearing
that they would hear the screams of the cannibals at any moment.
The flashlights rendered traveling easy, and as they had been over the
trail many times, they reached the boats in record time.
Their possessions were piled inside. Then they climbed hastily in and
were paddled swiftly away.
It was not until they had reached the main stream that they felt safe.
Then they turned the boats downstream on the journey back to the
coast.
"It isn't wise to tax good fortune too much," said Mr. Lewis, as the
narrow stream faded in the distance. "We came up here for two definite
purposes, and we've accomplished them both. First, Professor Bigelow
has made a rather extensive study of little-known Indians, and second,
Mr. Holton and I have collected hundreds of specimens for the museum.
You boys have met with success in taking moving pictures, also. Now
that our work is finished, we'd better get to the Purús at once."
However, "at once" was a bit too hastily, for there were dangerous
rapids that had to be portaged, totally unknown animals that diverted
the naturalists' attention, and a hundred and one reasons for making
slow progress, even downstream. But at last they sighted the Purús in
the distance.
"Now to hunt up Senhor del Pereo, the man who fitted us out with our
boats and crew," said Mr. Holton.
They found that individual in his house at the edge of the little town
that rested between the two rivers.
He was more than glad to see the explorers back after such a long,
perilous journey, and insisted that they remain at his house
overnight, or until a boat could be found that would take them to the
Amazon. The explorers accepted the invitation at once, glad of the
chance to partake of the comforts of civilization after those long
weeks into the unknown.
The next day they were fortunate in getting passage on a boat bound
for Manáos. It was a small steamer, scheduled to reach its destination
in less than five days.
At Manáos the explorers had another streak of good luck, finding a
large liner that would take them straight to New York.
Down the mighty Amazon they steamed, at last coming into the port at
Pará for a short stay.
After a walk about town, the Americans again boarded the vessel for
the trip to New York.
It was an ideal evening as they steamed majestically out of the busy
harbor and turned toward the United States.
"Do you know, Joe, old boy," remarked Bob, as they sat with their
elders on deck in the light of the full moon, "the farther away we get
from the region we explored the more I prize our experience."
Joe nodded.
"It was great," he agreed. "And just think. We were lost--lost in the
wilds of Brazil."
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
The four books in this series have been transcribed in the same
manner. This means that in some books, table of contents and or/list
of series names have been added.
Except in cases of obvious typographical errors, archaic and
inconsistent spelling has been retained.