That last movement was not performed without difficulty, for at this
fresh alarm, urged by a desire for self-preservation, the men had thrust
the boat away from the bank, and were actually in the act of unfastening
the mooring rope, when Rob shouted to Shaddy.
"What!" he roared, running to the other end where it was fast to a
branch, and then yelling out such a furious tirade of words in their own
tongue that the men shrank back, and the boat was drawn close in among
the boughs that were worn sharp by the action of the stream.
"Lucky for them," growled Shaddy, as he held the boat's gunwale for the
others to get on board, while the singular silence which had followed
the first cry of the beast was again maintained. "I never did break a
man's neck yet, Master Rob," he whispered, as they took their places on
board, "and I never mean to if I can help it; but if those fellows had
run off and left us in the lurch I'd have gone as far as I could without
doing it quite."
"First catch your hare," whispered back Rob, who felt better now he was
safe on board, with the boat gliding outward to the full length of the
mooring line.
"Eh! what hare? No hares about here," said Shaddy.
"I mean, how would you have managed to punish the men if they had gone
off and left us here?"
"I never thought of that," said Shaddy, shaking his head; and then they
all sat in the boat listening, and thinking that it was a good thing
they had had enough supper before the interruption.
There was no fresh alarm for awhile. The birds, insects, quadrupeds,
and reptiles resumed their performances, the boatmen settled down to
sleep, and at last, after watching the fire sinking, rising up as some
piece of wood fell in, and then blazing brightly just beyond the great
root, the hole from which this had been wrenched having been selected by
the crew of the boat as an excellent place for cooking, Rob suddenly
fell asleep, to dream of huge boa constrictors and anacondas twisting
themselves up into knots which they could not untie.
It only seemed to be a few minutes since Rob had lain down, when he
awoke with a start to gaze about him, wondering where he was and why the
awning looked so light. Then coming to the conclusion that it was
sunrise, and being still weary and drowsy, he was about to close his
eyes again and follow the example of those about him, when he became
conscious of a peculiar odour and a choking smell of burning.
This completely aroused him, and hurriedly creeping from beneath the
awning without awakening his companions, he found that the boatmen and
Shaddy were fast asleep and a line of fire was rapidly approaching them
from the shore; not with any rush of flame, but in a curious sputtering,
smouldering way, as the touchwood of which the huge trunk, to which they
were tethered, was composed rapidly burned away.
It was all plain enough: the root had caught fire at last from the
intense heat so near and gradually started the rest, so that as Rob
gazed shoreward there was a dull incandescent trunk where the previous
night there had been one long line of beautiful orchids and epiphytic
plants.
But there was no time to waste. Waking Shaddy with a sharp slap on the
shoulder, that worthy started up, saw the mischief pointed out, and
shouting, "Only shut my eye because the fire made it ache," he took up a
boat-hook, went right forward, trampling on the boatmen in his
eagerness, and, hauling on the line, drew the boat close up to the
glowing trunk, hitching on to one of the neighbouring branches. It was
only just in time, for the rope gave way, burned through as he got hold,
and the smouldering end dropped into the water, giving a hiss like a
serpent as the glowing end was quenched.
Brazier and Giovanni were aroused before this, and were fully alive to
the peril which had been averted by Rob's opportune awakening.
"Why," cried Brazier, "we should have been drifting down the stream, and
been carried miles, and in all probability capsized."
Shaddy made no reply for the moment, but busied himself in altering the
position of the boat before letting go, and then hooking the bough of
another of the trees, one which did not communicate with the fire, and
to this he made fast before rising up in the boat, taking off his cap,
and dashing it down.
"Yes," he said harshly, "right, sir. We should have been carried right
down the stream--Be off, you brute!"
This was to an alligator which was approaching the boat with the
protuberances above its eyes just visible, and as he uttered the
adjuration he made a stroke with the hitcher harpoon fashion, struck the
reptile full on its tough hide, and there was a swirl, a rush, and a
tremendous splash of water full in Shaddy's face as the creature struck
the surface with its tail and then disappeared.
"Thank ye," growled Shaddy, wiping his face; "but you got the worst of
it, mate. As aforesaid, maybe, Mr Brazier, sir, we should ha' been
carried right down the stream, and run on a sharp root or trunk as would
ha' drove a hole through the boat or capsized us, and there'd ha' been
the end."
"What could you have been thinking of, Naylor?" cried Brazier angrily;
while Rob looked pityingly and feeling sorry for the staunch, brave man,
who stood there abashed by his position.
"Warn't thinking at all, sir," he growled. "Only ought to ha' been.
There, don't make it worse, sir, by bullying me. You trusted me, and I
thought I was fit to trust, but there's the vanity o' man's natur'. I
arn't fit to trust, so I'd take it kindly if you'd knock me overboard;
but you'd better knock my stoopid head off first to save pain."
This was all spoken with the most utter seriousness, and as Shaddy
finished he slowly laid down the boat-hook and looked full in Brazier's
eyes, with the result that Rob burst into a roar of laughter. Joe
followed suit, and after an attempt to master himself and frown Brazier
joined in, the mirth increasing as Shaddy said sternly,--
"Oh, it arn't nothing to laugh at! If Master Rob there hadn't woke up
before morning, the 'gators and pirani, without counting the other
critters, would have been having a treat. I tell you I'm ashamed of
myself, and the sooner an end's made of me the better. Why, you ought
to do it, sir, in self-defence."
"How near are we to morning?" said Brazier.
"'Tis morning now, sir. Sun'll be up in less an half an hour. No dawn
here."
"Then we had better have breakfast at once, and start, for this is
anything but a pleasant spot."
"Ain't you going to knock me overboard, sir?" said Shaddy.
"No."
"Well, ain't you going to knock me down?"
"No; I'm not going to knock you down either, my good fellow. You've
made a mistake. Over-tired, I suppose, and you dropped asleep. It was
terribly neglectful of you, but I hope and trust that such an error may
not be made again."
"What?"
"Surely I need not repeat my words. You were overcome by fatigue and
slept. I ask you for all our sakes to be more careful in the future."
"Here, I say, Master Rob," cried Shaddy huskily, and he gave his eyes a
rub, "am I still asleep?"
"No, Shaddy, wide awake, and listening to Mr Brazier."
"Well, then, it's a rum 'un. But, I say, look here, sir; you're never
going to trust me again?"
"I am going to treat you with full confidence, just as I trusted you
before, Naylor," replied Brazier.
"Master Rob's asleep too," growled the man. "It can't be true. Here, I
say, Mr Jovanny, give a look at me and tell me, am I awake or no?"
"Awake, of course," said Joe.
"Then all I can say is, Mr Brazier, sir," said the guide, "you've made
me ten times more ashamed of myself than I was before, and that hurt I
can't bear it like."
"Say no more about it, man," said Brazier. "There, it's all over now.
Let's have breakfast, and then start for a long day's collecting."
"Not say no more about it?" cried Shaddy.
"Not a word. It is all past and forgotten."
"Can't be," growled Shaddy.
"It shall be," said Brazier, turning to get his gun from under the
canvas cabin.
"One moment--look here, sir," said Shaddy; "do you mean to say that you
forgive me?"
"Yes, of course."
"And I am not to say another word?"
"No."
"Then I'll think," said Shaddy, "and punish myself that way, Master Rob.
I'll always think about it at night when I'm on the watch. It ain't
likely that I shall ever go to sleep again on dooty with idees like that
on my brain."
"No more talking; breakfast at once," cried Brazier, issuing from the
cabin.
"Right, sir," said Shaddy, working the boat in close to the bank.
"Quick, my lads, and get that fire well alight."
The men were set ashore just as the sun rose and flooded everything with
light, while a quarter of an hour later, as Brazier was patiently
watching one of the tunnel-like openings opposite in the hope of seeing
a deer come down to drink and make them a good meal or two for a couple
of days, Shaddy drew Rob's attention to the black-looking forms of
several alligators floating about a few feet below.
"The brutes!" said the lad. "Just like efts in an aquarium at home."
"Only a little bigger, my lad. I say, there he is--one of 'em."
He pointed down through the clear water, illumined now by the sun so
that the bottom was visible, and there coiled-up and apparently asleep
lay either the anaconda of the previous night or one of its relatives,
perfectly motionless and heedless of the boat, which floated like a
black shadow over its head.
"Might kill it if we had what sailors call the grains to harpoon him
with," said Shaddy; "but I don't know, he'd be an ugly customer to
tackle. I say, look out, sir," he whispered, "yonder across the river."
Brazier glanced a little to his left, and directly after his piece rang
out with a loud report and a deer fell dead--not having moved an inch,
when the boat was with difficulty rowed across, and the welcome addition
to their larder secured amidst the chattering of monkeys and the
screaming of great macaws.
An hour later breakfast was at an end, the boat loosened from the
moorings where the anaconda still lay asleep in ten feet of water, and
they glided down the stream to commence another adventurous day, amidst
scenery which grew more wondrously beautiful with every mile.