That same afternoon after a quiet discussion of their position, the
result of which was to convince Brazier and Rob of the utter
hopelessness of any attempt to escape, they joined with Shaddy in the
most sensible thing they could do, namely, an attempt to forget their
sorrow and misery in hard work.
"If we want to be healthy," Shadrach had said, "we must first thing get
a shelter over our heads where we can sleep at nights, clear of the
heavy dews, and which we can have ready next time it comes on to rain."
A suitable position was soon found high up where no flood was likely to
reach, and presenting several attractions.
First, it was at the head of the clearing exactly facing the river, so
that a passing boat could be seen. Secondly, it was between two great
trees, apparently twins, whose smooth columnar trunks ran up some twenty
feet without a branch; after that they were one mass of dense foliage,
which drooped down nearly to the ground and looked thick enough to throw
off, as the leafage lay bough above bough, any fall of rain short of a
waterspout.
The trees were about twelve feet apart, and from a distance the boughs
had so intermingled that they looked like one.
"That's the spot, sir!" Shaddy exclaimed. "Now then, the first thing
is to find a branch that will do for a ridge pole."
That first thing proved to be the most difficult they could have
undertaken, for a long search showed nothing portable at all likely to
answer the purpose; and though palm after palm was found, all were too
substantial to be attacked by pocket-knives. They were getting in
despair, when Rob hit upon one close down to the river, which the united
strength of all three, after Rob had climbed it and by his weight
dragged the top down within reach, sufficed to lever out of the
saturated ground.
As soon as the young palm was down, Shaddy set Brazier and Rob to cut
off the roots and leaves, which latter they were told to stack ready for
use, from where they hung six or eight feet long, while he--Shaddy--
knife in hand, busied himself in cutting long lianas and canes to act as
ropes.
An hour later they had the young palm bound tightly to the trees about
six feet from the ground, after which branches were cut and carried, so
that they could be laid with the thick ends against the ridge pole and
the leaves resting upon the ground from end to end.
This done, others were laid on in the same way, the leaves and twigs
fitting in so accurately that after a busy two hours they had a strong
shed of branches ready for stopping up at one end with thorns and more
boughs, while Rob had to climb up the slope and thatch the place with
the palm leaves, forming a roof impervious to any ordinary rain.
"That will do for sleeping, eh, gen'lemen?" said Shaddy. "We'll finish
it another time. We can rest in shelter. Now then for getting our
wages--I mean a decent supper."
Rob had been conscious for some time past of sundry faint sensations;
now he knew that they meant hunger, and as they left the hut they had
made he did not look forward with any great feelings of appetite to a
meal of nuts.
But it soon became evident that Shaddy had other ideas, for he went to
the fire again to obtain a hardened piece of wood for fashioning into a
hook, when an idea struck Rob, and he turned to their guide eagerly.
"Did you ever sniggle eels?" he said.
"Did I ever what, sir?"
"Sniggle eels."
Shaddy shook his head.
"No. I've bobbed for 'em, and set night lines, and caught 'em in
baskets and eel traps after storms. Is either of them sniggling?"
"No," cried Rob eagerly, "and you might catch fish perhaps that way.
I'll show you; I mean, I'll tell you. You take a big needle, and tie a
piece of strong thin silk to it right in the middle."
"Ay, I see," said Shaddy.
"Then you push the needle right into a big worm, and stick the point of
the needle into a long thin pole, and push the worm into a hole in a
bank where eels are."
"Yes, I see."
"Then one of the eels swallows the worm, and you pull the line."
"And the worm comes out."
"No, it does not," said Rob. "As it's tied in the middle, it is pulled
right across the eel's throat, and you can catch it without being
obliged to use a hook."
"That's noo and good," said Shaddy eagerly. "I could fish for doradoes
that way, but I've got no needle."
"Wouldn't this do, Shaddy?" said the lad, and he took a steel
needle-like toothpick out of the handle of his pocket-knife.
"The very thing!" cried Shaddy, slapping his leg, and, after tying his
newly made line to the little steel implement in the way described, he
bound over it with a silken thread a portion of the refuse of the fish
they had previously caught. Going to his former place, he cast in his
line, and in five minutes it was fast to a good-sized fish, which after
a struggle was landed safely, while before long another was caught as
well.
"Man never knows what he can do till he tries," cried Shaddy merrily.
"Why, we can live like princes, gentlemen. No fear of starving! Fish
as often as we like to catch 'em, and then there's birds and other
things to come. You don't feel dumpy now, Mr Rob, do you?"
"I don't know, Shaddy. I'm very hungry and tired."
"Wait till we've had supper, my lad, and then we'll see what we can do
about making a bow and arrows."
As he spoke he rapidly cleaned the fish, treated them as before, and
placed them in the embers, which were glowing still.
While the fish cooked Shaddy busied himself in crushing some of the nuts
by using one stone as a hammer, another as an anvil, and some of them he
set to roast by way of a change.
By the time the fish were ready the sun was rapidly going down, and when
the meal was at an end--a meal so delicious, in spite of the
surroundings, that it was eaten with the greatest of enjoyment--it was
too dark to see about bows and arrows, and the disposition of all three
was for sleep.
So the boughs collected on the previous night were carried in beneath
the shelter and made into beds, upon which, after well making up the
fire, all stretched themselves, and, utterly wearied out by the arduous
toil of the day, fell asleep at once, in spite of the chorus of
nocturnal creatures around, among which a couple of cicadas settled in
their rudely made roof and kept up a harsh chirping loud enough to have
kept awake any one who had not gone through as much work as two ordinary
men.
"But it can't be morning," thought Rob as he was awakened by Shaddy
touching him on the shoulder, and then he uttered his thought aloud.
"Well, if it ain't, my lad, the sun's made a mistake, for he'll be up
directly. Coming out?"
"Yes; wait till I wake Mr Brazier."
"Nay; let him be till we've got breakfast ready, my lad. He looked
regularly done up last night. He can't bear it all like young chaps
such as we."
Rob laughed, and then a cloud came over him as he stepped out into the
soft grey morning, for he had caught sight of the hurrying river, and
this brought up the boat and the loss of his companion and friend.
"Look here, Mr Rob," said Shaddy, changing the current of the boy's
thoughts directly, "I've been thinking out that bow and arrow business."
"Yes, Shaddy."
"And I've found out some splendid tackle for making arrows."
"What! this morning? Then you have been out and about!"
"Yes, soon as I could see my way. I found a bed of reeds which will
make capital arrows with a point of hard wood a bit burned, and there's
no end of 'em, so there's our shot all straight as--well, as arrows.
Now you and I are going to get a fish and put him to cook, and after
that we'll try and find a bit of wood good enough for a bow."
"And where's your string, Shaddy?"
"Round your neck, sir. You don't think you're going to indulge in such
luxuries as silk han'kerchers at a time like this, do you? Because, if
you do, I don't; so you'll have to pull out all the threads and wind 'em
up, like Mr Brazier did. His han'kercher will do for fishing-lines.
Yours shall be bow-strings. Why, who knows but what we may get a deer?
Anyhow we may get one of them carpinchos, and not bad eating, either."
The fish was soon caught in the swift clear water, but all attempts to
take another failed. It was, however, ample for their meal, and after
it had been placed in the fire, which had never been allowed to go out
since first lit, Rob's companion pointed out more footprints of a puma,
and soon after those of a deer, both animals having evidently been in
the opening within the last few hours, from the freshness of the prints.
The reeds for the arrows were cut, and proved to be firm, strong, and
light, but the selection of a branch for the bow proved to be more of a
task. One was, however, decided upon at last, roughly trimmed, and
thrown on the fire for a few minutes to harden, and it was while the
pair were busy over this task, watching the tough wood carefully, that
Brazier found them, apologising for his so-called idleness and eagerly
asking what he should do to help.
"Nothing, sir, at present, but have your breakfast. Would you mind
picking a few plates and a dish, Mr Rob? Let's have the green pattern
again."
Rob smiled as he went to the arum-like plant which had supplied him
before, and returned to the fire just as Shaddy was apologising
seriously for its being fish again for breakfast and promising a change
before night.
The apology was uncalled for, the freshly caught, newly roasted fish
proving to be delicious; and roasted nuts, though they were not
chestnuts and were often flavoured with burned oil, were anything but a
bad substitute for bread.
"There, gen'lemen," said Shaddy as they finished, "next thing seems to
be to go down to the waterside and have a good drink of nature's own tea
and coffee. Worse things than water, I can tell you. I always think to
myself when I've nothing else that what was good enough for Adam and Eve
ought to be good enough for me."
"Water's delicious," cried Rob as they reached a convenient place and
lay down to scoop up the cool clear fluid with their hands and drink
heartily.
"So it is, Mr Rob, sir, 'llcious," said Shaddy; "but wait a bit, and
you shall have something to put in the water, if it's only fruit juice
to flavour it. But what I want to find is some of those leaves they
make into South American tea."
Just then Shaddy smiled and rose to his knees, watching Brazier, who had
moved off thirty or forty yards away.
"What are you laughing at?" asked Rob.
"Mr Brazier's want of good manners, sir. Don't seem the thing for a
gen'leman like him to go washing his face and hands in his tea and
coffee-cup; now do it?"
"Plenty of room, Shaddy!" said Rob. "I'm going to follow his example."
He stretched out over the water from the bank, reached down his hands,
and began to bathe his face, the water feeling deliciously cool to his
brow and eyes as he scooped up handsful, and he was just revelling in an
extra good quantity, when he uttered an ejaculation of alarm, for he
felt himself seized by the collar as if he were about to be hurled into
the river, but it proved only to be Shaddy snatching him away.
"Why did you do that?" cried Rob angrily, as he pressed the water out of
his eyes and darted a resentful look at the big rough fellow, who stood
looking at him coolly.
"'Cause we wanted you to be useful, my lad, and because you didn't want
to go below yonder and feed the fishes," replied Shaddy, laughing.
"Didn't you see that 'gator?"
"No. Where? Was it near me?"
"Pretty near, sir. I happened to look, and saw him coming slowly nearer
and nearer, ready for making a dash at you, and as I'd neither gun nor
spear to tackle him, I had to pull you out of the way."
"Was it big?" said Rob, with a shudder.
"No, sir, only a little one, about six foot long, but quite strong
enough to have hung on and overbalanced you into the water, where there
would have been plenty more to help him. Now I tell you what, sir, Mr
Brazier had better be told to be careful," continued Shaddy. "Ah, he
sees danger; so it's all right."
For Brazier suddenly shrank away from the edge of the river, rose, and
called to them.
"Take care, Rob!" he shouted; "the water here swarms with alligators.
One little wretch was coming at me just now."
"Yes, sir, better mind!" cried Shaddy. "We've just had one here." Then
turning to Rob,--
"Now, Master Rob, sir, what do you say to our spending the day making
bows and arrows?"
"I'm ready."
"And perhaps, Mr Brazier, sir, you wouldn't mind trying for another
fish for dinner, in case we don't get our shooting tackle ready."
Brazier nodded, and soon after prepared to fish, but even in their
peculiar strait he could not refrain from looking longingly at plant,
insect, and bird, especially at a great bunch of orchids which were
pendent from a bough.
He did not seem likely to have much success in the pool or eddy where
the other fish had been caught, and soon after moved off to another
place, but meanwhile Rob and Shaddy were busy in the extreme, the latter
making some half-charred pieces of wood from the fire into little
hardened points ready for Rob to fix into the cleft he split in the end
of each reed and then binding them tightly in, making a notch for the
bow-string at the other end, and laying them down one by one finished
for the sheaf he had set himself to prepare.
These done, Rob began upon the silken bow-string, pulling out the
threads from his neckerchief and tying them together till he had wound
up what promised to be enough, afterwards doubling and twisting them
tightly, while Shaddy was whistling softly and using his pocket-knife as
if it were a spoke-shave to fine down the thick end of the piece of wood
intended for the bow.
"Strikes me, Mr Rob," he said, "that we shall have to use this very
gingerly, or it will soon break. I know what I wish I had."
"What?" asked Rob.
"Rib of an old buffalo or a dead horse."
"What for?"
"To make a bow, my lad. It would only be a short one, but wonderfully
strong. You'd have to use short arrows, and it would be hard to pull,
but with a bow like that you could send an arrow through a deer. But as
we haven't got one, nor any chance of finding one, we must do the best
with this."
Rob watched with the greatest of interest the progress of the bow,
busying himself the while with the string, which was finished first; and
as it displayed a disposition to unwind and grow slack, it was
thoroughly wetted and stretched between two boughs to dry.
"Shall you succeed in getting a bow made?" said Brazier, coming up.
"Oh yes, sir, I think so," said the guide; "better bow than archer, I'm
thinking, without Mr Rob here surprises us all by proving himself a
clever shot."
"Don't depend upon me," said Rob mournfully, for his thoughts were upon
Joe and his sad end, and when by an effort he got rid of these
depressing ideas, his mind filled with those of the Indians turning
against them in so cowardly a way, leaving them to live or die, just as
it might happen, while they escaped with the plunder in the boat.
"What are you thinking about, Rob?" said Brazier, after speaking to him
twice without eliciting an answer.
"Of the men stealing our boat. It was so cruel."
"Don't you fret about it, Mr Rob! They'll soon get their doo of
punishment for it. Worst day's work they ever did in their lives.
You'd think that chaps like they would have known better, but they're
just like children. They see something pretty, and they'll do anything
to get hold of it, and when they've got it they find it's of no use to
'em and are tired of it in an hour. I'll be bound to say they're
wishing they hadn't gone and were back along of us."
"Then they may repent and come?" said Brazier.
Shaddy uttered a low chuckling sound.
"And I shall save my collection after all."
"Don't you think it, sir!" said Shaddy seriously. "They couldn't get
back, as I said; and if they could they daren't, on account of you and
me. They've got a wholesome kind of respect for an Englishman, and no
more dare face us now than fly."
Brazier sighed.
"Oh, never mind, sir!" said Shaddy cheerily. "Things might be worse
than they are. We're alive, and can find means to live. We don't know
but what we may get away all right after all. If I might give you my
advice--"
"Give it, by all means," said Brazier.
"Well then, sir, seeing that you came out to collect your flowers and
plants, I should say, `Go on collecting just as you did before, and wait
in hopes of a boat coming along.'"
"But it might be years first."
"Very well, sir; wait years for it. You'd have made a fine collection
by that time."
Brazier smiled sadly as he thought of his dried-up specimens.
"Me and Mr Rob here will find plenty of some sort or another for the
kitchen, so as you needn't trouble about that. What do you say?"
"That you teach good philosophy, and I'll take your advice. Not much
virtue in it, Rob," he said, smiling, "for we cannot help ourselves.
There, I will do as you suggest as soon as we have made a few more
arrangements for our stay."
"You leave them to us, sir," said Shaddy. "Mr Rob and I are quite
strong enough crew for the job, and I saw some wonderful fine plants
right at the edge of the forest yonder. I'd go and try for 'em now,
sir."
"Shaddy's afraid that some one will come along and pick them first,"
cried Rob, laughing.
"No fear, sir, unless it's some big, saucy monkey doing it out of
imitation and mischief. What do you say?"
"I say yes," replied Brazier. "It would be wrong to despair and foolish
to neglect my chance now that I am thrown by accident among the natural
history objects I came so many thousand miles to find."
As he spoke he moved off in the direction pointed out by their guide,
while Shaddy chuckled directly they were alone.
"That's the way, Mr Rob," he said; "give him something to think about
and make him busy. `A merry heart goes all the day; a sad one tires in
a mile,' so the old song says. Mind, I don't mean he's merry, but he'll
be busy, and that's next door to it. Now then, I'm ready. Let's get
the string on and bend our bow."