keen hunting knife out of its sheath, he slashed open the flesh athwart
the two punctures and then, kneeling down, applied his lips to the wound
and sucked it strongly until the blood began to come, at first
sluggishly and in coagulated clots, but eventually more freely. It was
noticeable, too, that at first the blood was almost black in colour, but
by dint of vigorous sucking it at length came freely and changed to its
normal colour. Meanwhile, Dick, recalling conversations which he had
had with Earle, in which the latter had described certain rough and
ready methods which he had successfully adopted in treating venomous
snake bites, opened a shot cartridge, extracted the powder therefrom,
and with it made a squib. This he had ready long before Earle was
prepared to use it; but when at length the blood was flowing freely and
naturally from the wound, they laid the now comatose victim prone upon
the ground, and, while Dick held the wounded limb in position, Earl
applied the squib to the wound and fired it. The result was that the
wound was quickly and very effectively cauterised, apparently without
inflicting the slightest suffering upon the victim, who never moved a
muscle while the squib spluttered and burned upon his raw flesh. Earle
then quickly and deftly dressed the wound and bound it up, after which
he proceeded to revive his patient by moistening his lips with raw
whiskey, with which he finally drenched the man internally as soon as
the unfortunate fellow was able to swallow.
But, of course, there was no more marching for the party that day, and
preparations were at once made for pitching the camp. The first task
was to beat the long, dry grass thoroughly, in order to drive away the
snake which had bitten the man, or any other snakes which might be
lurking therein. But this procedure, while it may possibly have had the
desired effect, had also another, by no means desirable; for it was soon
discovered that the threshing had aroused the anger of a legion of
enormous black ants--fierce, venomous creatures nearly an inch long--
which came swarming by thousands up out of holes in the ground, and
attacked the intruders with indescribable ferocity. The unfortunate
semi-naked Indians instantly scattered in ignominious flight, leaving
the two white men to deal with the situation as best they could. And
although Earle and Dick were, of course, fully clothed, and their bodies
were therefore reasonably well protected, they were both severely bitten
before, by setting fire to the grass and allowing it to blaze for a few
seconds before beating it out, they were able to put the foe to flight.
The burning of the grass, however, revealed the fact that the soil was
everywhere honeycombed with holes, into which the creatures had
doubtless retreated, ready to sally forth again upon the smallest
provocation; therefore, in order to protect themselves from further
attack, they cut an immense quantity of grass, strewed it over the
central portion of the already burnt area, and burned it over again;
after which, the ashes being first swept away with branches, they
ventured to go into camp, the Indians slinking back by twos and threes
as soon as they perceived that the risk of renewed hostilities was over.
As for the two white men, although they bathed their hurts with dilute
ammonia as quickly as they could, they both suffered acutely, to such an
extent, indeed, that they were both in a high state of fever, bordering
on delirium, before midnight. Earle, however, foreseeing what was
impending, mixed for himself and Dick a strong draught, which no doubt
helped to avert even worse consequences, and by dawn of the following
morning the fever was conquered and the sufferers sank into a somewhat
troubled sleep, from which the faithful Peter would not permit them to
be aroused upon any pretext whatsoever. As for the bitten man, he
suffered severely for several hours, the wounded limb swelling to about
three times its normal size, while acute pains shot through the whole of
his tortured body; but at length these gradually grew less, until he
sank into a state of coma which eventually became natural sleep, during
which the swollen limb gradually resumed its normal dimensions. When he
at length awoke, beyond being troubled with a dazed feeling and, of
course, a considerable amount of pain arising from the cauterisation of
the wound, he seemed to be little the worse for his adventure; and when
at length the party struck camp and resumed their march shortly after
mid-day, he was able to hobble along with the rest, although it was
found necessary to relieve him of all work during that day.
Such was the first adventure of the party in that terrible forest; but
there were others still worse to follow, as they soon found. Nothing
very particular, however, befell them on that second day's march, for
after their experiences of the previous day they were careful to conduct
their march with all due precaution, Inaguy leading the way and
industriously beating the grass before him with a long, slender switch,
while Dick and Earle, following him on either flank, did likewise. And
the wisdom of this method of procedure was manifested a dozen times or
more during the afternoon's march by sudden, quick scurrying sounds in
the grass immediately ahead, bearing witness to the fact that a lurking
snake had been startled and was effecting a hasty retreat.
When at length the time came to pitch camp for the night, the tactics of
the previous day were repeated, the grass being thoroughly burnt away
over an area spacious enough to accommodate the party. And here again
the wisdom of their action was made manifest; for when the ashes were
swept up for removal the shrivelled remains of several centipedes and
scorpions--some of them of quite unusual size--were found, which would
doubtless have given trouble had not the flames rendered them harmless.
It was well on toward mid-afternoon of their third day's march through
the forest when the explorers met with their next adventure. The total
absence of flowers in this forest has already been remarked upon, but
about the time named above it appeared as though this reproach was no
longer to apply. For, after pressing through a part where both the
timber and the undergrowth had been found thicker than usual, the party
entered a wide open glade of considerable extent without a single tree
in it. To make up for the absence of trees, however, there were, dotted
about here and there in the midst of the long grass, several clumps of
perfectly white flowers, ten or a dozen flowers in each clump. And as
these clumps of flowers came into view, the whole party halted
involuntarily, struck with amazement; for the sight was, beyond all
question, the most wonderful that any of them had ever beheld. The
blooms, shaped somewhat like the familiar Canterbury bell, were of
absolutely gigantic proportions, some certainly not less than six feet
in height, exclusive of the short, thick stem, while many were even
larger than this. Each clump was surrounded by a kind of spray of still
more enormous leaves, each leaf being about twelve feet long by some
eight feet broad, lying almost flat upon the grass and forming a
complete barricade round the clump. The air was charged with a peculiar
but exceedingly pleasant fragrance, which no doubt emanated from these
wonderful botanical curiosities; and after a short halt to take in the
details of the extraordinary picture, Earle announced his determination
to halt for the remainder of the day in the glade, in order that he
might examine the flowers at leisure. Accordingly, a wide, clear space
in about the centre of the glade was chosen, and preparations for
pitching the camp were briskly proceeded with.
The discovery of these gigantic flowers threw Earle into a condition of
quite pleasant excitement. He was a man of method, and, as such, had
naturally kept a diary of the proceedings of the party from the moment
of its departure from New York. Hitherto, however, the diary had been
kept solely as a future aid to memory, and for his own individual
purposes alone; but now the discovery of what at the moment he believed
to be an entirely new species of plant, suddenly inspired him with the
ambition to become enrolled in the ranks of those scientific explorers
who have become famous by virtue of the remarkable character of their
discoveries, and it began to dawn upon him that there were possibilities
in this journey of his which might enable him to become one of the
immortals of scientific discovery. So elated was he at the prospect
that he could not resist the temptation to communicate his hopes to
Dick, who, somewhat matter-of-fact individual though he was,
nevertheless heartily sympathised with his friend's ambition, and
cheerfully undertook to assist in every way possible, if Earle would but
indicate the direction in which assistance might be valuable.
"I guess you can help me very shortly then," said Earle. "First of all,
I am going to take a photograph from somewhere over there, showing a
general view of this glade, with especial reference to the arrangement
and distribution of those clusters of gigantic flowers; and when I have
done that I propose to select the cluster containing the finest blooms,
station myself on one of the leaves--I guess they'll bear my weight
easily enough--and stand upright against a flower, so that my figure
will serve as a sort of scale by which a correct idea of its size may be
conveyed. And that is where you will come in. I shall want you to take
the photograph of me as I stand there. I will select the spot from
which the photograph is to be taken, and will focus the camera, stop
down the lens to the extent required to get satisfactory definition, and
generally arrange the picture; and all that you will need to do will be
to remove the cap and give the proper exposure when I am ready. The
light is not too good, and I intend to use the orange screen, so I guess
the exposure will be rather a lengthy one, but I will determine its
correct duration by means of the exposure metre; so all that you will
have to do will be to remove the cap and carefully note the time. See?"
"Certainly," replied Dick, "and you may depend upon me to carry out your
instructions."
The camera--a compact quarter-plate instrument, adapted for use either
in the hand or mounted upon a tripod--was routed out, the fact that
there were four unexposed films still in it ascertained, and the pair
went off together, intent upon taking the proposed photographs.
The determination of the precise position from which to take the first
picture was a rather lengthy process, for Earle had the eye of an artist
and was anxious that the result should be not only a photograph, but
also a picture. A suitable spot was, however, at length found, and the
photograph was taken, the correct exposure involving the uncapping of
the lens for no less than forty-five seconds. Fortunately, there was no
wind, consequently there was no movement, and Earle was sanguine that he
had secured a thoroughly satisfactory picture.
Then came the choice of the particular clump of blooms to be
photographed at close quarters, with Earle standing in the midst of them
to show their enormous size. This was an even more lengthy process than
the other; but at length everything was ready, and Earle, leaving Dick
standing by the camera, strode across the few yards of intervening
space, and proceeded to climb upon one of the monster leaves preparatory
to posing himself. He did this by pressing the point of the leaf down
to the ground and then stepping on it and walking up its centre,
intending to pose himself at the junction of the leaf with its massive
stalk, in which position he would be able to stand quite close to the
enormous flower which was to be the principal object in the proposed
picture.
But when Earle had traversed a little more than half the length of the
huge leaf, it suddenly curled up and, to Dick's horror, completely
enveloped the adventurous American's form, round which it tightly
enfolded itself, while a half-smothered cry for help issued from its
folds.
Leaving the camera where it was, Dick rushed forward, drawing his heavy
hunting knife from its sheath as he did so, and dashing in, began to
hack desperately at the stem of the leaf, believing that if he could
sever it from its parent plant, he would be able to deliver his friend
from its stifling embrace. But he soon found that, stout as was the
blade he was wielding, and strong as was the arm that wielded it, he
could do little or nothing against the marvellously tough stem which he
was attempting to sever. It was as thick as his own leg and so hard and
slippery that the keen blade simply slithered along it instead of biting
into it; and realising his helplessness, he rushed out into the open,
where he could be seen and heard from the camp, and yelled to Inaguy and
Peter to bring axes, and for the rest of the men to bring along
machetes.
There was a note of urgency in Dick's stentorian tones which caused all
hands instantly to drop what they were doing and rush to his call; but
it was nearly ten minutes before the stubborn stalk yielded to the
desperate onslaught made upon it; and when at length it drooped to the
ground and the party threw themselves upon it, it cost them another
arduous five minutes to slit the tough, leather-like fibre of the leaf
apart and haul out the imprisoned and, by that time, insensible body of
their leader.
By Dick's direction they carried Earle's body to the camp, and,
stripping it, laid it upon one of the camp beds already arranged in the
tent. This done, Dick carefully examined the inanimate form in search
of wounds or other injuries, but found nothing. The heart was beating
strongly and steadily, the pulse was firm, though a trifle rapid, and
the breathing was somewhat irregular; otherwise Earle's aspect was that
of a man plunged in profound sleep. So completely, indeed, was this the
case that after Dick had ineffectually striven by every means in his
power to arouse his friend, he was fain to leave him as he was,
contenting himself by remaining by the side of the bed, keeping his
fingers on Earle's pulse so that he might at once become aware of any
fluctuations in its beat, and awaiting the moment when a change of some
sort should occur.
Hour after hour dragged its slow length along and still the American lay
plunged deep in that strange slumber, the only changes in his condition
being that from time to time his pulse and his heart quickened their
beats and his breath came more heavily, as though the sleeper laboured
under some strong excitement; until at length, about eleven o'clock,
when the camp was wrapped in silence and all its members, except Dick,
fast asleep, Earle suddenly opened his eyes and stared first at the
lantern and then at Dick, with a puzzled and distinctly annoyed
expression. At length he exclaimed:
"Hello, Dick! What the mischief are you sitting there for, looking as
glum as an owl? And why on earth did you wake me? Man alive, I--"
"I didn't wake you," answered Dick, "but, all the same, I am profoundly
thankful to see you awake once more, and apparently in the possession of
all your senses. Do you remember what happened to you?"
"You bet I do!" answered Earle emphatically. "Shall I ever forget it?
Why, man, I've been in Elysium. I've been--oh! dash it all, there are
no words to describe the delights of the last few--Say! how long have I
been asleep?"
Dick looked at his watch. "Getting well on for eight hours," he
answered.
"Eight _hours_!" reiterated Earle, in tones of intense disgust. "Only
eight _hours_, did you say? Why, man alive, if what you say be true, in
those measly eight hours I have lived _years_ of joy and delight
unspeakable. I have beheld scenes of unearthly indescribable beauty; I
have participated in pageants glorious and magnificent beyond
conception; I have--oh! what's the use? If I were to talk from now
until doomsday I couldn't even begin to convey to your gross mind the
most feeble and shadowy notion of the joys and delights which have been
mine."
He spoke rapidly in tones of feverish excitement, and his eyes were
almost as luminous as those of King Cole, who sat up on his haunches,
alert and quivering, on the other side of the pallet.
"Look here, old chap," said Dick anxiously, "easy on. Don't get
excited, whatever you do. Your adventure of this afternoon has given
you a rather bad shaking up. You've had a pretty severe shock, both
mental and physical, if I'm any judge, and it looks to me very much as
though you are going to be ill. Better let me mix you a soothing
draught, hadn't you? Just tell me what ingredients to take, and how
much of each, and I'll mix them in a brace of shakes--"
But by the time that Dick got thus far, Earle had begun to talk again,
loudly and excitedly, and was sitting up on the pallet, waving his arms
wildly. And when Dick attempted to force him back into a reclining
position the American suddenly developed a kind of frenzy, seizing
Cavendish by the throat and doing his utmost to throttle him, while King
Cole, sorely puzzled at such extraordinary behaviour on the part of his
two especial friends, snarled angrily and bolted out of the tent into
the velvety star-lit darkness.
So violent did Earle become, and such extraordinary strength did he
develop under the influence of the delirium which had now seized him
that Dick was compelled in self-defence to shout for help; and presently
Peter, Inaguy, and some three or four others came rushing in, and, under
the impression that the two leaders were fighting, separated them. But
a few hurried words of explanation from Cavendish "put them wise" to the
situation, and while by main force they restrained Earle from rising and
rushing naked into the night, Dick routed out the medicine chest and,
hurriedly consulting the pages of the accompanying book of instructions,
prepared a strong sleeping draught, which, among them, they compelled
the now violently crazy patient to swallow.
But it was nearly an hour before the potion became fully effective, and
even then Earle's sleep was fitful and disturbed, his semi-coherent
mutterings showing that his mind was still unhinged. To be brief, the
outbreak of delirium was followed by a period of extreme weakness and
profound dejection, during which the patient lost all memory of his
splendid dream, and, at least temporarily, of several other things as
well, so that nearly a fortnight elapsed before Earle was again well
enough for the party to resume their journey.
It was while Earle was still an invalid, and before their march was
resumed, that on a certain occasion, while Dick was sitting at his
bedside, he besought the latter to tell him exactly what had happened on
the memorable afternoon which witnessed their arrival in the glade, he
apparently having forgotten everything about it. With some reluctance,
after much earnest entreaty, Dick consented; and after he had related
all, Earle became very thoughtful for some time. At length, however, he
looked up and said:
"Yes; I am beginning to remember; it is all coming back to me--the
occurrences of that afternoon, I mean. I suppose you haven't attempted
to develop that negative giving the general view of the glade, have
you?"
"Not I," answered Dick, "I've had too many other things to think about.
But I'll do so to-night, if you like."
"I wish you would, old chap," said Earle. "If my suspicion is correct,
that negative should be peculiarly interesting, and I should like it
developed before we leave here, in order that if it should be imperfect,
we may take another, as well as a near view of one of the clumps of
blooms. By the way, did you ever happen to have heard of the Death
Flower?"
"N-o, I can't say that I have," answered Dick. "Is there such a
flower?"
"So it is said," responded Earle. "I remember having read somewhere of
such a flower, which, it is asserted, blooms in a certain island in the
Pacific. The flower is said to be big enough to allow a man to stand
upright in it; but if anyone chances to be so ill-advised as to try the
experiment, the experimenter falls asleep, lulled to slumber by the
peculiar fragrance of the flower, and is at once favoured with the most
glorious dreams, in the midst of which the flower closes its petals and
suffocates him. Now, that was very much my own experience, except that
I was enveloped by the leaf instead of the flower; you dug me out
instead of leaving me to die; and my gorgeous dream came afterwards--at
least, so I suppose--instead of while I was enveloped. It will be
exceedingly interesting if it should prove that the flowers in this
glade are Death Flowers, for I believe it has hitherto been understood
that they flourish only in one spot in the world, namely, that small
island in the Pacific, the name of which I have for the moment
forgotten."
Accordingly, as soon as it was dark that night, Dick lighted the ruby
lamp and proceeded very carefully to develop the precious negative,
which proved to be absolutely flawless, to Earle's great delight. And
on the following morning, at Earle's urgent request, Dick took out the
camera and photographed at close quarters the identical clump of flowers
that had so nearly proved fatal to his friend, taking care to include in
the picture the severed stem and the shredded leaf which had done the
mischief. And this negative also proved eminently satisfactory.
As they sat together, on that particular afternoon, examining the two
negative films, Earle suddenly looked up and remarked:
"That is three times that you have saved my life, Dick; and if I have
not said anything about it up to the present, you mustn't think that I
am not profoundly grateful to you--"
"Oh, yes, of course, I know, old chap," interrupted Dick, who had an
intense dislike to being effusively thanked for any little service that
it might be in his power to render a friend. "Please oblige me by
saying no more about it. At the same time, let me remark that I have
not the slightest notion of what you are talking about. How do you
reason it out that I've saved your life three times? I only know of--"
"Three times, I said; and three times I mean," returned Earle. "The
first time was when the _Everest_ sank; the second time was when you got
me out of the fatal embrace of that enveloping leaf; and the third time
was when you gave me that draught that sent me to sleep while I was
delirious. For now that I am again in my right mind, and the danger is
all over, I may as well admit that, while the delirium held me, the
paramount idea in my mind was to get away from you, by hook or by crook,
slip away to the flowers, and throw myself upon another leaf, so that I
might enjoy a repetition of those glorious dreams and sensations that I
told you of. In which case, of course, I should have died. So there
you are."
"Thanks!" said Dick grimly. "I'm glad you have told me, for I shall now
know exactly what to do, if anything similar should happen."
Earle's strength was slow to return to him, for there were two adverse
influences with which to contend, one being the depressing influence of
the forest itself in the midst of which they were encamped, while the
other was the total absence of game, which necessitated their falling
back upon the stock of canned and preserved food provided for such an
emergency, in order to sustain the invalid and restore him to perfect
health. At length, however, Earle pronounced himself so far
convalescent as to be capable of resuming the march; and one morning the
party broke camp and continued their journey. The length of the marches
was of course greatly curtailed, especially during the first two or
three days, to fit them to the diminished powers of the invalid, and at
the expiration of that time the party were fortunate enough to pass into
a belt of forest of a totally different character, where game was again
to be found, and from that moment Earle's progress toward complete
recovery was rapid.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE GREAT SWAMP AND ITS WEIRD DENIZENS.
It was on the eleventh day after the resumption of their march that,
quite early in the afternoon, they finally emerged from the forest and
found themselves upon the edge of a swamp, which stretched away ahead
and on either side of them as far as the eye could reach, except that,
in the extreme distance, and in the direction in which they wished to
travel, there was the suggestion of firm and somewhat hilly ground which
might be about thirty miles distant.