EDWARD STRATEMEYER’S BOOKS
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UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA.
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FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS.
UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES.
THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE.
UNDER MACARTHUR IN LUZON.
Bound to Succeed Series
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TO ALASKA FOR GOLD.
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_Three Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00._
THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE. TRUE TO HIMSELF.
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WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST; Or, A Soldier Boy’s Battles in the
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_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.25._
AMERICAN BOYS’ LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY.
_Another volume in preparation._
Pan-American Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume $1.00, net._
LOST ON THE ORINOCO.
[Illustration: Over it went, carrying the boys with it.]
Pan-American Series
LOST ON THE ORINOCO
OR
AMERICAN BOYS IN VENEZUELA
BY
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of “With Washington in the West,” “American Boys’ Life of
William McKinley,” “On to Pekin,” “Between Boer and Briton,”
“Old Glory Series,” “Ship and Shore Series,”
“Bound to Succeed Series,” etc.
_ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE_
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD
1902
Published in March, 1902
COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
_All rights reserved_
LOST ON THE ORINOCO
Norwood Press
BERWICK & SMITH
Norwood, Mass.
U. S. A.
PREFACE
“Lost on the Orinoco” is a complete tale in itself, but forms the
first volume of the “Pan-American Series,” a line of books intended to
embrace sight seeing and adventures in different portions of the three
Americas, especially such portions as lie outside of the United States.
The writing of this series has been in the author’s mind for several
years, for it seemed to him that here were many fields but little known
and yet well worthy the attention of young people, and especially young
men who in business matters may have to look beyond our own States for
their opportunities. The great Pan-American Exhibition at Buffalo,
N. Y. did much to open the eyes of many regarding Central and South
America, but this exposition, large as it was, did not tell a hundredth
part of the story. As one gentleman having a Venezuelan exhibit there
expressed it: “To show up Venezuela properly, we should have to bring
half of the Republic here.” And what is true of Venezuela is true of
all the other countries.
In this story are related the sight seeing and adventures of five
wide-awake American lads who visit Venezuela in company with their
academy professor, a teacher who had in former years been a great
traveler and hunter. The party sail from New York to La Guayra, visit
Caracas, the capital, Macuto, the fashionable seaside resort, and
other points of interest near by; then journey westward to the Gulf
of Maracaibo and the immense lake of the same name; and at last find
themselves on the waters of the mighty Orinoco, the second largest
stream in South America, a body of water which maintains a width of
three miles at a distance of over 600 miles from the ocean. Coffee and
cocoa plantations are visited, as well as the wonderful gold and silver
mines and the great _llanos_, or prairies, and the boys find time
hanging anything but heavy on their hands. Occasionally they get into a
difficulty of more or less importance, but in the end all goes well.
In the preparation of the historical portions of this book the very
latest American, British and Spanish authorities have been consulted.
Concerning the coffee, mining and other industries most of the
information has come from those directly interested in these branches.
This being so, it is hoped that the work will be found accurate and
reliable as well as interesting.
Once more thanking the thousands who have read my previous books for
the interest they have shown, I place this volume in their hands
trusting it will fulfil their every expectation.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
April 1, 1902.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE BOYS TALK IT OVER 1
II. PREPARING FOR THE START 11
III. ON BOARD THE STEAMER 21
IV. VENEZUELA, PAST AND PRESENT 33
V. HOCKLEY MAKES A BOSOM FRIEND 42
VI. A PLAN THAT FAILED 54
VII. FROM CURAÇAO TO LA GUAYRA 63
VIII. ON A CLIFF AND UNDER 73
IX. HOCKLEY SHOWS HIS TRUE COLORS 81
X. ON MULE BACK INTO CARACAS 90
XI. THE PROFESSOR MEETS AN OLD FRIEND 100
XII. MARKEL AGAIN TO THE FRONT 109
XIII. A PLANTATION HOME IN VENEZUELA 119
XIV. A LOSS OF HONOR AND MONEY 131
XV. SOMETHING ABOUT COFFEE GROWING 143
XVI. DARRY’S WILD RIDE 151
XVII. A TALK ABOUT BEASTS AND SNAKES 159
XVIII. A BITTER DISCOVERY 168
XIX. BATHING AT MACUTO 177
XX. A SHORT VOYAGE WESTWARD 186
XXI. THE SQUALL ON LAKE MARACAIBO 196
XXII. PORT OF THE HAIR 205
XXIII. A STOP AT TRINIDAD 214
XXIV. UP THE RIVER TO BOLIVAR 224
XXV. SOMETHING ABOUT COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 234
XXVI. CAMPING ON THE UPPER ORINOCO 242
XXVII. BRINGING DOWN AN OCELOT 251
XXVIII. MONKEYS AND A CANOE 261
XXIX. LOST ON THE ORINOCO 270
XXX. IN THE DEPTHS OF THE JUNGLE 279
XXXI. HOCKLEY AND THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR 287
XXXII. A PEEP AT GOLD AND SILVER MINES 296
XXXIII. TOGETHER AGAIN--CONCLUSION 304
ILLUSTRATIONS
“Over it went, carrying the boys with it” (p. 297) _Frontispiece_
PAGE
“Stay where you are!” 47
A big mass of dirt came down 80
“I’ve got it,” he muttered 142
“You have some baggage, that bag. I shall hold it.” 173
“I heard something, what was it?” 203
“Take it off, do!” 249
“Help! Save me!” screamed the unfortunate youth 291
LOST ON THE ORINOCO
CHAPTER I
THE BOYS TALK IT OVER
“Hurrah, Mark, it’s settled at last.”
“What is settled, Frank?”
“We are to go to Venezuela and other places in South America. My father
just got the word from Professor Strong. I brought the letter along for
you to read.”
“That’s certainly immense news,” remarked Mark Robertson, as he took
the letter which Frank Newton held out to him. “Does he say how soon he
will be able to start?”
“Just as soon as he can settle up affairs at Lakeview Academy. I
suppose he’s got quite something to do there yet. But we can hurry him
along, can’t we?”
“I don’t think you’ll hurry the professor much,” answered Mark, as he
began to read the communication which had been passed to him. “He’s
one of the kind that is slow but sure--not but that he can move quick
enough, when you least expect it.”
“As for instance on the night we tried to hide all the schoolbooks in
the old boathouse,” responded Frank, with a twinkle in his eye. “He
caught us neatly, didn’t he?”
“That’s what. Hullo! So Beans and Darry are going, too. I like that
first rate. Beans is all right, even if he is from Boston, and Darry
will furnish fun enough for a minstrel show.”
“To be sure. I wouldn’t want to go if they weren’t along, and you. But
do you see what the professor says on the last page? He wants to take
Jake the Glum along too.”
At this the face of Mark Robinson fell somewhat. “I wish he had left
Glummy out,” he said. “He knows the fellow is sour to the last degree
and a bully in the bargain.”
“I guess the professor wants to reform him, Mark.”
“He’ll have up-hill work doing it. Glummy has been at the academy two
years and I know him pretty thoroughly.”
“Well, he’ll be the richest boy in the crowd. Perhaps that had
something to do with taking him along.”
“No, the professor doesn’t think so much of money as that. Each person
in the crowd will have to pay his share of the expenses and his share
of the professor’s salary, and that’s all, outside of the incidentals.”
“I wonder if the incidentals won’t be rather high.”
“I fancy we can make them as high as we please--buying souvenirs and
things like that. You can be sure Glummy will try his best to cut a
wide swath if he gets the chance.”
“Perhaps the professor will hold him in. But it’s great news, isn’t
it?” And in his enthusiasm Frank began to dance an impromptu jig on the
library floor.
Frank Newton was a New York city youth, sixteen years of age,
tall, well-built and rather good looking. He was the only son of a
Wall Street banker, and if his parent was not a millionaire he was
exceedingly well to do. The lad resided in the fashionable part of
Madison Avenue when at home, which was not often, for his family were
fond of going abroad, and either took the boy with them or sent him to
boarding school.
Directly opposite the home of the Newtons lived the Robertson family,
consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, Mark, and several smaller
children. Mr. Robertson was a dry goods importer who owned an interest
in several mills in England and Scotland, and he made trips across the
Atlantic semi-yearly.
Although Mark Robertson was a year older than Frank Newton, the two
lads were warm friends and had gone to school together for years. Their
earlier education had been had in the city, but when Frank was eleven
and Mark twelve both had been packed off to Lakeview Academy, a small
but well conducted school nestling among the hills of New Hampshire.
Five years of life at the academy had made the place seem like a second
home to the boys. The master, Professor Amos Strong, was a thorough
gentleman and scholar, and under his guidance the boys progressed
rapidly in all their studies. The professor had in his day been both a
traveler and hunter, and the stories he was wont to relate during off
hours were fascinating to the last degree.
As might be expected, the boys, while at school, made many friends
and also an enemy or two, although as regards the latter, the enmity
was never very deep, for Professor Strong would not tolerate anything
underhanded or sneakish.
Next to Mark, Frank’s dearest chum at the academy was Dartworth Crane,
a slightly built boy of fifteen, who was as full of fun as a boy can
well be. Dartworth, or “Darry” as he was always called for short, was
the son of a rich Chicago cattle dealer, and the boy’s earlier days had
been spent on a ranch in Montana. He loved to race on horseback and
hunt and fish, and the master sometimes had all he could do to hold the
sunny but impetuous lad within proper bounds.
As Frank had another chum, so did Mark, in the person of Samuel
Winthrop, the son of a well-to-do widow who resided in the Back Bay
district of Boston. Samuel was a tall, studious looking individual,
with a high forehead and a thick mass of curly black hair. Because he
came from Boston, he had been nick-named “Beans,” and although he did
not relish the _sobriquet_ it was likely to stick to him for years to
come.
Among the lads to join those at the academy two years before had been
Jacob Hockley, a thin, lank youth of Mark’s age, with a white freckled
face and hair strongly inclined to be red. Hockley was the only son
and heir of a millionaire lumber dealer of Pennsylvania. His manner
was peculiar, at times exceedingly “bossy” as the others declared, and
then again morose and sour, the latter mood having won for him the
nickname of “Glummy” or “Jake the Glum.” Hockley was given to spending
his money, of which he had more than was good for him, freely, but even
this had failed to make him any substantial friends.
The enmity between Hockley on one side, and Frank and Mark on the
other, had arisen over the captaincy of the academy baseball team the
summer previous. Jake wished to be the captain of the team, and had
done his best to persuade or buy the boys over to vote for him. But
Frank had advocated Mark for the captaincy, and Mark had won, much to
the lank youth’s discomfiture.
“You’ll never win a game with Mark Robertson as captain and with Frank
Newton on first-base,” had been Jake’s sour comment, but he was sadly
mistaken. That summer the team played nine games with the teams from
rival schools, and won seven of the contests. The winning made Jake
Hockley more down on Mark and Frank than ever, but as the others were
popular he had often to conceal his real feelings.
On a windy night in June the cry of “fire!” had aroused every inmate
of Lakeview Academy from his bed, and had caused all to leave the
rambling building in a hurry. The conflagration had started in the
laundry, and from this room quickly communicated to the kitchen, dining
hall, and then the remainder of the stone and wood structure. In such
a high wind, the fire department from the village, two miles away,
could do little or nothing, and the efforts of the students, headed by
the several teachers, were likewise of no avail. Inside of three hours
everything was swept away and only a cellar full of blackened debris
marked the spot where the picturesque academy had once stood.
Under such circumstances many a man would have been too stunned to act
immediately, but ere the stones of the building were cold, Professor
Strong was laying his plans with the insurance companies for the
erection of a new and better structure. The students were cared for at
some neighboring houses and then refitted with clothing and sent home.
During the fall there had been much talk of a personally conducted
tour to South America during the coming year, the tour to be under the
guidance of Professor Strong, who had been South a number of times
before. Letters had been sent to the parents of various students, but
nothing definite had been done up to the time the fire occurred.
Mark and Frank had planned for the trip South, and could not bear
to think of giving it up, and as soon as Professor Strong was in a
position to give them his attention, Frank had gotten his father to
write concerning it. Several letters passed, and at last Professor
Strong decided to leave the building and the management of the new
academy to his brother, who had just left the faculty of Harvard, and
go with the boys.
While the trip was being talked of at the academy, previous to the
fire, Jake Hockley had announced his determination to go, but since
the boys had separated, nothing more had been heard from the lank
youth, and Mark and Frank were hoping he had given the plan up. The
announcement therefore, that he would make one of the party, put a
damper on their enthusiasm.
“He’ll get us into some kind of trouble before we get back, you see if
he doesn’t,” was Frank’s comment.
“I’ll make him keep his distance,” was Mark’s reply. “If he attempts to
go too far I’ll show him that I won’t stand any nonsense.”
The party of six were to leave for Venezuela by way of New York city,
and a few days after the conversation just recorded Sam Winthrop came
down on the train from Boston, to remain with Mark until the arrival of
the professor.
“Beans, by all that’s delightful!” cried Mark, as he wrung his friend’s
hand. “So glad you came a few days ahead.”
“I wanted a chance to look around New York,” answered Sam Winthrop.
“I’ve never had a chance before, you know.”
“You shall look around, all you please, and Frank and I will go with
you.”
“Is Darry here yet?”
“No, but Frank expects him to-morrow. Then we can all go around until
Professor Strong arrives. But say, what do you think about Glummy
going?” and Mark looked anxious.
“Can’t say that I am overjoyed, Mark.”
“I wish it was anybody but Hockley--and Frank wishes the same.”
“Well, all arrangements have been made, so we’ll have to make the best
of it. But I heard one thing that doesn’t please me,” went on Sam. “I
got a letter from Dick Mason, and in it he said Glummy was talking of
the trip to some of his chums, and said he was going just to show Frank
and you a thing or two.”
“Did he? I wonder what he meant?”
“He didn’t mean anything very good, you can be sure of that, Mark.”
“You are right. We’ll certainly have to keep our eyes open and watch
him,” concluded Mark, seriously.