The White Pigmy Elephant
Joe's mind was in a whirl. He thought of jumping up and firing
point-blank at the oncoming leopard, but then he suddenly remembered
that he had not been able to discharge the revolver. Perhaps the
cartridges were still wet. If they were and would not fire, it would
probably spell his finish.
He thought, too, of waking Bob, but he knew that this would cause a
commotion, which might make the leopard charge without delay. No, Joe
thought, neither of these plans would work.
Suddenly his face brightened somewhat. A wild scheme was in his mind.
Would it work?
As undisturbing as possible, the boy reached into his pocket and
removed the little case of matches. Protected by a tightly fitting
cap, they were unaffected by the rain. His movement had been so
cautious that apparently the leopard had not noticed.
Knowing that the heat of the atmosphere had dried out his shirt to a
considerable degree, he resorted to a desperate measure. With a quick
movement he tore the shirt from his shoulders, struck a match, and
lighted the cloth.
Almost at once the tiny blaze of the match increased in size until it
was quite large. When satisfied that the cloth was burning
sufficiently, Joe tied it to a twig and, with all the strength he
could muster, threw it at the leopard.
There was a howl of fear and pain, and then the sound of retreating
footsteps. The beast had vanished into the blackness of the jungle.
Meanwhile, Bob had jumped to his feet, having been aroused by the
howl. He looked inquiringly at his friend.
"Anything wrong?" he queried, removing his revolver.
"Nothing now--I hope," Joe returned, gazing off into the forest. "A
leopard was stalking us. I think he's gone now."
"Really? Is it gone? What did you do?"
Joe told of what had happened. When he had finished, his chum regarded
him admiringly.
"Good for you, old boy," praised Bob, patting his friend on the back.
"I'd have never thought of doing anything like that. But now suppose I
take up the watch for a while. I'll keep on the lookout for that
leopard."
But Joe refused, saying that his watch was not yet over.
"I'll call you later," he said, and Bob again retired.
Toward the end of his guard Joe heard a mysterious cry, similar to
that he had heard several days before. It was most blood-curdling,
sending chills down his spine. Whether it was of animal or human
origin the youth had no idea.
Bob too heard the unearthly sound later during his watch, and was as
frightened as his chum had been.
"The Forest of Mystery!" he breathed, looking about rather fearfully.
"Certainly seems mysterious. Things could be happening right at this
minute that nobody knows anything about."
At the first streak of dawn Bob awoke Joe, although the latter was
still very sleepy.
"Let me wait a little bit longer," pleaded the latter, rubbing his
eyes.
But Bob stoutly refused.
"We'll just have to get going again," he said. "Have to find our dads
and the others as soon as we can."
Joe knew that this was necessary, and so arose without saying anything
further.
The boys were obliged to begin the day without any breakfast, although
both were ravenously hungry. They saw several small animals dart
across their path, but decided to lose no time in shooting them.
Delay, they knew, might mean tragedy to them.
They had not the slightest notion of which way to go in search of the
safari, but they agreed to strike out to the west, as that was the
direction previously taken.
Along toward noon Bob called his chum over to a little clearing.
"Look at that strange track," he pointed out. "Was that made by a wild
animal?"
"Search me," Joe said. "I never saw anything like it before. Looks
like the footprint of a person, only it's much larger, and there
aren't any toe marks."
The youths recalled the different animals they had come in contact
with and read about. But none, they were sure, could make footprints
anything like this.
"I'm sure that couldn't have been a monkey--even a gorilla," said Bob,
"because there would be marks of its toes."
"Let's get out of here," murmured Joe a bit fearfully. "Who knows what
kind of a creature that might have been?"
They left the spot and plunged on through the forest. Bob removed his
revolver and fired two shots, hoping that they could be heard by the
safari. He refrained from firing more because of the possibility of
needing the bullets in an emergency.
All morning they hiked on, paying little or no attention to the
country they were passing through. They observed with interest,
however, the results of the hurricane. Tall trees were lying about,
having been struck by lightning; numerous small dead animals could be
seen.
By noon their hunger had become almost unbearable. Joe managed to
shoot a large duck-like bird, which was at once roasted over a fire.
To the two starved boys, the taste was delicious.
They stopped only long enough to eat the meal, for every minute of
delay was maddening to them.
"We've just got to find our party today," said Bob, gritting his
teeth. "If we don't, they'll move so far away that we never will find
them."
Joe nodded.
"But then," he reminded his friend, "maybe they'll stick around this
vicinity. They're probably looking for us, too, don't forget. We'll
just----"
He ceased abruptly and suddenly turned pale.
The reason was not far to seek. A huge spear had whizzed past his
head, missing it by only a very few inches!
For some time neither of the youths spoke. They stared fearfully into
the green depths of the forest whence the spear had been thrown.
Then, seeing no signs of natives, Bob broke the silence.
"What do you think?" he asked in a low voice, never taking his eyes
from the jungle.
Joe waited a moment before replying. He had not yet recovered from the
horror that had seized him.
"I--I don't know what to think," he said tensely. "Savages, cannibals,
maybe."
"But why don't they attack us?" asked Bob, greatly puzzled.
"More than I know."
The youths remained where they were for several minutes, fearful to
move on for fear of being struck from behind. But when after quite a
while nothing more happened they concluded it was safe to go on.
All through the afternoon they kept a close lookout for savages but
saw none. Nor did they see any traces of human habitation. With every
step they became more mystified. Who had thrown the spear? What was
the object in throwing it? Why had the chums not been attacked?
"This doggone Forest of Mystery gets on my nerves," said Joe, as late
that afternoon they stopped beside a small spring. "Oh, if we could
only find our safari!"
After replenishing their water bottles, which were strapped tightly
over their shoulders, the young adventurers continued their frantic
search.
At a little open space they suddenly caught sight of something that
made them gasp in wonder.
Moving awkwardly from behind a low hill was the strangest creature
they had ever laid eyes on. It was an unusually small elephant--all
white!