IN THE JUNGLE.
From the first mention of the Megatherium, the party had become
inoculated with a feverish desire to plunge into the adventurous
channels the professor’s narrative appeared to open. But the matter
involved was far too weighty to be decided in a moment. An hour or more
of earnest discussion followed, until at last Captain Sprowl, throwing
off all pretense of reserve, said:
“I’m frank to say that I’m for it. It’s two thousand miles from here to
the foothills of the Andes on a rough calculation. You kin fly fifty
miles an hour, kain’t you?”
“Easily,” was Jack’s reply, “but we can do better if the wind is with
us and we develop full power,—say sixty-five.”
“Good enough. Then flying day and night, that brings us to the region
we want to go to in about thirty-five hours.”
“That’s right,” nodded Mr. Chadwick, “but there are other things to be
considered,—Indians, for instance.”
“Vee vouldt nodt vant to go vere human beings existed,” said the
professor. “Der Megatherium, if he exists, vill be foundt far from any
place vere peoples of any kindt lif.”
Mr. Chadwick interposed one or two more objections and then was silent
for a minute. Finally he turned to the boys.
“Well,” he said, “what do you lads think of it?”
“I think that we could make the trip, sir,” rejoined Jack. “We are
well armed. We have some trinkets that we could trade off to any
hostile tribe we encountered and gain their good will, and then, too,
the very sight of our flying-ship would overawe them if we managed
things right. But from what the professor says, we are not likely even
to encounter that danger. All we are required to do, as I understand
it, is to fly our ship to a region he selects, and from that point
organize a search for the Mega—mega——”
“Megaphone,” suggested Dick.
“Well, for the giant sloth. If you ask me, I say—yes!”
“Same here,” declared Tom, promptly, who had been waiting eagerly for a
chance to announce himself.
“Yes,” thundered Captain Sprowl, “and we’ll bring that
Meggy-meggy-fear-none home again, lashed to the mast.”
“Well, as I would only be in the minority, I suppose I may as well vote
in the affirmative,” said Mr. Chadwick.
“I’m only an outsider,” piped Dick, “and as I’ve got no business here
anyhow, I don’t suppose you’ll take me. But I say, yes; because if we
do get this Mega-what-you-may-call-um and the professor lets me take
pictures and write a story, it’ll be the biggest newspaper stunt pulled
off for a long time.”
“You’re appointed special correspondent of the expedition, then,”
laughed Jack.
“I don’t know how to dank you,” declared the professor fervently. “You
haf done a service to science dot cannot be paidt in money, even if ve
don’t get der Megatherium. Budt now ve gedt down to business. If vee
gedt der Megatherium or proof dot he exists, I agree to pay you fifteen
thousand dollars for der use of der _Vundership_. If ve don’t gedt him,
I pay you half dot sum undt five tousandt additional for your services.
Does dot suit you?”
“Suits me,” said Jack, almost at once, after a glance had passed
between himself and Tom.
“Very vell, den. Dot is arranged mitout fuss or fedders. I gif you an
agreement.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” said the elder of the two owners of the
_Wondership_, but the professor tore out of his pocket-book a leaf of
paper and with his fountain pen rapidly scribbled and signed a contract.
“If I die, der people for whom I am doing dis vurk vill see dot you
gedt der sum agreed upon,” he said, as he handed the paper to Jack, who
took it under protest.
The preparations for the trip into the unknown regions to the west of
them occupied most of the rest of that day. It was decided to leave
Judkins in the camp with a supply of provisions, as no more weight than
was necessary was wanted in the air craft,—for that they would have to
make much of their voyage by the “air route” there was no question.
The engineer appeared quite agreeable to this plan and apprehended no
danger. In a week at the outside they were to fly back and see how he
was faring.
They decided to make the start the next morning, which would bring them
into the region the professor wished to reach about daybreak of the
day following. This would give them an opportunity to scour the country
and fix a permanent camp.
That evening while the supper was cooking, with the addition of some
turtle steaks and fish which had been caught during the afternoon by
Dick, they were startled at a crashing and scrambling in one of the
tree tops not far off.
Grasping their rifles, the boys started off in pursuit of the animal
that was causing the disturbance. They soon arrived under the tree
in which it was concealed, but owing to the dense foliage could see
nothing but the shaking of leaves and branches as some heavy body moved
about.
“Maybe it’s a leopard!” exclaimed Dick. “The captain says there are
lots of ‘em about here and we heard some howling last night.”
“No, it’s making too much noise for a leopard,” declared Jack;
“besides, I don’t believe that they ever go so high up.”
“Maybe it’s a monkey of some kind,” suggested Tom.
“That’s a heap more likely,” agreed Jack.
“Hullo! It’s moving again!” cried Tom.
“It’s swinging into the next tree. Look!” cried Dick excitedly.
“If you saw it, why didn’t you shoot?” demanded Tom.
“Got buck fever, I guess. Say, fellows, by the meandering monkeys of
Moravia, that was the funniest looking thing I ever saw.”
“Why, what did it look like?” asked Jack.
Dick thought earnestly for a minute. Then he looked up brightly as if
he had hit on a clever definition.
“Like nothing that I can think of,” he remarked with a grin. Tom aimed
a swinging blow at the jester, which Dick dodged easily.
While they were thus engaged, Jack’s rifle spoke sharply. He had
caught sight of the odd animal swinging to the tree beyond that to
which it had already transferred itself.
There was a great threshing among the branches and an odd sort of
squealing cry.
“You hit it, all right,” declared Tom.
“Yes; but I’m afraid it’s got entangled in the branches and we’ll lose
it after all.”
“I’ll climb up and get it,” volunteered Dick.
But there was no necessity for this. After a minute’s interval a hairy
body came crashing and toppling down, landing with a thud at their
feet. As Dick had said, the animal was certainly unlike anything the
boys had seen up to that time.
It was a hairy creature, about the size of a large monkey. Its nose
was snub, its eyes large and round, and it apparently had no ears. But
strangest of all, in among its coarse hairs grew a sort of moss of
almost the exact hue of the vegetation adhering to the tree trunks.
The legs were long and powerful, and each foot bore three strong,
curved claws, like meat-hooks. It was not until the professor saw the
creature that they knew what it was.
The animal was the three-toed sloth, which travels upside down among
the tree tops of tropical Brazil like a fly hanging to the ceiling.
The moss-like growth amidst its coarse hair was real moss, declared
the professor, and was one of those inscrutable devices of nature
for protection purposes, rendering the animal almost invisible when
swinging against a tree trunk.
“And the Meggy-thing-um-a-jig is the big cousin of this fellow?” asked
Tom.
“He is radder de greadt, greadt, greadt gross fader,” responded the
German with a smile.
“But surely the giant sloth doesn’t swing from trees?” asked Jack.
“Nein. Idt is peliefed dot he lifs in swampy places undt has a foodt
broadt undt flat. Idt is only his grandchildren dot took to der trees.”
“Well, boys,” declared Captain Sprowl, when they exhibited Jack’s
trophy to him, “that’s a sign of good luck. We’ve only got to find a
critter like that, only forty times as big, and resemblin’ him ‘cos
he’s so different, and you get fifteen thousand dollars. It’s jes’ as
easy as rollin’ off’n a log—I don’t think.”
With which profound speech the captain continued his culinary tasks
with vehemence.