It was intensely hot when we started again, the heat seeming to be
steamy, and not a breath of air to fan our cheeks; but we trudged on for
a time without adventure, till all at once a butterfly of such lovely
colours flashed across our path, that it proved too much for Jack Penny,
who laid down his gun, snatched off his hat, and went in pursuit.
We could not go on and leave him; so we stopped to rest, and watch him
as he was hopping and bounding along through a tolerably open sunlit
part, full of growth of the most dazzling green. Now he neared the
insect; now it dashed off again, and led him a tremendous chase, till,
just as the doctor shouted to him to return, we saw him make a dab down
with his hat and then disappear.
"He has got it," I said; for I could not help feeling interested in the
chase; but I felt annoyed again directly, as the doctor said coldly:
"Yes: he seems to have caught his prize, Joe; but we must defer these
sports till our work is done."
Just then we saw Jack Penny rise up and turn towards us. To hide my
vexation I shouted to him to make haste, and he began to trot towards
us, his long body bending and swaying about as he ran.
Then he jumped and jumped again, and the doctor shaded his eyes with his
hands.
"He has got into a swampy patch," he said. "Of course. There's a bit
of a stream runs along there, and--"
"Ow!" came in a dismal yell, followed by a furious barking, as we saw
Jack make a tremendous jump, and then disappear.
"Help, help!" came from among some dense green growth, and hurrying
forward we at last came in sight of our companion, at least in sight of
his head and shoulders, and we could not approach him, for the ground
gave way beneath our feet, the bright green moss almost floating upon a
treacherous bog.
"Hold on!" shouted the doctor; "we'll help you directly;" and taking out
his big knife he began to hack at some small bamboos which grew in thick
clumps about us.
"Make haste," moaned Jack, "I'm sinking;" and we could see Gyp, who was
howling furiously, tearing at the soft moss as if to dig his master out.
"Give Jimmy knife," said the black, who was grinning and enjoying Jack
Penny's predicament.
I handed him mine, and he too cut down armfuls of the young green
bamboo, the carriers coming up now and helping, when, taking a bundle at
a time, Jimmy laid them down, dancing lightly over them with his bare
feet, and troubling himself very little about danger, as he made a sort
of green path right up to Jack.
"His black fellow pull up," shouted Jimmy; but I ran up to where he was,
and each taking one of Jack's hands he gave a wriggle, floundered a bit,
and then we had him out covered with black mud; and though we were
standing up, he would not trust himself just then erect, but crept after
us on hands and knees, the soft bog beneath us going up and down like a
wave.
As soon as he was quite safe there was a hearty laugh at Jack Penny's
expense; and the doctor drily asked for the butterfly.
"Oh, I caught him," said Jack; "but I lost him when I trod on that great
beast."
"What great beast?" I said.
"Crocodile fifty foot long," drawled Jack.
"Say sixty," said the doctor.
"Well, I hadn't time to measure him," drawled Jack. "I trod upon one,
and he heaved up, and that made me jump into a soft place, and--ugh!
what's that?"
I was very doubtful about Jack's crocodile, but there was no mistake
about the object that had made him utter this last cry of disgust.
"They're pricking me horrid," he shouted; and we found that he had at
least twenty large leeches busily at work banquetting upon his blood.
The blacks set to work picking them off, and scraping him clear of the
thick vegetable mud that adhered to him; and with the promise that he
was to have a good bathe in the first clear water we encountered, we
once more started, Jack looking anything but cheerful, but stubbornly
protesting that it was wonderful how comfortable his wet clothes made
him feel.
Master Jack had to listen to a lecture from the doctor, in which the
latter pointed out that if success was to attend our expedition, it
would not do for the various members to be darting off at their good
pleasure in search of butterflies, and at first Jack looked very grim,
and frowned as if about to resent it all. To my surprise, however, he
replied:
"I see, doctor; we must be like soldiers and mind the captain. Well,
all right. I won't do so any more."
"I'm sure you will not," said the doctor, holding out his hand. "You
see we must have discipline in our little corps, so as to be able fully
to confide in each other in cases of emergency. We must be men."
Jack scratched his head and looked ruefully from one to the other.
"That's just what I want to be, doctor," he drawled; "but I'm always
doing something that makes me seem like a small boy. I'm grown up a
deal, but somehow I don't feel a bit older than I used to be years ago."
"Ah, well, wait a bit, Penny," replied the doctor; "and we will not say
any more about the butterfly hunt."
Jack's brow seemed to grow as wrinkled as that of an old man, and he was
very solemn for the rest of the day, during which we tramped on through
the forest, its beauties seeming less attractive than in the freshness
of the early morning, and the only striking thing we saw was a pack of
small monkeys, which seemed to have taken a special dislike to Jimmy,
following him from tree to tree, chattering and shrieking the while, and
at last putting the black in a passion, and making him throw his
boomerang savagely up in return for the nuts that were showered down.
"Bad black fellow," he said to me indignantly. "Come down, Jimmy fight
twenty forty all a once."
He flourished his club and showed me how he would clear the ground, but
the monkeys did not accept the challenge, and that night we halted under
a great tree covered with a scarlet plum-like fruit, and proceeded to
set up our tent as a shelter to keep off the heavy dew.