A STICK OF DYNAMITE
"If we could only get out of this cul-de-sac," Jack said, as the
savages gathered closer about the Black Bear, "and make the Beni
river, we could leave them behind like they were painted on the
trees."
"There ought to be some way," Frank mused.
Harry, who had been rummaging in a trunk of clothing and tools which
stood under the bridge which half concealed the motors, now came
forward with a package in his hand.
"What is it?" asked Jack.
"Dynamite!" was the cool reply.
"That ought to induce them to go on about their business--if
properly administered," Jack said. "I didn't know we had any on
board."
"I didn't know what we might come across up here," Harry replied.
"Shall we light a fuse and give one of these persuaders a toss over
into that mess?"
"It would amount to wholesale murder," Frank replied.
Harry's face hardened as he held up a hand for silence. The howling on the
banks of the little stream was now almost deafening, and every second there
came the thunk of arrows against the boat.
"You see what they would do to us," he said.
"Yes, I know," Jack said, "but we are supposed to be civilized! It
would be a wicked thing to do, to murder fifty or a hundred of those
savages. Suppose we toss a stick where it will do little damage and
still attract their attention from the boat? Then we might get that
log out of the way."
"We'll see what show we have for getting it out of the way-the log,
I mean," Jack replied.
He cautiously opened one of the lower panels at the rear and looked
out. The log which blocked the narrow channel was afloat, for it
was the trunk of a dry tree, and the water was deep. What held it
in place was the end which lay on the shore. It had been rolled in
at a point where the bank was low, and at least two-thirds of it lay
on the ground.
"I'd like to know how they got it in there!" Jack said. "It looks
too big for a hundred men to handle."
"Anyway, there it is," Frank replied, "and there the propellers
are--one of them broken. Can we make speed with that busted wing?"
"We've got to," Harry said. "Just hear the devils! They will rush
the boat in about a minute!"
The cries coming from the forest were now blood-curdling in their
ferocity. The cannibals were evidently working themselves into a
pitch of excitement which would give them courage to charge the
Black Bear.
Now and then the frightened howl of some wild beast was heard in the
distance, adding not a little to the excitement of the scene. The
tree which had been set on fire to attract the attention of the
airship still blazed, sending a twist of flame far up into the sky.
In the glare of the fire the savages looked like fiends ready for
any act of deviltry. Now and then three figures larger than the
rest stood together as if in conference, and then the shouts grew
louder, and the line about the boat closer drawn.
"I've got a notion that we can make pretty good speed with that
broken wing," Jack mused. "Anyway, we can drift down stream if we
can't steam up stream, and that will take us out of this mess."
"Then let's blow that log up with dynamite," suggested Frank.
"Yes," said Jack, "and finish the propellers!"
"Blow up the shore end," continued Frank. "Who can pitch it so that
it will knock that blooming dry wood into the stream?"
"I'm willing to try," Harry said. "I used to pitch a tricky ball!
I'll get a fuse ready, open a panel, and give it a throw. While I
have the panel open, though, you fellows open up a loophole in front
and do some shooting out of it to attract attention. I don't want
any poisoned arrows biting me."
This was agreed to, and Harry arranged a fuse and prepared to throw
it. When Jack opened a panel in front and sent a volley of bullets
ashore, the boy pushed open a panel in the rear and, waiting until
the attention of the savages was attracted to the front of the boat,
tossed out the dynamite.
It hurled through the air, flashing in the red light of the fire,
and landed at the very end of the fallen tree, rolling into the
angle between the wood and the earth. A fine throw!
Harry yelled to Jack to close his panel, and all three boys stood on
the tips of their toes, fingers in ears. In a moment the explosion
came.
The Black Bear rocked violently, so that it was with difficulty the
boys kept their footing. Wild cries of distress and fright came
from the forest, and, in a few seconds, the crash of falling trees.
The dynamite had done its work well, at least, so far as noise was
concerned. They could not yet see what effect the explosion had had
on the tree.
Had it loosened the obstructing log so that the boat could pass out
into the Beni river? Had the concussion damaged the propellers so
that the trip up the valley of the Amazon would have to be
abandoned?
These questions were in the minds of all three boys as Jack
cautiously opened a rear panel and looked out. The first thing he
saw was the log, splintered and broken into half a dozen pieces,
floating down stream.
The explosion had whirled the great trunk high up in the air and
brought it down, broken, in the channel of the stream. There seemed
nothing to do now but to set the motors at work and run out of the
dangerous position.
But the motors refused to work. Something more than showed on the
surface was the matter with them. Harry looked out at the rear and
saw a great red patch of earth without a single human being in
sight. The fire was still burning brightly, but there were no
savages dancing about in its fierce light.
At the sound of the explosion the head hunters had taken to their
heels. At first view, no one seemed to have been injured by the
dynamite, but, on giving the scene a closer inspection, the boy saw
three bodies lying near where the log had been. They might be dead
or only stunned; the lad had no means of knowing.
While Harry watched for some sign of life, the roar of a wild animal
came from the forest, and he knew that a tiger cat was approaching.
The humans--if the man-eating savages may be so termed--were still
running, it appeared, while the wild beasts of prey were returning
to the scene of the explosion.
"Come," Harry cried, "we must get out of this now if we can get the
propellers to working. There is no one in sight, only three men
lying near where the log lay, and there are man-eating animals
coming, so I'd rather not see what takes place next."
Jack threw open another panel and stepped out. The roar in the
forest was growing again, but no savage was in sight. He moved to
the back of the boat and bent down to look at the propellers.
"I can't see from here!" he shouted, in a moment. "Look out for me,
you fellows!"
Like a shot he was in the river, diving under the stem of the Black
Bear. Harry and Frank, knowing the rivers of that district to be
swarming with caymen, grouped at the rear and watched with anxious
eyes for the reappearance of their chum.
In a few seconds Jack's face appeared above the surface of the
water. He seized a rope passed to him and climbed on board, shaking
the water from his clothing like a great dog.
"It is all right," he said, as soon as he could get his breath.
"There was a piece of the log wedged in back of the paddles and I
got it out. Get a pole and push. She's in the mud, I guess."
The pole was used before the motors were turned on again, and the
Black Bear was soon out of the little creek, sailing slowly down the
Beni. However, the boat did not behave well, and it was decided to
tie up for a day and go over her carefully. The propellers needed
fixing, and there might be some other injury which had not been
discovered.
Not caring to strain the weakened propellers, they permitted the
boat to drift down stream.
When a mile away the illumination of the fire which had been so
injudiciously set could still be seen distinctly, and when the boys
listened they could hear the cries of the savages and the fierce
howls of the wild beasts.
During the day the boys had passed a level plateau on the east bank
of the river, and it was decided to float down to that, as they
could beach the Black Bear there and work without danger of being
attacked from the shelter of a forest.
They gained the spot about midnight and anchored some distance out,
resolved to take no chances on the shore that night. The stream was
quite wide, and they opened the top panels so as to get what fresh
air they could.
Jack was the first one to see the airship hovering over them.
"Look!" he cried. "Look! Look! We've just got to attract their
attention in some way! See! They are going away again! Confound
the luck!"
The airship seemed about to dip down, then it floated off to the
west and whirled to the south.
"They're signaling!" Harry cried.
This seemed to be true, for there were lights moving about in the
air in queer combinations.
"Get a glass!" shouted Jack, in great excitement. "We'll soon see
about this!"
But the airship seemed interested in the spot where the fire was
burning, and did not remain overhead long enough for the boys to get
a good view of her. At last she disappeared entirely.
Although anchored out in the stream, which was at least two hundred
feet wide at that point, the lads kept a close watch of the shores
that night. Once, just before dawn, they caught the sound of
paddles, but the canoe which appeared on the west soon sneaked away.
The hubbub on shore kept up all night long. The beasts took up the
chorus when the savage tribesmen retreated.
"Beautiful country this!" Jack said, as the sun rose over the great
valley. "I think I'll like to live here always--not!"
"Yes," grunted Frank, whose eyes were heavy with the long watch,
"even on the Great White Way, the enthusiasm quiets down after three
o'clock."
"It is all in the game!" grinned Harry. "We came out here for
excitement, and you mustn't complain when you get it."
After breakfast, which was keenly enjoyed, the Black Bear was
beached on the cast banks and the injury to the propellers examined.
Some of the blades were broken while others were strained.
"Well," Harry said, as he scratched his head in deliberation, "we've
got extra blades, and we've got the tools, and I don't know as we're
in a hurry anyway. We've got all the time there is!"
"Not if we catch the Nelson before it gets out of the country," Jack
objected. "This is the 22d of August, and the Nelson must have
sighted Lima about the 14th, so you see we've got to do some sailing
if we get to the headwaters of the Beni before the boys get back
home."
If they had only known, the lads might not have been so anxious to
get on, for the boys with the Nelson were having troubles of their
own about that time. Besides, there were difficulties ahead much
greater than those entailed by the breaking of the blades of the
propellers.
They worked all day at repairing the injuries, and at night were
ready to proceed. It was dark again, and there seemed to be a great
commotion on shore.
"For one," Frank observed, "I don't like the idea of going on up an
unknown river in the night. There are rapids, and there may be
obstructions. And then we may follow off some tributary which will
land us in some swamp after an all night ride."
"I'm not anxious to go on tonight," Harry contributed, "for I'd like
to see what that mess on shore will amount to. There's something
besides the appearance of the Black Bear exciting those fuzzy little
natives, and we may miss something if we run away. I wouldn't like
to do that."
So it was decided to remain where they were until morning. The
panels were put up, leaving only the openings for ventilation, and
the Wolf was brought close alongside.
Frank got the first watch in the drawing of sticks, and stationed
himself at the prow, where he could look out on the river. Jack and
Harry were soon asleep.
About midnight a great clamor arose on the west bank. In a moment
it was echoed from the opposite shore. There was a beating of
drums--the foolish drums which the natives made so crudely--and long
chants, rising in the darkness like the monotonous melodies the boys
had heard in the cotton fields of the South.
Frank shook Jack and Harry out of their bunks, much to the disgust
of the two sleepy-heads. They did not need to ask questions as to
the reason for this, for the chant was coming nearer, and the drums
were beating like mad.
"They're arranging an attack!" Jack said, turning a searchlight out
of the front loophole. "I can see half a dozen canoes hanging off
and on at a bend above. I guess we made a mistake in stopping
here."
"Perhaps we'd better drop down the river," Harry suggested. "I
don't want those heathens swarming over the Black Bear."
Jack went to the stern and looked out on the swirling river from
that point.
"If we do," he said, in a moment, "we'll bunt into a fleet of war
canoes. We've got to put on all speed and drive ahead."
"Why not drop back?" asked Harry.
"Because," was the reply, "we can go up stream about as fast as we
can go down stream, and the canoes can't. We'll shut everything
tight but the loopholes and go through them like a shot through
paper. If they board us we'll have to open up and drop them into
the river with our automatics."
"Put the big light out in front then," Harry said, "and stand there
and tell me which way to steer, and let her go!"
The next moment the Black Bear, closely followed by the Wolf, was
nearing the canoes, now drawn up in line of battle in front.