"What's happened?" asked Ruggles anxiously.
"We struck a snag: goodness knows what damage is done. We shall have to
run into the bank and wait till morning. Can't see to do anything in
the dark. Was there ever such beastly bad luck!"
"Well, you couldn't expect everything to go smoothly. You haven't had
much to complain of so far."
"That's true; but just at this moment, when everything depended on our
keeping ahead of the train! Listen to it. We must be close on the
narrows, to judge by the row it's making."
"It's lucky we hadn't got any farther, then."
By this time Will had steered the vessel to the left bank, running under
the overhanging branches of a large tree. Before it came to rest, Azito
beat the bank with his pole to scare away any alligator that might lurk
there.
"Water's coming in," said Will. "But I'm afraid that's not the worst.
We can stop a leak, but we are done if there's anything seriously wrong
with the engine. We haven't even got the yacht now."
"Better lift the craft on to the bank, so that she doesn't become
absolutely waterlogged," Ruggles suggested.
Everybody got out, Azito removing the small stock of food left in the
vessel, and Ruggles and Jose lifting the General between them.
"Shall we untie his cords?" said Will. "He must be pretty stiff and
uncomfortable."
"It depends what you mean to do. Will you still have a try at getting
him to Bolivar?"
"Without a doubt. There's the Chief to consider."
"Then you mustn't loose him. It won't be safe. By the way, what was
that howl I heard as we hauled him into the boat?"
"I don't know."
"Senor, it was this man," said the Indian, pointing to Machado. "He was
going to hurt the engine."
"It's a lie!" cried Machado, in abject fear.
"Tell us what he did, Azito," said Will.
The Indian explained that Machado and the General had conversed in low
tones while on the yacht, arousing his suspicion. He told how he had
prevented the man from carrying out his intention when the Senor's back
was turned. Will caught Machado's arm, and he winced.
"Tie him up," said Will. "He shan't have another chance."
Machado was bound and laid beside the General. Food was distributed,
but sparingly; the supply brought from Bolivar would soon be exhausted.
Then they sat down to wait for daylight, not daring to sleep, in case
danger in the shape of beast or man should come. They heard the train
rumbling along to their left, until by and by the sound died away.
The dawn stole upon them. They all presented a sorry and woe-begone
appearance, none more than General Carabano. When captured he was
wearing a long flowered dressing-gown, the colours of which had "run"
through his immersion in the lake. He had lost the well-fed and
arrogant look which he habitually wore. He made no further protest, but
accepted in sullen silence the meagre portion of food allotted to him,
and meekly allowed his arms to be rebound when the brief meal was
finished.
Will and Ruggles lost no time in making an examination of the
hydroplane. They found that a sharp branch of a submerged tree had
penetrated the bottom and pierced the petrol-tank, where it had snapped
off. The pressure which usually fed the petrol up to the engine had
forced it out of the tank, and Will realized with despair that the
hydroplane was now of no more use to them than a raft. All the petrol
that was left was about a gallon in one of the cans.
"We are clean done, Ruggles," he said. "There's not the ghost of a
chance of our getting to Bolivar."
"Except at three miles an hour," said Ruggles.
"With the river closely watched, as it will be, we can't even drift
down. Espejo will know we can't have passed. No one but a madman would
attempt to go at any pace in the dark, and then he'd come to grief. I
was a fool not to take your advice."
"It's no good crying over spilt milk, as the Chief would say. I can
manage to patch up the hole, if that's any good."
"Well, it would keep the thing afloat, but that won't help us much.
Without petrol we're stuck."
"Is there none left at the camp?"
"Not a cupful. I brought away the last cans before I went down to
Bolivar."
"This is a real fix. That Espejo fellow will begin to search the river
when he finds we don't pass; he can easily get canoes from some of the
natives down the Orinoco. He's bound to find us if we're still on the
river, and then with only two revolvers and a couple of knives between
us we shall be at his mercy. Seems to me, as soon as I've patched up
the hole, we'd better pole up the river and go straight on instead of
turning up the stream towards the hacienda. They might not look for us
there."
"There seems nothing else. But it'll take a week to get so far. We've
got the current against us, and with our load we should do about one
mile an hour. Besides, what's to happen then? They can search for us
and keep a watch on the river for any length of time, and our food won't
last more than two days on the shortest commons, and precious stale it
will be, too."
"The only other plan would be to march along this left bank till we come
to a village, and then promise the natives a reward to guide us to
Bolivar."
"And let Espejo collar my hydroplane! Not if I can help it. Besides,
we've got to rescue the Chief."
"Well, you can think it over while I am stopping the leak."
There were a few simple tools on board, and Ruggles, not belying his
reputation as handy man, succeeded after an hour's work in making what
he called a good temporary job of it. Will watched him for a time;
then, seeing from the General's look that he had taken the full measure
of the situation, and expected to be rescued by his lieutenant before
long, he said to himself fiercely that he would not be bested, and
walked away to think quietly how the disaster might be retrieved.
The want of petrol was the only difficulty. When Ruggles had finished
his task the hydroplane would be quite capable of continuing the voyage
if fuel could be got. He would, of course, not again attempt to proceed
by night; and by day Azito could be trusted to avoid snags. But petrol
he had none, nor could he get any; and without it he saw no possible way
of working the engine. Was there a substitute?
Suddenly he remembered that the Indians were accustomed to use for their
torches a resinous liquid made from a kind of pine-tree that grew in
certain districts. Would not such a wood-spirit be quite as good for
his purpose as petrol? Full of the idea, he hastened back to consult
Ruggles. Ruggles shook his head.
"I am up to most things in the machine line," he said, "but don't know
more than a baby about distilling or chemistry and such. Still, it's a
fact, what you say. The Indians do get a sort of benzine from the
trees, and benzine and petrol are first cousins, at any rate. There's
no harm in trying. But do you know whether these trees grow
hereabouts?"
"No, I don't," confessed Will, with misgiving. "I'll ask Azito."
The Indian's reply was cheering. There was a forest of the right kind
of trees some miles inland from the left bank of the river. It could be
approached by a creek, not very far from the scene of his adventure with
the jaguar. This was fortunate. The spot was a good many miles from
their present position, and if Captain Espejo did undertake a systematic
search of the river, it would be long before he came to the upper
reaches. Will decided to set off at once. The petrol tank having been
repaired, he could make use of the last gallon of spirit contained in
the almost empty can. It would suffice to carry the hydroplane at a low
speed perhaps a dozen miles up-stream; then they must trust to their
poles. Will made sure that the sparking apparatus was in good order;
the whole party went aboard, with two prisoners now instead of one; and
while the morning was still young the hydroplane started for the upper
river. At first Will hesitated to set the engine going, in case it was
heard by the enemy; but reflecting that they had almost certainly run on
to the junction several miles below, and would scarcely have begun to
search yet, he decided to get as far from them as he could. There would
probably be greater danger if the throbbing were heard as they
approached the neighbourhood of the hacienda.
A few miles up Azito caught sight of the little yacht, which on being
cast off had drifted for some distance and then run into the bank, where
it had wedged itself among the lower boughs of a large tree. Will hailed
this as a fortunate discovery. By dividing the party the labour of
ascending against the current would be considerably lessened. The boat
was hauled off and towed until the petrol gave out; then once more
General Carabano was transferred to it, with Ruggles as punter and
guardian. Keeping both vessels as near to the left bank as was safe, in
order to avoid the full force of the current, Ruggles in the yacht and
Jose and Azito by turns in the hydroplane steadily poled along. It was
slow and tiresome work. In two hours they covered a distance less than
the hydroplane in good trim would have accomplished in ten minutes.
Indeed, it was late in the afternoon when they came to the little
stream, running into the left bank, from which they could gain the creek
that Azito had mentioned.
They made their way slowly up this stream for some three miles, passing
many small creeks on both sides. At last they reached that which would
bring them to the spirit-yielding trees. Their progress now was even
slower than it had been. The creek was shallow and very weedy. More
than once the vessels were brought up by clinging masses of aquatic
vegetation. Not till the short dusk was beginning did they reach the
neighbourhood of the wood. Here they found a little sandy strip on
which they ran the vessels and disembarked, tired out. After a meagre
supper they lay down on a stretch of green sward to pass the night, Will
arranging that they should take turns to watch against intrusion by wild
beasts.
Early next morning Azito led Will and Ruggles into the wood, and showed
them the trees to tap for the spirit. Then he said that he would paddle
himself some miles further up the creek in the yacht, until he reached
an Indian village where he might obtain food. The others set about
rigging up a benzine distillery. This was naturally of the most
primitive description. Will first made a clay crucible in which he
collected the liquid obtained from the trees; then, connecting this by
means of a metal pipe from the engine with a water-bottle he was
accustomed to take with him on the hydroplane, he lit a small fire,
borrowing a box of matches from Machado, and distilled over the vapour
from the crucible to the bottle. It occurred to him to hasten the
condensation by placing the bottle in the flowing water of the stream,
propping it up with two stones. As soon as he had collected a small
quantity of the spirit he tested it, and found that it had all the
volatile and inflammable qualities of petrol.
"I'd never have believed it," said Ruggles; "but it will take a month
before we get enough to carry us to Bolivar."
"So it will if we don't make more crucibles. There's plenty of clay."
"But what about pipes and bottles?"
"There are plenty of reeds at the edge of the creek: they'll do for
pipes. As for bottles, we've got two petrol cans, and we shall have to
make some clay bottles. The sooner the better."
They set to work at once with Jose to make, first, crucibles out of the
white clay which formed the subsoil, and as these were finished, they
took them into the forest and set them down at the trees they tapped.
While the liquid was collecting they gathered reeds from the border of
the stream, and fashioned clumsy clay bottles as receptacles of the
vapour. By the afternoon they had a dozen pieces of apparatus at work,
and Will was in high spirits at the prospect of filling his tank with
the all-important fuel. He found the moist heat of the forest very
trying, but willingly endured the discomfort and fatigue.
In the evening Azito returned, staggering under a basket loaded with
yuca, a root from which a capital bread could be made, and a goat-skin
filled with resinous liquid, purchased in the Indian village. He
reported that he had seen, as he came by the edge of the forest, a sloth
clinging to the branch of a tree, and several tapirs grubbing for roots,
and wished Will to return with him and kill one of the animals for
supper; but Will did not care to risk a revolver shot, which might be
heard by the enemy if they were coming up the river, and so he decided
to make a meal of yuca bread alone.
Next day he set up more crucibles, and then, having at work as many as
could be conveniently tended, he adopted Ruggles' advice and rested
during the hottest hours. But he grew restless in inaction, and by and
by strolled into the forest, whose gloomy depths had a fascination for
him. He marked signs of the great struggle for life going on all
around. Innumerable creeping plants twined about the trees, striving to
force a way to the sunlight in which their gorgeous blossoms might
expand, and stifling the vitality out of the forest giants. Beetles and
termites scurried hither and thither: birds flitted from bough to bough,
pecking at the ripe berries, and carrying away seeds which would
germinate in some other part, to be strangled ere they came to maturity,
or to grow into stranglers in their turn. Among the other trees the
palms rose straight and lofty, their branchless trunks defying the
murderous creepers, their leafy crowns dominating as if in contempt the
lowlier competitors beneath.
Here he caught sight of a cavy nibbling a nut, there a peccary hunting
among the undergrowth for seeds. Moving cautiously among the trees, he
had a glimpse of a labba peeping out of a hollow trunk, and disturbed a
deer which was lying amid the bushes, its colour harmonizing so well
with them that he had not distinguished it until it moved, though it was
within a few feet of him. In the foliage overhead howling monkeys kept
up their resounding notes, and tree-frogs boomed and whistled
incessantly. As evening drew on, the forest was filled with the
continuous hum of multitudinous insects; owls hooted, goatsuckers
flitted from bough to bough uttering their weird cry, and snakes
uncoiled themselves from the branches on which they had taken their
siesta. Will would have liked to spend days in studying these creatures
of the forest.
Returning to the camp, he discussed with Ruggles what should be done
when the cans were filled.
"It will be two days more before we have enough spirit," he said. "I
think we should start from here in the early afternoon, run down to the
narrows at half-speed, and try to rush them at dusk. No more night
running for me. We might strike a snag again, and we can't risk it a
second time."
"Couldn't we simply drift?" suggested Ruggles.
"Too risky--not from the river, but you may be sure that Espejo will
watch it day and night. He will know we haven't got past him."
"You had better send Azito out to scout, then, before we start."
"A good idea. But I am sure we shall have to trust to our speed alone.
We can't fight them with only two revolvers between us. Our only chance
is to get to the narrows before we are seen, and then go at top speed.
A quarter of an hour would do it."
On the second night thereafter the petrol tank was full, and there was a
considerable quantity of spirit left over in one of the cans. Will
ordered Azito to go out in the yacht as soon as it was light, and see if
he could discover the movements of the enemy. While the Indian was
absent the others prepared for the adventurous voyage. The two
prisoners, who had sullenly watched the making of the benzine, were laid
in the bottom of the hydroplane: Will and Ruggles thoroughly overhauled
and oiled the engine, and cleaned the planes and the propeller of the
weeds which had already begun to cling about them.
About nine o'clock Azito returned. His report was that he had seen a
boat filled with armed men coming slowly up the stream, searching the
creeks on either side. There were twelve men, all armed with rifles.
"We must get out before they come up here," said Will. "Otherwise we
shall be like rats in a trap. How far are they down, Azito?"
"About three twists, senor."
This was not very enlightening. The Indian's "twist" may be of any
length, according to circumstances. But Azito went on to explain that
the enemy were not far below a creek that ran into the stream from the
opposite side, which, as nearly as Will could recollect, was about
half-a-mile from that up which the hydroplane had come. He had little
doubt that if the enemy were proceeding systematically they would search
the opposite creek first. Accordingly he ordered all on board. The
yacht was left. Will promised it as a present to Azito when his work
was over, having no doubt that Mr. Jackson would purchase it of De
Mello. Then they poled the hydroplane down the creek until they came
within a few yards of the point where it entered the stream. There they
drew into the bank, where they could not be seen until the enemy came
right opposite the mouth.
Many tall trees grew at the edge of the stream.
"Climb up, Azito," said Will, "and tell us when the boat enters the
creek on the opposite side."
In a few minutes the Indian was snugly perched among the thick foliage
at the top of one of the loftiest trees.
"We'll start as soon as we know they're in the creek," said Will to
Ruggles. "That may give us time to get several miles down before we're
discovered."
Several minutes passed. Then they saw Azito sliding down the tree with
the agility of a monkey.
"They have gone into it, senor."
"Very well. Pole us out. It's neck or nothing, Ruggles. Have you got
your revolver handy?"
"Trust me. You'd better give me yours. You can't use it and steer too,
and I'm rather a dab with my left hand."
"Here you are, then," said Will, smiling as he handed the weapon to him.
"But I hope we shan't come to close enough quarters for you to use it.
We're off, and good luck to us."