Attacked by Indians
Bob shook his head to rid himself of the sickening saliva. He wiped
his face with his handkerchief, with his hands, with anything he could
find. At the same time he stepped out of reach of the treacherous
animal.
When he had completed rubbing, he turned sheepishly to Joe.
"Guess I learned my lesson," he said quietly. "But who'd 'a' thought
it of the brutes?"
"Isn't wise to do anything unless you know what you're doing," Joe
reminded him.
"I've a notion to go over and wring its neck!" snorted Bob, glancing
at the llama, which had resumed its grazing as if nothing had
happened.
"Better not," Joe warned him. "You might not be able to do it. And the
Indian that owns them might come out."
"Let him come!" Bob was confident that he could manage both the llama
and the Indian.
He decided to let the matter drop, however, and continue the walk
about the plateau.
As the youths hiked farther, they passed the grassy region and came to
a higher slope that was dotted with occasional patches of cacti, thorn
bushes, and stunted trees. The Australian eucalyptus, a small tree,
was abundant.
"Can't raise anything here," remarked Bob. "Almost as bad as it is on
the Sahara Desert."
The chums made a wide circuit about Cuzco, coming in sight of the
monoplane from the opposite side.
"You're just in time to stand guard," Mr. Holton told Bob. "And while
you're doing that, the rest of us will look around a bit. We've all
been busy studying maps of the Andes."
The adventurers took turns watching the airplane and seeing the
country all during the remainder of that day. If it were able to
follow schedule, the train from Mollendo, bringing the others of the
expedition, would arrive the next afternoon.
At that time all the air travelers but Mr. Lewis were in the railroad
station waiting. Mr. Lewis had remained at the field to guard the
'plane.
"It's coming," said Mr. Wallace, and a minute later the train pulled
up and stopped.
Dr. Rust and the other scientists stepped off, to be met by the
naturalists and the youths.
"I think it might be wise," began Mr. Holton, "to establish a
temporary camp here near Cuzco, perhaps in the field by the monoplane.
Is everyone with me in this?"
Professor Allan nodded.
"I am in favor of it," he said. "Until we make further preparations
for our work in the mountains it would be wise to put up our tents
there."
At the field they found Mr. Lewis waiting for them. He also agreed to
follow Mr. Holton's suggestion.
Four tents were pitched in a semicircle beside the airplane. The
expedition's supplies were placed systematically inside, and then
began a discussion about the coming exploration.
"We who are after Inca ruins have decided to set off for the region
near Mount Panta," Dr. Rust said. "In our opinion, there is an
opportunity to find wonderful Inca remains in this section. Most
likely we will stay within twenty miles of that mountain for three or
four weeks. Where we will go then we will have to decide later."
"Now of course you archæologists want to know as nearly as possible
where we naturalists will be," began Mr. Holton. "I don't know whether
everyone will agree," he went on, "but I know of a place that
supposedly abounds with wild creatures. And I would suggest that we
head for that spot."
The others looked at him inquiringly.
"This morning while I was out scouting around I came across an
American who was just returning from a hunting trip in the Andes," Mr.
Holton resumed. "He informed me that the valley of the Comberciato is
teeming with wild game. According to his estimate, that's about a
hundred miles from here, northwest. It----"
"I've heard of it, too," cut in Mr. Wallace, his face beaming with
scientific enthusiasm. "Why not go there? We'll probably find it worth
our while."
"I'm willing," came from Joe's father.
"Then let's call it settled," Mr. Holton said. "We'll start out as
soon as possible."
"Here's where Mr. Sutman and his airplane come in," remarked Professor
Allan. "By the use of the 'plane, we can keep informed as to the
whereabouts of the other division of the expedition. It will prove a
valuable asset to our equipment."
Bob and Joe and Mr. Dunn took it on themselves to go back to the
railroad station and have the many boxes of food and supplies removed
to the camp. The scientists had purposely left them in charge of the
agent until after deciding the course of the expedition and had
carried only the lighter bags and cases to the camp.
The railroad agent, when asked of a means of transporting the boxes,
pointed outside to a large cart drawn by a mule. Walking lazily at
the side was an Indian.
"He will do it for you," the railroad man said in poor Spanish.
Then, knowing that the Americans could not speak the Quichua language,
the agent called to the native and asked if he would be willing to
take the boxes.
The Indian merely nodded and went into the building after the first
load. In all, there were about seventy-five cases, and he knew it
would be necessary to make several trips.
"That mule doesn't look any too willing to pull the load," observed
Joe with a laugh. "Be funny if he'd stop still when only about halfway
there."
When the cart was loaded with about fifteen or twenty of the boxes,
the Indian called for the animal to pull ahead. But the stubborn mule
refused to budge.
"Now what will he do?" mused Joe, looking at the impatient Indian.
He soon saw. The native removed five boxes and carried them back into
the station. Then, with the cart lighter, he again attempted to make
the mule move ahead.
But apparently it was still too much of a load, at least for comfort.
"That crazy donkey just doesn't want to go, that's all." Mr. Dunn had
been taking in the incident with a great deal of interest.
The Indian was becoming impatient. He had apparently removed all he
was going to from the cart and intended to resort to force.
Walking to one side, he pushed with all his strength on the balky
animal, at the same time saying something in Quichua that the whites
guessed was not pleasant.
Slowly, very slowly, the mule struggled forward, snorting as if in
rage. Gradually he quickened his pace, but never exceeded a walk.
"At this rate it'll take us the rest of the afternoon to get
everything in camp," muttered Bob, amused and yet angered at the
stubborn beast.
The youth guessed fairly right. The sun was almost ready to sink below
the horizon when the last box was unloaded from the cart, after five
trips had been made to carry all of the supplies.
"Too late to do anything tonight," said Mr. Lewis, as the Indian,
mule, and cart disappeared over the plateau. "I suppose we'd better
take it easy, anyway. We'll have some busy days ahead of us."
Early the next morning the explorers were up preparing for the
mountain journey.
"The first thing now is to get mules," said Mr. Wallace. "And," he
added with twinkling eyes, "they'll have to be faster than the one
that carried our stuff last night."
"You forgot." Dr. Brown, the physician, was moving up to Mr. Wallace.
"The first thing isn't to get mules," the doctor continued with a
smile. "Medical attention always comes before anything else."
"That means a physical examination?" asked Bob.
"Yes. And it also means vaccination against smallpox and typhoid
fever. Those two diseases are very common in this part of Peru."
Dr. Brown had attended to everyone but the youths and Mr. Wallace. But
it did not take long to finish with them.
"Now as I was saying," began Mr. Wallace, "the next thing is to get
mules. And I know where we can find them. I inquired yesterday and
found that a wealthy Peruvian who lives at the edge of Cuzco can let
us have as many as we need. He will also see that we get native
guides."
"Don't forget that we need about twenty-five mules--for both parties
of the expedition," Professor Allan reminded him.
"I haven't," the naturalist returned. "We can get as many as we need.
Suppose we do it now."
Mr. Wallace, Dr. Rust, and Professor Kelley set out at once to get the
pack animals.
Meanwhile, Bob and Joe took movie cameras and walked leisurely up the
hillside, intending to photograph anything that would come before
them.
The boys had not gone far when they came upon a large group of Indian
men, dressed in short, coarse trousers, hand-woven shirts, and
brightly colored blankets. On their heads were the flat "pancake" hats
which are common in this region.
"Here's a good chance to take movies," said Joe happily. He had
brought the camera to his shoulder and pointed it toward the Indians,
turning the crank steadily.
Suddenly the natives rushed angrily at the youths and made a grab at
the motion-picture cameras.