A JUNGLE ADVENTURE
So fast had the flyers in the Sky-Bird come across the western part of
the African continent, at its greatest bulge, that, coupled with their
very brief stop in Kuka, they found they were starting out for Aden,
Arabia, with a gain of approximately seven hours upon their lost time
of fourteen hours in Freetown. They were now, therefore, just seven
hours behind schedule--perhaps a little more than that behind their
rivals,--but in the very fact that they were cutting down both items,
they felt vastly encouraged, and as the airplane headed eastward across
Lake Chad there was only one thing to worry them to any extent.
This was the need of water; that is, all felt that the need would
become an urgent one before daylight should come and a chance be given
to land and replenish the limited amount which they knew must now be in
the radiator, owing to the impossibility of getting water as expected
at Kuka.
John was at the throttle, with Tom assisting. Paul and Bob were
playing with Grandpa, still too excited over their recent adventure to
turn in and get some sleep, as John said they ought to do. After a
little while they turned their attention to studying the chart and
schedule. Frequently they compared notes, and now and then jotted down
some figures on a pad.
"Do you know, John," observed Paul, looking up very cheerfully, "that
if we continue to travel at the rate we did between Freetown and Kuka
we shall make up all lost time by morning, and arrive at Aden about on
schedule?"
"You don't say!" exclaimed John.
"You kids have made a mistake," informed Tom disbelievingly.
"No mistake about it," protested Bob; "it's an out-and-out fact."
"Well, that's cheerful news, then," said Tom. "I know we hit her up to
well over two hundred an hour coming across to Kuka."
"And we'll do as much on this stretch, if our water only holds out,"
declared John determinedly.
"That's the rub," put in Paul. "I'm sure it won't hold out, and if we
work right up to the last drop, I'm afraid we may have to make a forced
landing, and that may be in the tops of the trees, for all we know."
"Or on an elephant's back," added Bob jocosely.
"Well, I don't know but that we had better try to make a landing as
soon as we come to a favorable spot where there is water," remarked
John. "It is a fine moonlight night, and if we strike the right place
I think we can make the ground. In a pinch, you know, we can use our
searchlight."
"Speaking about searchlights--oh my! oh, my! will I ever forget how
frightened those blacks were?" And Paul laughed until the tears came
into his eyes, now that the tension was off. Tom joined him until both
of them staggered and bumped together, causing Grandpa to set up an
excited chatter of inquiry.
John kept the Sky-Bird low, down to less than a thousand feet, after
crossing the lower neck of Lake Chad, for the chart showed no marked
elevations which would make flying at that height hazardous, and it was
certain that the closer they were to the earth the better they could
detect a favorable place to land.
It was really a beautiful night, and they opened the cabin windows
after a while to enjoy the soft balmy air to the full. The wind then
rushed through the cabin like a hurricane, roaring so that conversation
was out of order; but they enjoyed its cool touch on their hot faces.
One by one the stars had made their appearance, until now the heavens
fairly glittered with them. How pretty they looked up there in the
great blue vault in which they seemed the choicest settings of an
angel's handiwork! Somehow they seemed to sparkle more brightly, and
the sky seemed a richer cobalt, than the sky the boys knew at home.
But they missed many of the stars which they loved in America. The
swift airplane in which they rode had taken them, day by day, and night
by night, away from them. Many stars which were unknown to them had
taken their places, and they realized more strongly than all the
pictures in the world could have shown them how very unlike were the
skies of the northern and southern hemispheres.
One of the most striking sights to them now was the constellation of
the Cross, commonly known by mariners as the Southern Cross, and which
is composed of four brilliant stars. Sirius, Canopus, and Centaur also
filled a part of the heavens with their splendid light. Mars, Venus,
Saturn, and Jupiter were old friends in new surroundings, and were all
dazzlingly dressed. The part of the Milky Way between the stars Sirius
and Centaur was so rich in stars and crowded nebula: that it seemed a
perfect blaze of illumination. And there were the Magellanic clouds,
white-looking patches made up of countless stars individually unseen to
the naked eye, and nebulae--mists of radiating light--all shining
brilliantly and revolving around the starless South Pole. To the
northward was the constellation of the Great Bear, which reaches its
meridian altitude about the same time as the constellations of the
Cross and the Centaur. As the boys looked, stars appeared and
disappeared. They were like a succession of guests, coming and going.
After a while, the flyers saw a small river glinting in the moonlight
and running along for the most part in the direction they were taking.
"The first time we come to a level, open spot along this stream we will
try for a landing," stated John. "It will afford us plenty of water
for the radiator if we can get down to it."
"And plenty of water for a good plunge, too," said Paul. "I haven't
had a bath since we left Miami, and I'm fairly suffering for a wetting,
if it's no more than a quick dip."
"Same here," seconded Bob and Tom.
They were running much lower now, on the lookout for a place to stop,
and so once more they could hear each other's voices.
Presently, just after clearing a dense forest, they saw the opening
they sought. It was a grassy level, free of bushes and other
obstructions, and well bathed in the soft light of the stars and moon.
After some careful maneuvering, John brought the Sky-Bird down, and
though the tall grasses wound in the landing-gear in coming to a stop,
they broke off without doing any damage.
"We'd better take the guns along," Tom remarked.
"That's so," agreed John; "we might run into some ferocious animal in
this wild jungle."
So each armed himself with a rifle and a pail, and John led the way, as
he was the only one of the party supplied with a lantern, the others
having small flashlights which were none too good for breaking a path
in such wilds. They knew the river lay a short distance to the north,
but in order to reach its banks from the place where they had landed,
they had to cut through a strip of woods bordering it.
It was tedious work getting through. The trees were close together and
had to be dodged, and great leaves of plants as large as their bodies
seemed to be everywhere, while vines of the toughest fiber frequently
shut off their passage and had to be pushed aside or cut with knives.
More than once one of the party tripped over unseen obstacles and
measured his length in the soft, rank ground-vegetation.
But it was only a little way to the river, and soon they stood upon its
grassy bank. It was a pretty stream, not very deep, and seemed quite
clear when John held the lantern down to it. They filled their pails,
and then, risking all dangers of snakes and crocodiles, disrobed for a
plunge.
First one and then the other jumped in. How refreshing the cool waters
felt to their hot, sticky bodies! They would have liked to do some
diving, but were afraid of sunken logs, and contented themselves by
splashing about, swimming a little, and making the woods ring with
their laughter and shouts.
Then they came out and put on their clothes. Picking up guns once
more, and the pails now filled with water, they started back, John
still leading. But they had not gone far when somewhere in advance of
them they thought they heard the sound of a breaking limb. So sudden
was the sound on the still night air, that all stopped very quickly,
their hearts beating fast.
They listened, but the sound was not repeated. They started on again,
thinking the limb must have been a dead one and had fallen from some
tree of its own weight. But scarcely had they taken a dozen steps when
they heard another sharp cracking of wood, this time very close in
front of them.
Their intuition told them now that they were near to some night prowler
of the animal kingdom, and perhaps one of considerable size, judging
from the crash. Hardly realizing what they were doing, they set down
their pails, and cocked their rifles, facing, with alertness and
uneasiness, the direction whence the sounds had come.
Now they heard some rustling, as of leaves, directly ahead. It came
slowly and cautiously closer. Just as it seemed about to burst out
upon their view it stopped. There was no more noise. All was silent;
not even the note of a night-bird or the gentle chirp of an insect
could be heard. For the first time the soughing of the tree-tops in
the soft breeze above failed to meet their ears. What a deathly
stillness it was!
Suddenly, right out of the black shadows ahead, there sounded on the
hushed air of the night three terrific yells, one following immediately
after the other. These piercing cries had hardly died out when
another, of deeper note, and a veritable roar, filled the forest with
its din. The leaves about the boys seemed fairly to quiver under the
violent guttural reverberations.
John Ross may well have been excused for shaking as he held up his
lantern in his right hand and threw its rays upon the tall undergrowth
ahead, while his fingers tightened like bands of steel around the stock
of his repeating-rifle.
As he and his companions looked, they saw peeping through the foliage a
black, fierce face, one of the ugliest and most ferocious that man
could have imagined. It was staring straight at them. The brute's
eyes were sunken under a heavy overhanging ridge of dusky skin. His
eyes were small and black, and the iris of each shone like a diamond
set in carbon. His forehead was low, receding, and covered with short
bristling hair. His nose was broad and flat. His great jaw protruded
frightfully, with the upper thin lip pressed tight, the lower curving
away and displaying a row of long yellow tusks which could have bitten
the hand off a man with one crunch.
The animal now opened his cavernous mouth, and uttered yell after yell
again, these sounding something like the bark of a dog but being a
hundred times louder. They were followed by terrific roars, somewhat
similar to those of a lion, though of much greater volume. The cries
rang through the forest from hill to hill, and died away in the
distance. The woods was filled with the echo of his horrible voice.
Then, very slowly his whole body came in sight. He advanced clumsily
and ponderously towards the little party of flyers, walking erect, his
plain intent being to kill them. His short legs were hardly strong
enough, as sturdy as they were, to support his huge body. All at once
he stopped to look at them. How vindictive his eyes were! They seemed
to say to the boys: "I will soon finish you!"
Then he beat his chest with his great fists and the noise was like a
bandman striking a bass-drum. It was his challenge to combat. How
long and muscular were the shaggy arms that directed these blows! How
broad was his chest from which the sounds came! The hair stood almost
erect on his body, and the hair on his head moved up and down.
This hesitation of the monster proved the salvation of the flyers. It
gave them a chance to pull their shattered nerves together and elevate
their rifles. As he must keep the light on the creature, which now all
recognized as a large gorilla, so that his companions and himself could
see to shoot, John had only one arm with which to handle his gun. But
he brought the weapon up quickly, and pressed the trigger just as three
other shots rang out from the guns of his companions, who had stepped
on either side of their leader.
A hoarse yell of rage and pain answered the reports. They saw the
gorilla stagger, then drop to all fours, and lunge toward them.
There was no chance to retreat. As quick as a flash John dropped his
own rifle, so that he could hold the lantern in both hands and direct
its rays better upon the beast, and cried to his comrades to fire again.
No sooner had the words left his lips than the others brought their
repeaters once more to their shoulders. On account of the poor light
on the barrels of their weapons they were again compelled to take snap
shots, shooting with both eyes open; but this time with greater success.
The big gorilla fell, uttering a fearful groan. He rolled over upon
his back, his massive limbs twitched convulsively, and then he was
still. Going up to him cautiously with the lantern, they found that he
was dead.
Extended, his great arms measured nearly nine feet; his chest had a
girth of seven feet, and he lacked only one inch of being six feet in
height. These facts Tom ascertained with the use of a small tapeline
which he carried in his pocket.
"Let's skin him," said Tom; "I know how, and it won't take but a few
minutes."
"Sure," agreed Paul; "his skin will be a valuable trophy to take back
home with us. Jiminy, I wish it had been daylight and we had brought
our camera with us! We could have secured some pictures worth while
for the _Daily Independent_."
With his keen-edged sheath knife, Tom soon had the skin removed from
the giant brute. The performance of this operation was far from an
agreeable one, however, both for surgeon and observers. So human-like
was the gorilla that it seemed like skinning a man!
As they made their way onward again, carrying their trophy in a roll
tied with withes made from vines. Bob ventured to say: "I wonder how
the gorilla came to be awake and to attack us this way?"
"I think he must have had a mate, perhaps a family, nearby," replied
John. "I have read that the mother and her babies always go up into a
tree to sleep, while the father squats down at its base to guard them,
and here he sleeps with one eye open and the other closed, as the
saying is. At least he arouses at the slightest sound of an enemy. We
probably awakened him by our shouts while in bathing, and being so
close to him when we came back along a slightly different path, he
thought we were going to attack the family upstairs, and showed fight
right away."
The little party regained their airplane without further incident; the
radiator was drained, and the fresh water put in. Then, feeling that
there was no further danger of the engines running hot, they took off.
As the Sky-Bird arose into the air, the flyers noticed that Grandpa the
monkey was slightly excited. This they attributed to the presence of
the gorilla's skin; but when they saw Grandpa continue to dash wildly
about the cabin, from their shoulders to the rear window, out of which
he would take a quick look only to fly back to them and chatter wildly
and coweringly, Paul thought he would see what could be the trouble.
One glance was enough. He shut the open window with a bang, and turned
to his companions with a pale face.
"Fellows," said he; "we've got a passenger!"
"A passenger?" cried they.
"Yes," said Paul, "a monstrous big snake!"