THE RUINED CITY.
It would have been worse than useless for Tubby or Fred to have attempted
flight, as the stout youth had rightly conjectured. Resistance would have
been equally foolhardy. This would have been so in any case, but any move
against the Indians was now rendered doubly dangerous by the fact that
two of the odd-looking little natives had picked up the two rifles the
boys had so foolishly forgotten and were examining them in a way that
showed that they had knowledge enough of the white man's weapons to use
them, should occasion offer.
After a vast deal of jabbering in their unknown tongue, two of the
Indians bound Tubby's hands behind his back while the others stood guard
to protect their companions against any sudden move. Then came Fred's
turn. This done, the boys were led across the open space to a clump of
trees from amidst which the Indians had first appeared.
To Tubby's astonishment he saw that a narrow, but well beaten trail ran
through the jungle from this point. But in what direction it led he was,
of course, ignorant. He guessed, however, that it must be one of the
secret Indian paths to which Mr. Raynor had referred. On either side of
the narrow trail the jungle grew up thick and impenetrable. Two Indians
walked in front, then came the boys, behind marched the other Indians.
"W-w-w-w-what is going to become of us?" quavered Fred as they moved
along at a swift though steady pace.
"I don't know. I guess we are bound for some village or other back in the
San Blas country. It's a good sign though that they haven't offered us
any violence."
Fred could not but agree that this was so. But little more talk was
indulged in between the two captives. It was not a situation that adapted
itself to conversation. Hour after hour they trudged along through the
tropical forest until at last they came upon something startling.
In front of them, as they rounded a curve in the crooked trail, there
suddenly rose up something that seemed menacingly to dispute their
further passage through the forest.
There, facing them, was a hideous monster carved out of a white stone or
marble, they could not be sure which. The thing loomed ghastly white
against a background of dark trees. Spots of rank moss grew on its
glaring stone face. Its stumpy hands were folded and tucked up on its
breast; its legs and feet, shaped like a water creature's, were drawn up
under its belly. But it was the awful face with its sinister glare that
gave the boys a start that quivered through their frames. As if in proof
of its antiquity the statue was broken in places and leaned slightly to
one side. Through the cracks in the white stone, great, twisted, gnarled
tree trunks, like serpents, writhed in and out. Altogether it was as
horrible an object to come upon in the depths of a great forest as the
mind could conceive. Small wonder the boys shuddered at it. The Indians,
however, did not appear to regard it with much awe.
"What an awful looking thing!" shuddered Fred, who had turned pale.
"Pshaw! It's only an old idol," Tubby scoffed, assuming a bold air for
Fred's comfort. "Lots of 'em in this part of the world. Crackers! Fred, I
shouldn't wonder but what we are coming to one of those ancient cities
that have long been supposed to exist in this part of the world. I
think--Great Cæsar! Look there, will you?"
A wilderness of ruins suddenly opened before them as they topped a small
rise. Everywhere was a confusion of tumbled idols, pillars, blocks of
stone, heavy walls, flights of steps, some whole, some tumbling with
decay, others still upright. Roots, branches and curling vines writhed in
and out of the scene of desolation like great snakes. Here and there
trees shot up from the empty walls of roofless palaces. Their restless
shadows waved mournfully above the ruins. Further back stood a building
that surmounted a sort of platform of white stone. It was reached by a
flight of steps on one side. On the other the walls towered up steep and
slippery. They would not have afforded foothold to a fly.
The Indians marched the boys up the steps leading to this dismal palace.
From the top of the platform they could see over the ruined city in all
directions. And off to one side was a sight that made Tubby's heart beat
more quickly. He had caught the glint of a river, and on its banks he had
seen three canoes drawn up. If only they could reach that stream they
might still escape. But such a prospect appeared to be remote in the
extreme.
They were marshaled into the chamber within the walls they had noticed
from below. It was of massive but rude architecture and was roofless, but
the walls sloped inward, making any idea of climbing them out of the
question. From cracks in the walls grew tropic plants and creepers. To
the boys' surprise, once within this place, their hands were untied. But
this in itself was a bad sign so far as hope of escape went. It meant
that the Indians knew there was no hope of their captives getting away.
Two guards were set to watch them at the door, and then the others left.
The guards took up their station at the door with their wicked-looking
spears all ready for instant action. Tubby, with his ruling passion still
strong--and as a matter of fact he was fearfully hungry and faint after
their long march--eyed longingly some red fruit that grew on one of the
shrubs clinging to the wall. He was about to pluck some when Fred drew
him back.
"Don't touch those, Tubby, they're not good to eat," he exclaimed. "I
recognize the leaf. It's just like a deadly nightshade leaf at home. I
guess they are a giant variety of that poisonous plant."
"Phew! I'm glad I didn't touch 'em. Would they kill you?"
"If you ate many. A few would only put you to sleep. They contain a drug
called bella-donna which is a narcotic."
Just then one of the natives appeared with two earthenware bowls full of
half raw meat. The boys were hungry or they could not have touched the
stuff. As it was, they ate all they could, but left quite a quantity. As
they ate their guards eyed them in an odd way. It looked as if they were
hungry, too, and would have liked to eat.
The boys could see out through the door, and, after eating all they
could, they amused themselves by looking over the ruined city. They could
see smoke rising some distance off among the trees, and guessed that the
main camp of the Indians was there. Probably, they guessed--and in this
they were right--the superstitious Indians did not like to camp among the
ruins of the lost race, although they had no objection to jailing their
prisoners there.
As it grew dusk, the sky clouded over. Thunder began to rumble in the
distance and the wind moaned in a most melancholy way among the trees
that overshadowed the ruins. Far off they could hear the Indians shouting
and singing in a coarse, unmusical way. Seemingly they were celebrating
the success of their chase and capture of the two white boys.
At any rate, they appeared to forget the two guards utterly. It grew dark
and the men still sat there. They had lighted a small fire outside the
ruined temple, or whatever it had been, and the glow of it revealed their
still and silent figures to the boy captives. One of them took some kind
of cake from his girdle presently and took a bite of it. Then he offered
it to his companion who bit into it hungrily. It was plain that the two
Indians were getting hungry.
Tubby was about to try to conciliate them by offering them what the boys
had left in their bowls, when he had a sudden inspiration. He went to the
wall and began picking some of the berries Fred had told him not to
touch. Fred, who had fallen into a fitful slumber, did not notice him,
and Tubby proceeded uninterruptedly with what he was about.
It was about a quarter of an hour later and the rumble of the approaching
storm was growing nearer and nearer when Tubby arose and, picking up the
two bowls, approached the guards. Instantly they sprang to their feet and
presented their spear blades at him. But Tubby, by signs, explained that
he and his companion had not been able to eat all their rations and
wanted to give them the rest.
As Tubby's shrewd mind had guessed from what he had seen, the two guards
were famished. They saw no harm in taking the meat from the prisoner who
was kind enough to offer it. They grabbed the bowls and in a minute, as
it appeared to the astonished fat boy, they had emptied them. Tubby
regarded the two Indians admiringly. He had never seen edibles disposed
of so swiftly.
When they had eaten, the guards became stern again. They motioned Tubby
back to the interior of the ruinous structure. The stout boy obeyed and
sank down on the floor apparently composing himself to sleep, but in
reality he was watching the two guards with intent eyes. Suddenly he gave
a grunt of satisfaction. The guards began to nod sleepily. One almost
fell over. He recovered himself, but in an instant he was off to sleep
again; as for his companion, after an ineffectual effort to awaken his
comrade, he too sank into a deep slumber, falling across the threshold of
the place.
Instantly Tubby was all activity. Quickly he aroused Fred.
"Wake up! Quick! Don't ask questions. Follow me."
"Why? What?" began Fred sleepily.
"Not a word. We've got to move quick. I squeezed the juice of those
berries you told me about into the remains of our supper. The guards ate
it. They're fast asleep. It's up to us to cut and run for those canoes on
the river bank."
Fred was alert in an instant. As he rose softly to his feet a vivid flash
of lightning illumined his face. Tubby saw that it was set and determined
as became a Black Wolf Scout. He gripped Fred's hand tightly.
"Whatever happens, keep your nerve," he enjoined.
Then, hand in hand and on tiptoe, the two boys crept toward the doorway.
As they were stepping over one of the sleeping guards Tubby, by the glow
of the fire, saw that a small bag that the fellow had had tied at his
waist had burst as he fell headlong in his slumber, and that a lot of
odd-looking pebbles lay scattered about near it. Yielding to he knew not
what impulse, he stooped and stuffed a handful of the rocks into the
pocket of his Scout coat.
It was work to bring the lads' hearts into their mouths, this advance out
upon the open platform with the firelight on them to betray their every
movement. Far off they could catch the glow of the Indians' campfire; but
for all they knew other guards might be about and at any minute they
expected to hear a spear or an arrow whiz by them. But nothing of the
sort happened. They reached the river bank in safety.
The lightning was now flashing incessantly. By its gleam they saw the
canoes, with their paddles alongside, lying as they had last seen them.
Tubby advanced, and, catching hold of one, turned it over. The next
instant he gave a terrified yell. As he had turned it, there had leaped
from under it, where he had evidently been sleeping, an Indian armed with
a spear.
Before he could cast it, Tubby ducked low and rushed in on the man like a
young bullock. The little San Blas native went down in the mud with a
splash. Tubby wrested the spear from him and sent it flying. As the
Indian struggled to his feet Fred gave him a blow on the mouth that must
have driven some of his teeth in, to judge by the sound.
"Quick!" ordered Tubby in a tense undertone, "into the water with those
other canoes now."
"But we only want one."
"We don't want 'em to chase us, do we?" exclaimed the fat boy sharply.
"Over with 'em I say."
Fred shoved the two dugouts off. In a jiffy the current caught them and
they went sailing out of sight. At the same instant there came another
flash of lightning. It showed the river, swollen and angry, racing
furiously along.
"Can you handle a paddle, Fred?" asked Tubby.
"Yes; I had a canoe on the Hudson," was the reply.
"Well, this is going to beat any Hudson you ever saw. There's a storm in
the mountains evidently, and the river is rising every minute. It can't
be helped, though. Take a paddle and shove off."
Luckily both boys knew something about canoes or the start of that dugout
would likewise have been its finish. But they saved it by skillful, swift
handling from a capsize. The next instant they were in it, being hurled
off at a dizzy pace down the rushing current. Behind them came yells and
savage shouts. Their escape had evidently been discovered, probably when
a change of guards was made.
"Whoop!" shouted Tubby back defiantly. "We're off on the Chagres Limited,
you shirtless sons of iniquity; it'll take better men than you to catch
us now!"
The cranky canoe rocked wildly, and then shot off into the darkness,
hurtled along by the sweeping current of an unknown river.