CHAPTER XVII.
DRIFTING DOWN THE STREAM.
"Off we go!" It was the voice of Hercules addressing Dick Sands, who,frightfully debilitated by recent sufferings, was leaning againstCousin Benedict for support. Dingo was lying at his feet.
Mrs. Weldon gradually recovered her consciousness. Looking around herin amazement she caught sight of Dick.
"Dick, is it you?" she muttered feebly.
The lad with some difficulty arose, and took her hand in his, whileJack overwhelmed him with kisses.
"And who would have thought it was you, Hercules, that carried usaway?" said the child; "I did not know you a bit; you were sodreadfully ugly."
"I was a sort of a devil, you know, Master Jack," Hercules answered;"and the devil is not particularly handsome;" and he began rubbing hischest vigorously to get rid of the white pattern with which he hadadorned it.
Mrs. Weldon held out her hand to him with a grateful smile.
"Yes, Mrs. Weldon, he has saved you, and although he does not own it,he has saved me too," said Dick.
"Saved!" repeated Hercules, "you must not talk about safety, for youare not saved yet."
And pointing to Benedict, he continued,--
"That's where your thanks are due; unless he had come and informed meall about you and where you were, I should have known nothing, andshould have been powerless to aid you."
It was now five days since he had fallen in with the entomologist as hewas chasing the manticora, and unceremoniously had carried him off.
As the canoe drifted rapidly along the stream, Hercules briefly relatedhis adventures since his escape from the encampment on the Coanza. Hedescribed how he had followed the kitanda which was conveying Mrs.Weldon; how in the course of his march he had found Dingo badlywounded; how he and the dog together had reached the neighbourhood ofKazonnde, and how he had contrived to send a note to Dick, intending toinform him of Mrs. Weldon's destination. Then he went on to say thatsince his unexpected _rencontre_ with Cousin Benedict he had watchedvery closely for a chance to get into the guardeddepot, but until nowhad entirely failed. A celebrated _mganga_ had been passing on his waythrough the forest, and he had resolved upon impersonating him as ameans of gaining the admittance he wanted. His strength made theundertaking sufficiently easy; and having stripped the magician of hisparaphernalia, and bound him securely to a tree, he painted his ownbody with a pattern like that which he observed on his victim's chest,and having attired himself with the magical garments was quite equippedto impose upon the credulous natives. The result of his stratagem theyhad all that day witnessed.
He had hardly finished his account of himself when Mrs. Weldon, smilingat his success, turned to Dick.
"And how, all this time, my dear boy, has it fared with you?" she asked.
Dick said,--
"I remember very little to tell you. I recollect being fastened to astake in the river-bed and the water rising and rising till it wasabove my head. My last thoughts were about yourself and Jack. Theneverything became a blank, and I knew nothing more until I found myselfamongst the papyrus on the river-bank, with Hercules tending me like anurse."
"You see I am the right sort of _mganga_" interposed Hercules; "I am adoctor as well as a conjurer."
"But tell me, Hercules, how did you save him?"
"Oh, it was not a difficult matter by any means," answered Herculesmodestly; "it was dark, you know, so that at the proper moment it wasquite possible to wade in amongst the poor wretches at the bottom ofthe trench, and to wrench the stake from its socket. Anybody could havedone it. Cousin Benedict could have done it. Dingo, too, might havedone it. Perhaps, after all, it was Dingo that did it."
"No, no, Hercules, that won't do," cried Jack; "besides, look, Dingo isshaking his head; he is telling you he didn't do it."
"Dingo must not tell tales, Master Jack," said Hercules, laughing.
But, nevertheless, although the brave fellow's modesty prompted him toconceal it, it was clear that he had accomplished a daring feat, ofwhich few would have ventured to incur the risk.
Inquiry was next made after Tom, Bat, Actaeon, and Austin. Hiscountenance fell, and large tears gathered in his eyes as Hercules toldhow he had seen them pass through the forest in a slave-caravan. Theywere gone; he feared they were gone for ever.
Mrs. Weldon tried to console him with the hope that they might still bespared to meet again some day; but he shook his head mournfully. Shethen communicated to Dick the terms of the compact that had beenentered into for her own release, and observed that under thecircumstances it might really have been more prudent for her to remainin Kazonnde.
"Then I have made a mistake; I have been an idiot, in bringing youaway," said Hercules, ever ready to depreciate his own actions.
"No," said Dick; "you have made no mistake; you could not have donebetter; those rascals, ten chances to one, will only get Mr. Weldoninto some trap. We must get to Mossamedes before Negoro arrives; oncethere, we shall find that the Portuguese authorities will lend us theirprotection, and when old Alvez arrives to claim his 100,000 dollars--"
"He shall receive a good thrashing for his pains," said Hercules,finishing Dick's sentence, and chuckling heartily at the prospect.
It was agreed on all hands that it was most important that Negoro'sarrival at Mossamedes should be forestalled. The plan which Dick had solong contemplated of reaching the coast by descending some river seemednow in a fair way of being accomplished, and from the northerlydirection in which they were proceeding it was quite probable that theywould ultimately reach the Zaire, and in that case not actually arriveat S. Paul de Loanda; but that would be immaterial, as they would besure of finding help anywhere in the colonies of Lower Guinea.
On finding himself on the river-bank, Dick's first thought had been toembark upon one of the floating islands that are continually to be seenupon the surface of the African streams, but it happened that Herculesduring one of his rambles found a native boat that had run adrift. Itwas just the discovery that suited their need. It was one of the long,narrow canoes, thirty feet in length by three or four in breadth, thatwith a large number of paddles can be driven with immense velocity, butby the aid of a single scull can be safely guided down the current of astream.
Dick was somewhat afraid that, to elude observation, it would benecessary to proceed only by night, but as the loss of twelve hours outof the twenty-four would double the length of the voyage, he devisedthe plan of covering the canoe with a roof of long grass, supported bya horizontal pole from stem to stern, and this not only afforded ashelter from the sun, but so effectually concealed the craft,rudder-scull and all, that the very birds mistook it for one of thenatural islets, and red-beaked gulls, black _arringhas_ and grey andwhite kingfishers would frequently alight upon it in search of food.
Though comparatively free from fatigue, the voyage must necessarily belong, and by no means free from danger, and the daily supply ofprovisions was not easy to procure. If fishing failed, Dick had the onegun which Hercules had carried away with him from the ant-hill, and ashe was by no means a bad shot, he hoped to find plenty of game, eitheralong the banks or by firing through a loophole in the thatch.
The rate of the current, as far as he could tell, was about two milesan hour, enough to carry them about fifty miles a day; it was a speed,however, that made it necessary for them to keep a sharp look-out forany rocks or submerged trunks of trees, as well as to be on their guardagainst rapids and cataracts.
Dick's strength and spirits all revived at the delight of having Mrs.Weldon and Jack restored to him, and he assumed his post at the bow ofthe canoe, directing Hercules how to use the scull at the stern. Alitter of soft grass was made for Mrs. Weldon, who spent most of hertime lying thoughtfully in the shade. Cousin Benedict was verytaciturn; he had not recovered the loss of the manticora, and frownedever and again at Hercules, as if he had not yet forgiven him forstopping him in the chase. Jack, who had been told that he must not benoisy, amused himself by playing with Di
ngo.
The first two days passed without any special incident. The stock ofprovisions was quite enough for that time, so that there was no need todisembark, and Dick merely lay to for a few hours in the night to takea little necessary repose.
The stream nowhere exceeded 150 feet in breadth. The floating islandsmoved at the same pace as the canoe, and except from some unforeseencircumstance, there could be no apprehension of a collision. The bankswere destitute of human inhabitants, but were richly clothed with wildplants, of which the blossoms were of the most gorgeous colours; theasclepiae, the gladiolus, the clematis, lilies, aloes, umbelliferae,arborescent ferns and fragrant shrubs, combining on either hand to makea border of surpassing beauty. Here and there the forest extended tothe very shore, and copal-trees, acacias with their stiff foliage,bauhinias clothed with lichen, fig-trees with their masses of pendantroots, and other trees of splendid growth rose to the height of ahundred feet, forming a shade which the rays of the sun utterly failedto penetrate.
Hercules could leave the boat without much fear ofdetection.]
Occasionally a wreath of creepers would form an arch from shore toshore, and on the 27th, to Jack's great delight, a group of monkeys wasseen crossing one of these natural bridges, holding on most carefullyby their tails, lest the aerial pathway should snap beneath theirweight. These monkeys, belonging to a smaller kind of chimpanzee, whichare known in Central Africa by the name of _sokos_, were hideouscreatures with low foreheads, bright yellow faces, and long, uprightears; they herd in troops of about ten, bark like dogs, and are muchdreaded by the natives on account of their alleged propensity to carryoff young children; there is no telling what predatory designs theymight have formed against Master Jack if they had spied him out, butDick's artifice effectually screened him from their observation.
Twenty miles further on the canoe came to a sudden standstill.
"What's the matter now, captain?" cried Hercules from the stern.
"We have drifted on to a grass barrier, and there is no hope for it, weshall have to cut our way through," answered Dick.
"All right, I dare say we shall manage it," promptly replied Hercules,leaving his rudder to come in front.
The obstruction was formed by the interlacing of masses of the tough,glossy grass known by the name of _tikatika_, which, when compressed,affords a surface so compact and resisting that travellers have beenknown by means of it to cross rivers dry-footed. Splendid specimens oflotus plants had taken root amongst the vegetation.
As it was nearly dark, Hercules could leave the boat without much fearof detection, and so effectually did he wield his hatchet that, in twohours after the stoppage, the barrier was hewn asunder, and the lightcraft resumed the channel.
It must be owned that it was with a sense of reluctance that Benedictfelt the boat was again beginning to move forward; the whole voyageappeared to him to be perfectly uninteresting and unnecessary; not asingle insect had he observed since he left Kazonnde, and his mostardent wish was that he could return there and regain possession of hisinvaluable tin box. But an unlooked for gratification was in store forhim.
Hercules, who had been his pupil long enough to have an eye for thekind of creature Benedict was ever trying to secure, on coming backfrom his exertions on the grass-barrier, brought a horrible-lookinganimal, and submitted it to the sullen entomologist.
"Is this of any use to you?"
The amateur lifted it up carefully, and having almost poked it into hisnear-sighted eyes, uttered a cry of delight,--
"Bravo, Hercules! you are making amends for your past mischief; it issplendid! it is unique!"
"Is it really very curious?" said Mrs. Weldon.
"Yes, indeed," answered the enraptured naturalist; "it is reallyunique; it belongs to neither of the ten orders; it can be classedneither with the coleoptera, neuroptera, nor to the hymenoptera: if ithad eight legs I should know how to classify it; I should place itamongst the second section of the arachnida; but it is a hexapod, agenuine hexapod; a spider with six legs; a grand discovery; it must beentered on the catalogue as 'Hexapodes Benedictus.'" Once againmounted on his hobby, the worthy enthusiast continued to discourse withan unwonted vivacity to his indulgent ii* not over attentive audience.
Meanwhile the canoe was steadily threading its way over the darkwaters, the silence of the night broken only by the rattle of thescales of some crocodiles, or by the snorting of hippopotamuses in theneighbourhood. Once the travellers were startled by a loud noise, suchas might proceed from some ponderous machinery in motion: it was causedby a troop of a hundred or more elephants that, after feasting throughthe day on the roots of the forest, had come to quench their thirst atthe river-side.
It was caused by a troop of a hundred or more elephants.]
But no danger was to be apprehended; lighted by the pale moon that roseover the tall trees, the canoe throughout the night pursued in safetyits solitary voyage.