CHAPTER XVII
Terrible Peccaries
"Run!" cried Bob in tones of mortal terror.
He tore down the path at full speed, closely followed by Joe, who waspanting furiously.
The youths had a start of less than fifty feet, but how long theycould keep in the lead they well knew, for hardly any creature, largeor small, could elude the tireless chase of peccaries.
They dared not glance back for fear of stumbling, but feared that thewild pigs were gaining rapidly.
What would the boys do? How could they ever escape that furious drove?
Suddenly Joe's foot slipped and he went down, his face as pale asdeath. He looked appealingly to Bob.
Bob wheeled about and brought his rifle to his shoulder. The nearestpeccary was not more than ten feet away. The youth took hasty aim,then pulled the trigger.
At the report of the gun the animal fell, gasping and writhing about.
Bob worked the bolt on his rifle. He took a second aim at the nextpeccary and killed it.
For a moment, at least, the jungle was cleared, and by now Joe hadarisen to his feet, although the pain in his ankle was terrific.
"Come on," beckoned Bob. "We must get away at once. The rest of themwill be here in a moment. Can you make it?"
"I--I guess so. My ankle hurts terribly, though."
Not far away there was a large hollow, the place where the roots of atree had been before a hurricane had uprooted them. To this the boysmade with all speed. If they could only reach it in time there mightbe a chance of escape, for the peccaries would find it hard to climbthe steep bank.
The youths scrambled down the edge and tumbled to the bottom. Thenthey began the task of climbing the opposite side. They reached thetop just as the drove started down, and for the first time felt thatthey had a good chance of escaping.
"Make for the trail," panted Joe. "Then we might get back to thevillage."
They kept up the fast pace for a distance of several hundred yards,and then, panting and gasping, they slowed down to a trot.
"Guess we've thrown them off the track," breathed Joe, hobbling alongalmost on one foot.
"Let's hope so," Bob answered, glancing around for a brief moment.
At last they parted the foliage and burst into the village, theirfaces red with fatigue, their bodies dripping with perspiration.
Mr. Lewis came out to meet them, and he glanced up in some surprise.
"What happened?" he asked, sensing that the youths had met with somemisfortune.
"Peccaries!" returned Bob. "A drove of peccaries! Doesn't that meansomething?"
"Ah!" the naturalist exclaimed. "Well, it's no wonder you're so wornout. Let's hear about it."
Mr. Holton and Professor Bigelow now came running out, along with afew Indians.
Bob related their narrow escape from the wild pigs, and Mr. Holtonshook his head gravely.
"You don't want any more such encounters," he said. "Good luck likethat couldn't happen twice."
"At that, we would have got away sooner if Joe hadn't sprained hisankle," said Bob.
"A sprained ankle is a bad thing to have when in a wild land," saidProfessor Bigelow, with a grim smile. "It often proves one's ownundoing. But now," he added, "I'm off to converse with the chief. I'mgetting a wealth of information about these strange people."
But though he was meeting with success, the professor was destined notto be satisfied in prolonging his stay in this village. It happened inthis way. The explorers were seated about the campfire one eveningwhen the chief happened casually to mention a strange Indian tribethat lived in the remote beyond. At once the anthropologist was on thealert, ready to hear anything that Otari might say.
"Tell me something about them," urged the scientist in the nativetongue.
The chief explained that little was known about the tribe, except thatthe members were extremely warlike and did not hesitate to kill anyonethat looked to be an enemy. Often they were cannibalistic, boilingtheir victims in huge clay kettles. Asked how he knew about them,Otari replied that one of his tribe, a born rover and adventurer,happened to come across them when on an exploring expedition in theupper reaches of the river. At first he was taken prisoner but waslater released and allowed to return down the river.
For nearly five minutes after Otari had finished, Professor Bigelowwas thoughtfully silent, absorbed in picturing the journey into theunknown. How wonderful it would be to visit this strange tribe! Whatan opportunity to win recognition from eminent men of his profession!
"How far away is this place?" he asked at last.
How far? A journey of many, many days through wild, heavily forestedcountry. It would not be safe to attempt the journey.
The professor then asked the chief how he thought the unknown tribewould treat the explorers, and the big Indian shook his headdoubtfully.
"_Otanima turutee nevark_ [take big chance]," he said vaguely, andthen proceeded to point out the many dangers that would accompany theventure.
But despite the Indian's warning, Professor Bigelow was determined toinvestigate this unknown tribe. It was more than likely that Otariwas influenced by native superstition and that the dangers that hefeared were largely imaginative. After all he (Professor Bigelow) hadlooked up many other strange people in various parts of the world andhad had little difficulty in winning their good will. Even the wildestof savages, if well treated and presented with gifts, were more orless easily won over. Surely this tribe would not be worse than othershe had visited.
Professor Bigelow sought out his companions and put the facts beforethem, not hesitating to tell them that the venture would probably bedangerous and fraught with displeasures. But he pointed out muchstronger that there would be a wonderful opportunity to study the mostprimitive of men, in addition to finding many strange, or perhapsunknown, animals.
The others listened intently, and in the end they were verythoughtful.
Bob and Joe remained silent. Here was a time when they thought it bestnot to voice an opinion, for they had had no experience in the work ofexploring.
"If it were not for the fact that the boys are with us I would answer'yes' at once," said Mr. Lewis. "But since they are, I hardly knowwhat to say."
"It would be terrible if anything should happen to them," put in Mr.Holton. "But they have proven that they are able to take care ofthemselves in almost any predicament, and we wouldn't need to worryabout them. Still, that wouldn't prevent anything from happening tothe whole party. Yet Professor Bigelow has shown that he has anenormous amount of ability to handle savage people, and I'd be willingto bet that in the end we'd come out all right. What do you think ofit, Ben?"
"I'm willing to go if you are," Mr. Lewis replied. "As you said, we'llprobably have little or no trouble."
"Then you'll go?" the professor asked.
The others nodded.
"Fine! I assure you that I will do all in my power to bring aboutfriendly relations. And I might add that Otari has consented to giveme a list of words of the strange tribe's language. He got them fromthe fellow that wandered into their domain.
"Now the next thing," he continued, "is to get our belongings togetherand pack them in the boats. You can start doing that now, while I lookup Otari. I'll be back in a very short time."
The next minute he was gone, and the naturalists and their sons beganthe task of packing their provisions in the boats. For some time noone spoke. Then Mr. Lewis put down a box he was carrying and turned tothe others.
"We don't want to have any bloodshed if we can possibly prevent it,"he said gravely. "But there may be a time when we'll find it necessaryto use our rifles in order to protect our lives. In that case, everyman must be depended upon to be wide awake and do his part in theshooting. Let's hope that nothing like that happens, but as there is apossibility, it is best to be on the safe side. I think it might bewise to construct sides and a top on the boats, so as to ward offspears and poisoned arrows--if any should come our way. We can get theIndians to he
lp us, and Otari will point out the best wood to use.What do you say?"
"I'm all for it," replied Bob. "It might mean the difference betweenlife and death."
Professor Bigelow and Otari now came in, and the plan was explainedto them. At once the professor gave his approval, and translated tothe chief, who in the end sent men into the forest to pick out thebest wood to be used in building the enclosure. Then the work ofcarrying the expedition's belongings to the boats was resumed.
In a short time the Indians were back with a good supply of a lightbut tough wood, and the adventurers at once set to work at buildingthe sides and top on the boats.
First the sides were built up to a height of about three feet; then atop was placed over about half of the length and fastened on securely.The material was so light that no difference in the standing of theboat was noticed. Yet Otari said that the tough wood would withstand ablow from any kind of native weapon. To prove this, he ordered one ofhis men to shoot an arrow at close range, and the sharp-pointedmissile merely glanced off the wood and fell into the river.
The explorers were well pleased with this floating fort, and stood forsome time admiring its staunch construction.
"Now to get to the other boat," said Mr. Lewis, picking up a hammerand nails.
In less than an hour the second enclosure was built on the othercanoe, and it appealed also to the explorers.
"Let's get started at once," said Professor Bigelow.
The last of their belongings was packed into the compartments, andthen, with a sincere farewell to Otari and his tribe, the crew paddledthem upstream on another stretch of the great river journey.
What new adventures and thrills awaited them?