CHAPTER XVI.
INDIANS?
“What can be the matter?” was the exclamation that burst from theprofessor’s lips.
“Something serious,” declared Mr. Tubbs. “Take a rifle and we’ll findout.”
Hastily selecting a weapon each, the two friends plunged into theforest in the direction from whence the shots had come.
“It’s ahead there, somewhere!” panted the professor, as the sound of amighty threshing and struggling amidst the undergrowth came to theirears.
Neither the professor nor Mr. Tubbs was in the least faint-hearted, butthey crept through the forest with some caution. If the boys had beenattacked by enemies, they reasoned the best thing to do would be togive their foes no opportunity of observing the approach ofre-enforcements.
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They came on a scene that, for an instant, almostdeprived them of their breath.]
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But, as the noise grew louder, they hesitated no longer, but pressedright on. Suddenly, on emerging into an open space where the growth hadbeen flattened out in every direction, they came on a scene that, foran instant, almost deprived them of their breath.
In the midst of the open space, Nat and Joe were bending over the formof Ding-dong, who was stretched on the ground, seemingly unconscious.Not far off, an immense snake, which must have been fully fifteen feetlong, was lashing wildly about in its death agonies.
“Oh, professor!” cried Nat, as he saw the newcomers, “we’re so glad youhave come. Ding-dong was attacked by that serpent and badly crushed. Itwas only by firing at the creature that we managed to save his life.”
“Is he badly hurt?” choked out Joe anxiously.
The professor, who had been bending over the unconscious lad, shook hishead.
“Merely shock, and possibly a sudden weakening of the heart,” he said.Taking a small vial from a pocket medicine-case, the professor forcedsome of its contents between Ding-dong’s lips. In a few moments the boywas able to sit up and take notice of things about him.
By this time the convulsive dying movements of the snake had ceased,and it lay still.
“Ugh! What a monster!” shuddered Ding-dong. “I can feel his terriblefolds around me yet.”
As usual, when under the stress of emotion, Ding-dong’s hesitatingmanner of speech had left him, and he enunciated quite plainly.
“How did it happen?” asked the professor.
“I was looking for wood,” explained Ding-dong, “and thought I had founda f-f-f-fi-fine c-c-chunk of timber. But w-w-when I pu-pu-put my handon it, the ber-ber-blessed thing turned out to be a snake. I yelled atthe top of my voice, and started to run, but before I had gone far Itripped and fell. The n-n-n-n-next instant the snake had me.”
“Joe and I were a short distance off,” chimed in Nat, taking up thestory, “and heard Ding-dong’s yell. We hurried to him, and you canimagine how horrified we were to see him struggling with that serpent.Joe raised his rifle, but then lowered it again. He was scared to shootat the snake for fear of hitting Ding-dong. But at last we saw achance. I fired once and Joe twice.”
“And all three bullets penetrated the brute in and about the head,”struck in Mr. Tubbs, who had been examining the snake.
“So they did,” declared the professor, as he and the boys joined theruddy-headed one; “good shooting, boys. This snake is of the boavariety. They are common all along this coast, but usually they arethickest near rivers. As a rule, they will not attack human beings,although cases have been recorded of their doing so. I imagine that itwas Master Bell’s having grabbed him that angered his snakeship. Shallwe take the skin for a souvenir?”
“N-n-n-no, thank you,” stuttered Ding-dong, “it will be no trouble tore-re-remember that f-f-f-fellow without having to l-l-l-look at hisskin.”
“I agree with you,” said Mr. Tubbs. “I guess we’ll leave him here for awhile. It won’t be long before some animal or other makes away with it.”
Leaving the repulsive looking carcass on the ground, they set out toreturn to the _Discoverer_.
“Well, all is well that ends well,” said the professor, as they trampedalong; “at first I had a dreadful fear that you lads had been attackedby Indians.”
“Indians!” exclaimed Nat. “Are there Indians in this part of Bolivia?”
“Oh, yes; several tribes,” was the rejoinder.
“Are they savage?” inquired Joe.
“I am sorry to say that they are. In other parts some of the nativeshave been converted to Christianity, but the natives of this sectionare fierce and warlike. I hope we shall manage to steer clear of them.”
“What is the tribe called?” asked Nat.
“They are known as the Caripunas,” was the rejoinder. “The earlyJesuits had much trouble with them, and they have ever since remainedin a more or less wild and hostile state. They are very much averse tohaving any one enter their country, and that was one of the minorreasons why this trip was made by means of the dirigible.”
“Their country!” echoed Joe. “I should think the Bolivian governmentwould send a regiment up here and subdue the rascals.”
“Several such expeditions have been despatched,” was the response, “butthe fate of all has been the same. Several months after their departurethe remainder of the force has come straggling home, more dead thanalive, to tell a tale of death and defeat.”
“But how can Indians cope with civilized troops?” Nat wanted to know.
“For one thing, they are inured to the hardships of the forest,”rejoined the professor; “for another, these Bolivian Indians wage warwith poisoned arrows shot from long blow guns. A man usually dies in afew minutes after such an arrow has struck him, unless medicalattention is at hand. Armed with these weapons, the Indians creep up ontheir foes and noiselessly decimate an entire force. It is in this waythat the Indians have managed to reserve this part of the country forthemselves and keep the hated white man out of it.”
The boys looked rather grave as they continued their tramp back to the_Discoverer_.
“Looks to me as if we were in for a more exciting time than webargained for,” observed Nat to Joe.
“I guess you are right,” rejoined Joe. “A battle with Indians whoemploy such deadly weapons does not appeal to me.”
“Oh, I guess we’ll get through without trouble,” exclaimed Nat. “At anyrate, if we are attacked, we can climb aboard the good old _Discoverer_and soon be out of range.”
“That’s so,” agreed Joe, and the lads dismissed the matter from theirminds; but whether Nat’s surmise was correct or not, we shall see indue time.