SECRETS OF THE ANDES
by
JAMES FOSTER
The Saalfield Publishing CompanyAkron, Ohio New York
Copyright, MCMXXXIIIThe Saalfield Publishing Company
Printed in the United States of America
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THE EXPLORATION SERIES BY JAMES FOSTER CAPTURED BY THE ARABS LOST IN THE WILDS OF BRAZIL SECRETS OF THE ANDES THE FOREST OF MYSTERY
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE I Stranded 1 II The Aimless Wanderer 9 III Helplessly Trapped 17 IV The Surly Trainman 28 V As Guests of the Naturalist 37 VI The Big Surprise 42 VII Off for the Andes 48 VIII Caught in the Storm 62 IX A Fearful Discovery 69 X Train Robbers! 75 XI Chubby the Eater 82 XII The Pangs of _Soroche_ 93 XIII A Happy Reunion 101 XIV An Unexpected Displeasure 109 XV Attacked by Indians 118 XVI Just in Time 126 XVII The Old Man's Tale 133 XVIII Starting Into the Mountains 140 XIX A Terrible Sight 148 XX Difficulties of the Trail 158 XXI Danger at Hand 169 XXII The Deadly Snake 180 XXIII Descending Rapidly 186 XXIV The Big Secret 199 XXV Another Hidden Wonder 207 XXVI A Narrow Escape 214 XXVII Fighting Desperately 222 XXVIII Almost a Tragedy 230 XXIX The Horrible Beast 239
CHAPTER I
Stranded
"Look! The bridge is out! Stop the car--quick!" Bob Holton's voice wasunsteady as he gazed ahead at the place of danger.
Acting on the instant, Joe Lewis pushed the brake pedal to the floorand waited breathlessly, his mind filled with thoughts of tragedy.
The wheels of the small automobile locked, but the momentum carriedthe car on at a sickening pace. Despite the fact that the tires werenew, they slipped over the road easily.
An instant later the youths saw that the distance between themselvesand the washout was not great enough. In but a few seconds they wouldbe plunging down the embankment into the swollen river.
There was not a moment to lose. Opening the doors as rapidly aspossible, the chums jumped from the car and rolled over on the ground,their faces wet with perspiration.
And they were none too soon. The car sped on, reached the edge of theriver bank, and then plunged out of sight.
There was a loud splash as it struck the water, and then all wasquiet. The sun continued on its downward path, the faint wind playedthrough the trees. Nothing but two lone boys were left to tell of themisfortune.
"Well," sighed Joe, at last breaking the silence, "we sure had a toughbreak, didn't we?"
"Lucky to get off with our lives, though," Bob reminded him. "That wasabout the closest shave I've ever had. Wonder why the highwaycommission didn't put out a sign?"
"Probably didn't know the bridge was out. Not many cars go over thisroad, and it would not be exceptional for this to go unnoticed forquite a while."
"We'll sure make a report of it," said Bob, getting to his feet andbrushing off his mud-stained trousers.
Joe laughed unwillingly.
"That'll be like locking the barn after the horse has been stolen," hegrunted. "Come on," he went on, "let's go over to the river bank andsee if we can catch a glimpse of the coupe."
The youths walked over and stared into the swiftly moving water. Ithad rained in torrents two days before, and the river was now almosta rapids.
"Car's nowhere in sight," said Joe Lewis gloomily. "But"--his facelighting suddenly--"it's insured. So I guess there's no use worrying."
"Maybe not about the automobile. But how are we going to get back toWashington?"
"We'll have to hike to the main highway, I guess," Joe answered. "It'sabout five miles away, too."
The youths were returning to their homes in Washington, D. C., afterhaving spent a delightful week-end in Virginia. Their accident cameupon them in a rather out-of-the-way spot, a great number of milesfrom the city of their destination.
"If it hadn't been for that hill," remarked Joe, as he and his friendwalked back up the road, "we would have seen this place in time tostop the car."
"The hill is here, though," returned Bob with a grim smile. "So that'sthat."
The boys paused a moment at the spot where they had jumped from thedoomed automobile. With one last look at the washout, they turned andbegan climbing the grade.
"Five miles is a good distance to walk," grunted Joe, "especially whenwe want to get home before long."
"That last you said made the first all right," laughed Bob Holton,"because on the Sahara and in Brazil we often hiked, not five miles,but several times that far without stopping."
The friends were refreshed after the idle weekend trip and workedtheir legs like pistons. Despite their serious predicament, theyobserved the wonders of autumn with the eye of a nature lover.
Leaves of yellow and brown were lying about the ground in profusion,while others on the trees were almost ready to fall. There was a coolafternoon breeze that gave evidence of winter being not far off.
"Think there's a chance of getting a ride with somebody?" asked Joe,as the youths followed the curving road.
Bob shook his head.
"Fellows in this part of the country are pretty careful about pickingup strangers," he returned. "Too many stick-ups and robberies. Stillwe might see some soft-hearted person who would not be afraid to takea chance with us."
"The question is, though," began Joe, "will we get in with somebodybefore night? It's three o'clock now, and we may have to do a greatdeal of thumbing before anybody will stop and let us in."
The road wound through a rather isolated section, with only anoccasional farmhouse looming up from behind the trees. It was indeeda poor place to be stranded.
The sun was well down to the horizon when the youths finally reachedthe through highway. Although they had done their best, they had foundit difficult to avoid the many large mud puddles that often reachednearly across the road.
"Now to get down to business," said Bob, gazing far down the highway."We'll surely find a car before long that will pick us up."
"Here comes one now," observed Joe. "It'll be here before long. Comeon, let's get out farther."
The boys waited for the automobile to come nearer. Then they signaledthe driver. But the latter appeared to pay no attention to the youngmen. A moment later the car whizzed on up the road.
Bob and Joe looked at each other. Their faces clearly showed that theyexpected the worst.
"Could hardly blame him, though," remarked Bob. "So manyinnocent-faced crooks walk the highways that it's unsafe to pick upanyone."
"But you know the old proverb," grinned the other youth. "'If at firstyou don't succeed, try, try again.' According to that, we---- Look!Here comes another car. Maybe we'll have better luck this time."
Again the chums signaled, and were delighted to see that the car wascoming to a stop. At a motion from the driver, who was the onlyoccupant, they climbed inside.
"How far ye goin'?" the stranger asked. He was a short, fat man wholooked capable of great mirth.
"To Washington," replied Bob. "We had an accident with our car not farfrom here."
"Accident, hey? Not hurt,
I hope?"
"No. We were able to jump out in time. You see, we came unexpectedlyon a spot where the bridge was washed away. Caused by the recent rain,no doubt."
"Oh. Tough luck, wasn't it? And the machine--was it insured?"
"Luckily it was," replied Joe with a chuckle. "Though we may havetrouble in proving it."
"Fight it to the finish!" said the man, shifting his cud of tobacco tothe other side of his mouth. "If you have to, take it to court."
"I hardly think that will be necessary," Joe said with a smile. "Theinsurance company bears a good name."
"Wonder if this guy's Scotch?" mused Bob to himself. Only recently theyouth had read a good joke about a man of that nationality.
For the next half-hour the three carried on a varied conversation. Itwas at last broken as they neared a small town.
They had almost entered the city limits when a slowly moving freighttrain halted them. Reluctantly they settled back and waited.
"This will mean a big loss of time," remarked Joe, as he gazed fardown the track at the seemingly endless string of cars. "I'm anxiousto----"
"Listen!" commanded Bob, leaning forward wonderingly. "Did you hearanything? There it is again."
"It's a muffled cry for help, coming from one of those freight cars."Joe had opened the door of the sedan.
With a parting word for the driver, the youths left the automobile andran down the track, straining their ears for a repetition of the cry.
"There it is again!" declared Joe. "Sounds like a young boy. In thatthird freight car up there."
Summoning all their strength, the youths ran on until they wereopposite the box car. It was easy to keep abreast with the train,moving as slowly as it was.
The door was pushed back about three feet, leaving barely enough roomfor the youths to clamber up into the car. Their efforts were not invain, however, and soon they found themselves inside.
"Where are you?" called Joe, glancing about at the scores of boxes andbarrels.
"Here!" a faint reply came from a far corner.
At once the youths turned in that direction, searching for apassageway between the many objects that filled the car. At last theywere within a few feet of the corner. But it was not possible topenetrate farther, for a large pile of heavy crates barred the way.
"Let's get these to one side," said Bob, and for the next few minutesthe young men worked furiously.
Finally they made an opening sufficient for them to pass through.
"Now we'll see who's here," muttered Joe Lewis.
The youths worked their way through the passage, their eyes trying topierce the darkness.
Suddenly they drew back with a cry of surprise.