Chapter 25. The Woodland Foes

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_ CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. THE WOODLAND FOES

They took the same path without much difficulty, Shaddy tracing it carefully step by step; and for a time Rob eagerly joined in the tracing, every now and then pointing out a place where they had broken a twig or displaced a bough; but after a time the gloom of the forest began to oppress him, and a strange sensation of shrinking from penetrating farther forced him to make a call upon himself and think of the words uttered before they recommenced their search.

For there was always the feeling upon him that at any moment danger might be lurking thus in their way, and that the next moment they might be face to face with death.

"But that's all selfishness," he forced himself to think. "We have to find Mr Brazier."

This fresh loss to a certain extent obliterated the other trouble, and there were times when poor Giovanni was completely forgotten, though at others Rob found himself muttering,--

"Poor Joe! and now poor Mr Brazier! Whose turn will it be next? And those at home will never know of our fate."

But it generally happened that at these most depressing times something happened to make a fresh call upon his energies. Now it would be a fault in the tracking, their way seeming to be quite obliterated. Now Shaddy would point out marks certainly not made by them; for flowers of the dull colourless kind, which flourished so sickly here in these shades, had been broken-off, as if they had been examined, and then been thrown aside: convincing proofs that Brazier had been botanising there, collecting, and casting away objects unworthy of his care.

At one spot, unnoticed on their return, quite a bunch of curious growths lay at the foot of a huge buttressed tree, where there were indications of some one having lain down for a time as if to rest. Farther on, at the side of a tree, also unnoticed before, a great liana had been torn away from a tree trunk, so that it looked as if it had been done by one who climbed; and Shaddy said, with a satisfied smile,--

"He's been along here, Mr Rob, sure enough. Keep a good heart, sir; we're getting cleverer at tracking."

On they went in silence, forcing their way between the trees, with the forest appearing darker than ever, save here and there, where, so sure as a little light penetrated, with it came sound. Now it was the hum of insect life in the sunshine far above their heads; now it was the shrieking or twittering of birds busy feasting on fruit, and twice over an angry chattering told them that they had monkeys for their companions high overhead; but insect, bird, and the strangely agile creatures which leaped and swung among the boughs, were for the most part invisible, and they toiled on.

All at once Rob raised the bow he carried, and touched Shaddy sharply on the shoulder.

"Eh? what's the matter, my lad?" cried the man, turning quickly.

"Look! Don't you see?" whispered Rob. "There, by that patch of green light? Some one must have climbed up that green liana which hangs from the bough. It is swinging still. Do you think a monkey has just been up it, or is it some kind of wild cat?"

Shaddy uttered his low chuckling laugh as he stood still leaning upon his bamboo staves.

"If it had been a cat we should have seen a desperate fight, my lad," he replied. "If it was a monkey I'm sorry for him. He must have gone up outside and come down in. Why, can't you see what it is?"

"A great liana, one of those tough creeper things. Look how curiously it moves still! Some one's dragging at the end. No, it isn't. Oh, Shaddy, it's a great serpent hanging from the bough!"

"That's more like it, my lad. Look! You can see its head now."

In effect the long, hideous-looking creature raised its head from where it had been hidden by the growth below, twisted and undulated about for a few moments, and then lifted it more and more till it could reach the lower part of the bough from which it hung, and then, gradually contracting its body into curves and loops, gathered itself together till it hung in a mass from the branch.

"Not nice-looking things, Mr Rob, sir. Puts me in mind of those we saw down by the water, but this looks like a different kind to them."

"Will--will it attack us?" said Rob in a hoarse whisper.

"Nay, not it. More likely to hurry away and hide, unless it is very hungry or can't get out of the road. Then it might."

"But we can't pass under that."

"Well, no, Mr Rob, sir; it don't look like a sensible sort of thing to do, though it seems cowardly to sneak away from a big land-eel sort of a thing. What do you say? Shall we risk it and let go at my gentleman with our sticks if he takes any notice of us, or go round like cowards?"

"Go round like cowards," said Rob decisively.

"Right!" said Shaddy, who carefully took his bearings again, and, in order to have something at which he could gaze back so as to start again in the direction by which they had come, he broke a bough short off with a loud crack.

The effect was instantaneous on the serpent.

The moment before the whole body had hung in heavy loops from the bough, but at the first snap every part of it appeared to be in motion, and, as dimly seen, one fold glided slowly over another, with a curious rustling sound.

Rob made a start as if to dash off, but checked himself, and glanced at Shaddy, who was watching him; and the boy felt the colour flush into his cheeks, and a curious sense of annoyance came over him at the thought that his companion was looking upon him as a coward.

"It's all right, my lad," said the guide quietly; "you needn't mind me. You're a bit scared, and nat'rally. Who wouldn't be if he wasn't used to these things? I was horribly afraid of the one I first saw, and, for the matter of that, so I was about the next; but I've seen so many big snakes that, so long as I can keep at a little distance, they don't trouble me much. You see, they're not very dangerous to man, and always get out of his way if they have a chance. There's been a lot said about their 'tacking folk; and if you were to rouse that gentleman I daresay he'd seize you, and, if he got a hold for his tail, twist round and squeeze you to death; but you leave him alone and give him anything of a chance, he'll show you the tip of his tail much sooner than he'll show you his head. Look here!"

Shaddy looked round and picked up a short piece of a branch, which he was about to throw, but the boy caught his arm.

"Don't make it angry," he said in a whisper. "The horrible thing may come at us."

"I'm not going to make it angry," said Shaddy; "I'm going to make it afraid," and he hurled the piece of mouldering wood with so good an aim that it struck the branch near where the serpent was coiling itself more closely and flew to pieces.

The serpent threw itself down with a crashing sound amongst the dense undergrowth beneath, and disappeared from their sight.

"There," said Shaddy, "that's the way, you see. Gone?"

"No, no. Look out, Shaddy; it's coming this way," cried Rob excitedly, as a rustling was heard, and directly after there was a low hiss; and the movement among the twigs and dried leaves told that the creature was coming toward them.

Whether it was coming straight for where they stood neither of them stopped to see, but hurried off onward in the direction of the spot where they had seen the marks upon the leaf, and in a very short time the forest was silent again.

"Was not that a very narrow escape, Shaddy?" said Rob at last.

"No, my lad, I think not. Some people would say it was, and be ready to tell no end of cock-and-bull stories about what that serpent was going to do; but I've never known them play any games except once, and then the creature only acted according to its nature. It was in a sort of lake place, half pool, half river, and pretty close to the sea. It was near a gentleman's plantation, and the black folk used to go down every day to bathe. This they did pretty regularly till one day while they were romping about in the shallow water, which only came up to their middles, one of them shouted for help, saying that a 'gator had got hold of her, and then laughed. The others took no notice, because it was a 'sterical sort of laugh, as they call it, and thought she was playing tricks; but all at once they saw that she was struggling hard and being drawn backwards. That was enough. They all made a rush and caught hold of her arms just as she was being slowly drawn down lower, and when they dragged her nearer the shore, whatever it was that held her yielded a little, though it still hung on to the poor girl; while as they got her nearer a shriek rose, and every one nearly let go, for the head of a big snake was drawn right out of the water, but at the next snatch it loosed its hold and dropped back with a splash."

They were by this time approaching the spot where they had seen the marks, and Shaddy advanced more cautiously, scanning every leaf and twig before he stepped forward for signs of him they sought. Here and there he was able to point out marks such as Mr Brazier might have made-- marks that had been passed over during their journey in the other direction. For there were places where he had evidently torn down leaves, mosses, and curious shade-loving growths, some of which he had carelessly tossed aside, and in one case the fragment thrown down was about half of the bulb of an orchid, whose home had been upon the mossy limb of a great tree overhead.

"He has been by here, sure enough, Mr Rob," said Shaddy in a subdued voice; "and, between ourselves, it was quite a bit of madness for him to come right out here alone. Now then, sir, keep a sharp look-out, and let's see if we can't find the spots straight off. They were pretty nigh, I think."

"Just there, I think," said Rob, looking excitedly round and pointing to a darker patch of the great forest where they were.

"Nay, it wasn't dark like that, my lad," replied Shaddy. "It was more hereabouts."

"Are you sure, Shaddy?"

"Pretty tidy, sir. No, I'm not. Seems to me that you are right, and yet it was this side of that great tree. I remember it now, the one with the great branch hanging right to the ground."

"I don't remember it, Shaddy," said Rob. "But I do, sir. It had a bunch of those greeny-white, sickly-looking plants growing underneath it, and we shall know it by them."

"Then it isn't the right one, Shaddy; we must try again."

"But it is the right one, my lad. It's bad enough work to find a tree in this great dark place. Don't say it isn't right when I've found it. Come now, look. Ain't I right?"

"Yes, Shaddy, right," said Rob as he looked up and saw the faded orchids hanging beneath the branch. "Then the place is close here somewhere."

"You're almost standing upon it, Mr Rob," said Shaddy. "You see, I have hit the spot," he continued, with a look of triumph. "There, I will not be proud of it, for it comes very easy to find your way like this after a bit of practice. There you are, you see; so now where to go next?"

"I don't know," cried Rob despondently. "Can't you see any fresh traces for us to follow?"

Shaddy set off, with his face as near to the ground as he could manage, and searched all round the spot where the stained leaf lay, but without effect; and after a few moments' examination he started off again, making a wider circle, but with no better result.

"Can't have been anything to do with a wild beast, my lad," he said in a low, awe-stricken voice, "or some signs must have been left. It's a puzzler. He was here--there's no doubt about that--and we've got to find him. I'll make a bigger cast round, and see what that will do."

"Can you find your way back here?" asked Rob anxiously.

"I must," replied Shaddy, with quiet confidence in his tones. "It won't do to lose you as well."

He started again, walking straight on for a couple of hundred yards through the trees and then striking off to his left to form a fresh circle right outside the first, and at the end of five minutes Rob, who stood by the great tree listening for every sound and wondering whether his companion would find his way back, and if he did not what he would do, heard a cry.

For the moment he thought it was for help, but it was repeated, and realising that it was an animal's, he started forward in the direction of the sound, though only to halt the moment after in alarm and look back. At the end of a few seconds he set it down to fancy and went on again, but only to stop once more, for there was a rustling sound behind him; and he awoke at once to the fact that the noise could only have been made by some wild beast stealing softly after him, stalking him, in fact, and preparing to make a spring and bring him down.

Rob felt the perspiration ooze out of every pore as he stood looking back in the direction of the sound, which ceased as soon as he halted. He would have given anything to have held a gun in his hands and been able to discharge it amongst the low growth where the animal was hidden, but he was as good as helpless with only the bow and an arrow or two; and he stood waiting till he started, for he heard Shaddy's cry again, and in a fit of desperation he shouted aloud in answer, and sprang forward to try and reach his side.

But as he made his way onward there again was the soft stealing along of his pursuer, whatever it was, for though he tried hard to pierce the low growth, the gloom was so deep that he never once obtained a glimpse of the animal.

Again Shaddy shouted, and he answered, the cry sounding not a hundred yards away; and in the hope that their voices might have the power of scaring the enemy, he shouted again, and was answered loudly and far nearer, making him give a rush forward in his desperation, and following it up with a gasp of agony, for there was a fierce roar through the forest on his left.

It seemed as if the animal, in dread of losing him by his forming a junction with his friend, had bounded on to get between them and crouch ready to spring upon him; but Rob could not hold back now, and pressed forward.

"Shaddy," he shouted--"Shaddy, there is some wild beast close here."

"Wait a bit, my lad," was shouted back; and the crushing and rustling of boughs told of Shaddy's coming, while Rob faced round now, staring wildly at a dark part among the trees where he thought he saw the undergrowth move but not daring to stir, from the feeling that if he did turn his back the beast would spring upon him and bring him down.

Thought after thought flashed like lightning through his brain, and in imagination he saw himself seized and bleeding, just as Mr Brazier must have been, for he felt sure now that this had been his fate.

It was a nightmare-like sensation which paralysed him, so that, though he heard Shaddy approaching and then calling to him, he could neither move nor answer, only stand crouching there by a huge tree, with the bow held before him and an arrow fitted ready to fly, fascinated by the danger in front.

He could not see it, but there was no doubt of its presence, and that it was hiding, crouched, ready to bound out, every movement suggesting that it was some huge cat-like creature, in all probability a jaguar, nearly as fierce and strong as a tiger. For at every rustle and crash through the wood made by Shaddy there was a low muttering growl and a sound as if the creature's legs were scratching and being gathered together for a spring.

Rob felt this, and stood motionless, thinking that his only chance of safety lay in gazing straight at the creature's hiding-place and believing that as long as he remained motionless the animal would not spring.

"Hi! where are you, my lad?" said Shaddy, from close at hand; but Rob's lips uttered no sound. He felt a slight exhilaration at the proximity of his companion, but he could not say, "Here!" and the next minute Shaddy spoke again, depressing the lad's spirits now, for the voice came from farther away. Again he shouted, "Hi! why don't you answer? Where are you, lad?" but Rob heard the earth being torn up by the fierce animal's claws, and now even heard its breathing, and his voice died away again as a choking sensation attacked his throat.

And there he crouched, hearing the help for which he had called come close to him, pass him, and go right away till Shaddy's anxious cries died out in the solemn distance of the forest, leaving him alone to face death in one of its most terrible forms.

He knew he could launch the arrow at the beast, and that at such close quarters he ought to, and probably would hit it, but a frail reed arrow was not likely to do more than spur the creature into fierce anger.

He could see it all in advance. A jaguar was only a huge cat, and he would be like a rat in its claws, quite as helpless; and he shuddered and felt faint for a few moments. But now that he was entirely alone, far from help, and self-dependent, a change came over him. He knew that he must fight for life; he felt as if he could defend himself; and, with his nerve returning, his lips parted to utter a shout.

But he did not cry, for he knew that Shaddy was too far off to hear him, and with a feeling of desperation now as he recalled that he had his keen knife in his pocket, he loosened his hold of his arrow and thrust in his hand to withdraw the weapon, seized the blade in his teeth, and dragged it open.

"He shall not kill me for nothing," he thought, and he stood on his guard, for his movements excited the animal to action, and with a roar and a rush it sprang right out from the undergrowth to within three yards of him, but, instead of crouching and springing again, it stood up before him, with its back slightly arched, lashing its sides gently with its long tail.

It was no spotted jaguar, with teeth bared, but, as dimly seen there in the semi-darkness of the forest, a noble-looking specimen of the puma family, and, to Rob's astonishment, it made no sign of menace, but remained in the spot to which it had sprung, watching him.

And here for quite a minute they stood face to face, till, with a faint cry of wonder, the lad exclaimed,--

"Why, it must be my puma! And it has followed us all along by the banks to here."

Then came thought after thought, suggesting that it must have been the footprints of this beast which they had seen over and over again by the side of their fire; that it was this animal which had crept to him when he was asleep; that it kept in hiding when he was with his companions, but that it had been tracking him till he was alone, and that after all he had nothing to fear.

But still he was afraid and uncertain, so that some time elapsed during which the puma stood writhing its tail, watching him before he could summon up courage enough to take a step forward.

He made that step at last, knowing that if he were mistaken the animal would at once draw back and make for a spring; but, instead of moving, the puma raised its tail erect, making the three or four inches at the end twine a little, and the next minute Rob was talking to it softly, with his hand upon its head, when the animal began to give forth a curious sound somewhat resembling a purr and pressed up against him.

"Poor old chap, then!" cried Rob; "and I was frightened of you, when all you wanted to do was to make friends. Why, you are a fine fellow, then."

His words were accompanied by caresses, and these were evidently approved of, the puma crouching down and finally lying on its side, while Rob knelt beside it and found that he might make free with it to any extent.

Then, suddenly recollecting how Shaddy was hunting for him and their object, he sprang to his feet, and placing his hands to his mouth, sent forth as loud a shout as he could give.

As he sprang up the puma also leaped to its feet, watching him in a startled way.

Rob shouted again, and as a reply came from not far distant a low growl arose from the animal by his side.

But he shouted again, and an answer came from much nearer, when with one bound the animal sprang out of sight amongst the trees, and though Rob called to it again and again in the intervals of answering Shaddy's cries, there was not a sound to suggest the creature's presence.

"It's afraid of Shaddy," Rob concluded, and feeling bound to continue his signals, he kept on till his companion joined him.

"Why, my lad," cried the latter, "I thought I'd lost you too," and as soon as Rob had explained the reason for his silence, "Enough to make you, lad. But that's right enough. He's took a fancy to you. Only hope he won't show fight at me, because if he does I shall have to hit hard for the sake of Shadrach Naylor; but if he's for giving the friendly hand, why so am I. But come along; we mustn't be belated here. I've found fresh signs of Mr Brazier while I was hunting you."

"You have?" cried Rob joyfully.

"Yes, my lad, not much; but I came upon a spot where he had been breaking down green-stuff."

"Since he--met with that accident?" said Rob hesitatingly.

"Ah, that's what I can't say, Mr Rob, sir. Let's get to it, and try and follow up his trail. No; we can't do it to-day. We must get back to the hut to-night, and all we can do is to take the spot I came to on the way. We shall only get there before dark as it is."

"Oh, but we can't leave him alone in the forest--perhaps wounded and unable to find his way out."

"But we must, my lad," said the guide firmly. "We can do him no more good by sleeping here than by sleeping there under cover."

"Who can think of sleeping, Shaddy, at a time like this?"

"Natur' says we must sleep, Mr Rob, and eat too, or we shall soon break down. Come along, my lad; there's always the hope that we may find him back at camp after all."

"But he must be wanting our help, Shaddy," said Rob sadly.

"Yes, my lad, and if he can, camp's the place where he'll go to look for it, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then we ought to be there to-night in case he comes to it. So now then let's start at once. Sun goes down pretty soon, and I've got to take you by a round to where he broke down those flowers. Ready?"

"Yes," said Rob sadly; and they made a fresh start. _

Read next: Chapter 26. In Painful Quest

Read previous: Chapter 24. A Gap In The Ranks

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