CHAPTER XX
A JUNGLE ADVENTURE
So fast had the flyers in the Sky-Bird come across the western part ofthe African continent, at its greatest bulge, that, coupled with theirvery brief stop in Kuka, they found they were starting out for Aden,Arabia, with a gain of approximately seven hours upon their lost timeof fourteen hours in Freetown. They were now, therefore, just sevenhours behind schedule--perhaps a little more than that behind theirrivals,--but in the very fact that they were cutting down both items,they felt vastly encouraged, and as the airplane headed eastward acrossLake Chad there was only one thing to worry them to any extent.
This was the need of water; that is, all felt that the need wouldbecome an urgent one before daylight should come and a chance be givento land and replenish the limited amount which they knew must now be inthe radiator, owing to the impossibility of getting water as expectedat Kuka.
John was at the throttle, with Tom assisting. Paul and Bob wereplaying with Grandpa, still too excited over their recent adventure toturn in and get some sleep, as John said they ought to do. After alittle while they turned their attention to studying the chart andschedule. Frequently they compared notes, and now and then jotted downsome figures on a pad.
"Do you know, John," observed Paul, looking up very cheerfully, "thatif we continue to travel at the rate we did between Freetown and Kukawe shall make up all lost time by morning, and arrive at Aden about onschedule?"
"You don't say!" exclaimed John.
"You kids have made a mistake," informed Tom disbelievingly.
"No mistake about it," protested Bob; "it's an out-and-out fact."
"Well, that's cheerful news, then," said Tom. "I know we hit her up towell over two hundred an hour coming across to Kuka."
"And we'll do as much on this stretch, if our water only holds out,"declared John determinedly.
"That's the rub," put in Paul. "I'm sure it won't hold out, and if wework right up to the last drop, I'm afraid we may have to make a forcedlanding, and that may be in the tops of the trees, for all we know."
"Or on an elephant's back," added Bob jocosely.
"Well, I don't know but that we had better try to make a landing assoon as we come to a favorable spot where there is water," remarkedJohn. "It is a fine moonlight night, and if we strike the right placeI think we can make the ground. In a pinch, you know, we can use oursearchlight."
"Speaking about searchlights--oh my! oh, my! will I ever forget howfrightened those blacks were?" And Paul laughed until the tears cameinto his eyes, now that the tension was off. Tom joined him until bothof them staggered and bumped together, causing Grandpa to set up anexcited chatter of inquiry.
John kept the Sky-Bird low, down to less than a thousand feet, aftercrossing the lower neck of Lake Chad, for the chart showed no markedelevations which would make flying at that height hazardous, and it wascertain that the closer they were to the earth the better they coulddetect a favorable place to land.
It was really a beautiful night, and they opened the cabin windowsafter a while to enjoy the soft balmy air to the full. The wind thenrushed through the cabin like a hurricane, roaring so that conversationwas out of order; but they enjoyed its cool touch on their hot faces.
One by one the stars had made their appearance, until now the heavensfairly glittered with them. How pretty they looked up there in thegreat blue vault in which they seemed the choicest settings of anangel's handiwork! Somehow they seemed to sparkle more brightly, andthe sky seemed a richer cobalt, than the sky the boys knew at home.But they missed many of the stars which they loved in America. Theswift airplane in which they rode had taken them, day by day, and nightby night, away from them. Many stars which were unknown to them hadtaken their places, and they realized more strongly than all thepictures in the world could have shown them how very unlike were theskies of the northern and southern hemispheres.
One of the most striking sights to them now was the constellation ofthe Cross, commonly known by mariners as the Southern Cross, and whichis composed of four brilliant stars. Sirius, Canopus, and Centaur alsofilled a part of the heavens with their splendid light. Mars, Venus,Saturn, and Jupiter were old friends in new surroundings, and were alldazzlingly dressed. The part of the Milky Way between the stars Siriusand Centaur was so rich in stars and crowded nebula: that it seemed aperfect blaze of illumination. And there were the Magellanic clouds,white-looking patches made up of countless stars individually unseen tothe naked eye, and nebulae--mists of radiating light--all shiningbrilliantly and revolving around the starless South Pole. To thenorthward was the constellation of the Great Bear, which reaches itsmeridian altitude about the same time as the constellations of theCross and the Centaur. As the boys looked, stars appeared anddisappeared. They were like a succession of guests, coming and going.
After a while, the flyers saw a small river glinting in the moonlightand running along for the most part in the direction they were taking.
"The first time we come to a level, open spot along this stream we willtry for a landing," stated John. "It will afford us plenty of waterfor the radiator if we can get down to it."
"And plenty of water for a good plunge, too," said Paul. "I haven'thad a bath since we left Miami, and I'm fairly suffering for a wetting,if it's no more than a quick dip."
"Same here," seconded Bob and Tom.
They were running much lower now, on the lookout for a place to stop,and so once more they could hear each other's voices.
Presently, just after clearing a dense forest, they saw the openingthey sought. It was a grassy level, free of bushes and otherobstructions, and well bathed in the soft light of the stars and moon.
After some careful maneuvering, John brought the Sky-Bird down, andthough the tall grasses wound in the landing-gear in coming to a stop,they broke off without doing any damage.
"We'd better take the guns along," Tom remarked.
"That's so," agreed John; "we might run into some ferocious animal inthis wild jungle."
So each armed himself with a rifle and a pail, and John led the way, ashe was the only one of the party supplied with a lantern, the othershaving small flashlights which were none too good for breaking a pathin such wilds. They knew the river lay a short distance to the north,but in order to reach its banks from the place where they had landed,they had to cut through a strip of woods bordering it.
It was tedious work getting through. The trees were close together andhad to be dodged, and great leaves of plants as large as their bodiesseemed to be everywhere, while vines of the toughest fiber frequentlyshut off their passage and had to be pushed aside or cut with knives.More than once one of the party tripped over unseen obstacles andmeasured his length in the soft, rank ground-vegetation.
But it was only a little way to the river, and soon they stood upon itsgrassy bank. It was a pretty stream, not very deep, and seemed quiteclear when John held the lantern down to it. They filled their pails,and then, risking all dangers of snakes and crocodiles, disrobed for aplunge.
First one and then the other jumped in. How refreshing the cool watersfelt to their hot, sticky bodies! They would have liked to do somediving, but were afraid of sunken logs, and contented themselves bysplashing about, swimming a little, and making the woods ring withtheir laughter and shouts.
Then they came out and put on their clothes. Picking up guns oncemore, and the pails now filled with water, they started back, Johnstill leading. But they had not gone far when somewhere in advance ofthem they thought they heard the sound of a breaking limb. So suddenwas the sound on the still night air, that all stopped very quickly,their hearts beating fast.
They listened, but the sound was not repeated. They started on again,thinking the limb must have been a dead one and had fallen from sometree of its own weight. But scarcely had they taken a dozen steps whenthey heard another sharp cracking of wood, this time very close infront of them.
Their intuition told them now that they were near
to some night prowlerof the animal kingdom, and perhaps one of considerable size, judgingfrom the crash. Hardly realizing what they were doing, they set downtheir pails, and cocked their rifles, facing, with alertness anduneasiness, the direction whence the sounds had come.
Now they heard some rustling, as of leaves, directly ahead. It cameslowly and cautiously closer. Just as it seemed about to burst outupon their view it stopped. There was no more noise. All was silent;not even the note of a night-bird or the gentle chirp of an insectcould be heard. For the first time the soughing of the tree-tops inthe soft breeze above failed to meet their ears. What a deathlystillness it was!
Suddenly, right out of the black shadows ahead, there sounded on thehushed air of the night three terrific yells, one following immediatelyafter the other. These piercing cries had hardly died out whenanother, of deeper note, and a veritable roar, filled the forest withits din. The leaves about the boys seemed fairly to quiver under theviolent guttural reverberations.
John Ross may well have been excused for shaking as he held up hislantern in his right hand and threw its rays upon the tall undergrowthahead, while his fingers tightened like bands of steel around the stockof his repeating-rifle.
As he and his companions looked, they saw peeping through the foliage ablack, fierce face, one of the ugliest and most ferocious that mancould have imagined. It was staring straight at them. The brute'seyes were sunken under a heavy overhanging ridge of dusky skin. Hiseyes were small and black, and the iris of each shone like a diamondset in carbon. His forehead was low, receding, and covered with shortbristling hair. His nose was broad and flat. His great jaw protrudedfrightfully, with the upper thin lip pressed tight, the lower curvingaway and displaying a row of long yellow tusks which could have bittenthe hand off a man with one crunch.
The animal now opened his cavernous mouth, and uttered yell after yellagain, these sounding something like the bark of a dog but being ahundred times louder. They were followed by terrific roars, somewhatsimilar to those of a lion, though of much greater volume. The criesrang through the forest from hill to hill, and died away in thedistance. The woods was filled with the echo of his horrible voice.
Then, very slowly his whole body came in sight. He advanced clumsilyand ponderously towards the little party of flyers, walking erect, hisplain intent being to kill them. His short legs were hardly strongenough, as sturdy as they were, to support his huge body. All at oncehe stopped to look at them. How vindictive his eyes were! They seemedto say to the boys: "I will soon finish you!"
Then he beat his chest with his great fists and the noise was like abandman striking a bass-drum. It was his challenge to combat. Howlong and muscular were the shaggy arms that directed these blows! Howbroad was his chest from which the sounds came! The hair stood almosterect on his body, and the hair on his head moved up and down.
This hesitation of the monster proved the salvation of the flyers. Itgave them a chance to pull their shattered nerves together and elevatetheir rifles. As he must keep the light on the creature, which now allrecognized as a large gorilla, so that his companions and himself couldsee to shoot, John had only one arm with which to handle his gun. Buthe brought the weapon up quickly, and pressed the trigger just as threeother shots rang out from the guns of his companions, who had steppedon either side of their leader.
A hoarse yell of rage and pain answered the reports. They saw thegorilla stagger, then drop to all fours, and lunge toward them.
There was no chance to retreat. As quick as a flash John dropped hisown rifle, so that he could hold the lantern in both hands and directits rays better upon the beast, and cried to his comrades to fire again.
No sooner had the words left his lips than the others brought theirrepeaters once more to their shoulders. On account of the poor lighton the barrels of their weapons they were again compelled to take snapshots, shooting with both eyes open; but this time with greater success.
The big gorilla fell, uttering a fearful groan. He rolled over uponhis back, his massive limbs twitched convulsively, and then he wasstill. Going up to him cautiously with the lantern, they found that hewas dead.
Extended, his great arms measured nearly nine feet; his chest had agirth of seven feet, and he lacked only one inch of being six feet inheight. These facts Tom ascertained with the use of a small tapelinewhich he carried in his pocket.
"Let's skin him," said Tom; "I know how, and it won't take but a fewminutes."
"Sure," agreed Paul; "his skin will be a valuable trophy to take backhome with us. Jiminy, I wish it had been daylight and we had broughtour camera with us! We could have secured some pictures worth whilefor the _Daily Independent_."
With his keen-edged sheath knife, Tom soon had the skin removed fromthe giant brute. The performance of this operation was far from anagreeable one, however, both for surgeon and observers. So human-likewas the gorilla that it seemed like skinning a man!
As they made their way onward again, carrying their trophy in a rolltied with withes made from vines. Bob ventured to say: "I wonder howthe gorilla came to be awake and to attack us this way?"
"I think he must have had a mate, perhaps a family, nearby," repliedJohn. "I have read that the mother and her babies always go up into atree to sleep, while the father squats down at its base to guard them,and here he sleeps with one eye open and the other closed, as thesaying is. At least he arouses at the slightest sound of an enemy. Weprobably awakened him by our shouts while in bathing, and being soclose to him when we came back along a slightly different path, hethought we were going to attack the family upstairs, and showed fightright away."
The little party regained their airplane without further incident; theradiator was drained, and the fresh water put in. Then, feeling thatthere was no further danger of the engines running hot, they took off.
As the Sky-Bird arose into the air, the flyers noticed that Grandpa themonkey was slightly excited. This they attributed to the presence ofthe gorilla's skin; but when they saw Grandpa continue to dash wildlyabout the cabin, from their shoulders to the rear window, out of whichhe would take a quick look only to fly back to them and chatter wildlyand coweringly, Paul thought he would see what could be the trouble.
One glance was enough. He shut the open window with a bang, and turnedto his companions with a pale face.
"Fellows," said he; "we've got a passenger!"
"A passenger?" cried they.
"Yes," said Paul, "a monstrous big snake!"