CHAPTER XXVI.
PREPARATIONS.
At dawn Charley arose, feeling unrefreshed after his broken rest, litthe camp-fire, started breakfast, and then awakened the others.
"We had better divide the duties for the day," he said, as theydispatched their light breakfast. "The two things most pressing, areto secure more food and make our windows and door bullet-proof. Isuggest that we divide into two parties for the day, one to hunt, andthe other to keep camp and work on our building. Suppose we call forvolunteers for each party."
"I stay an' do de cookin', an' maybe catch some fish for supper," saidChris, promptly.
"I reckon I had better stay with Chris," decided the captain, who hadin a measure recovered from his scare of the night. "You lads arenimbler an' better shots, an' consequently, likely to have better luckin the hunting."
This arrangement delighted Charley and Walter who were eager to explorethe island. Pistols were oiled, cleaned and carefully examined. Theirown guns being at the bottom of the river, the boys had to borrow armsof Chris and the captain.
Walter took Chris' light shotgun while Charley shouldered the heavyrifle belonging to the captain. Thus equipped they were prepared foreither small or big game.
Leaving the clearing, the boys plunged into the forest and headed forthe interior of the island. Their progress was at first very slow, theforest being almost as tangled and thickly grown as that which they hadencountered near the water. As they advanced, however, the treesgradually grew fewer and further apart until, after a half hour's slowtraveling, they emerged from the forest into a kind of prairie country,consisting of stretches of flat grassy land broken by clumps of timber.
"This is just the place for game," declared Charley, "this grass seemsto be a kind of wild rice, there had ought to be birds here withoutnumber."
As he spoke there was a whirl of wings, Walter's shotgun spoke twice,and a brace of plump partridges struck the ground with a thud.
The report of the firearm woke the prairie into life. Hundreds ofbirds rose from amongst the tall grass. For the next few minutes,Walter was busy with his gun, while Charley with his heavy rifle couldonly stand idle watching.
"Never mind, my turn will come," he declared. "That little popgun youhave will not be any good against big game."
When the frightened birds had at last passed beyond range, the boysgathered up those that had fallen victims; four partridges, threedoves, and a full dozen of black and red rice-birds.
"Good," approved Charley, as he surveyed the feathered heap. "Thoseare all fine eating and will provide us with a couple of dandy meals.The only fault I have to find is that they use up too much ammunition.If we use it up at this rate, we will have none when the outlaws come."
"We can make traps for the birds," Walter suggested. "I know how torig up a figure-four trap that will fool the wisest of them."
"Well, we will not bother with traps this trip," Charley said. "Wehave got enough birds for the present. We can come again to-morrow andfix up for them."
"What shall we do with these?" Walter inquired. "We don't want to turnback yet, and they are too heavy to carry with comfort."
"Leave them tied up in the first tree we come to and get them on ourway back," his chum answered.
With this object in view, the two boys turned their steps towards thenearest clump of timber. At their first step amongst its dry twigs andbranches, there was a crash amongst the bushes and a form of yellowishbrown shot past them like an arrow.
Charley's rifle flew to his shoulder and its sharp crack woke theechoes in the little wood. "It's a deer and I have got it," heexclaimed, dashing off after the animal which was staggering andwavering as it ran.
Walter paused only to hang his birds high up in the crotch of a bigtree, and followed after his chum.
But the deer, though wounded and losing blood at every step, was reallyrunning faster than either of the boys calculated. It soon becameevident to both that they would have to work hard to overhaul thewounded creature before it entered the main forest on the other side ofthe prairie. Once amongst the dense growth, it would soon lose itspursuers.
Walter was only a few feet in the rear of his chum and running at thetop of his speed when Charley stopped so short and unexpectedly that hecollided with him with such force as to bring both to the ground.
"Look," exclaimed Charley breathlessly, as he pointed ahead, "did youever see such a repulsive sight?"
Charley had stopped just in time, not fifteen feet from where the twohad fallen, was a deep, saucer-like depression in the ground. In itscenter, where the ground was soft, and muddy, was a writhing, twisting,tangled mass of snakes of dozens of kinds, though the dirty,sickening-looking, stump-tailed moccasin predominated. There must havebeen thousands of serpents in the mass which covered a space twenty bythirty feet, from which came the sibilant hiss of puff adders, and astrong, nauseating odor.
"It's an awful sight," shuddered Walter after one glance, "and justthink how close you were to running into that mass. You would neverhave got out alive."
"I would never know what struck me," Charley agreed. "I expect there'sa full quart of the deadliest of poisons distributed among thosebeauties."
"Ugh," said Walter, "the sight of them makes me sick. Come away,Charley."
"They have done us considerable damage anyway," Charley said, as theypressed on giving the snake-hole a wide berth. "I cannot see anythingof the deer, can you?"
"No, I expect he got safe into the forest while we were delayed. Wemight as well follow up his tracks for a ways although I guess it's butlittle use."
The fugitive had left a thread of scarlet blood behind him so the boyshad no trouble in following the trail.
At the very edge of the forest, the boys stopped with a cry of delight.A motionless heap of yellowish brown lay half in half out of the fringeof trees, the shelter of which the poor creature had striven sogallantly to gain.
The boys wasted no time in rejoicing but at once fell to work withtheir hunting-knives to remove the skin. This done, they cut off thevaluable parts of the carcass and bound them up in the hide fortransportation back to camp. When the task was completed the noon hourhad been reached and the boys kindled a fire and broiled some of thevenison.
"That was a lucky kill for us," observed Charley as he attacked anotherjuicy steak. "It will give us fresh meat for several days. What wecannot use before it spoils, we can cut thin and dry. The hideproperly prepared will furnish us with a couple of stout fishing linesand a shirt for one of us."
After a brief rest the boys resumed their exploration. They had nopresent need for more game and were loath to waste any more ammunition.The wild folks of the forest seemed to be aware of the fact and showedthemselves fearlessly.
"We won't starve for lack of game," declared Walter, "in the last halfmile, I have seen coons, possums, deer, and a wild-cat, to say nothingof the thousands of birds."
"Yes, it's a sportsman's paradise," agreed Charley, "it has probablynot been hunted since the Spaniards' time. Likely these wild creatureshave never seen a human being before."
The boys had been pushing onward into the forest as they talked. Bythe growing denseness of the jungle they surmised that they wereapproaching the island's shore. This surmise proved correct, for abouta quarter of an hour after leaving their lunching place, they came outon the bank directly opposite where they had landed on the island.
This shore was very much like the other and the boys soon began toretrace their steps.
As they neared the place where they had left their venison hung in atree, their ears were greeted with a curious sound of mingled grunt andgrowl.
With their guns ready for instant use, the boys crept cautiouslyforward. An exclamation burst from them as they came in sight of thetree. Squatted round it in an angry, eager circle was a drove of atleast twenty wild boars; great, fierce-looking animals with dangerouslooking tusks. They were sniffing longingly, and looking up at thesu
spended meat.
"Don't shoot, Walt," cried Charley, but his warning came too late.
Without pausing to think, Walter had discharged both barrels of hisshotgun at the huddled animals.
The effect was not what he had anticipated. The shot glancedharmlessly off their thick hides, and with grunts of rage, the wholedrove charged for the smoke and sound.
"Get up a tree," shouted Charley, as he noted the effects of the shot.
Walter did not wait for a second bidding but swung himself up thenearest tree which happened to be a huge spreading live oak. Charleyswarmed up after him in such haste that he dropped his rifle at thefoot of the tree. He was not a moment too soon for a large boar made alunge for his legs just as he drew them up.
"Now we are in for it," he exclaimed in disgust as he found acomfortable seat in the fork of a limb.
"Oh, I guess they'll soon get tired and go away," Walter saidcheerfully.
But the boars seemed to have no such intention. They ranged themselvesaround the foot of the tree as they had around the venison and satlooking longingly up among the branches.
"I am going to try a shot at that big fellow that seems to be the bossof the gang," said Walter after an hour had dragged away without theanimals showing any signs of leaving.
"Don't do it," Charley advised, "you can't kill him with that smallcalibered revolver, and it will only make them madder than ever."
Walter put back his revolver with a sigh. "I guess you're right," headmitted, "but, I declare, it makes me mad the way that big brute isleering up at me."
Wearily the hours dragged away, the boys getting cramped and weary inthe tree, and the besiegers showing no sign of abatement in theirinterest.
The darkness found two, very tired, hungry boys seated in the treewhile the boars still grunted in a circle around them.
With the rising of the moon came the distant tolling of the chapel belland the boys looked worriedly at each other.
"The captain and Chris will be frightened to death with that thingtolling and we absent," Walter said.
"Yes, the captain will be sure to believe that we are all dead,"Charley agreed. "There is something unearthly about that ringing, butof course there is a natural cause for it if we could only discover it."
"After our experience last night I am almost ready to agree with thecaptain and Chris," said Walter.
"Except for its worrying those two, I would not mind it in the least,"Charley declared. "I am more upset by our position here. I guess wewill have to stay all night, those fellows below show no signs ofleaving."
"What's that?" cried Walter, excitedly.