CHAPTER XI
A STICK OF DYNAMITE
"If we could only get out of this cul-de-sac," Jack said, as thesavages gathered closer about the Black Bear, "and make the Beniriver, we could leave them behind like they were painted on thetrees."
"There ought to be some way," Frank mused.
Harry, who had been rummaging in a trunk of clothing and tools whichstood under the bridge which half concealed the motors, now cameforward with a package in his hand.
"What is it?" asked Jack.
"Dynamite!" was the cool reply.
"That ought to induce them to go on about their business--ifproperly administered," Jack said. "I didn't know we had any onboard."
"I didn't know what we might come across up here," Harry replied."Shall we light a fuse and give one of these persuaders a toss overinto that mess?"
"It would amount to wholesale murder," Frank replied.
Harry's face hardened as he held up a hand for silence. The howling on thebanks of the little stream was now almost deafening, and every second therecame the thunk of arrows against the boat.
"You see what they would do to us," he said.
"Yes, I know," Jack said, "but we are supposed to be civilized! Itwould be a wicked thing to do, to murder fifty or a hundred of thosesavages. Suppose we toss a stick where it will do little damage andstill attract their attention from the boat? Then we might get thatlog out of the way."
"We'll see what show we have for getting it out of the way-the log,I mean," Jack replied.
He cautiously opened one of the lower panels at the rear and lookedout. The log which blocked the narrow channel was afloat, for itwas the trunk of a dry tree, and the water was deep. What held itin place was the end which lay on the shore. It had been rolled inat a point where the bank was low, and at least two-thirds of it layon the ground.
"I'd like to know how they got it in there!" Jack said. "It lookstoo big for a hundred men to handle."
"Anyway, there it is," Frank replied, "and there the propellersare--one of them broken. Can we make speed with that busted wing?"
"We've got to," Harry said. "Just hear the devils! They will rushthe boat in about a minute!"
The cries coming from the forest were now blood-curdling in theirferocity. The cannibals were evidently working themselves into apitch of excitement which would give them courage to charge theBlack Bear.
Now and then the frightened howl of some wild beast was heard in thedistance, adding not a little to the excitement of the scene. Thetree which had been set on fire to attract the attention of theairship still blazed, sending a twist of flame far up into the sky.
In the glare of the fire the savages looked like fiends ready forany act of deviltry. Now and then three figures larger than therest stood together as if in conference, and then the shouts grewlouder, and the line about the boat closer drawn.
"I've got a notion that we can make pretty good speed with thatbroken wing," Jack mused. "Anyway, we can drift down stream if wecan't steam up stream, and that will take us out of this mess."
"Then let's blow that log up with dynamite," suggested Frank.
"Yes," said Jack, "and finish the propellers!"
"Blow up the shore end," continued Frank. "Who can pitch it so thatit will knock that blooming dry wood into the stream?"
"I'm willing to try," Harry said. "I used to pitch a tricky ball!I'll get a fuse ready, open a panel, and give it a throw. While Ihave the panel open, though, you fellows open up a loophole in frontand do some shooting out of it to attract attention. I don't wantany poisoned arrows biting me."
This was agreed to, and Harry arranged a fuse and prepared to throwit. When Jack opened a panel in front and sent a volley of bulletsashore, the boy pushed open a panel in the rear and, waiting untilthe attention of the savages was attracted to the front of the boat,tossed out the dynamite.
It hurled through the air, flashing in the red light of the fire,and landed at the very end of the fallen tree, rolling into theangle between the wood and the earth. A fine throw!
Harry yelled to Jack to close his panel, and all three boys stood onthe tips of their toes, fingers in ears. In a moment the explosioncame.
The Black Bear rocked violently, so that it was with difficulty theboys kept their footing. Wild cries of distress and fright camefrom the forest, and, in a few seconds, the crash of falling trees.The dynamite had done its work well, at least, so far as noise wasconcerned. They could not yet see what effect the explosion had hadon the tree.
Had it loosened the obstructing log so that the boat could pass outinto the Beni river? Had the concussion damaged the propellers sothat the trip up the valley of the Amazon would have to beabandoned?
These questions were in the minds of all three boys as Jackcautiously opened a rear panel and looked out. The first thing hesaw was the log, splintered and broken into half a dozen pieces,floating down stream.
The explosion had whirled the great trunk high up in the air andbrought it down, broken, in the channel of the stream. There seemednothing to do now but to set the motors at work and run out of thedangerous position.
But the motors refused to work. Something more than showed on thesurface was the matter with them. Harry looked out at the rear andsaw a great red patch of earth without a single human being insight. The fire was still burning brightly, but there were nosavages dancing about in its fierce light.
At the sound of the explosion the head hunters had taken to theirheels. At first view, no one seemed to have been injured by thedynamite, but, on giving the scene a closer inspection, the boy sawthree bodies lying near where the log had been. They might be deador only stunned; the lad had no means of knowing.
While Harry watched for some sign of life, the roar of a wild animalcame from the forest, and he knew that a tiger cat was approaching.The humans--if the man-eating savages may be so termed--were stillrunning, it appeared, while the wild beasts of prey were returningto the scene of the explosion.
"Come," Harry cried, "we must get out of this now if we can get thepropellers to working. There is no one in sight, only three menlying near where the log lay, and there are man-eating animalscoming, so I'd rather not see what takes place next."
Jack threw open another panel and stepped out. The roar in theforest was growing again, but no savage was in sight. He moved tothe back of the boat and bent down to look at the propellers.
"I can't see from here!" he shouted, in a moment. "Look out for me,you fellows!"
Like a shot he was in the river, diving under the stem of the BlackBear. Harry and Frank, knowing the rivers of that district to beswarming with caymen, grouped at the rear and watched with anxiouseyes for the reappearance of their chum.
In a few seconds Jack's face appeared above the surface of thewater. He seized a rope passed to him and climbed on board, shakingthe water from his clothing like a great dog.
"It is all right," he said, as soon as he could get his breath."There was a piece of the log wedged in back of the paddles and Igot it out. Get a pole and push. She's in the mud, I guess."
The pole was used before the motors were turned on again, and theBlack Bear was soon out of the little creek, sailing slowly down theBeni. However, the boat did not behave well, and it was decided totie up for a day and go over her carefully. The propellers neededfixing, and there might be some other injury which had not beendiscovered.
Not caring to strain the weakened propellers, they permitted theboat to drift down stream.
When a mile away the illumination of the fire which had been soinjudiciously set could still be seen distinctly, and when the boyslistened they could hear the cries of the savages and the fiercehowls of the wild beasts.
During the day the boys had passed a level plateau on the east bankof the river, and it was decided to float down to that, as theycould beach the Black Bear there and work without danger of beingattacked from the shelter of a forest.
They gained the spot a
bout midnight and anchored some distance out,resolved to take no chances on the shore that night. The stream wasquite wide, and they opened the top panels so as to get what freshair they could.
Jack was the first one to see the airship hovering over them.
"Look!" he cried. "Look! Look! We've just got to attract theirattention in some way! See! They are going away again! Confoundthe luck!"
The airship seemed about to dip down, then it floated off to thewest and whirled to the south.
"They're signaling!" Harry cried.
This seemed to be true, for there were lights moving about in theair in queer combinations.
"Get a glass!" shouted Jack, in great excitement. "We'll soon seeabout this!"
But the airship seemed interested in the spot where the fire wasburning, and did not remain overhead long enough for the boys to geta good view of her. At last she disappeared entirely.
Although anchored out in the stream, which was at least two hundredfeet wide at that point, the lads kept a close watch of the shoresthat night. Once, just before dawn, they caught the sound ofpaddles, but the canoe which appeared on the west soon sneaked away.
The hubbub on shore kept up all night long. The beasts took up thechorus when the savage tribesmen retreated.
"Beautiful country this!" Jack said, as the sun rose over the greatvalley. "I think I'll like to live here always--not!"
"Yes," grunted Frank, whose eyes were heavy with the long watch,"even on the Great White Way, the enthusiasm quiets down after threeo'clock."
"It is all in the game!" grinned Harry. "We came out here forexcitement, and you mustn't complain when you get it."
After breakfast, which was keenly enjoyed, the Black Bear wasbeached on the cast banks and the injury to the propellers examined.Some of the blades were broken while others were strained.
"Well," Harry said, as he scratched his head in deliberation, "we'vegot extra blades, and we've got the tools, and I don't know as we'rein a hurry anyway. We've got all the time there is!"
"Not if we catch the Nelson before it gets out of the country," Jackobjected. "This is the 22d of August, and the Nelson must havesighted Lima about the 14th, so you see we've got to do some sailingif we get to the headwaters of the Beni before the boys get backhome."
If they had only known, the lads might not have been so anxious toget on, for the boys with the Nelson were having troubles of theirown about that time. Besides, there were difficulties ahead muchgreater than those entailed by the breaking of the blades of thepropellers.
They worked all day at repairing the injuries, and at night wereready to proceed. It was dark again, and there seemed to be a greatcommotion on shore.
"For one," Frank observed, "I don't like the idea of going on up anunknown river in the night. There are rapids, and there may beobstructions. And then we may follow off some tributary which willland us in some swamp after an all night ride."
"I'm not anxious to go on tonight," Harry contributed, "for I'd liketo see what that mess on shore will amount to. There's somethingbesides the appearance of the Black Bear exciting those fuzzy littlenatives, and we may miss something if we run away. I wouldn't liketo do that."
So it was decided to remain where they were until morning. Thepanels were put up, leaving only the openings for ventilation, andthe Wolf was brought close alongside.
Frank got the first watch in the drawing of sticks, and stationedhimself at the prow, where he could look out on the river. Jack andHarry were soon asleep.
About midnight a great clamor arose on the west bank. In a momentit was echoed from the opposite shore. There was a beating ofdrums--the foolish drums which the natives made so crudely--and longchants, rising in the darkness like the monotonous melodies the boyshad heard in the cotton fields of the South.
Frank shook Jack and Harry out of their bunks, much to the disgustof the two sleepy-heads. They did not need to ask questions as tothe reason for this, for the chant was coming nearer, and the drumswere beating like mad.
"They're arranging an attack!" Jack said, turning a searchlight outof the front loophole. "I can see half a dozen canoes hanging offand on at a bend above. I guess we made a mistake in stoppinghere."
"Perhaps we'd better drop down the river," Harry suggested. "Idon't want those heathens swarming over the Black Bear."
Jack went to the stern and looked out on the swirling river fromthat point.
"If we do," he said, in a moment, "we'll bunt into a fleet of warcanoes. We've got to put on all speed and drive ahead."
"Why not drop back?" asked Harry.
"Because," was the reply, "we can go up stream about as fast as wecan go down stream, and the canoes can't. We'll shut everythingtight but the loopholes and go through them like a shot throughpaper. If they board us we'll have to open up and drop them intothe river with our automatics."
"Put the big light out in front then," Harry said, "and stand thereand tell me which way to steer, and let her go!"
The next moment the Black Bear, closely followed by the Wolf, wasnearing the canoes, now drawn up in line of battle in front.