CHAPTER XXXVI.
BILDAD TURNS CANNIBAL.
All through that day--for such we shall call it--they floated on withouta single glimpse of the shores, though a good current still existed.
Their sufferings had now reached a point that was almost unendurable.The emptiness at the stomach and the pangs of hunger had given way tothe fierce pains and the appalling weakness that come to those perishingof starvation.
For two days, it must be remembered, they had eaten nothing, and for aweek previous three dry crackers apiece had been their daily allowance.
Chutney, with marvelous endurance, retained his strength and affected ahopefulness he was far from feeling, though, if the truth were known, ashare of his food for a week past had been secretly given to Sir Arthur,whose illness had roused his compassion.
The colonel was almost too weak to stand--for his previous captivity hadundermined his constitution, while Melton and the Greek made no effortsto conceal their sufferings.
Bildad, instead of becoming violent, woke up very weak, and lay helplesson his rug.
It was pitiful to see how they all turned their pockets inside out anddrove their fingers into the crannies of the logs, hoping to discover astray crumb. It was useless to fish, for they had nothing to put on thehook.
After nightfall, as near as Guy could guess, the river became verynarrow and the current increased perceptibly in speed. The steep androcky shores seemed scarcely ten yards apart, and overhead hung massesof stalactite almost close enough to strike with the paddle.
"We are near the end," said Guy, making an effort to speak calmly inspite of his sufferings. "Hold out a little longer. I feel sure thatwe shall be saved."
"Yes, we are near the end," said the colonel, "very near, Chutney. Oursufferings will soon be over. You deserve a better fate. I wish----"
"No, no, don't talk that way," cried Guy. "You will live to see thesunlight again--I am sure of it."
The colonel turned over on his side without making a reply.
"If we don't reach the mouth of the cavern in twenty-four hours, I forone will never see the light of day," said Melton huskily. "I'd hate todie in this place. It wouldn't be so hard out under the open sky."
"Water! water!" moaned Sir Arthur feebly, and crawling to the edge ofthe raft Guy filled his helmet and put it to the sick man's lips. Hedrank deeply and sank back on the rugs.
Guy crept cautiously forward to the front of the raft again--for everymotion was a torture--and resumed his watch ahead, straining his eyes tocatch the first glimpse of light that he felt sure must come beforelong.
Faster and faster ran the current now and the shores flitted past likedim specters. The channel became more turbulent and rocky, and the rafttossed and trembled as it swept over brawling rapids and grated overunseen obstructions.
When Guy turned toward his companions again they seemed to be allsleeping, and he envied them their merciful oblivion.
Bildad was muttering excitedly in his own tongue, and as Guy watched himhe tossed his arms and sat bolt upright. The ugly face was frightfullydistorted and the fever-stricken eyes shone with a baleful light. Withan apprehension that he took no pains to disguise Guy watched himsharply. There was no telling what this savage might do in the deliriumof illness--a delirium aggravated tenfold by the tortures of hunger.
Guy noted with secret uneasiness that no weapon was lying anywhere near.Melton alone had a revolver, and he was half inclined to waken him andask him for it.
Bildad, however, made no attempt to leave his place on the rugs. He kepton talking to himself at intervals, his eyes staring vacantly out on theriver.
A dingy leopard skin was still bound around his loins, and suddenlyseizing the end of it he began to chew it greedily.
Then he noticed the blood still sticking to his fingers, and placing hishand in his mouth he sucked it with a hollow noise that made Guy sick.
Suddenly his eyes became fixed and glaring, his hands dropped to hisside, trembling nervously, and his lips parted in a wolfish expression,that displayed two rows of glistening teeth.
A thrill of horror ran through Guy from head to foot as he saw what hadunmistakably fascinated Bildad's gaze. Two yards distant, facing thesavage, lay Sir Arthur, propped up slightly among the rugs. His head wasthrown back, and in the perspiration, caused probably by his slightfever, he had torn loose the fore part of his flannel shirt, so that thethroat and part of the breast were fully exposed, and shone clearly inthe soft glow from the fire.
To Chutney Bildad's wolfish gaze admitted of no misconstruction. Thesight of the white flesh had roused the savage's fiercest instincts._At that moment Bildad was a cannibal at heart!_
No words can describe Guy's feelings as he realized the awful truth.
At first a deadly faintness threatened to deprive him of allconsciousness. Then came a thrill of strength, and his quick mind soughtsome plan of action. There was no weapon within reach. He must waken theGreek.
"Canaris," he muttered in a low voice, but the word stuck in his throatand died away in a whisper.
The sound, slight as it was, drew Bildad's attention. A glance at Guy'sfrightened countenance told him his horrible design was discovered. Histhick lips parted in a glare of ferocious hatred--the blind fury of amadman.
He thrust his hand to his side, drew out a long, gleaming knife, andwith a demoniacal laugh sprang at Sir Arthur, brandishing his weapon.
At the first flash of the steel Guy uttered a shout that might havewakened the seven sleepers, and threw himself across the raft. He fellshort of the African, and staggered to his knees with another wild cry.
The glittering blade wavered a second in mid-air, not ten inches fromSir Arthur's heart, and then, his eyes flashing and his face distortedwith passion, Bildad turned and threw himself on the man who hadthwarted him.
Guy staggered to his feet in time to meet the shock, and they felltogether with a crash, the madman on top. As he blindly threw out hisarms in self protection he grasped Bildad's wrist, arresting the courseof the descending knife. Before the fiend could snatch the knife withthe other hand he twisted the brawny wrist till the bone cracked. Theknife dropped from the nerveless fingers, and Bildad shrieked with rageand agony. Guy tried to shout, but the savage's uninjured arm clutchedhis throat, and he felt himself jerked violently along the raft. Hestruggled and kicked in vain. A mist swam before his eyes, and he feltthe agonies of suffocation. With both hands he tore at the brawny arm,but the grip only seemed to tighten, and then he realized that he was onthe edge of the raft. He was powerless. He wondered vaguely why the restdid not come to his assistance. He felt his head and shoulders slip overthe edge, and then opening his eyes he saw the madman's leering face,flushed with rage and triumph, staring into his own. His eyes closedwith a shudder as he seemed to feel the icy waters close over him. Thenthe grasp on his throat suddenly relaxed, and he knew nothing more.
* * * * *
When Guy opened his eyes some minutes later, and saw with wonder thefamiliar faces of his friends bending over him, he felt as a man mightwho had come back from the grave. He tried to rise, but a firm handpushed him gently back, and the colonel's voice said softly, "No; liedown. Not a word until you are better."
Gradually memory came back as he rested, and he knew why his throat feltso queer. In the firelight he saw Bildad lying motionless across thelogs. The ugly face was smeared with blood, and Forbes and Canaris werebinding the brawny arms and legs.
And there lay the knife, flashing back the light from its polishedsteel.
"You came as near to death, Chutney, as any man can come," said thecolonel a little later, when Guy was able to sit up and lean against thefragments of the canoe. "Forbes saved you on this occasion. He got awakejust in time, and crawling over the logs--for he was unable to walk--hebrought down the butt of the revolver on the fiend's head. He firsttried to shoot, but his weapon missed fire."
"Is he dead?" asked Guy.
"No," replie
d the colonel; "more's the pity. He seems to be onlystunned. We've tied him up securely, so he can't do any more harm. Butwhat started him, anyhow?"
Guy, with many a shudder, related the events that led to the attack, andhis audience were horror-stricken at the terrible tale. The strangestpart of it was that Sir Arthur had slept through it all and was stillsleeping.