CHAPTER XXVI. THE RUINED CITY.
It would have been worse than useless for Tubby or Fred to have attemptedflight, as the stout youth had rightly conjectured. Resistance would havebeen equally foolhardy. This would have been so in any case, but any moveagainst the Indians was now rendered doubly dangerous by the fact thattwo of the odd-looking little natives had picked up the two rifles theboys had so foolishly forgotten and were examining them in a way thatshowed that they had knowledge enough of the white man's weapons to usethem, should occasion offer.
After a vast deal of jabbering in their unknown tongue, two of theIndians bound Tubby's hands behind his back while the others stood guardto protect their companions against any sudden move. Then came Fred'sturn. This done, the boys were led across the open space to a clump oftrees from amidst which the Indians had first appeared.
To Tubby's astonishment he saw that a narrow, but well beaten trail ranthrough the jungle from this point. But in what direction it led he was,of course, ignorant. He guessed, however, that it must be one of thesecret Indian paths to which Mr. Raynor had referred. On either side ofthe narrow trail the jungle grew up thick and impenetrable. Two Indianswalked in front, then came the boys, behind marched the other Indians.
"W-w-w-w-what is going to become of us?" quavered Fred as they movedalong at a swift though steady pace.
"I don't know. I guess we are bound for some village or other back in theSan Blas country. It's a good sign though that they haven't offered usany violence."
Fred could not but agree that this was so. But little more talk wasindulged in between the two captives. It was not a situation that adapteditself to conversation. Hour after hour they trudged along through thetropical forest until at last they came upon something startling.
In front of them, as they rounded a curve in the crooked trail, theresuddenly rose up something that seemed menacingly to dispute theirfurther passage through the forest.
There, facing them, was a hideous monster carved out of a white stone ormarble, they could not be sure which. The thing loomed ghastly whiteagainst a background of dark trees. Spots of rank moss grew on itsglaring stone face. Its stumpy hands were folded and tucked up on itsbreast; its legs and feet, shaped like a water creature's, were drawn upunder its belly. But it was the awful face with its sinister glare thatgave the boys a start that quivered through their frames. As if in proofof its antiquity the statue was broken in places and leaned slightly toone side. Through the cracks in the white stone, great, twisted, gnarledtree trunks, like serpents, writhed in and out. Altogether it was ashorrible an object to come upon in the depths of a great forest as themind could conceive. Small wonder the boys shuddered at it. The Indians,however, did not appear to regard it with much awe.
"What an awful looking thing!" shuddered Fred, who had turned pale.
"Pshaw! It's only an old idol," Tubby scoffed, assuming a bold air forFred's comfort. "Lots of 'em in this part of the world. Crackers! Fred, Ishouldn't wonder but what we are coming to one of those ancient citiesthat have long been supposed to exist in this part of the world. Ithink--Great Caesar! Look there, will you?"
A wilderness of ruins suddenly opened before them as they topped a smallrise. Everywhere was a confusion of tumbled idols, pillars, blocks ofstone, heavy walls, flights of steps, some whole, some tumbling withdecay, others still upright. Roots, branches and curling vines writhed inand out of the scene of desolation like great snakes. Here and theretrees shot up from the empty walls of roofless palaces. Their restlessshadows waved mournfully above the ruins. Further back stood a buildingthat surmounted a sort of platform of white stone. It was reached by aflight of steps on one side. On the other the walls towered up steep andslippery. They would not have afforded foothold to a fly.
The Indians marched the boys up the steps leading to this dismal palace.From the top of the platform they could see over the ruined city in alldirections. And off to one side was a sight that made Tubby's heart beatmore quickly. He had caught the glint of a river, and on its banks he hadseen three canoes drawn up. If only they could reach that stream theymight still escape. But such a prospect appeared to be remote in theextreme.
They were marshaled into the chamber within the walls they had noticedfrom below. It was of massive but rude architecture and was roofless, butthe walls sloped inward, making any idea of climbing them out of thequestion. From cracks in the walls grew tropic plants and creepers. Tothe boys' surprise, once within this place, their hands were untied. Butthis in itself was a bad sign so far as hope of escape went. It meantthat the Indians knew there was no hope of their captives getting away.
Two guards were set to watch them at the door, and then the others left.The guards took up their station at the door with their wicked-lookingspears all ready for instant action. Tubby, with his ruling passion stillstrong--and as a matter of fact he was fearfully hungry and faint aftertheir long march--eyed longingly some red fruit that grew on one of theshrubs clinging to the wall. He was about to pluck some when Fred drewhim back.
"Don't touch those, Tubby, they're not good to eat," he exclaimed. "Irecognize the leaf. It's just like a deadly nightshade leaf at home. Iguess they are a giant variety of that poisonous plant."
"Phew! I'm glad I didn't touch 'em. Would they kill you?"
"If you ate many. A few would only put you to sleep. They contain a drugcalled bella-donna which is a narcotic."
Just then one of the natives appeared with two earthenware bowls full ofhalf raw meat. The boys were hungry or they could not have touched thestuff. As it was, they ate all they could, but left quite a quantity. Asthey ate their guards eyed them in an odd way. It looked as if they werehungry, too, and would have liked to eat.
The boys could see out through the door, and, after eating all theycould, they amused themselves by looking over the ruined city. They couldsee smoke rising some distance off among the trees, and guessed that themain camp of the Indians was there. Probably, they guessed--and in thisthey were right--the superstitious Indians did not like to camp among theruins of the lost race, although they had no objection to jailing theirprisoners there.
As it grew dusk, the sky clouded over. Thunder began to rumble in thedistance and the wind moaned in a most melancholy way among the treesthat overshadowed the ruins. Far off they could hear the Indians shoutingand singing in a coarse, unmusical way. Seemingly they were celebratingthe success of their chase and capture of the two white boys.
At any rate, they appeared to forget the two guards utterly. It grew darkand the men still sat there. They had lighted a small fire outside theruined temple, or whatever it had been, and the glow of it revealed theirstill and silent figures to the boy captives. One of them took some kindof cake from his girdle presently and took a bite of it. Then he offeredit to his companion who bit into it hungrily. It was plain that the twoIndians were getting hungry.
Tubby was about to try to conciliate them by offering them what the boyshad left in their bowls, when he had a sudden inspiration. He went to thewall and began picking some of the berries Fred had told him not totouch. Fred, who had fallen into a fitful slumber, did not notice him,and Tubby proceeded uninterruptedly with what he was about.
It was about a quarter of an hour later and the rumble of the approachingstorm was growing nearer and nearer when Tubby arose and, picking up thetwo bowls, approached the guards. Instantly they sprang to their feet andpresented their spear blades at him. But Tubby, by signs, explained thathe and his companion had not been able to eat all their rations andwanted to give them the rest.
As Tubby's shrewd mind had guessed from what he had seen, the two guardswere famished. They saw no harm in taking the meat from the prisoner whowas kind enough to offer it. They grabbed the bowls and in a minute, asit appeared to the astonished fat boy, they had emptied them. Tubbyregarded the two Indians admiringly. He had never seen edibles disposedof so swiftly.
When they had eaten, the guards became st
ern again. They motioned Tubbyback to the interior of the ruinous structure. The stout boy obeyed andsank down on the floor apparently composing himself to sleep, but inreality he was watching the two guards with intent eyes. Suddenly he gavea grunt of satisfaction. The guards began to nod sleepily. One almostfell over. He recovered himself, but in an instant he was off to sleepagain; as for his companion, after an ineffectual effort to awaken hiscomrade, he too sank into a deep slumber, falling across the threshold ofthe place.
Instantly Tubby was all activity. Quickly he aroused Fred.
"Wake up! Quick! Don't ask questions. Follow me."
"Why? What?" began Fred sleepily.
"Not a word. We've got to move quick. I squeezed the juice of thoseberries you told me about into the remains of our supper. The guards ateit. They're fast asleep. It's up to us to cut and run for those canoes onthe river bank."
Fred was alert in an instant. As he rose softly to his feet a vivid flashof lightning illumined his face. Tubby saw that it was set and determinedas became a Black Wolf Scout. He gripped Fred's hand tightly.
"Whatever happens, keep your nerve," he enjoined.
Then, hand in hand and on tiptoe, the two boys crept toward the doorway.As they were stepping over one of the sleeping guards Tubby, by the glowof the fire, saw that a small bag that the fellow had had tied at hiswaist had burst as he fell headlong in his slumber, and that a lot ofodd-looking pebbles lay scattered about near it. Yielding to he knew notwhat impulse, he stooped and stuffed a handful of the rocks into thepocket of his Scout coat.
It was work to bring the lads' hearts into their mouths, this advance outupon the open platform with the firelight on them to betray their everymovement. Far off they could catch the glow of the Indians' campfire; butfor all they knew other guards might be about and at any minute theyexpected to hear a spear or an arrow whiz by them. But nothing of thesort happened. They reached the river bank in safety.
The lightning was now flashing incessantly. By its gleam they saw thecanoes, with their paddles alongside, lying as they had last seen them.Tubby advanced, and, catching hold of one, turned it over. The nextinstant he gave a terrified yell. As he had turned it, there had leapedfrom under it, where he had evidently been sleeping, an Indian armed witha spear.
Before he could cast it, Tubby ducked low and rushed in on the man like ayoung bullock. The little San Blas native went down in the mud with asplash. Tubby wrested the spear from him and sent it flying. As theIndian struggled to his feet Fred gave him a blow on the mouth that musthave driven some of his teeth in, to judge by the sound.
"Quick!" ordered Tubby in a tense undertone, "into the water with thoseother canoes now."
"But we only want one."
"We don't want 'em to chase us, do we?" exclaimed the fat boy sharply."Over with 'em I say."
Fred shoved the two dugouts off. In a jiffy the current caught them andthey went sailing out of sight. At the same instant there came anotherflash of lightning. It showed the river, swollen and angry, racingfuriously along.
"Can you handle a paddle, Fred?" asked Tubby.
"Yes; I had a canoe on the Hudson," was the reply.
"Well, this is going to beat any Hudson you ever saw. There's a storm inthe mountains evidently, and the river is rising every minute. It can'tbe helped, though. Take a paddle and shove off."
Luckily both boys knew something about canoes or the start of that dugoutwould likewise have been its finish. But they saved it by skillful, swifthandling from a capsize. The next instant they were in it, being hurledoff at a dizzy pace down the rushing current. Behind them came yells andsavage shouts. Their escape had evidently been discovered, probably whena change of guards was made.
"Whoop!" shouted Tubby back defiantly. "We're off on the Chagres Limited,you shirtless sons of iniquity; it'll take better men than you to catchus now!"
The cranky canoe rocked wildly, and then shot off into the darkness,hurtled along by the sweeping current of an unknown river.