CHAPTER XXIX
THE VILLAGE ON THE MOUNTAIN
"Tom is wounded!" shouted Sam. He ran to his brother, to find theblood flowing freely over Tom's shoulder. "Is it bad?" he asked.
"I--I guess not," answered Tom with a gasp of pain. Then, asfull of pluck as usual, Tom raised his pistol and fired, hittingone of the Bumwos in the breast and sending him to the rear,seriously wounded.
It was evident that Cujo had been mistaken and that there were farmore of their enemies around the mountain than they hadanticipated. From behind the Rover expedition a cry arose,telling that more of the natives were coming from that direction.
"We are being hemmed in," said Dick Chester nervously. "Perhapswe had better retreat."
"No, let us make a stand," came from Rand. "I think a concertedvolley from our pistols and guns will check their movements."
"Dat's de talk!" cried Aleck. "Give it to 'em hot!"
It was decided to await the closer approach of the Bumwos, andeach of the party improved the next minute in seeing to it thathis weapon was ready for use.
Suddenly a blood-curdling yell arose on the sultry air, and theBumwos were seen to be approaching from two directions, at rightangles to each other.
"Now then, stand firm!" cried Dick Rover, and began to fire at oneof the approaching forces.
The fight that followed was, however, short and full ofconsternation to the Africans. One of the parties was led by KingSusko himself, and the chief had covered less than half thedistance to where the Americans stood when a bullet from TomRover's pistol reached him, wounding him in the thigh and causinghim to pitch headlong on the grass.
The fall of the leader made the Africans set up a howl of dismay,and instead of keeping up the fight they gathered around theirleader. Then, as the Americans continued to fire, they pickedKing Susko up and ran off with him. A few spears were hurled atour friends, but the whole battle, to use Sam's way of summing upafterward, was a regular "two-for-a-cent affair." Soon the Bumwoswere out of sight down the mountain side.
The first work of our friends after they had made certain that theAfricans had really retreated, was to attend to Tom's wound andthe bruise Randolph Rover had received from the stone. Fortunatelyneither man nor boy was seriously hurt, although Tom carries themark of the spear's thrust to this day.
"But I don't care," said Tom. "I hit old King Susko, and that wasworth a good deal, for it stopped the battle. If the fight hadkept on there is no telling how many of us might have beenkilled."
While the party was deliberating about what to do next, Cujoreappeared.
"I go deep into de cabe when foah Bumwos come on me from behind,"he explained.
"Da fight an' fight an' knock me down an' tie me wid vines, an'den run away. But I broke loose from de vines an' cum just asquick as could run. Werry big cabe dat, an' strange waterfall inde back."
"Let us explore the cave," said Dick. "Somebody can remain onguard outside."
Some demurred to this, but the Rover boys could, not be held back,and on they went, with Aleck with them. Soon Randolph Roverhobbled after them, leaving Cujo and the college students toremain on the watch.
The cave proved to be a large affair, running all of half a mileunder the mountain. There were numerous holes in the roof,through which the sun shone down, making the use of torchesunnecessary. To one side was a deep and swiftly flowing stream,coming from the waterfall Cujo had mentioned, and disappearingunder the rocks near the entrance to the cavern.
"Gold, true enough!" shouted Dick, as he gazed on the walls of thecave. "Am I not right, Uncle Randolph?"
"You are, Dick; this is a regular cave of gold, and no mistake.No wonder King Susko wanted to keep us away!"
Soon the waterfall was gained. It was a fascinating scene towatch the sparkling sheet as it thundered downward a distance offully a hundred feet. At the bottom was a pool where the waterwas lashed into a milky foam which went swirling round and round.
"Look! Look! The ghost!" suddenly cried Sam, and pointed intothe falling water. "Oh, Uncle Randolph, did you ever see anythinglike it?" and he gave a shiver.
"There are no such things as ghosts, Sam," replied his uncle. "Isee nothing."
"Stand here and look," answered Sam, and his uncle did asrequested. Presently from out of the mist came the form of a man--thelikeness of Randolph Rover himself!
"It is nothing but an optical illusion, Sam, such as are producedby some magicians on the theater stage. The sun comes downthrough yonder hole and reflects your image on the wet rock, whichin turn reflects the form on the sheet of water."
"Gracious! And that must be the ghost the natives believe in,"answered Sam. "I'm glad you explained it. I can tell you I wasstartled."
"Here is a path leading up past the waterfall," said Dick, who hadbeen making an investigation. "Let us see what is beyond."
"Take care of where you go," warned Randolph Rover. "There may besome nasty pitfall there."
"I'll keep my eyes open," responded Dick.
He ascended the rocks, followed by Sam, while the others broughtup in the rear. Up over the waterfall was another cave, long andnarrow. There was now but little light from overhead, but far inthe distance could be seen a long, narrow opening, as if themountain top had been, by some convulsion of nature, split inhalf.
"We are coming into the outer world again!" cried Dick, and ranforward. "Well, I never!" he ejaculated.
For beyond the opening was a small plain, covered with short grassand surrounded on every side by jagged rocks which arose to theheight of fifty or sixty feet. In the center of the plain were anumber of native huts, of logs thatched with palm.