Adventures of a Young Naturalist Part 46

The clearness of day now broke upon us. For a quarter of an hour I kept my ear to the earth, listening in the hopes of hearing some signal.

Again and again I c.o.c.ked my gun with the intention of firing, and as regularly I laid it down, when I reflected I might only be throwing away my ammunition.

At length I took observations of the bearings of the ground, and followed, as far as possible, our trail of the day before.

In this operation we fortunately came upon a pool of water, at which we quenched our thirst; but though our hunger was excessive, and game plentiful we dared not discharge at it a single shot.

We hastened forward, and came upon some creeping plants, indications that we were approaching a glade. Some birds were singing in the branches as we hurried on, but I had made up my mind to shoot the first one large enough to make a meal for my brave little companion and self.

In spite of my efforts, I could not succeed in hiding my grave presentiments; but my son's prattle, which was even gayer than usual, quite justified the name of "Sunbeam" given him by Sumichrast.

"Don't be so serious," said he to me, suddenly; "you need not be distressed about me. I have already guessed that we are lost; but I am with you, and I am not a bit afraid but that we shall soon find our way again."

The poor child had not the least suspicion of the danger. Every moment, too, tears came into my eyes, and I felt my courage getting weaker; I made a strong effort to dispel my thoughts, and vowed that I would strive on with faith and energy to the last hour.

"L'Encuerado will be sure to find us," said Lucien, with such an air of conviction that I could not help sharing his confidence.

"Yes," I answered; "Sumichrast and l'Encuerado will find us or die in the attempt. It can not be possible--" I had not courage to finish my sentence.

We commenced our march again with increased energy.

"Look out!" cried Lucien, suddenly; "it seems to me as if some one were moving the branches close by."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The monkey . . . slid down, and fell dead at our feet."]

"It is a monkey," said I; and off I went in pursuit of the animal, which, leaping from branch to branch, seemed to set us at defiance.

Suddenly it uttered a guttural cry, and was answered by twenty more. I hid behind a tree, and told Lucien to keep silent. Two or three times the active creatures moved farther away, but at last they came so close that I could fire safely. I never, I think, took more pains with my aim; the gun went off, and the band scattered in every direction in a most precipitous flight. The monkey I had aimed at seemed only wounded, when, as I was going to fire a second time, it slid down and fell dead at our feet; its young one, which we had not at first perceived, was sitting upon a limb about ten feet from the ground, uttering low, and almost inaudible, plaintive cries.

In a quarter of an hour the animal was skinned and hung in front of a large fire. While I was superintending the cookery, the young one moaned incessantly, and my companion tried every persuasion to coax it down.

Urged by Lucien, I ascended the tree, and tried to catch hold of the motherless little creature. No doubt it was paralyzed by fear, for it only showed its teeth, and allowed me to place it on my shoulder. It clung to my hair and wound its tail round my neck, as I descended, and I was in fear every moment of feeling one of my ears bitten. Nothing of the sort happened, for the poor brute's teeth chattered with fear; I placed it close to the fire, where it immediately resumed its lamentations. Then, by means of a flexible creeper, I secured it round the middle of the body and tied it to a bush.

When we had satisfied our appet.i.te on the dark and tough monkey's flesh, I proposed to Lucien a fresh start.

"Shall we take our little captive with us?" he asked.

"Yes, certainly. It will be a resource for our supper, in case we do not fall in with our friends."

"Oh no," cried the boy; "let us at least put off killing it till to-morrow."

I hastened my pace, carrying on my shoulder our new companion, whom we at once dubbed "Master Job."

I examined more carefully than ever the ground and the bark of the trees, seeking for any thing which might direct our course. With a sickly feeling at my heart, I saw the sun approach the horizon. The boy, quite broken down with fatigue, looked at me, with his eyes full of tears. At last I halted, and the dear little fellow stretched himself beside me and fell asleep.

While listening with ear and eye alike on the watch, I fancied I heard the distant report of a gun. I jumped up--was it the fall of a tree? or was it a signal from one of our companions? I seized my gun, but I hesitated before expending my last cartridge but one. At length I pressed the trigger, and I listened anxiously as the sound of my shot died away, alas! without echo. Lucien did not move.

"Jump up! jump up!" I cried; for a dull barking moved the air. Suddenly I fired my last barrel; then, with eyes shut, mouth open, and nostrils dilated, I listened intently, almost forgetting to breathe.

Minutes--they seemed ages--elapsed without any thing more interrupting the silence. Lucien looked at me with a scared face; I pressed my weapon to me in despair at having expended my last charge, when a gunshot was heard ringing out clear and close.

"It is l'Encuerado!" cried Lucien.

"Yes, my boy," I said, almost frantic.

"Reply to your friend!" I exclaimed; "one of the barrels of your gun is still loaded."

Lucien fired, and was answered almost immediately.

"Call out, so as to guide them," said I to the boy; "for we have no more powder left."

"Ohe, ohe, ohe!" called Lucien.

"Hiou, hiou, hiou!" replied a still distant voice.

At the same moment Gringalet rushed to us as swiftly as an arrow, and jumped upon his young master. After having overwhelmed us with caresses, the dog made off again, and ten minutes later the Indian made his appearance, and, running to the boy, clasped him in his arms, and rolled with him on the ground in the excess of his wild emotion. I, too, heartily greeted Sumichrast, but was almost too affected to speak.

All my companion's efforts to discover our trail had been ineffectual; and Gringalet himself, when put to the task, had hunted in vain round the thickets. The fact was, they looked for us on the right, while we had gone to the left; for Sumichrast could not bring his mind to the idea that we had turned our backs to the stream.

L'Encuerado, after cooking, spread out on the spot his stock of provisions, to which every one did justice. Master Job was lodged safely under the shelter of a large branch, and deep sleep took possession of the whole party.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER x.x.x.

WE BUILD A RAFT.--THE HORNED SERPENT.--GOOD-BYE TO "PALM-TREE VILLA."--MOSQUITOES AND HORSE-FLIES.--THE RATTLESNAKE.--AN OCELOT.

The next day found us at work building our raft, and l'Encuerado went off with Lucien in quest of some flexible creepers, to be used for binding together the various portions of it. When our companions joined us, Sumichrast was squaring out the last trunks. Lucien, laden with creepers wound all round his body, carried besides, at the end of his stick, the carca.s.s of a horned snake--_Atropos Mexica.n.u.s_--which has scales standing erect behind its eyebrows, like little horns, which have obtained for it its Indian name of _mazacoatl_. The reptile was nearly two feet long, and of a grayish color, and gaped with formidable jaws, more than usually dilated by the blows, I suppose, which l'Encuerado had given it.

Sumichrast, with infinite precaution, showed to his pupil the tubular fangs, by means of which serpents inoculate the terrible venom with which some of them have been endowed by nature.

"When the reptile bites," said my friend, "its two fangs press on a small bladder at their base, and the poison is thus injected into the wound."

Our naturalist rendered his explanation still clearer by pressing on one of the fangs, from the end of which oozed out an almost imperceptible drop of liquid.

"How is it that the serpent does not poison itself?" asked Lucien.

"In the first place, it does not chew its prey; and, secondly, its venom is only dangerous when it penetrates direct into the blood; and a man, if there is no scratch in his mouth or in the digestive tube, can swallow the poison with impunity, although a very small quant.i.ty introduced into his veins would cause immediate death."

After our meal, which consisted of turtle and some palm cabbage, which in flavor resembles an artichoke, I set the example of commencing work.

In less than two hours the materials for the raft had been carried to the edge of the stream, and the frail bark which was to carry us down to the plains was constructed and afloat. A little before sunset, l'Encuerado, provided with a long pole for a boat-hook, pushed it out on the water to ascertain its powers of buoyancy; and the trial having been judged satisfactory, the raft was moored, and we all lay down in front of our "Villa" to enjoy a siesta.

At last, when every thing was arranged for the voyage, l'Encuerado, naked down to his waist, went behind as pilot. We gave a farewell salute to the "Villa," by a loud hurrah, which seemed to frighten our menagerie, and with a last look at the forest in which I had spent so many miserable hours the mooring was cut, and the raft floated slowly and silently down the current.

The raft soon drifted into a lagoon, covered with waders and web-footed birds, which scarcely moved as we pa.s.sed them, and some time was lost before we could regain the course of the stream. At length, guided by the palm-trees, our skiff glided between two banks bordered by trees, the high tops of which sheltered us with their shade.