Let us return to Tom and Sam, at the time they were left alone atBinoto's hostelry.
"I wish we had gone with Dick and Uncle Randolph," said Tom, as he slipped into his coat and shoes. "I don't like this thing at all."
"Oh, don't get scared before you are hurt, Tom!" laughed his younger brother. "These people out here may be peculiar, but—"
Sam did not finish. A loud call from the woods had reached his ears, and in alarm he too began to dress, at the same time reaching for his pistol and the money belt which Randolph Rover had left behind.
"I—I guess something is wrong," he went on, after a pause. "If we—"
"Tom! Sam! look out fo' yourselves!" came from Aleck, and in a second more the negro, burst on their view. "Come, if yo' is dressed!" he added.
"Where to?" asked Tom hurriedly.
"Anywhar, Massah Tom. De others is took prisoners! Come!" AndAleck almost dragged the boy along.
The Rover boys could readily surmise that Aleck would not act in this highly excited manner unless there was good cause for it. Consequently, as Sam said afterward, "They didn't stand on the order of their going, but just flew." Pell-mell out of the hostelry they tumbled, and ran up the highway as rapidly as their nimble limbs would permit.
They heard several men coming after them, and heard the command "Halt!" yelled after them in both French and bad English. But they did not halt until a sudden tumble on Tom's part made the others pause in dismay.
"Oh, great Caesar!" groaned the fun-loving Rover, and tried to stand up. "I guess I've twisted my ankle."
"Can't you even walk?" asked Sam.
"We ain't got no time ter lose!" panted Aleck, who was almost winded. "If we stay here we'll be gobbled up—in no time, dat's shuah!"
"Let us try to carry Tom," said Sam, and attempted to lift his brother up. But the load made him stagger.
"De trees—let us dun hide in, de trees!" went on the negro, struck by a certain idea. "Come on, quick!"
"Yes—yes—anything!" groaned Tom, and then shut his teeth hard to keep himself from screaming with pain.
Together they carried the suffering youth away from the highway to where there was a thick jungle of trees and tropical vines. The vines, made convenient ladders by which to get up into the trees, and soon Sam and Aleck were up and pulling poor Tom after them.
"Now we must be still," said Aleck, when they were safe for the time being. "Hear dem a-conun' dis way."
The three listened and soon made out the footsteps of the approaching party. They soon passed on up the road.
"We've fooled them," whispered Sam.
"But, oh, Aleck, what does it all mean?"
"It means dat yo' uncle an' Dick am prisoners—took by a lot of rascals under a tall, Frenchman."
"Yes, but I don't understand—"
"No more do I, Massah Sam, but it war best to git out, dat's as shuah as yo' is born," added the colored man solemnly.
Poor Torn was having a wretched time of it with his ankle, which hurt as badly as ever and had begun to swell. As he steadied himself on one of the limbs of the tree Sam removed his shoe, which gave him a little relief.
From a distance came a shouting, and they made out through the trees the gleam of a torch. But soon the sounds died out and the light disappeared.
What should they do next? This was a question impossible to answer.
"One thing is certain, I can't walk just yet," said Tom. "When I put my foot down it's like a thousand needles darting through my leg."
"Let us go below and hunt up some water," said Sam; and after waiting a while longer they descended into the small brush. Aleck soon found a pool not far distant, and to this they carried Tom, and after all had had a drink, the swollen ankle was bathed, much to the sufferer's relief.
Slowly the time dragged by until morning. As soon as the sun was up Aleck announced that he was going back to the hostelry to see how the land lay.
"But don't expose yourself," said Tom. "I am certain now that is a regular robbers' resort, or worse."
Aleck was gone the best part of three hours. When he returned he was accompanied by Cujo. The latter announced that all of the other natives had fled for parts unknown.
"The inn is deserted," announced Aleck. Even that colored wife of the proprietor is gone.
"And did you find any trace of Dick and my uncle?" asked Sam.
"We found out where dat struggle took place," answered, Aleck. "And Cujo reckons as how he can follow de trail if we don't wait too long to do it."
"Must go soon," put in Cujo for himself.
"Maybe tomorrow come big storm—den track all washed away."
Tom sighed and shook his head. "You can go on, but you'll have to leave me behind. I couldn't walk a hundred yards for a barrel of gold."
"Oh, we can't think of leaving you behind!" cried Sam.
"I'll tell you wot—Ise dun carry him, at least fe a spell," said Aleck, and so it was arranged.
Under the new order of things Cujo insisted on making a scouting tour first, that he might strike the trail before carrying them off on a circuitous route, thus tiring Aleck out before the real tracking began.
The African departed, to be gone the best Part of an hour. When he came back there was a broad grin of satisfaction on his homely features.
"Cujo got a chicken," he announced, producing the fowl. "And here am some werry good roots, too. Now va dinner befo' we start out."
"Right yo' am, Cujo!" cried Pop, and began to start up a fire without delay, while Cujo cleaned the fowl and mashed up the roots, which, when baked on a hot stone, tasted very much like sweet potatoes. The meal was enjoyed by all, even Tom eating his full share in spite of his swollen ankle, which was now gradually resuming its normal condition.
Cujo had found the trail at a distance of an eighth of a mile above the wayside hostelry. "Him don't lead to de ribber dare," he said. "But I dun think somet'ing of him."
"And what do you think?" asked Tom, from his seat on Aleck's back.
"I t'ink he go to de kolobo."
"And what is the kolobo?" asked Sam with interest.
"De kolobo old place on ribber-place where de white soldiers shoot from big fort-house."
"A fort!" cried Tom. "But would the authorities allow, them to go there?"
"No soldiers dare now—leave kolobo years ago. Place most tumble down now. But good place fo' robbers."
"I see. Well, follow the trail as best you can—and we'll see what we will see."
"And let us get along just as fast as we can," added Sam.
On they went through a forest that in spots was so thick they could scarcely pass. The jungle contained every kind of tropical growth, including ferns, which were beautiful beyond description, and tiny vines so wiry that they cut like a knife.
"This is tough," remarked Sam. "But I suppose it doesn't hold a candle to what is beyond."
"Werry bad further on," answered Cujo. "See, here am de trail," and he pointed it out.
Several miles were covered, when they came to a halt in order to rest and to give Aleck a let up in carrying Tom. The youth now declared his foot felt much better and hobbled along for some distance by leaning on Sam's shoulder.
Presently they were startled by hearing a cry from a distance.They listened intently, then Cujo held up his hand.
"Me go an' see about dat," he said. "Keep out ob sight, all ob you!" And he glided into the bushes with the skill and silence of a snake.
Another wait ensued, and Tom improved the time by again bathing his foot in a pool which was discovered not far from where Cujo had left them. The water seemed to do much good, and the youth declared that by the morrow he reckoned he would be able to do a fair amount of walking if they did not progress too rapidly.
"But what a country this is!" he murmured. "I declare they could burn wood night and day for a century and never miss a stick."
"I thought I heard some monkeys chattering a while ago," answeredSam. "I suppose the interior is alive with them."
"I dun see a monkey lookin' at us now, from dat tree," observedAleck. "See dem shinin' eyes back ob de leaves?" He pointed withhis long forefinger, and both, boys gazed in the direction. ThenTom gave a yell.
"A monkey? That's a snake! Look out for yourselves!"
He started back and the others did the same. And they were none too soon, for an instant later the leaves were thrust apart and a serpent's form appeared, swaying slowly to and fro, as if contemplating a drop upon their very heads!
For the instant after the serpent appeared nobody spoke or moved. The waving motion of the reptile was fascinating to the last degree, as was also that beady stare from its glittering eyes. The stare was fixed upon poor Tom, and having retreated but a few feet, he now stood as though rooted to the spot. Slowly the form of the snake was lowered, until only the end of its tail kept it up on the tree branch. Then the head and neck began to swing back and forth, in a straight line with Tom's face.
The horrible fascination held the poor, boy as by a spell, and he could do nothing but look at those eyes, which seemed to bum themselves upon his very brain. Closer and closer, and still closer, they came to his face, until at last the reptile prepared to strike.
Crack! It was Sam's pistol that spoke up, at just the right instant, and those beady eyes were ruined forever, and the wounded head twisted in every direction, while the body of the serpent, dropping from the tree, lashed and dashed hither and thither in its agony. Then the spell was broken, and Tom let out such a yell of terror as had never before issued from his lips.
Crack! came a second shot from Sam's pistol. But the serpent was moving around too rapidly for a good aim to be taken, and only the tip of the tail was struck. Then, in a mad, blind fashion, the snake coiled itself upon Aleck's foot, and began, with lightning-like rapidity, to encircle the colored man's body.
"Help!" shrieked Aleck, trying to pull the snake off with his hands. "Help! or Ise a dead man, shuah!"
"Catch him by the neck, Aleck!" ejaculated Tom, and brought out his own pistol. Watching his chance, he pulled the trigger twice, sending both bullets straight through the reptile's body. Then Sam fired again, and the mangled head fell to the ground.
But dead or alive the body still encircled Aleck, and the contraction threatened to cave in the colored man's ribs.
"Pull him off somehow!" he gasped. "Pull him off!"
Crack! went Tom's pistol once more, and now the snake had evidently had enough of it, for it uncoiled slowly and fell to the ground in a heap, where it slowly shifted from one spot to another until life was extinct. But neither the boys nor the colored man waited to see if it was really dead. Instead, they took to their heels and kept on running until the locality was left a considerable distance behind.
"That was a close shave," said Tom, as he dropped on the ground and began to nurse his lame ankle once more. "Ugh! but that snake was enough to give one the nightmare!"
"Don't say a word," groaned Aleck, who had actually turned pale. "I vought shuah I was a goner, I did fo' a fac'! I don't want to meet no mo' snakes!"
The two boys reloaded their pistols with all rapidity, and this was scarcely accomplished when they heard Cujo calling to them. Soon the native put in an appearance. When told of what had happened he would not believe the tale until he had gone back to look at the dead snake.
"You werry lucky," he said. "Him big wonder um snake didn't kill all of yo'!"
Cujo had made an important discovery. He had located Captain Villaire's party at the old fort, and said that several French brigands were on guard, by the trail leading from the swamp and at the cliff overlooking the river.
"I see white boy dare too," he added. "Same boy wot yo' give money to in Boma."
"Dan Baxter!" ejaculated Sam. "Can it be possible that he is mixed up in this affair?"
"I can't understand it at all," returned Tom. "But the question is, now we have tracked the rascals, what is to be done next?"
After a long talk it was resolved to get as close to the old fort as possible. Cujo said they need not hurry, for it would be best to wait until nightfall before making any demonstration against their enemies. The African was very angry to think that the other natives had deserted the party, but this anger availed them nothing.
Four o'clock in the afternoon found them on the edge of the swamp and not far from the bank of the Congo. Beyond was the cliff, overgrown in every part with rank vegetation, and the ever-present vines, which hung down like so many ropes of green.
"If we want to get up the wall we won't want any scaling ladders," remarked Tom grimly. "Oh, if only we knew that Dick and Uncle Randolph were safe!"
"I'm going to find out pretty soon," replied Sam. "I'll tell you what I think. I think they are being held for ransom."
"I was thinking of that, too. But I didn't dream of such a thing being done down here although, I know it is done further north in Africa among the Moors and Algerians."
Cujo now went off on another scout and did not return until the sun was setting. Again he was full of smiles.
"I can show you a way up de rocks," he said. "We can get to the walls of um fort, as you call um, without being seen."
Soon night was upon them, for in the tropics there is rarely any twilight. Tom now declared himself able to walk once more, and they moved off silently, like so many shadows, beside the swamp and then over a fallen palm to where a series of rocks, led up to the cliff proper.
"Sh-ah!" came presently from Cujo. "Man ahead!"
They came to a halt, and through the gloom saw a solitary figure sitting on a rock. The sentinel held a gun over his knees and was smoking a cigarette.
"If he sees us he will give the alarm," whispered Tom. "Can't we capture him without making a noise?"
"Dat's de talk," returned Aleck. "Cujo, let us dun try dat trick."
Cujo nodded. "Urn boys stay here," he said. "Cujo fix dat feller!"
And off he crawled through the wet grass, taking a circuitous route which brought him up on the sentinel's left.
Presently the sentinel started to rise. As he did so Cujo leaped from the grass and threw him to the earth. Then a long knife flashed in the air. "No speak, or um diet" came softly; but, the Frenchman realized that the African meant what he said.
"I will be silent!" he growled, in the language of the African."Don't—don't choke me."
Cujo let out a low whistle, which the others rightly guessed was asignal for them to come up. Finding himself surrounded, theFrenchman gave up his gun and other weapons without a struggle.He could talk no English, so what followed had to be translated byCujo.
"Yes, de man an' boy are dare," explained Cujo, pointing to the fort. "Da chained up, so dis rascal say. De captain ob de band want heap money to let um go."
"Ask him how many of the band there are," asked Sam.
But at this question the Frenchman shook his head. Either he did not know or would not tell.
After a consultation the rascal was made to march back to safer ground. Then he was strapped to a tree and gagged. The straps were not fastened very tightly, so that the man was sure to gain his liberty sooner or later. "If we didn't come back and he was too tight he might starve to death," said Tom.
"Not but wot he deserves to starve," said Aleck, with a scowl at the crestfallen prisoner.
At the foot of the cliff all was as dark and silent as a tomb. "We go slow now, or maybe take a big tumble," cautioned Cujo. "Perhaps him better if me climb up first," and he began the dangerous ascent of the cliff by means of the numerous vines already mentioned.
He was halfway up when the others started after him, Sam first,Tom next, and Aleck bringing up in the rear.
Slowly they arose until the surface of the stream was a score or more of feet below them. Then came the sounds of footsteps from above and suddenly a torch shone down into their upturned faces.
"Hullo, who's this?" came in English and the Rover boys recognizedDan Baxter.
"Silence, on your life!" cried Tom.
"Tom Rover!" gasped the bully. "How came you—"
"Silence, Baxter! I have a pistol and you know I am a good shot.Stand where you an and put both hands over your head."
"Will I stand? Not much!" yelled the bully, and flung his torch straight at Tom. Then he turned and ran for the fort, giving the alarm at the top of his lungs.
The torch struck Tom on the neck, and for the moment the youth was in danger of losing his hold on the vines and tumbling to the jagged rocks below. But then the torch slipped away, past Sam and Aleck, and went hissing into the dark waters of the Congo.
By this time Cujo had reached the top of the cliff and was making after Baxter. Both gained the end of the fort at the same time and one mighty blow from Cujo's club laid Baxter senseless near the doorway.
"Help! help!" The cry came in Dick's voice, and was plainly heard by Sam and Tom. Then Captain Villaire appeared, and a rough and tumble battle ensued, which the Rovers well remember to this day.
But Tom was equal to the occasion, and after the first onslaught he turned, as if summoning help from the cliff. "This way!" he cried. "Tell the company to come up here and the other company can surround the swamp!"
Several pistol shots rang out, and the boys saw a Frenchman go down with a broken arm. Then Captain Villaire shouted: "We have been betrayed—we must flee!" The cry came in French, and as if by magic the brigands disappeared into the woods behind the old fort; and victory was upon the side of our friends.
"Well, I sincerely trust we have no more such adventures."
The speaker was Randolph Rover. He was seated on an old bench in one of the rooms of the fort, binding up a finger which had been bruised in the fray. It was two hours later, and the fight had come to an end some time previous. Nobody was seriously hurt, although Sam, Dick, and Aleck were suffering from several small wounds. Aleck had had his ear clipped by a bullet from Captain Villaire's pistol and was thankful that he had not been killed.
Baxter, the picture of misery, was a prisoner. The bully's face was much swollen and one eye was in deep mourning. He sat huddled up in a heap in a corner and wondering what punishment would be dealt out to him. "I suppose they'll kill me," he groaned, and it may be added that he thought he almost deserved that fate.
"You came just in time," said Dick. "Captain Villaire was about to torture us into writing letters home asking for the money he wanted as a ransom. Baxter put it into his head that we were very rich."
"Oh, please don't say anything more about it!" groaned the unfortunate bully. "I—that Frenchman put up this job all on his own hook."
"I don't believe it," came promptly from Randolph Rover. "You met him, at Boma; you cannot deny it."
"So I did; but he didn't say he was going to capture you, and I—"
"We don't care to listen to your falsehoods, Baxter," interruptedDick sternly.
"You are fully as guilty as anybody. You admitted it before."
Cujo had gone off to watch Captain Villaire and his party. He now came back, bringing word that the brigand had taken a fallen tree and put out on the Congo and was drifting down the stream along with several of his companions in crime.
"Him won't come back," said the tall African. "Him had enough of urn fight."
Nevertheless the whole party remained on guard until morning, their weapons ready for instant use. But no alarm came, and when day, dawned they soon made sure that they had the entire locality around the old fort to themselves, the Frenchman with a broken arm having managed to crawl off and reach his friends.
What to do with Dan Baxter was a conundrum.
"We can't take him with us, and if we leave him behind he will only be up to more evil," said Dick. "We ought to turn him over to the British authorities."
"No, no, don't do that," pleaded the tall youth. "Let me go andI'll promise never to interfere with you again."
"Your promises are not worth the breath used in uttering them," replied Tom. "Baxter, a worse rascal than you could not be imagined. Why don't you try to turn over a new leaf?"
"I will—if you'll only give me one more chance," pleaded the former bully of Putnam Hall.
The matter was discussed in private and it was at last decided to let Baxter go, providing he would, promise to return straight to the coast.
"And remember," said Dick, "if we catch you following us again we will shoot you on sight."
"I won't follow—don't be alarmed," was the low answer, and then Baxter was released and conducted to the road running down to Boma. He was given the knife he had carried, but the Rovers kept his pistol, that he might not be able to take a long-range shot at them. Soon he was out of their sight, not to turn up again for a long while to come.
It was not until the heat of the day had been spent that the expedition resumed its journey, after, an excellent meal made from the supplies Captain Villaire's party had left behind in their hurried flight. Some of the remaining supplies were done up into bundles by Cujo, to replace those which had been lost when the natives hired by Randolph Rover had deserted.
"It's queer we didn't see anything of that man and woman from the inn," remarked Dick, as they set off. "I reckon they got scared at the very start."
They journeyed until long after nightfall, "To make up for lost time," as Mr. Rover expressed it, and so steadily did Cujo push on that when a halt was called the boys were glad enough to rest. They had reached a native village called Rowimu. Here Cujo was well known and he readily procured good accommodations for all hands.
The next week passed without special incident, excepting that one afternoon the whole party went hunting, bringing down a large quantity of birds, and several small animals, including an antelope, which to the boys looked like a Maine deer excepting for the peculiar formation of its horns.
"I wonder how Mr. Blaze is making out?" said Tom, when they were returning to camp from the hunt.
"Oh, I reckon he is blasting away at game," laughed Sam, and Tom at once groaned over the attempted joke.
"Perhaps we will meet him some day—if he's in this territory," put in Dick. "But just now I am looking for nobody but father."
"And so are all of us," said Tom and Sam promptly.
They were getting deeper and deeper into the jungle and had to take good care that they did not become separated. Yet Cujo said he understood the way perfectly and often proved his words by mentioning something which they would soon reach, a stream, a little lake, or a series of rocks with a tiny waterfall.
"Been ober dis ground many times," said the guide.
"I suppose this is the ground Stanley covered in his famous expedition along the Congo," remarked Dick, as they journeyed along. "But who really discovered the country, Uncle Randolph?"
"That is a difficult question to answer, Dick. The Portuguese, the Spanish, and the French all claim that honor, along with the English. I fancy different sections, were discovered by different nationalities. This Free State, you know, is controlled by half a dozen nations."
"I wonder if the country will ever be thoroughly civilized?"
"It will take a long while, I am afraid. Christianity will have to come first. Many of the tribes in Africa are, you must remember, without any form of religion whatever, being even worse than what we call heathens, who worship some sort of a God."
"Don't they believe in anything?" asked Sam.
"Nothing, Sam. And their morality is of the lowest grade in consequence. They murder and steal whenever the chance offers, and when they think the little children too much care for them they pitch them into the rivers for the crocodiles to feed upon."
"The beasts!" murmured Tom. "Well, I reckon at that rate, civilization can't come too quick, even if it has to advance behind bayonets and cannon."
On and on went the expedition. In the past many small towns and villages had been visited where there were more or less white people; but now they reached a territory where the blacks held full sway, with—but this was rarely—a Christian missionary among them.
At all of the places which were visited Cujo inquired about King Susko and his people, and at last learned that the African had passed to the southeast along the Kassai River, driving before him several hundred head of cattle which he had picked up here and there.
"Him steal dat cattle," explained Cujo, "but him don't say dat stealin', him say um—um—"
"A tax on the people?" suggested Dick.
"Yes, um tax. But him big Vief."
"He must be, unless he gives the people some benefit for the tax they are forced to pay," said Tom.
At one of the villages they leaned that there was another American Party in that territory, one sent out by an Eastern college to collect specimens of the flora of central Africa. It was said that the party consisted of an elderly man and half a dozen young fellows.
"I wouldn't mind meeting that crowd," said Sam. "They might brighten up things a bit."
"Never mind; things will pick up when once we meet King Susko," said Dick. "But I would like to know where the crowd is from and who is in it."
"It's not likely we would know them if they are from the East," said Sam. "Probably they hail from Yale or Harvard."
Two days later the storm which Cujo had predicted for some time caught them while they were in the midst of an immense forest of teak and rosewood. It was the middle of the afternoon, yet the sky became as black as night, while from a distance came the low rumble of thunder. There was a wind rushing high up in the air, but as yet this had not come down any further than the treetops. The birds of the jungle took up the alarm and filled the forest with their discordant cries, and even the monkeys, which were now numerous, sit up a jabber which would have been highly trying to the nerves of a nervous person.
"Yes, we catch um," said Cujo, in reply to Dick's question. "Me look for safe place too stay."
"You think the storm will be a heavy one?" asked Randolph Rover anxiously.
"Werry heavy, massah; werry heavy," returned Cujo. "Come wid me, all ob you," and he set off on a run.
All followed as quickly as they could, and soon found themselves under a high mass of rocks overlooking the Kassai River. They had hardly gained the shelter when the storm burst over their heads in all of its wild fury.
"My, but this beats anything that I ever saw before!" cried Sam, as the wind began to rush by them with ever-increasing velocity.
"Him blow big by-me-by," said Cujo with a sober face. "Him big storm, dis."
"The air was full of a moanin' sound," to use Aleck's way of expressing it. It came from a great distance and caused the monkeys and birds to set up more of a noise than ever. The trees were now swaying violently, and presently from a distance came a crack like that of a big pistol.
"Was that a tree went down?" asked Randolph Rover, and Cujo nodded. "It is a good thing, then, that we got out of the forest."
"Big woods werry dangerous in heap storm like dis," answered theAfrican. "Tree come down, maybe kill um. Hark! now um comin'!"
He crouched down between two of the largest rocks and instinctively the others followed suit. The "moanin" increased until, with a roar and a rush, a regular tropical hurricane was upon them. The blackness of the atmosphere was filled with flying tree branches and scattered vines, while the birds, large and small, swept past like chips on a swiftly flowing river, powerless to save themselves in those fierce gusts.
"Keep down, for your lives!" shouted Randolph Rover; but the roar of the elements drowned out his voice completely. However, nobody thought of rising, and the tree limbs and vines passed harmlessly over their heads.
The first rush of wind over, the rain began, to fall, at first in drops as big as a quarter-dollar and then in a deluge which speedily converted the hollows among the rocks into deep pools and soaked everybody to his very skin. Soon the water was up to their knees and pouring down into the river like a regular cataract.
"This is a soaker and no mistake," said Sam, during a brief lull in the downpour. "Why, I never saw so much water come down in my life."
"It's a hurricane," answered Randolph Rover, "It may keep on—"
He got no further, for at that instant a blinding flash of lightning caused everybody to jump in alarm. Then came an ear-splitting crack of thunder and up the river they saw a magnificent baobab tree, which had reared its stately head over a hundred feet high from the ground, come crashing down, split in twain as by a Titan's ax. The blackened stump was left standing, and soon—this burst into flames, to blaze away until another downpour of rain put out the conflagration.
"My, but that dun been awful!" murmured Aleck with a shiver. "Ise glad we didn't take no shelter under dat tree."
"Amen," said Tom. He had been on the point of making some joke about the storm, but now the fun was knocked completely out of him.
It rained for the rest of the day and all of the night, and for once all hands felt thoroughly, miserable. Several times they essayed to start a fire, by which to dry themselves and make something hot to drink, but each time the rain put out the blaze. What they had to eat was not only cold, but more or less water-soaked, and it was not until the next noon that they managed to cook a meal.
When at last the sun did come out, however, it shone, so Sam put it, "with a vengeance." There was not a cloud left, and the direct rays of the great orb of day caused a rapid evaporation of the rain, so that the ground seemed to be covered with a sort of mist. On every side could be seen the effects of the hurricane-broken trees, washed-out places along the river, and dead birds and small animals, including countless monkeys. The monkeys made the boys' hearts ache, especially one big female, that was found tightly clasping two little baby monkeys to her breast.
The storm had swollen the river to such an extent that they were forced to leave the beaten track Cujo had been pursuing and take to another trail which reached out to the southward. Here they passed a small village occupied entirely by negroes, and Cujo learned from them that King Susko had passed that way but five days before. He had had no cattle with him, the majority of his followers having taken another route. It was thought by some of the natives that King Susko was bound for a mountain known as the Hakiwaupi—or Ghost-of-Gold.
"The Ghost-of-Gold!" repeated Dick. "Can that be the mountain father was searching for when he came to Africa?"
Inquiries from Cujo elicited the information that the mountain mentioned was located about one hundred miles away, in the center of an immense plain. It was said to be full of gold, but likewise haunted by the ghost of a departed warrior known to the natives as Gnu-ho-mumoli—Man-of-the-Gnu-eye.
"I reckon that ghost story, was started, by somebody who wanted, to keep the wealth of che mountain to himself," observed Tom. "I don't believe in ghosts, do you, Cujo?"
The tall African shrugged his ebony shoulders, "Maybe no ghost—but if dare is, no want to see 'um," he said laconically. Nevertheless he did not object to leading them in the direction of the supposedly haunted mountain.
So far the natives had been more or less friendly, but now those that were met said but little to Cujo, while scowls at the whites were frequent. It was learned that the college party from the East was in the vicinity.
"Perhaps they did something to offend the natives," observed Randolph Rover. "As you can see, they are simple and childlike in their ways, and as quickly offended on one hand as they are pleased on the other. All of you must be careful in your treatment of them, otherwise we may get into serious trouble."
One afternoon Dick found himself alone near the edge of a tiny lake situated on the southern border of the jungle through which the party had passed. The others had gone up the lake shore, leaving him to see what he could catch for supper.
He had just hooked a magnificent fish of a reddish-brown color, when, on looking up, he espied an elderly man gazing at him intently from a knoll of water-grass a short distance away.
"Richard Rover, is it—ahem—possible?" came slowly from the man's thin lips. "Surely I must be dreaming!"
"Josiah Crabtree!" ejaculated Dick, so surprised that he let the fish fall into the water again. "How on earth did you get out here?"
"I presume I might—er—ask that same question," returned the former teacher of Putnam Hall. "Did you follow me to Africa?"
"Do you imagine I would be fool enough to do that, Mr. Crabtree? No, the Stanhopes and I were content to let you go—so long as you minded your own business in the future."
"Do not grow saucy, boy; I will not stand it."
"I am not saucy, as you see fit to term it, Josiah Crabtree. You know as well as I do that you ought to be in prison this minute for plotting the abduction of Dora."
"I know nothing of the kind, and will not waste words on you. But if you did not follow me why are you here?"
"I am here on business, and not ashamed to own it."
"Indeed. And you—did you come in search of your missing father?"
"I did."
"You once said he was missing. It is a long journey for one so young."
"It's a queer place for you to come to."
"I am with an exploring party from Yale College. We are studying the fauna and flora of central Africa—at least, they are doing so under my guidance."
"They must be learning a heap—under you."
"Do you mean to say I am not capable of teaching them!" criedJosiah Crabtree, wrathfully.
"Well, if I was in their place I would want somebody else besides the man who was discharged by Captain Putnam and who failed to get the appointment he wanted at Columbia College because he could not stand the examination."
"Boy! Boy! You know nothing of my ability!" fumed Crabtree, coming closer and shaking, his fist in Dick's face.
"Well, I know something of your lack of ability."
"You are doing your best to insult me!"
"Such an old fraud as you cannot be insulted, Josiah Crabtree. I read your real character the first time I met you, and you have never done anything since which has caused me to alter my opinion of you. You have a small smattering of learning and you can put on a very wise look when occasion requires. But that is all there is to it, except that behind it all you are a thorough-paced scoundrel and only lack a certain courage to do some daring bit of rascality."
This statement of plain truths fairly set Josiah Crabtree to boiling with rage. He shook his fist in Dick's face again. "Don't dare to talk that way, Rover; don't dare—or—I'll—I'll—"
"What will you do?"
"Never mind; I'll show you when the proper time comes."
"I told you once before that I was not afraid of you—and I am not afraid of you now."
"You did not come to Africa alone, did you?"
"To be sure I did not. I have a large party with me."
"In this vicinity?"
"Yes, within calling distance. I tell you that—and it's the truth—so that you won't try any underhand game on me."
"You—you—" Josiah Crabtree broke off and suddenly grew nervous. "See here, Rover, let us be friends," he said abruptly. "Let us drop the past and be friends-at least, so long as we are so far away from home and in the country of the enemy."
This sudden change in manner astonished Dick. Was Crabtree serious? Certainly the man's manner would indicate as much.
"Well, I'm willing to let past matters, drop—just for the present," he answered, hardly knowing what to say. "I wish to pay all my attention to finding my father."
"Exactly, Richard—and—er—you—who is with you? Anybody I know?"
"Sam and Dick and Alexander Pop."
"Is it possible! And that black, how is it he came along?"
"He joined us by accident. But what of your party?"
"They are a set of rich young students from Yale in their senior year who engaged me to bring them hither for study and—er—recreation. And that puts me in mind. You will not—ahem—say anything about the past to them, will you?"
As quick as a flash of lightning Dick saw through Josiah Crabtree's scheme for, letting matters Of the past drop. The former teacher of Putnam Hall was afraid the youth would hunt up the college students from Yale and expose him to them.
As a matter of fact, Crabtree was already "on the outs" with two of the students, and he was afraid that if the truth regarding his character became known his present position would be lost to him and he would be cast off to shift for himself.
"You don't want me to speak to the students under your charge?" said Dick slowly.
"Oh, of course you can speak to them, if you wish. But I—ahem—I would not care to—er—er—"
"To let them know what a rascal you are," finished Dick. "Crabtree, let me tell you once for all, that you can expect no friendship, from me. You are not worthy of it. When I meet those students I will tell them whatever I see fit."
At these words Josiah Crabtree grew as white as a sheet. Then, setting his teeth, he suddenly recovered. "Are those your friends?" he demanded, pointing up the lake shore.
As was perfectly natural, Dick turned to gaze in the direction. As he did so, Crabtree swung a stick that he carried into the air and brought it down with all force on the youth's head. Dick felt a terrific pain, saw a million or more dancing lights flash through his brain—and then he knew no more.
"I guess I've fixed him," muttered the former teacher of Putnam Hall grimly. He knelt beside the fallen boy and felt of his heart. "Not dead, but pretty well knocked out. Now what had I best do with him?"
He thought for a moment, then remembered a deep hollow which he had encountered but a short while before. Gazing around, to make certain that nobody was watching him, he picked up the unconscious lad and stalked off with the form, back into the jungle and up a small hill.
At the top there was a split between the rocks and dirt, and into this he dropped poor Dick, a distance of twenty or more feet. Then he threw down some loose leaves and dead tree branches.
"Now I reckon I am getting square with those Rovers," he muttered, as he hurried away.
The others of the Rover party wondered why Dick did not join them when they gathered around the camp-fire that night.
"He must be done fishing by this time," said Tom. "I wonder if anything has happened to him?"
"Let us take a walk up de lake an' see," put in Aleck, and the pair started off without delay.
They soon found the spot where Dick had been fishing. His rod and line lay on the bank, just as he had dropped it upon Josiah Crabtree's approach.
"Dick! Dick! Where are you?" called out Tom.
No answer came back at first. Then, to Tom's astonishment, a strange voice answered from the woods: "Here I am! Where are you?"
"Dat aint Dick," muttered Aleck. "Dat's sumbuddy else, MassahTom."
"So it is," replied Tom, and presently saw a tall and well-built young man struggling forth from the tall grass of the jungle.
"Hullo, what are you?" demanded the newcomer, as he stalked toward them.
"I guess I can ask the same question," laughed Tom. "Are you theDick who just answered me?"
"I am Dick Chester. And who are you?"
"Tom Rover. I am looking for my brother Dick, who was fishing here a while ago. Are you one of that party of college students we have heard about?"
"Yes, I'm a college student from Yale. May I ask where you come from?"
In a brief manner Tom told Dick Chester. "We can't imagine what has become of my brother Dick," he went on.
"Perhaps a lion ate him up," answered the Yale student. "No, you needn't smile. We saw a lion only yesterday. It nearly scared Mr. Crabtree into a fit."
"Mr. Crabtree!" burst Torn. "Josiah Crabtree?"
"The same. Do you know him?"
"Indeed I do—to my sorrow. He used to be a teacher at the academy I and my brothers attend. But he was discharged. He's a regular rascal."
"You are sure of that?" queried Dick Chester. "I have thought so all along, but the others, would hardly believe it."
"I am telling the truth, and can prove all I say. But just now I am anxious about my brother. You say you saw a lion?"
"Yes. He was across the lake; but Mr. Crabtree was scared to death and ran away. Frank Rand and I took shots at the beast, but I can't say if we hit him."
"It would be too bad if Dick dunh fell into dat lion's clutches," put in Aleck. "I reckon de lion would chaw him up in no time."
"Go back and call Cujo," said Tom. "He may be able to track my brother's footsteps."
At once Aleck loped off. While he was gone Tom told Dick Chester much concerning himself, and the college student related several facts in connection with the party to which he belonged.
"There are six of us students," he said. "We were going to have a professor from Yale with us, but he got sick at the last moment and we hired Josiah Crabtree. I wish we hadn't done it now, for he has proved more of a hindrance than a help, and his real knowledge of fauna and flora could be put in a peanut shell, with room to spare."
"He's a big brag," answered Tom. "Take my advice and never trust him too far—or you may be sorry for it."
Presently Aleck came back, with Cujo following. The brawny African began at once to examine the footprints along the lake shore.
"Him been here," he said. "Him came up dis way. But him no walk away."
"Didn't walk away!" ejaculated Tom.
"No. Udder footprints walk away, but not um Massah Dick."
"I don't understand, Cujo. Do you think he—fell into the lake?"
"Perhaps, Massah Tom—or maybe he get into boat."
Tom shook his head. "I don't know of any boats around here—do you?" he asked of Dick Chester.
"No," returned the young man from Yale. "But the natives living in the vicinity may have them."
"Perhaps a native dun carry him off," said Aleck. "He must be sumwhar, dat am certain."
"Yes, he must be somewhere," repeated Tom sadly.
By this time Sam and Randolph Rover were coming up, and also one of Dick Chester's friends. The college students were introduced to the others by Tom, and then a general hunt began for Dick, which lasted until the shades of night had fallen. But poor Dick was not found, and all wondered greatly what had, become of him.
Tom and the others retired at ten o'clock. But not to sleep, for with Dick missing none of the Rovers could close an eye. "We must find him in the morning," said Sam. "We simply must!" And the others agreed with him.
When poor Dick came to his senses he was lying in a heap on the decayed leaves at the bottom of the hollow between the rocks. The stuff Josiah Crabtree had thrown down still lay on top, of him, and it was a wonder that he had not been smothered.
"Where in the world am I?" was the first thought which crossed his confused mind. He tried to sit up, but found this impossible until he had scattered the dead leaves and tree branches. Even then he was so bewildered that he hardly knew what to do, excepting to stare around at his strange surroundings. Slowly the truth dawned upon him—how Josiah Crabtree had struck him down on the lake shore.
"He must have brought me here," he murmured. "Perhaps he thoughtI was dead!"
Although Dick did not know it, he had been at the bottom of the hollow all evening and all night. The sun was now up once more, but it was a day later than he imagined.
The hollow was damp and full of ants and other insects, and as soon as he felt able the youth got up. There was a big lump behind his left ear where the stick had descended, and this hurt not a little.
"I'll get square with him some day," he muttered, as he tried to crawl out of the hollow. "He has more courage to play the villain than I gave him credit for. Sometime I'll face him again, and then things will be different."
It was no easy matter to get out of the hollow. The sides were steep and slippery, and four times poor Dick tried, only to slip back to the bottom. He was about to try a fifth time, when a sound broke upon his ears which caused him great alarm. From only a short distance away came the muffled roar of a lion.
Dick had never heard, this sound out in the open before, but he had heard it a number of times at the circus and at the menagerie in Central Park, New York, and he recognized the roar only too well.
"A lion!" he thought. "My gracious! I trust he isn't coming this way!"
But he was coming that way, as Dick soon discovered. A few seconds of silence were followed by another roar which to, the alarmed youth appeared to come from almost over his head. Then came a low whine, which was kept up for fully a minute, followed by another roar. Dick hardly knew what was best—to remain at the bottom of the hollow or try to escape to some tree at the top of the opening. "If I go up now he may nab me on sight," he thought dismally. "Oh, if only I had my—thank Heaven, I have!"
Dick had felt for his pistol before, to find it gone. But now he spotted the glint of the shiny barrel among the leaves. The weapon had fallen from his person at the time Crabtree had pitched him into the hollow. He reached for it, and to his joy found that it was fully loaded and ready for use.
Presently he heard the bushes overhead thrust aside, and then came a half roar, half whine that made him jump. Looking up, he saw a lion standing on the edge of the hollow facing him.
The monarch of the forest was holding one of his forepaws up and now he sat down on his haunches to lick the limb. Then he set up another whine and shook the limb painfully.
"He has hurt that paw," thought Dick. "Wonder if he sees me?"
Yes, he did see, just at that instant, and started back in astonishment. Then his face took on a fierce look and he gave a roar which could be heard for miles around.
Crack! It was the report of Dick's pistol, but the youth was nervous, and the bullet merely glanced along the lion's body, doing little or no damage. The beast roared again, then crouched down and prepared to leap upon the youth.
But the wounded forepaw was a hindrance to the lion's movements, and he began to crawl along the hollow's edge, seeking a better point from which to make a leap.
Then Dick's pistol spoke up a second time.
This shot was a far better one, and the bullet passed directly through the knee-joint of the lion's left forepaw. He was now wounded in both fore limbs, and set up a roar which seemed to fairly make the jungle tremble. Twice he started to leap down into the hollow, but each time retreated to shake one wounded limb after another into the air with whines of pain and distress.
As soon as the great beast reappeared once more Dick continued his firing. Soon his pistol was empty, but the lion had not been hit again. In nervous haste the lad started to re-load only to find that his cartridge box was empty.
"Get out!" he yelled at the lion, and threw a stone at the beast. But the lion was now determined to descend into the hollow, and paused only to calculate a sure leap to the boy's head.
But that pause, brief as it was, was fatal to the calculations of the monarch of the jungle. From his rear came two shots in rapid succession, each hitting him in a vulnerable portion of his body. He leaped up into the air, rolled over on the edge of the hollow, and then came down, head first, just grazing Dick's arm, and landing at the boy's feet, stone dead.
"Hurrah! I reckon I hit him!" came in Tom Rover's voice.
"And so did I," came from Randolph Rover.
"But he has disappeared."
"This way, Tom!" cried Dick, with all the strength he could command. He was shaking like a reed in the wind and all of the color had deserted his face.
"It's Dick!" ejaculated Tom. "I told you that I had heard several pistol shots."
Soon Tom and Mr. Rover presented themselves at the top of the hollow, followed by Aleck and Cujo. The latter procured a rope made of twisted vines, and by this Dick was raised up without much difficulty.
All listened intently to the story Dick had to tell, and he had not yet finished when Dick Chester presented himself, having been attracted to the vicinity by the roars of the lion and the various pistol and gun shots.
"This Crabtree must certainly be as bad as you represent," he said. "I will have a talk with him when I get back to our camp."
"It won't be necessary for you to talk to him," answered Dick grimly. "If you'll allow me, I'll do the talking."
"All right," grinned the Yale student. "Do, as you please. We are a getting tired of him."
Chester and Cujo descended into the hollow to examine the lion. There was a bullet in his right foreleg which Chester proved had come from his rifle. "He must be the beast Frank Rand and I fired at from across the lake. Probably he had his home in the hollow and limped over to it during the night."
"In that case you are entitled to your fair share of the meat—if you wish any," said Randolph Rover with a smile. "But I think the pelt goes to Tom, for he fired the shot that was really fatal." And that skin did go to Tom, and lies on his parlor floor at home today.
"Several of the students from Yale had been out on a long tour the afternoon before, in the direction, of the mountain, and they had reported meeting several natives who had seen King Susko. He was reported to have but half a dozen of his tribe with him, including a fellow known as Poison Eye.
"That's a bad enough title for anybody," said Sam with a shudder. "I suppose his job is to poison their enemies if they can't overcome them in regular battle."
"Um tell de thruf," put in Cujo. "Once de Mimi tribe fight KingSusko, and whip him. Den Susko send Poison Eye to de Mimi camp.Next day all drink-water get bad, an' men, women, an' children dieoff like um flies."
"That's cheerful information," said Tom.
"And why didn't they slay the poisoner?"
"Eberybody 'fraid to touch him—'fraid he be poisoned."
"I'd run my chances—providing I had a knife or a club," muttered Tom.
"Or a pistol," finished Sam. "Such rascals are not fit to live."
Dick, as can readily be imagined, was hungry, and before the party started back for the lake, the youth was provided with some food which Aleck had very thoughtfully carried with him.
It was learned that the two parties were encamped not far apart, and Dick Chester said he would bring his friends to, see them before the noon hour was passed.
"I don't believe he will bring Josiah Crabtree," said Tom. "I reckon Crabtree will take good care to keep out of sight."
Tom was right. When Chester came over with his friends he said that the former teacher of Putnam Hall was missing, having left word that he was going around the lake to look for a certain species of flower which so far they had been unable to add to their specimens.
"But he will have to come back," said the Vale student. "He has no outfit with which to go it alone."
He was right. Crabtree put in an appearance just before the sun set over the jungle to the westward. He presented a most woebegone appearance, having fallen into a muddy swamp on his face.
"I—I met with an—an unfortunate accident," he said to Chester. "I fell into the—ahem—mud, and it was only with great difficulty that I managed to—er—to extricate myself."
"Josiah Crabtree, you didn't expect to see me here, did you?" said Dick sternly, as he stepped forward. And then the others of his party also came out from where they had been hiding in the brush.
The former teacher of Putnam Hall started as if confronted by a ghost.
"Why—er—where did you come from, Rover?" he faltered.
"You know well enough where I came from, Josiah Crabtree," cried Dick wrathfully. "You dropped me into the hollow for dead, didn't you!"
"Why, I—er—that—is—" stammered Crabtree; but could actually go no further.
"Don't waste words on him, Dick," put in Tom. "Give him the thrashing he deserves."
"Thrashing!" gasped Crabtree.
"Yes, thrashing," replied Dick. "If we were in America I would have you locked up. But out here we must take the law into our own hands. I am going to thrash you to the very best of my ability, and after that, if I meet you again I'll—I'll—"
"Dun shoot him on sight," suggested Aleck.
"You shall not touch me!" said the former teacher with a shiver. "Chester—Rand—will you not aid me against this—er—savage young brute?"
"Don't you call Dick a brute," put in Sam.
"If there is any brute here it is you, and everyone in our party will back up what I say."
"Mr. Crabtree, I have nothing to say in this matter," said Dick Chester. "It would seem that your attack on Rover was a most atrocious one, and out here you will have to take what punishment comes."
"But you will help me, won't you, Rand?" pleaded the former teacher, nervously.
"No, I shall stand by Chester," answered Rand.
"And will you, too, see me humiliated?" asked Crabtree, turning to the other Yale students. "I, the head of your expedition into equatorial Africa!"
"Mr. Crabtree, we may as well come to an understanding," said one of the students, a heavyset young man named Sanders. "We hired you to do certain work for us, and we paid you well for that work. Since we left America you have found fault with nearly everything, and in a good many instances which I need not recall just now you have not done as you agreed. You are not the learned scientist you represented yourself to be—instead, if we are to believe our newly made friends here, you are a pretender, a big sham, and a brute in the bargain. This being so, we intend to dispense with your services from this day forth. We will pay you what is coming to you, give you your share of our outfit, and then you can go your way and we will go ours. We absolutely want nothing more to do with you."
This long speech on Sanders' part was delivered amid a deathlike silence. As the student went on, Josiah Crabtree bit his lip until the blood came. Once his baneful eyes fairly flashed fire at Sanders and then at Dick Rover, but then they fell to the ground.
"And so you—ahem—throw me off," he said, drawing a long breath. "Very well. But I demand all that is coming to me."
"You shall have every cent."
"And a complete outfit, so that I can make my way back to the coast."
"All that is coming to you—no more and no less," said Sanders firmly.
"But he shan't go without that thrashing!" cried Dick, and catching up a long whip he had had Cujo cut for him he leaped upon Josiah Crabtree and brought down the lash with stinging effect across the former teacher's face, leaving a livid mark that Crabtree was doomed to wear to the day of his death. "There you are! And there is another for the way you treated Stanhope, and another for what you did to Dora, and one for Tom, and another for Sam, and another—"
"Oh! oh! let up! The boy will kill me!" shrieked Crabtree, trying to run away. "Don't—I will be cut to pieces! Don't! don't!" And as the lash came down over his head, neck, and shoulders, he danced madly around in pain. At last he broke for cover and disappeared, not to show himself again until morning, when he called Chester to him, asked for and received, what was coming to him, and departed, vowing vengeance on the Rovers and all of the others.
"He will remember you for that, Dick," said Sam, when the affair was over. "He will be your enemy for life."
"Let him be—I am not afraid of him," responded the elder brother.