Old Gold Part 51

"Why not keep right on till it is quite dusk?" said Sir Humphrey.

"He means so that we can land and light our fire in the forest, do our cooking, and put it out again before it's dark, when it would show our position to any prowling natives," said Briscoe.

"That's right," said the captain.

These tactics were carried out, a strong wind wafting the boats along mile after mile to a far greater distance than any amount of paddling would bring canoes in pursuit; and fortune favoured them far more, for, just about the time decided upon, the fine river up which they had come suddenly opened out fan-like, offering them five different routes onward.

"Which shall it be, Brace?" said Sir Humphrey, as he stood up with his brother in the bows. "If the enemy is following us he is as likely to take one as the other."

"I don't know," said Brace, with a laugh. "They are all beautiful.

That left one seems the deepest, and the stream flows slowly, so I think we had better choose that."

"Best too for the wind," said Briscoe. "There's a ripple up it as far as we can see."

"It's to the left and not to the right," said Brace.

"All the better," said Briscoe, laughing. "You know what you English folks say about driving: 'If you go to the left you are sure to be right; if you go to the right you'll be wrong.' I think we might well stick to that rule in this case."

The left branch was chosen, and they sailed swiftly up it, finding to their surprise that there was scarcely any appearance of current, and soon after a suitable spot for a landing-place presented itself in one of the many bends of the river's sinuous course.

Here they landed, and Dan was soon busy preparing food, while as far as they could make out they were where human foot had never pressed the soil before.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

THE SOUND OF MANY WATERS.

The fire was carefully extinguished before night-fall, so that no flash or gleam might betray the adventurers' whereabouts to any prowling foe, and watch was set in each boat after they had been moored about twenty feet from the sh.o.r.e. Everything had been made snug, arms issued round and loaded ready, and once more sleep came to all save Brace and his American companion, who sat together for a good hour, gazing into the forest gloom and listening to the many strange sounds which rose among the dense growth.

Then sleep overtook them, just when they were vainly trying to puzzle out the meaning of a strange booming roar, which sounded not unlike thunder at a distance.

"I guess that's what it is," Briscoe had said. "That's the nearest I can get to it. Maybe there's a clump of mountains not very far away, and they've got a storm there."

"We shall know in the morning," said Brace. "If it's a storm the water will have risen in the night."

"Let it," said Briscoe drowsily. "We're in shelter, and the boats will rise, so it will not matter to us."

The next minute both were asleep, and the night pa.s.sed tranquilly enough till they were awakened by Lynton, who had the morning watch.

"What is it?" said Brace confusedly: "time to get up?"

"Yes, if you don't want to be scratched out of the boat. Look sharp, please. We're going to get the awning down."

It was quite time, as Brace found on getting his eyes well opened, for the boat was tugging at her moorings, the awning rigged up overnight for shelter was close up among the leaf.a.ge beneath a bough of the tree to which the rope was made fast; and, instead of the water upon which they floated being like that of a placid lake as it had seemed overnight, it was now rushing rapidly by the boat's sides.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Brace excitedly.

"Storm up in the hills somewhere," replied Lynton gruffly. "Water's rising fast."

"Mind what you're about there, Dellow, or you'll be capsized," shouted the captain to the first mate. "Make all snug, and keep the boat clear of the trees."

"Ay, ay, sir," came from the other boat, and a few minutes later the mooring-lines were cast off, while the men in each boat lay on their oars, and then as they began to drift swiftly with the rushing waters, a few strokes were given to get well clear of all overhanging branches before the grapnels were let go, but refused for some minutes to get a sufficiently good hold of the bottom.

Finally, however, they caught, plenty of line was let out, and they swung head to stream, dividing the water that rushed by and sending it off in elongated waves.

"That's better," said the captain; "but we must be ready, for I doubt whether these little grapnels will hold long."

"Why not let the boats go?" said Brace. "It's all interesting to glide along a fresh river."

"Because we may be swept no one knows where, my lad. Steering's hard work in such a rapid as this. Besides, we may get into bad company-- uprooted trees, floating islands of weeds, and all sorts of things that would make nothing of capsizing us. No; it will be best to wait here till the flood begins to fall. I daresay you gentlemen can manage to amuse yourselves somehow."

"I daresay we can," said Briscoe, lighting up one of his long cigars to have as an early breakfast; "but isn't this all wrong?"

"What?" said the captain sharply, for he was fully upon his mettle in a position which called for all his care. "What's all wrong?"

"Why, the way the water runs. It's just the opposite way to which it was going yesterday."

"That's right," replied the captain; "but it's coming down one or other of the rivers we came to last night with a rush and piling up faster than the main stream will carry it off. It must go somewhere, and some of it rushes along here. Strikes me that the whole country will be under water soon. Look, it's rising fast up the tree-trunks. We shall have to take great care, or we shall be drawn right in among the trees."

"Ah, that would be awkward," said Briscoe drily, "to find the water suddenly go down and leave the boats up in the tree-tops like a couple of big birds' nests."

"Ahoy! Look out, Dellow!" yelled the captain. "Stand by, my lads, to shove her off, or she'll break us away. Hah! I thought so."

For the second boat had suddenly been swept from her anchorage and come rapidly down upon the first. The men tried their hardest to ease her off, but she came into collision with so sharp a shock that the bigger boat was jerked free from her moorings and began to glide with the swift current, dragging her grapnel after her, till the captain gave orders for it to be hauled in.

"Row!" he shouted, and the men dipped their oars into the water with a steady stroke, keeping the boat's prow head to stream as she dropped down stern foremost between two mighty walls of verdure, while on either side it was plain to see that the trunks of the huge forest monarchs were being flooded many feet up.

"There's nothing else for it, sir," said the captain to Sir Humphrey.

"You'll be seeing what the country's like, and by-and-by as the water drains off I daresay we can ride easily back with the current quite the other way."

"And what about capsizing?" said Briscoe.

"That's my look-out, sir," said the captain gruffly. "Capsizing means feeding the fish, and I've a great objection to being used for that purpose, without taking into consideration my duty to my pa.s.sengers and men."

He met Brace's eyes as he spoke, his own twinkling with a drily humorous look, and nothing more was said.

The adventure was exciting enough, for the boats rode on rapidly through the forest, the river, which was comparatively narrow, winding and doubling in the way peculiar to water making its way through a flat country. For now all appeared to be one dead level, with the trees on either side much of a height. Every now and then it was as if they had been swept by the heavy stream into a lake whose end was right in front, but invariably as they were gliding straight for a huge bank of trees the river curved round to right or left, opening out into some fresh bend of its serpentine course, but there was no alteration in their rate of speed.

"It can't last very much longer, though," said Briscoe. "Why, we're going along just like two corks in a gully."

"Yes," said Brace, who had been watching the movements of a troop of monkeys pa.s.sing along through the trees on their left. "It's all very well now, but if this is to go on after dark we are bound to come to grief."

"No," said Briscoe drily. "The skipper won't risk it. He'll pick his place and run us in among the tree-trunks before sunset. He's a dry old chap, but the longer I'm with him the safer I feel."

The American was quite right, for just when the sun was disappearing behind the trees their leader took advantage of a whirling eddy at a bend of the stream, called upon the men to pull with all their might, and, steering himself; he deftly ran the boat right into the gloom amongst the enormous tree-trunks, where the water was running fast, but it was comparative stillness after the torrent-like rush in the open river.

Here they moored the boats for the night, and, after partaking of a much-needed meal, sleep once more came with the intense darkness, all but the watch resting as calmly as if the sound of many waters lulled them through the night.