Rob Harlow's Adventures Part 65

The little party sat there waiting patiently for the next event, their eyes being mostly directed across the waste of water toward the well-marked course of the stream, with its rush, swirl and eddy; and before long there was another heaving up, as if a liquid bank descended the river, spread across the opening, and directly after struck the tree with a blow which made it quiver from root to summit.

"Will it hold fast, Naylor?" said Brazier, rather excitedly.

"Hope so, sir. I think it's safe, but it's growing in such soft soil, all river mud, sand, and rotten wood, that the roots are loose, and it feels as if it would give way at last. I daresay this was a bend of the river once."

"But if it does give way, what are we to do?" cried Rob excitedly.

"Swim for the next tree, sir."

"But that has a great snake in it."

"Can't help that, Mr Rob. Rather have a snake for a mate than be drowned. He's too much frightened to meddle with us. Look out, every one, and try to keep clear of the boughs, so as not to be beaten under."

This was consequent upon the rushing up in succession of three great waves, which struck the tree at intervals of a few seconds, the last sending the water splashing up to where they sat, and at the same time deluging the serpent in the next tree, making it begin to climb higher, and exciting the puma so that Rob could hardly keep it from leaping off.

"The roots must be undermined," cried Brazier. "Look--look!"

He pointed at the effect of the waves on the forest, for from where they sat the whole side was a ridge of foam, while the tree-tops were waving to and fro and undulating like a verdant sea as the water rushed on among their trunks.

"Can't get much worse than this, I think," said Shaddy, when the water calmed down again to its steady swift flow; "only it's spoiling our estate, which will be a bed of mud when the flood goes down."

"But will it go down?" asked Rob excitedly.

"Some time, certain," replied Shaddy. "The rivers have a way in this country of wetting it all over, and I daresay it does good. At all events, it makes the trees grow."

"Yes, but will it sweep them away?" said Rob, looking round nervously.

"It does some, Mr Rob, sir, as you've seen to-day, but I think we're all right here."

Rob glanced at Brazier, whose face was very stern and pale; and, consequent upon his weakness, he looked ghastly as another wave came down the river, and swept over the deeply inundated clearing, washing right up to the fork of the tree, and hissing onward through the closely-packed forest.

Another followed, and then another, each apparently caused by the bursting of some dam of trees and _debris_ of the sh.o.r.es; but they were less than those which had preceded them, and an hour later the water was perfectly calm and motionless, save in the course of the river, where it rushed onward at a rapid rate.

"We've pa.s.sed the worst," said Shaddy; and after glancing at him quickly, to see if he meant it or was only speaking to give him encouragement, Rob sat looking round at the watery waste, for as far as his eyes could penetrate there was no sight of dry land. Everywhere the trees stood deep in water, that was still as the surface of a lake through which a swift river ran, with its course tracked by rapid and eddy, and dotted still with the vegetation torn out from the banks.

As the boy turned to the great tree beside him he could not keep back a shudder, for the monstrous serpent was in restless motion, seeking for some means of escape; and though there was no probability of its reaching their resting-place, the idea would come that if the writhing creature did drop from the tree, overbalancing itself in its efforts to escape, it might make a frantic struggle and reach theirs.

As he thought this he caught sight of the guide watching him.

"What is it, my lad?" he whispered; and the lad, after a little hesitation, confided in the old sailor, who chuckled softly. "You needn't be alarmed about that," he said. "If such a thing did happen your lion would be upon his head in a moment, and in a few minutes there'd be no lion and no snake, only the mud stirred up in the water to show which way they'd gone."

"The water is sinking, Naylor," cried Brazier just then, in an excited tone.

"Yes, sir, but very slowly."

"How long will it take to go down?"

"Days, sir. This place will not be dry for a week."

"Then what about food and a place to rest?"

"We've got enough to last us two days with great care," said the man slowly, "and we shan't want for water nor shelter from the sun. Rest we must get as we can up here, and thankfully too, sir, for our lives are safe. As to what's to come after two days I don't know. There is, I say, no knowing what may happen out here in two days."

"No," said Brazier sadly. "In one hour we lost our young companion and my first collection; in one minute I was hopelessly lost; and now this morning all my second collection has been swept away. As you say, Naylor, we do not know what a couple of days may bring forth."

"No, sir," replied the old sailor; "and there's plenty of time yet.

Every day brings its own trouble."

"Yes," said Brazier solemnly; "and every morning brings with it fresh hope."

"Hope!" thought Rob; "hope, shut up here in the middle of this waste of water--in this tree, with a little food, a wild beast, and that horrible serpent looking as if it is waiting to s.n.a.t.c.h us all away one by one.

How can a fellow hope?"

It was a time to think about home and the chances of ever getting back in safety, and Rob found it impossible to help wishing himself on board the great river boat as the evening drew near. At last, after standing up to talk to the puma, which accepted his caresses as if they were comforting in such a time of peril, the question arose as to how they would settle themselves for the night.

"I needn't say one of us must keep watch," said Brazier sadly, "for I suppose that no one will wish to sleep."

"Couldn't if we wanted to," said Rob, in rather an ill-used tone; and Shaddy chuckled.

"Oh, I don't know, Mr Rob, sir. Nice elevated sort o' bedroom, with a good view. Plenty o' room for swinging hammocks if we'd got any to swing. There, cheer up, my lad,--there's worse disasters at sea; and our worst troubles have come right at last."

Rob looked at him reproachfully, for he was thinking of Giovanni being s.n.a.t.c.hed away from them, and then of the loss of the boat.

Brazier read his face, and held out his hand, which Rob eagerly grasped.

"Cheer up, my lad," said Shaddy, following suit. "One never knows what's going to happen; so let's look at the best side of things.

There, gen'lemen, it's going to be a fine warm time, and we know it might have been a drowning storm like it was last night; so that's better for us. It will be very tiring, but we must change our position now and then, and spend the night listening to the calls in the forest and trying to make out what they are."

So as not to be left longer than they could help without food, they partook of a very small portion that night, and then settled themselves down; the puma became more watchful as the darkness approached, and whined and snuffled and grew uneasy. Now it was making its way from one bough to another, and staring hard at the tops of the trees away from the river; now its attention was fixed upon the great coiled-up serpent, which lay with fold heaped over fold and its head invisible, perfectly still, and apparently sleeping till the flood had subsided.

But Rob thought with horror of the darkness, and the possibility of the great reptile rousing up and making an effort to reach them, though he was fain to confess that unless the creature swam it was impossible.

Then the stars began to appear and the noises of the forest commenced; and, as far as Rob could make out, they were as loud as ever.

"One would have thought that nearly everything had been drowned," he said in an awe-stricken whisper to his companions.

Brazier was silent, so after waiting for a few moments Shaddy replied:

"We're used to floods out here, Mr Rob, sir; and the things which make noises live in the water as well as in the trees. I don't suppose many of 'em get drowned in a flood like this. Deer and things of that sort make for higher ground when there's a chance of the water rising; the cats get on the trees, and the monkeys are already there, with the insects and birds sheltered under the big leaves; and the snakes crawl up too, so that there isn't much left to drown, is there?"

Rob made no reply, but changed his position, for he was stiff and weary from sitting so long.

"Take care, Mr Rob, sir, or you may slip down. No fear of your being swept away, but it's as well not to get a wetting. Warm as it is, you might feel cold, and that would bring on fever."

"I'll take care," said Rob quietly; and in spite of hunger only half appeased, weariness, and doubt as to their future and the length of their imprisonment, he could not help enjoying the beauty of the scene.

For the water around was now one smooth mirror-like lake, save where the river rushed along with a peculiar hissing, rushing sound, augmented by a crash as some tree was dashed down and struck against those at the edge of the forest which rose above the water. In the smooth surface the stars were reflected, forming a second hemisphere; but every now and then the lad saw something which raised his hopes, and he was after a silence about to speak, when Brazier began.

"What is it keeps making little splashes in the water, Naylor?"