The Black Phantom Part 11

"I know you," he said feebly. "You are of the Patocos who have eaten many of my people."

"Yes, I am of the Patocos and we have eaten many of the Cantanas. When you are well and fat again we will eat you too."

The youth showed no emotion. What mattered it if the girl should make good her threat, now that his mission had failed?

"I will take you to the village," Nechi repeated. She left the baskets she had been carrying on the ground and picking up the youth threw him over her back. Accustomed as she was to carrying heavy burdens, the weight was not too great for her strength. A half hour later she reached the village, a collection of dilapidated shelters nestling under the protection of the giant palm trees.

The arrival of the girl with her find created great excitement. The men rushed up with spears and clubs ready to deliver the deathblow but the girl was not inclined to give up her prisoner so easily.

"He is mine," she protested; "I found him. You shall not take him from me. I will feed him and give him _chinca_ bark to cure his fever and when he is well again and fat--"

"No! No! We must not wait. The prisoner might die and then we should be cheated out of our feast."

Nechi had not thought of that.

"Tomorrow," she relented. "If he shows no signs of improvement by tomorrow you can prepare for the feast."

Oomah opened his eyes.

"I came on a sacred mission," he faltered. "Get me the white feather so that I may die like a hunter who has not given up the chase. With the white feather in my hair I can take up the trail of the Black Phantom in the other world."

The group that surrounded him hushed their chatter.

"Where is the white feather?" asked one of the older men who seemed to be in authority.

"There where the woman found me. It must be there for I had it when sleep overcame me."

One of the young men was sent immediately to fetch the emblem while the girl prepared food which Oomah ate with ravenous appet.i.te. Presently the runner returned; in his hand was the tuft of plumes, now soiled and frayed from hard usage.

The sight of the sacred object had a telling effect, for among the savages of the Upper Amazon it was the one inter-tribal flag of truce likely to be respected, provided the bearer of it could prove his right to its possession. They stared in silence at the feverish youth as, with great effort he told them the story of the Black Phantom and of the heartbreaking weeks he had spent in pursuit of the elusive quarry.

"I shot the magic arrow into the night where the points of green fire burned, and I know no more. Perhaps it was only a dream or a vision, for my head was throbbing with fever; I do not know! I do not know!" he ended wearily and sadly. "Therefore I am an outcast among my people; I cannot return to them. I have no proof that the Black Phantom is dead or that I did not fire the arrow at some picture of my reeling brain."

The leader of the Patocos turned to some of his young hunters.

"Go! Search the forest and the riverbank," he commanded. "Let nothing escape your eyes. The words of this youth are queer. How do we know that he speaks the truth? If there was a phantom the magic arrow could not fail to strike it dead. And when you find it bring back the evidence of your eyes so that the name of this man may be honored; but if you find nothing we shall know that he lied and he shall pay the penalty without delay."

Not long after, the hunters filed into the forest and Oomah watched them go with yearning eyes. A whole week pa.s.sed before the hunting party returned. But their hands were empty; they bore no evidence that their mission had been successful.

As for Warruk, the Jaguar, he had considered his score with Mata settled. She had been punished for the injury she had inflicted on him.

But the others; they had hurled flaming brands at him and had wounded him with spears. The day would surely come when they too should pay.

As he lingered in the heavy growth bordering the riverbank he became aware of the fact that one of the man-creatures was roving in the forest, detached from the group on the sandbar, and he straightway began to follow and to watch his actions, being careful, however, always to remain in the dense cover where he could not be seen. By following and by watching he could learn many things that would be of value in dealing with these new enemies when the proper time arrived.

The game continued day after day. It was only when the man laid a trap for him by making a wide detour on the sandbar that Warruk discovered that it was he who was being sought by the lone wanderer. After that he was more cautious than before. He followed the scent only when it was several hours old. But at night, when his pursuer was asleep, he stole up noiselessly to look upon him and to ponder, for the blazing fire prevented an attack; he had not forgotten the stinging brands with which he had been showered not so long before.

There came the night, however, when the fire died down. The opportunity had arrived and he crept up for the fatal spring.

It was then that Oomah, awakened by the hideous cackle of the woodrail, saw the blazing eyes. And before the Jaguar had time to realize that the man-creature had been aroused from his slumber, he heard a sharp tw.a.n.g and a fiery pain darted through his shoulder taking him so completely by surprise that he turned and fled with a scream of terror. Truly, this new enemy was beyond all understanding. His deadly sting reached out far, even into the blackness of night. Against it he, the king of the untrodden wilderness, could not hope to contend.

As he rushed madly through the undergrowth the pain in his shoulder spread rapidly and a heaviness made itself felt in his limbs. What if the creature hurling shafts of fire that could wound him so sorely should pursue? With the intense agony of his hurt, and the first signs of a coming numbness, he could not hope to give battle or even to escape further injury. No! At least not until he had had time to recover from the surprise and the confusion of the onslaught; until he had quenched his burning thirst, and until the pain had subsided. Then he would even up the score. No more watching, no more stalking! Hereafter, the mere sight of man would be the signal for his own destruction.

Warruk reached the river's edge near the rapids where the water rushed with a seething fury through a narrow channel between the sandy banks.

In the center of the roaring flood was a rock, his rock, where many an hour had been spent basking in the hot sunshine. It was his only abode, his one place of safety and to it he would go.

Without hesitation he plunged into the maelstrom. The rushing water swept him back, again and again, but each time the struggle was renewed with increased determination; and each effort carried him a few yards nearer the goal. Just as it seemed the coveted spot had been attained, the breakers sought with increased fury to drag him down; but he fought back, inch by inch, and at last one ma.s.sive foot touched the rough surface of the stronghold.

With a frantic tenacity that sapped the last vestige of his fast vanishing strength he dragged his weary body onto the rock and lay down, cushioning his great head upon his forepaws. Tremor after tremor pa.s.sed over him, but they were not from the chill of the night nor from the drenching of the water. The pain had gone and a drowsiness had taken its place. Here, where he had rested before, he would sleep again. The bright stars shimmered overhead; a gentle, lulling breeze fanned his face; below, the water roared and hissed in impotent rage for he had conquered it and was out of its reach.

It all spoke of the freedom of the wilderness, and of the joyousness of life. Not knowing death, Warruk did not fear it. But, knowing sleep as a reviver of spent energy, he welcomed its coming to relieve the heavy numbness that was penetrating to his very bones. It came, swiftly; the deadly poison prepared by Oomah was completing its ghastly work, was inducing the sleep; but not the normal, restful slumber that comes between sunset and sunrise but the sleep that is everlasting and without awakening.

Agoo reached the village of the Patocos after a week's rapid journey through the forest. He had been sent by the Cantanas to look for Oomah.

The twigs snapped from the undergrowth by the hunter as he walked along guided him unfailingly to the last camping site and from there a beaten trail led to the village.

And Agoo was promptly made prisoner by the fierce enemies of the Cantanas. There would be a feast indeed, with two captives instead of one.

The newcomer also carried the flag of truce--the tuft of white feathers; but the emblem would be of no avail if the report of the hunters would be unfavorable.

"I would speak to my tribesman," he said, "here, where all may hear."

They brought Oomah and formed a circle around the two.

"I am the bearer of a message," the newcomer greeted the emaciated youth, "from the fathers of the tribe."

Oomah grunted. "Why have you come to add to my suffering? I know that I am an outcast, and I am ready to die."

"No! You must come back with me. Your work is finished. Your reward will be great. Choflo's place shall be yours. That is the message I bear."

Oomah stared blankly at the speaker.

"How can I return without the evidence? I do not even know that the Black Phantom is dead. And besides, we are both captives," he replied.

"We have proof that the sacred mission has been fulfilled. By signs that cannot be doubted has it been shown that the spectre that brought desolation to the earth was slain by the magic arrow just seven settings of the sun past."

"Seven settings of the sun ago the arrow was sent on its flight into the darkness; but where it struck I cannot tell."

"On that night Choflo, who sent you, was slain by a great, spotted she-tiger which burst into his shelter and fought savagely to retain her prize even when a.s.sailed with spears and firebrands in the hands of those who would have rescued him. The monster had battled with men before, and knew their ways, for one ear was lacking, lost in a previous encounter. The law has been fulfilled. You have no next of kin upon which vengeance could fall for your deed in slaying the Black Phantom; therefore, Choflo, who sent you, paid the penalty."

Agoo did not know it but it was Suma who had avenged her Warruk.

"Speak, Agoo, are these tidings true?" Oomah asked.

"There is even more. Scarcely had Choflo died than a blanket of dark clouds rolled across the heavens and rain fell throughout the night.

Tumwah had been appeased. We are saved. The earth is saved. And you, Oomah, shall be rewarded and honored above all men."