by Quincy Allen
CHAPTER XVII--DEEPER INTO THE JUNGLE
"Why, it's a boy!" exclaimed the horrified Bluff, as he stared at theobject from which the sounds proceeded.
"And tied to a tree, too! You know him, Bluff; look again!" remarkedFrank.
"Say, it's sure Tom Somers, one of Pet Peters' crowd. What under the sundoes it mean, Frank?" exclaimed the other, startled and mystified.
"Just what I said. They must have had a monkey-and-parrot time amongthemselves, and the Tom Somers' section got the worst of it. You see theresult--they've gone off and left this fellow fastened here as apunishment for his rebellion."
"But--this ain't out West, or in the Cannibal Islands. Wake me up andtell me if I'm seeing things. What! do you mean to say those savageswould leave Tom here to starve to death?" gasped Bluff.
"Oh! no, some of them would come back by to-night or to-morrow to lethim off. I imagine this is only some of Pet's miserable work. He's acruel monster. I thought Andy Lasher bad enough, but it turned out thathe had a speck of good in him, and Jerry touched it when he saved hislife that stormy night. But Pet is mean and revengeful, a sneak, and acoward at heart."
"There. I believe he has just discovered us," said Bluff.
The boy who was fastened to the tree gave a groan, and then called out:
"Say, fellers, you wouldn't go and leave me here like this would you?Set me free anyway, and I kin shift for myself somehow; but it's toughto be tied up like a dog, an' all because I knocked Pet down when hecalled me a name I won't take off any man or boy. Jest slice a knifeover these ropes, won't you, please?"
He did not whine, but asked the favor in a fairly decent way.
"Of course we will, Tom Somers. You've always been an enemy of mine, butthat's no reason we should leave you like this. There you are!"
Frank purposely allowed his chum to do the cutting. He knew that therehad in the past been more or less bad blood between these two lads, andhe had in mind a possible repetition of the singular friendship that hadsprung up between Jerry and Andy Lasher after the time when the formersaved the life of the town bully.
"That's 'white' of you, Bluff, and I ain't the feller to forget it,neither," was what the late prisoner said as his bonds fell away.
"You look bruised more or less, so I take it there must have been quitea fight here before they went away?" remarked Frank, questioningly.
The other grinned, though the effort must have pained him not a little,on account of the many scratches and gouges on his face.
"Did they? Well, I should smile, pardner. I only had one husky chap tostand by me, against five; but we pretty nigh cinched things. Pet Peterssaid he'd get even with me by leavin' me here a spell, to tempt thatwild man. But I had hopes some of you fellers might top the rise andgive me a helpin' hand."
"Oh! I remember now, you're the chap who was out West for a year herdingcattle. I notice it in your speech," said Frank, smiling.
"It gets in the blood, when you mingle some with them gents. I try tobreak off when the fellers kid me, but it crops out when I ain'tthinkin'. But say, it was 'white' of you to do this, an' I ain't got anycall to ask favors of your crowd either."
A sudden thought struck Frank.
"See here, you say you're grateful; will you prove it?" he asked.
Tom Somers thrust out his chest as he immediately replied:
"I'm a maverick if I don't; try me!"
"Then listen. You heard me say that our chum Jerry had strangelyvanished yesterday while we were in the woods. I have good reason tobelieve those two hoboes laid hold of him, for some reason or other,"Frank started.
"Ransom--the old, old game, perhaps?" suggested the other, quickly.
"Well, I hardly think it is quite so bad as that; but they wanted tohold him as a sort of hostage, perhaps, threatening us if we didn't getoff this island. No matter what their reason, they've got our chum, andnow we mean to try and release him. That's why we're here."
"And you want me to help? 'Course I will, and only too glad to have thechance. If it's a trail to foller, why I picked up lots of points outthere on the Texas plains, and just you set me on the track," said Tom,pulling on a tattered coat that had been taken from him ere he wasfastened to the tree.
"Then let's begin right here and see if there is any trail where yourgrub basket went off last night!" remarked Frank.
At that Tom started and turned a little pale.
"You said the hoboes, pard, and not that man-monkey," he stammered.
Plainly he had conceived a great fear regarding the mysterious objectthat had appeared in the camp, and vanished with their provisions.
Frank laughed.
"Make your mind easy, I'm not intending to follow him. We expect to goto the place where my pard vanished yesterday, and take up the trailthere. I followed it a while, but night was coming on and I lost it. Youmay do better, Tom," he said.
"But you mentioned that hairy monster, didn't you?" queried the other,uneasily.
"I only want to examine the track he left, so as to settle in my mindwhether it was really a crazy human being or a big ape. Come over hereand let's see."
"Huh! none of our fellers ever thought of lookin' around. A snake-whipcouldn't a-coaxed 'em over this way. Like as not they expected thevarmint was lyin' in the bushes, waitin' to jump out again. But I don'tpull leather when I give my word."
He threw himself prostrate on the ground. In less than three minutes anexclamation announced that he had found what he sought. Frank droppedbeside him.
"There she is, and a jim-dandy of a track, too, plain as the hoof marksof a cayuse around a snubbing post!" he exclaimed, pointing.
"Just as I thought, a man's shoe, and an unusually big one. That settlesone thing in my mind. It is no escaped ape that runs wild on thisisland. It may be a lunatic that has got away from the asylum over atMerrick, or----"
Frank did not finish his sentence, but nodded his head as though thethought that had flashed into his mind pleased him.
"That all here?" asked the other, a little nervously, althoughapparently relieved to learn that it was not a wild animal he had seenon the preceding night.
"Yes, I'm entirely satisfied. Now let us find the place where thoseIndian mounds are, and we can get on the trail without delay," answeredFrank, leading the way.
It took him fully an hour to accomplish this. First they had to returnto the spot at the foot of the bluff where the canoeists' camp hadlately stood. Here his own trail was taken up, and Tom Somers proved tothe satisfaction of the others that he did know considerable aboutfollowing tracks through thickets and woods, for he led them unerringlyuntil finally Frank saw the two mounds.
"There they are," he said, in a low voice.
Bluff pushed his gun forward menacingly.
"Where?" he demanded in a hoarse whisper.
"Oh! I mean the two Indian mounds, not the hoboes. Come over here andsee the trail made as they went away," replied his chum, quickly.
When the boy who had spent a year on a Texas ranch punching cattle sawthe marks, he announced it as his opinion that they had been made by twoparties besides Jerry.
"I reckon your chum was snoozing some when they jumped his claim. Hekicked and put up a right husky fight, but they was too much for him,and choked him off. I reckon one of them must a-been a boy, and theother a big man, judgin' from the marks. Then, when they had reduced himto quiet they just snaked him off."
"That's what I thought--the big brute carried Jerry on his back, forthere are no signs of my chum's footprints around. Now, let's start off.I'm anxious to know the worst, no matter what it is!" cried Frank.
Bluff brought up the rear. It was anything but light under the densegrowth of trees and clinging vines. At times the tracker had to get downclose to the ground in order to see what he wanted.
Bluff had slung his gun over his shoulder by the strap, and was holdingWill's camera in his hands, wondering if he had not been foolish tobring such a silly thing along with him on so serious an errand.
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The deeper they penetrated into the interior of the island the denserthe undergrowth seemed to become, until at times it was only with theutmost difficulty they pushed their way through. Others having goneahead of them made it a trifle easier, perhaps; at least Tom Somers saidso in a whisper.
"Perhaps we're gettin' clost to the place, now, pardners; so we'd bettertake our time an' not hustle too much. Don't speak above a whisper,either," he said, as he parted the bushes in front.
Even as he did so Frank heard him utter a low exclamation, not of fearso much as of disgust. One look told the other what it meant, and he,too, feared that their plans would all be disarranged through anaccidental meeting with a resident of the jungle, who seemed disposed todispute their further progress.
There was the biggest wildcat Bluff had ever seen in all his lifesquatted on the low limb of a tree, growling angrily, and with it clawsdigging into the bark after the manner of a cat that is getting ready tojump, and will not be stopped!
True, Frank could easily have raised his gun and shot the ferociouscreature dead in its tracks; but such an explosion must warn the enemyof their presence in the vicinity, and effectually prevent any surprise.
It looked like a serious problem, and yet it must be solved immediatelyunless they wanted to experience an encounter at close quarters withthat fury.
"Hold up! give me a chance. Duck your heads, fellows; I'm going toflashlight the critter!" exclaimed Bluff. And even as he spoke, therewas a sudden startling illumination that lit up the immediate vicinitylike day.