Rob Harlow's Adventures: A Story of the Grand Chaco

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

  FOE OR FRIEND?

  It was still dark when Rob awoke, and lay listening to the heavybreathing of the other occupants of the boat. Then, turning over, hesettled himself down for another hour's sleep.

  But the attempt was vain. He had had his night's rest--all for whichnature craved--and he now found that he might lie and twist and turn aslong as he liked without any effect whatever.

  Under these circumstances he crept softly out and looked at the cool,dark water lying beneath the huge leaves, some of which kept on movingin a silent, secretive manner, as if the occupants of the lake weretrying to see what manner of thing the boat was, which lay so silent anddark on the surface.

  It had been terribly hot and stuffy under the awning, and the waterlooked deliciously cool and tempting. There was a fascination about thegreat, black leaves floating there, which seemed to invite the lad tostrip off the light flannels in which he had slept, to lower himselfgently over the side, and lie in and on and amongst them, with the coolwater bracing and invigorating him ready for the heat and toil of thecoming day.

  It would be good, thought Rob. Just one plunge and a few strokes, andthen out and a brisk rub.

  But there were the alligators and fish innumerable, nearly all of whichhad been provided by nature with the sharpest of teeth.

  He shuddered at the thought of how, as soon as his white body was seenin the water, scores of voracious creatures might make a rush for himand drag him down among the lily stems for a feast.

  "Won't do," he muttered; "but what a pity it does seem!"

  He sat watching the surface, and, as he saw how calm and still it was,the longing for a bathe increased. It would, he felt, be sorefreshing--so delicious after the hot night and the sensations ofprickly heat. Surely he could get a quick plunge and back beforeanything could attack him; and as he thought this the longing increasedtenfold, and plenty of arguments arose in favour of the attempt. Therewere numbers of great fish and alligators, he knew, but they were notobliged to be there now. Fish swam in shoals, and might be half a mileaway one hour though swarming at another.

  "I've a good mind to," he thought, and as that thought came he softlyunfastened the collar of his flannel shirt.

  But he went no farther, for common sense came to the front and pointedout the folly of such a proceeding, after the warnings he had had of thedangers of the river teeming as it did with fierce occupants.

  "It will not do, I suppose," he muttered. "I should like to try it,though."

  He glanced around, but no one was stirring. The men forward were silentbeneath their blankets, and the occupants of the canvas cabin were allsleeping heavily, as their breathing told plainly enough, so there wasno fear of interruption.

  "I'll try it," said the lad, in an eager whisper.

  "No. There is no one to help me if I wanted any. And yet is therelikely to be any danger? Most likely the alligators would swim away ifthey saw me, and would be more frightened of me than I should be ofthem. While as to the fish--Bah! I'm a coward, and nothing else. Daresay the water's as cool as can be, while I'm as hot as any one could getwithout being in a fever."

  He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt above the elbow, and, leaning overthe side, thrust it down between the curves of two lily leaves whichoverlapped.

  "It is delightfully cool," he said to himself, and he thrust his armdown farther, when his fingers came in contact with something rough,which started away, making the water swirl in a tremendous eddy, andcaused the sudden abstraction of the lad's arm, but not so quickly thathe did not feel a sharp pang, and a tiny fish dropped from the skin onto the bottom of the boat.

  "The little wretch!" muttered Rob; and the lesson was sufficient. Hedid not feel the slightest desire to tempt the cool water more, butapplied his lips to the little bite, which was bleeding freely, thinkingthe while that if one of those savage little fish could produce such aneffect, what would be the result of an attack by a thousand.

  Day was near at hand as Rob sat there, though it was still dark, and acold mist hung over the water; but the nocturnal creatures had gone torest, and here and there came a chirrup or long-drawn whistle to tellthat the birds were beginning to stir, instinctively knowing that beforelong the sun would be up, sending light and heat to chase away the mistsof night. Now and then, too, there was a splash or a wallowing sound,as of some great creature moving in the shallows, close up beneath wherethe trees overhung the water, and the boy turned his head from place toplace, half in awe, half in eagerness to know what had made the sound.

  But he could make out nothing that was more than twenty or thirty yardsfrom where the boat swung to her moorings; and, turning his head moreround, he sat thinking of the adventures of the previous day, andwondered where the puma might be.

  "It was a stupid thing to do to run right before that gun," he said tohimself; "but I hadn't time to think that Mr Brazier would fire, and Ididn't want the poor beast to be killed."

  Rob sat thinking of how gentle and tame the great cat-like creatureseemed, and a curious sensation of sorrow came over him as he thought ofit crawling away into some shelter to die in agony from the effects ofthe deadly wounds inflicted by Brazier's gun.

  "And if I had not tumbled down," he said to himself, "it would have beenme instead;" and now he shuddered, for the full truth of his narrowescape dawned upon him.

  "It would have been horrid," he thought; "I never felt before how nearit was."

  He leaned back and looked around at the misty darkness and then up atthe sky, where all at once a tiny patch began to glow and rapidly becomewarmer, till it was of a vivid orange.

  "Morning," said Rob half aloud; and feeling quite light-hearted at theprospect of daylight and breakfast, he sat up and looked round him atthe positions, now dimly seen, of his companions, and was just thinkingof rousing up the men to see to the fire, when the latter took hisattention, and he turned to see if it was still glowing.

  For some minutes he could not make out the exact spot where it had beenmade. It was in a little natural clearing about twenty yards from thebank, but the early morning was still too dark for him to make outeither bank or clearing, till all at once a faint puff of air swept overthe lake, and as it passed the boat, going toward the forest, there wasa faint glow, as of phosphorescence, trembling in one particular spot,and he knew that it must be caused by the fanning of the embers.

  That faint light was only visible for a few moments, then all was darkagain, but it was a transparent darkness, gradually growing clearer.Then a tree seemed to start up on the scene, and a clump of bushesnearer the fire. Soon after he could make out a great patch of featherygreen, and this had hardly grown clear enough for him to be certain whatit was, when something misty and undefined appeared to be moving alongthe bank close to the tree to which the boat was tethered. The nextmoment it melted away into the soft darkness.

  "Fancy!" said Rob to himself. But directly after he knew it was notfancy, for he could hear a peculiar scratching, rending sound, which puthim in mind of a cat tearing with its claws at the leg of a table.

  And now as if by magic there was a soft warm glow diffused around, and,to his surprise and delight, he saw again the object he had beforenoticed, but no longer undefined. It was grey, and looked transparent,but it was a warm-grey, and grew moment by moment less transparent,gradually assuming the shape of his friend of the previous day, aliveand to all appearances uninjured, as, with its soft, elastic, cat-likestep and undulating body and tail, it walked slowly down to the edge ofthe bank, and stood staring at Rob as if waiting for him to speak.

  For a few moments the lad was silent and motionless, as he strove hardto detect signs of injury upon the soft, coat of the puma, but nothingwas visible, and the animal remained as motionless as he, save that thelong tail writhed and curled about as a snake might if gently held byits head.

  The next minute Rob had decided what to do.

  Creeping silently astern, he unfastened and paid out a
good deal of theline which held the boat to the grapnel. Then refastening it, he wentsilently forward, and began to haul upon the other line, which wassecured to the tree ashore, thus bringing the boat's head close up tothe bank and within half a dozen yards of the puma, which stood watchinghim till the boat touched the bank, when, without hesitation or fear ofconsequences, Rob stepped ashore.

  "Fine chance for him if he does mean to eat me!" thought Rob, with alaugh. But the next moment he did feel startled, for the animalsuddenly crouched, gathered its hind legs beneath it, and he could seethem working as the agile creature prepared to spring.

  Rob's heart beat heavily, and a cry rose to his lips, but was notuttered, for he felt paralysed, and he would have proved to be anunresisting victim had the puma's intentions been inimical. But the ladsoon knew that they were friendly, for the great bound the creature gavelanded it at his feet, where it immediately rolled over on to its side,then turned upon its back, and with touches soft as those of a kittenpulled at the boy's legs and feet, looking playfully up at him thewhile.

  "Why, you are a tame one," said Rob, with a sigh of relief. "There's nodanger in you whatever," and sinking on one knee, he patted and rubbedthe great soft head which was gently moved about in his hand.

  So satisfactory was this to the puma that it rolled itself about on theground, pressed its head against Rob's knee, and finally turned overonce more, couched, laid its head against him, and gazed up in his eyesas he placed his hand upon the soft browny-grey head.

  "Well, there's no mistake about this," said Rob aloud; "you and I aregood friends, and you must be a tame one. The thing is, where is yourmaster?"

  Rob had hardly uttered the word "tame" before the puma's eyes dilated,and it uttered a low, deep growl, staring fiercely the while at theboat.

  Rob followed the direction of the animal's eyes, and saw that it waswatching Brazier, who had just stepped out from the canvas cabin,holding a gun in his hand.

  "Don't! don't do that!" cried Rob excitedly. "It's quite tame, MrBrazier. Look!"

  He was about to bend down and caress the puma again; but as he turned itwas only to see its soft, tawny skin and outstretched tail as it madeone bound into the thick, low growth of bush and feathery grass, and itwas gone.

  "Why, Rob," cried his leader, "how could you be so foolish as to go nearthat savage beast?"

  "But it isn't savage," said the lad eagerly; "it's as tame as any cat.It must belong to some one near."

  By this time Shaddy had heard the talking and risen, rather apologeticfor sleeping so long, and as soon as he had called up his men and sentthem ashore to see to the fire the case was laid before him.

  "Nay, Master Rob," he said, "there's no one about here to tame lions.It's a wild one sure enough. Dessay he never saw a man or boy before,and he's a young one perhaps, and a bit kittenish. Wants to makefriends."

  "Friends with a dangerous beast like that, man?" cried Brazier."Absurd!"

  "Oh, they're not dangerous, sir; that is, not to man. I never heard ofa lion touching a man unless the man had shot at and hurt him. Thenthey'll fight savagely for their lives. Dangerous to monkeys, or dogs,or deer; but I'm not surprised at its taking to Master Rob here, anddon't see no call to fear."

  "Well, of course your experience is greater than mine, Naylor," saidBrazier; "but I should have thought that at any moment the beast mightturn and rend him."

  "No, sir; no, sir; no fear of that! I daresay the crittur would followhim anywhere and be as friendly as a cat. The Indians never take anynotice of lions. It's the tigers they're a bit scared about. Lionshate tigers too; and I've known 'em fight till they were both dying."

  "Ah well, we need not discuss the matter, for the puma has gone."

  "Thought you were going to shoot at it again, sir," said Rob in ratheran ill-used tone, for he was disappointed at the sudden interruption tohis friendly intercourse with the beautiful beast.

  By this time Giovanni was out of the boat, and stared rather at theaccount of the morning's adventure; but the announcement soon after thatthe coffee was boiling changed the conversation, and for the time beingthe puma was forgotten.

  The great natural clearing at the edge of the lake and the opening outof the river itself gave so much opportunity for Brazier to prosecutehis collecting that he at once decided upon staying in theneighbourhood--certainly for that day, if not for one or two more, andin consequence the fire was left smouldering, while the boat was forcedalong close in shore, which was no easy task, on account of the densegrowth of lilies.

  The heat was great, but forgotten in the excitement of collecting, and,with the help of his young companions, Brazier kept on making additionsto his specimens, while Rob's great regret was that they were notseeking birds and insects as well.

  "Seems such a pity," he confided to Joe. "The orchids are verybeautiful when they are hanging down from the trees, with their petalslooking like the wings of insects and their colour all of such lovelyyellows and blues, but we shall only have the dried, bulb-like stems totake back with us, and how do we know that they will ever flower again?"

  "If properly dried, a great many of them will," said Brazier at thatmoment.

  Rob started.

  "I didn't know you were listening, sir," he said.

  "I was not listening, Rob, but you spoke so loudly, I could not helphearing your words. I can quite understand your preference for thebrilliant-coloured and metallic-plumaged birds, and also for the lovelyinsects which we keep seeing, but specimens of most of these have beentaken to Europe again and again, while I have already discovered atleast four orchids which I am sure are new."

  "But if they do not revive," said Rob, "we shall have had all ourjourney for nothing."

  "But they will revive, my boy, you may depend upon that--at least, someof them; and to my mind we shall have done a far greater thing incarrying to England specimens of these gorgeous flowers to live and beperpetuated in our hothouses, than in taking the dried mummies of birdand insect, which, however beautiful, can never by any possibility liveagain."

  "I didn't think of that," said Rob apologetically.

  "I suppose not. But there, be content to help me in my collecting; youare getting plenty of adventure, and to my mind, even if we take backnothing, we shall carry with us recollections of natural wonders thatwill remain imprinted on our brains till the end of our days."

  "He's quite right," thought Rob as he sat alone some time after; "but Iwish he wouldn't speak to me as if he were delivering a lecture. Ofcourse I shall help him and work hard, but I do get tired of theflowers. They're beautiful enough on the trees, but as soon as they arepicked they begin to fade and wither away."

  The conversation took place at the end of the lake, just where the riverissued in a narrow stream, walled in on either side by the trees asbefore, and the intention was to cross this exit and go back by theother side, round to the wide clearing where they had passed theprevious night.

  Plans in unknown waters are more easily made than carried out.

  They had halted for a short time at the foot of a majestic tree, oneevidently of great age, and draped from where its lower boughs almosttouched the water right to the crown with parasitic growth, much ofwhich consisted of the particular family of flowers Brazier had made hisexpedition to collect.

  Here several splendid specimens were cut from a huge drooping boughwhich was held down by the men while the collector operated with a handylittle axe, bringing down as well insects innumerable, many of whichwere of a stinging nature, and, to the dismay of both boys, first oneand then another brilliantly marked snake of some three feet long andexceedingly slender.

  These active little tree-climbers set to at once to find a hiding-place,and at once it became the task of all the band to prevent thisunsatisfactory proceeding, no one present looking forward withsatisfaction to the prospect of having snakes as fellow-travellers,especially poisonous ones. But they were soon hunted out and thrown bymeans of a stick right away into the wate
r, but not to drown, for theytook to it, swimming as actively and well as an eel.

  "Why, that last fellow will reach one of those boughs and get back intoa tree again," cried Joe.

  "If a fish does not treat him like a worm," said Rob; and he did notfeel at all hopeful about the little reptile's fate.

  But the next minute he had to think of his own.

  One minute the boat was being propelled gently through the still watersamongst the great lily leaves; the next they were in sight of the exit,and something appeared to give the boat a sudden jerk.

  "Alligator?" asked Rob excitedly.

  "Stream!" growled Shaddy, seizing an oar and rowing with all his mightjust as they were being swept rapidly down the lower river, the treesgliding by them and the men appearing to have no power whatever to checkthe boat's way as it glided on faster and faster, leaving the open lakethe next minute quite out of sight.