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

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

  A SUDDEN ALARM.

  The silken string Rob had twisted was found to be quite dry, and prettywell kept its shape as it was formed into a loop and passed over the endof the bow nicked for its reception, and after bending secured with acouple of hitches over the other.

  "Now, Mr Rob, sir, try it, and send one of your arrows as far as youcan. Never mind losing it; we can soon make plenty more. That's theway! Steady! Easy and well, sir! Now then, off it goes!"

  _Twang_! went the bow-string, and away flew the arrow high up toward theriver, describing its curve and falling at last without the slightestsplash into the water.

  "Well done!" cried Shaddy, who had watched the flight of the arrow,shading his eyes with his hand. "That's good enough for anything. Alittle practice, and you'll hit famously."

  "Oh, I don't know, Shaddy."

  "Well, but I do, sir. If Indians can kill birds, beasts, and fish withtheir bows and arrows, surely a young Englishman can."

  "I shall try, Shaddy."

  "Of course you will, and try means win, and win means making ourselvescomfortable till we are taken off."

  "Then you think we shall be some day?"

  "Please God, my lad!" said Shaddy calmly. "Look! Yonder goes MrBrazier. He's forgetting his troubles in work, and that's what we'vegot to do, eh?"

  Rob shook his head.

  "Ah, you're thinking about poor young Jovanni, sir," said Shaddy sadly,"and you mustn't. It won't do him no good, nor you neither. Bring thatbow and arrows along with us. I'm going to try and get a bamboo to makea spear thing, with a bit of hard wood for a point, and it may be usefulby-and-by."

  Rob took up the bow and arrows, but laid the larger part of his sheafdown again, contenting himself with half a dozen, and following Shaddyalong the edge of the forest to what looked like a clump of reeds, butwhich proved to be a fringe of bamboos fully fourteen feet high.

  Shaddy soon selected a couple of these suitable for his purpose, and hadbefore long trimmed them down to spear shafts nine feet in length.

  "There, sir," he said, "we'll get a couple of heads fitted into theseto-night. First thing is to get something else to eat, so let's try forfruit or a bird. Now, if we could only come upon a deer!"

  "Not likely, as we want one," responded Rob, who was looking round insearch of Mr Brazier, and now caught sight of him right at the far endof the clearing, evidently engaged in cutting down some of his favouriteplants.

  "Mr Brazier is busy," said Rob; "but isn't it a pity to let him wastetime in getting what can never be wanted?"

  "How do we know that?" replied Shaddy. "Even if they're not, I did itfor the best."

  "But is it safe to leave him alone?"

  "Safe as it is for us to go out here alone into the forest."

  "Are we going into the forest?"

  "Must, my lad--a little way."

  "But are there likely to be any Indians about?"

  "I should say not, Mr Rob, so come along."

  Shaddy led the way to where the clearing ceased and the dense growth ofthe primeval forest began, and after hesitating a little and making afew observations as to the position of the sun--observations absolutelynecessary if a traveller wished to find his way back--the guide plungedin amongst the dense growth, threading his way in through the trees,which grew more and more thickly for a short distance and then openedout a little, whereupon Shaddy halted and began to reconnoitrecarefully, holding up his band to enforce silence and at the end of afew minutes saying eagerly to Rob,--

  "Here you are, my lad! Now's our chance. There's nearly a dozen inthat big tree to the right yonder, playing about among the branches,good big ones, too. Now you steal forward a bit, keeping under cover,then lay all your arrows down but one, take a good long aim, and let itgo. Bring one down if you can."

  "What birds are they?" whispered Rob.

  "Who said anything about birds?" replied Shaddy sourly; "I saidmonkeys."

  "No."

  "Well, I meant to, my lad. There: on you go."

  "Monkey--a little man," said Rob, shaking his head. "No, I couldn'tshoot one of them."

  "Here, give us hold of the bow and arrow, then, my lad," cried the oldsailor. "'Tisn't a time for being nice. Better shoot a monkey and eatit than for me and Mr Brazier to have to kill and eat you."

  Rob handed the newly made weapons, and Shaddy took them grumblingly.

  "Not the sort of tackle I'm used to," he said. "Bound to say I could dofar better with a gun."

  He fitted the notch of the arrow to the string and drew the bow a littleas if to try it; then moving off a few yards under cover of the trees,Rob was about to follow him, but he turned back directly.

  "Don't you come," he said; "better let me try alone. Two of us mightscare 'em."

  But Shaddy did not have any occasion to go further, for all at once, asif in obedience to a signal, the party of monkeys in the forest a shortdistance before them came leaping from tree to tree till they were inthe one beneath which the two travellers were waiting, stopped short,and began to stare down wonderingly at them, one largish fellow holdingback the bough above his head in a singularly human way, while his facelooked puzzled as well as annoyed.

  "Like a young savage Indian more than an animal," said Shaddy softly, ashe prepared to shoot. "Now I wonder whether I can bring him down."

  "Don't shoot at it, Shaddy!" said Rob, laying his hand upon his guide'sarm.

  "Must, my lad. Can't afford to be particular. There, don't you look ifyou don't like it! Now then!"

  He raised the bow, and, after the fashion off our forefathers, drew thearrow right to the head, and was about to let it fly after a long andcareful aim; but being, as he had intimated, not used to that sort oftackle, he kept his forefinger over the reed arrow till he had drawn itto the head, when, just as he had taken aim and was about to launch itat the unfortunate monkey, the reed bent and snapped in two.

  Probably it was the sharp snap made by the arrow which took the monkey'sattention, for it suddenly set up a peculiarly loud chattering, whichacted as a lead to its companions, for the most part hidden among theboughs, and it required very little stretch of the imagination tobelieve it to be a burst of derisive laughter at the contemptible natureof the weapons raised against their leader's life.

  "Oh, that's the way you take it, is it, my fine fellow?" cried Shaddy,shaking the bow at the monkey. "Here, give us another arrow, Mr Rob,sir; I'll teach him to laugh better than that. I feel as if I can hithim now."

  Rob made no attempt to hand the arrow, but Shaddy took one from him,fitted it to the string, raised it to the required height, and was aboutto draw the reed to its full length, but eased it back directly and leftgo to rub his head.

  "See him now, Mr Rob, sir?"

  "No," said Rob, looking carefully upward among the branches; and, to hisgreat satisfaction, not one of the curious little four-handed animalswas visible.

  "Right!" said Shaddy. "He has saved his skin this time. Here, take thebow again. It may be a bird we see next."

  "Hadn't we better go back to the river?" said Rob. "Perhaps I should beable to shoot a duck if I saw one swimming about."

  "Daresay you would, my lad," said the old sailor drily, "send the arrowright through one; but what I say is, if the 'gators want a duck killedthey'd better kill it themselves."

  "I don't understand you," said Rob.

  "Understand, my lad? Why, suppose you shoot a duck, it will be on thewater, won't it?"

  "Of course!"

  "Then how are you going to get it off?"

  "I forgot that," said Rob. "Impossible, of course."

  "Come on, then, and don't let's waste time. We'll keep along here andget some fruit, perhaps, and find birds at the same time."

  Their journey through the forest was very short before they werestartled by a sudden rush and bound through the undergrowth. So suddenwas it that both stopped short listening, but the sound ceased in a fewmoments.


  "What's that?" whispered Rob.

  "Deer, I thought at first, my lad; but it could not have been, because adeer would have gone on racing through the forest, and one would haveheard the sounds dying away, not end suddenly like those did. You see,there was a sudden rustle, and then it stopped, as if whatever it washad been started up by our coming and then settled down again to hideand watch us."

  "Indian?" whispered Rob uneasily.

  "Nay, more like some great cat. Strikes me it was one of the spottedtigers, and a hardened arrow's not much good against one of thosebeasts. I say, let's strike off in the other direction, and try if wecan find something there. Cats are awkward beasts to deal with evenwhen they're small. When it comes to one as strong as a horse, the bestway to fight 'em is to get out of their way."

  Shaddy took a few steps forward so as to be able to peer up through agreen shaft among the trees to the sunshine and satisfy himself as totheir position, and then led off again.

  "Can't be too particular, Mr Rob, sir," he said; "stitch in time savesnine. Bit of observation now may save us hours of walking and fightingour way through the tangle."

  Rob noted his companion's careful management, and that whenever they hadto pass round a tree which stood right in their way Shaddy was veryexact about starting afresh exactly straight, and after a time in makingoff again to their left, so as to hit the river near the clearing. Butfor some time they found nothing to take their attention.

  "And that's the way of it," said Shaddy in reply to an observation ofRob's. "You generally find what you are not looking for. Now, if wewanted plenty of fine hardwood timber, here it is, and worth fortunes inLondon town, and worth nothing here. I'd give the lot, Mr Rob, for oneof our fine old Devonshire apple-trees, well loaded down withyellow-faced, red-cheeked pippins, though even then we've no flour tomake a dumpling."

  "And no saucepan to cook it in."

  "Oh, we could do without that, my lad. Worse things than bakeddumplings."

  "Are we going right, Shaddy?" said Rob suddenly.

  The old sailor took an observation, as he called it, before he answered,so as to make sure.

  "Yes," he said thoughtfully, "and if we keep straight on we shall hitthe clearing. Strikes me that if we go pretty straight we shall comeupon Mr Brazier loaded down to sinking point with plants, and glad of abit of help to carry 'em. Don't you be down-hearted, sir! This is abit of experience; and here we are! something at last."

  As he spoke he pointed to a tree where the sun penetrated a little, andthey could see that it was swarming with small birds evidently busy overthe fruit it bore. Shaddy was pressing forward, but Rob caught his arm.

  "What is it, lad?"

  "Look!" whispered Rob. "What's that?"

  "Eh? Where? See a tiger?"

  "No, that horrible-looking thing walking along the branch. It has gonenow."

  "Ugly monkey?"

  "Oh no," whispered Rob, "a curious creature. Alligators don't climbtrees, do they?"

  "Never saw one," said Shaddy. "Might if they were taught, but itwouldn't be a pleasant job to teach one. Well, where is it?"

  "Gone," whispered Rob. "No; there it is on that branch where it is sodark."

  "I see him," said Shaddy in a subdued tone. "Ought to have known. Nowthen, your bow and arrows! That's a skinful of good meat for us. Youwon't mind shooting that?"

  "No," said Rob, quickly fitting an arrow to the string, "I don't mindshooting that. But not to eat, thank you."

  "You will not be so particular soon. That's iguana, and as good aschicken. Ready?"

  Rob nodded.

  "Keep behind the trees, then, and creep slowly forward till you arepretty close--I daresay you'll be able to--and then aim at his shoulder,and send the arrow right through."

  "I will," said Rob drily, "if I can."

  "Make up your mind to it, my lad. We want that sort of food."

  "You may," thought Rob as he began to stalk the curious old-world,dragon-like beast, which was running about the boughs of a great tree incomplete ignorance of the neighbourhood of human beings, probably evenof their existence.

  The lad's heart beat heavily as he crept from tree to tree in full wantof faith as to his ability to draw a bow-string with effect; for hisexperience only extended to watching ladies shooting at targets in anarchery meeting; and as he drew nearer, stepping very softly fromshelter to shelter and then peering out to watch the reptile, he had anadmirable opportunity for noting its shape and peculiarities, none ofwhich created an appetite for trying its chicken-like flesh. He gazedat a formidable-looking animal with wide mouth, a hideous pouch beneathits jaw, and a ridge of sharp-looking, teeth-like spines along its backending in a long, fine, bony tail. These, with its fierce eye and scalyskin, and a habit of inflating itself, made it appear an object whichmight turn and attack an aggressor.

  This struck Rob very strongly as he stopped at last peering round thebole of a huge tree. He was about thirty yards from the lizard now, andin a position which commanded its side as it stood gazing straightbefore it at some object, bird or insect, in front.

  It was just the position for resting the bow-arm against the tree forsteadiness of aim, and feeling that he could do no better, but doubtfulof his skill and quite as doubtful of the likelihood of the woodenarrow-head piercing the glistening skin of the iguana, Rob took acareful aim, as he drew his arrow to his ear in good old archer style,and let his missile fly.

  Roughly made, unfeathered, and sent by a tyro, it was no wonder that itflew far wide of the mark, striking a bough away to the left and thendropping from twig to twig till it reached the undergrowth below.

  Where it struck was some distance from the lizard, and the sound and thefalling of the reed gave it the idea that the danger point was there, sothat it directed its attention in that quarter, stood very erect, andswelled itself out fiercely.

  This gave Rob ample time to fit another arrow to his string, correct hisaim, and loosen the shaft after drawing it to the head. This onewhizzed by the iguana, making it flinch slightly; but treating it as ifit had been a bird which had suddenly flashed by, the lizard fixed itseyes on the spot where this second arrow struck.

  "I shall never hit the thing," thought Rob as he fitted another arrowand corrected his aim still more, but this time too much, for the arrowflew off to the lizard's right.

  "Three arrows gone!" muttered the lad as he prepared for another try,took a long aim, and, to his great delight, saw the missile strike thebough just below where the iguana stood, but only for it to make a rushforward out of his sight.

  "But I should have hit it if I had only aimed a little higher," hethought.

  The lizard being invisible, he was about to return to Shaddy, thinkingof his companion's disappointment, when, to his surprise, he suddenlysaw the reptile reappear upon a lower branch, where it stood watchfuland eager, and once more presenting a splendid opportunity for a skilledarcher.

  "It's of no good," thought Rob. "I must practise every day at a mark,"and once more taking aim without exercising much care, but more with anidea of satisfying his companion if he were watching his actions than ofhitting his mark, he drew the arrow quickly to the head, gave one glancealong the slight reed at the iguana, the bow-string twanged, and thenext moment the reptile was gone.

  "That settles it," said Rob as he listened to the rustling of the leavesand twigs; "but I must have gone pretty near for it to have leaped offthe bough in such a hurry. I'll be bound to say poor old Joe would havemade a better shot. Italian! Genoese archers!" he continuedthoughtfully. "No, they were cross-bow-men. Poor old Joe, though! Oh,how shocking it does seem for a bright handsome lad like he was to--"

  "Here! hi! T'other way, my lad! He dropped down like a stone."

  "No, no; leaped like a deer off the branch. I saw him."

  "Well, so did I," cried Shaddy, hurrying up. "The arrow went cleanthrough him."

  "Nonsense!"

  "Nonsense, sir? What do you m
ean?"

  "I did not go near him."

  "What? Why, you shot him right through the shoulder. I haven't gotmuch to boast about except my eye, and I'll back that against somepeople's spy-glasses. That iguana's lying down there at the bottom ofthe tree dead as a last year's butterfly, and I can put my foot right onthe place. Come along."

  Rob smiled, raised his eyebrows a little, and followed.

  "Better let him convince himself," he thought; and as Shaddy forced backthe low boughs and held them apart for his companion to follow, he wenton talking.

  "I knew you could do it by the way you handled your bow and arrow. Youreyes are as straight as mine is, and I watched you as you sent an arrowfirst one side and then another till you got the exact range, and thenit was like kissing your hand: just a pull of the string, off goes thearrow, and down drops the lizard, and a fine one, too. Round thattrunk, my lad! There you are, and there he lies, just down in that tuftof grass."

  "Where?" said Rob banteringly. "Why, Shaddy, I thought your eye wasbetter than spy-glasses."

  Shaddy made a dash at the tuft of thick growth beneath the bough wherethe iguana had stood, searched about, and then rose and took off his capto give his head a scratch.

  "Well, I never!" he said in a tone full of disappointment; "I was assure as sure that you hit that thing right through."

  He looked round about, and then all at once made a rush at a spot whencecame a faint rustling; and the next minute he returned dragging theiguana by the tail, with the half of the arrow through its shoulder.

  "Now then," he cried, "was I right, or was I wrong? He made a bigscramble to get away, and hid himself in that bush all but his tail. Myword, Mr Rob, sir, what a shot you will make!"

  "Nonsense, Shaddy!" said the lad, looking down with a mingling ofcompunction and pride at his prize.

  "Ah, you may call it nonsense, Mr Rob. I calls it skill."

  "Why, it was a mere accident."

  "Hark at him!" cried Shaddy, looking round at the trees as if to calltheir attention to the lad's words. "Says it was an accident when Itold him to aim straight at the thing's shoulder, and there's the arrowright through it from one side to the other, and the poor brute dead asdead."

  "But I hardly aimed at it, Shaddy," protested Rob.

  "Of course you didn't. A good shot just makes up his mind to hit athing, and he hits it same as you did that lizard. Well, sir, that'sone trouble off my mind; and I can say thankfully we shan't starve.There'll be times when the river's so flooded that we can't fish, andthen we might have come worst off; but you can shoot us birds andbeasts. Then we can find eggs, and lay traps, and search for fruit.Why, Mr Rob, sir, we're going to have our bread buttered on both sides,and we can keep Mr Brazier going while he collects. It looked veryblack indeed time back, but the sun's shining in on us now. We shall bea bit like prisoners, but where are you going to find a more beautifulprison for people who want to study natural history? Hooray I lookhere, too--mushrooms."

  "What, those great funguses?"

  "To be sure: they're good eating. I know 'em, sir. Found 'em before,and learnt to eat 'em off the Indians. Here, wait a moment; let's takeenough of 'em for supper, and then get back to the kitchen and have aturn at cooking. That's enough," he continued, picking up from themouldering stump of a huge decaying tree a great cluster of fungi;"those others'll do for another time."

  "I hope you will not be disappointed in my shooting next time," saidRob, taking the cluster of mushroom growth and thrusting an arrowthrough it like a skewer. "I have very little faith in it myself,Shaddy."

  "More likely to do good, and I believe in you all the more, Mr Rob,"said the man, seizing the lizard, tying its legs together with a band oftwisted twigs, thrusting his bamboos through, and swinging the prizeover his shoulder. "If you went puffing and blowing about and sayingyou was going to shoot this, and hit that, I should begin to wonder however we were to get our next dinner. Never you mind about feelingafraid for yourself. `Modesty's the best policy,' as the old sayinggoes, or something like it. Now then, best foot foremost! Tread in mysteps, and I think I can lead you straight for the head of the clearing,pretty close to home, sweet home. D'yer mind what I say?" he continued,with a queer smile. "Think. I ain't quite sure, my lad, but I'll try."

  Shaddy took a fresh observation, and then gave a satisfied nod of thehead.

  "Forrard!" he said; and he made off as if full of confidence, while Robfollowed behind, taking care of his mushrooms and watching the noddinghead of the iguana low down at Shaddy's back in a curiously grimfashion, and thinking that it looked anything but attractive as anobject for the cook's art.

  They had been walking nearly an hour, very slowly--for it was difficultwork to avoid the tangled growth which hemmed them in--when Shaddy, whohad been chatting away pleasantly about the trees and their ill-luck innot finding more fruit out in the forest, warning his companion, too,every now and then about ant-hills and thorns, suddenly exclaimed,"Wonder what luck Mr Brazier's had?" and almost directly after as theyentered an open place where orchids were growing, some of which hadsuggested the man's last speech, he cried, "Why, hullo! Look here, MrRob; look here," and as he pointed down at the dead leaves beneath theirfeet, Rob started back with a shudder of horror, and looked wildly roundfor the cause of that which he saw.