The River of Darkness; Or, Under Africa
Page 24
CHAPTER XXIII.
A WONDERFUL ESCAPE.
Guy had presence of mind enough to strike a second match and ignite thetorch, which was fortunately within reach of his hand, and as hiscompanions, roused from their sleep by his sharp cry of alarm, sprangexcitedly to their feet, the flaming glare revealed to their astonishedgaze a monstrous serpent coiled half on land, half in the water, at theedge of the island.
The flat, ugly head, with its wicked eyes, was darting angrily to andfro, and the body was as thick as a man's leg above the knee.
"Great Caesar, it's a sea-serpent!" cried Forbes, making a dash for hisrifle, while Sir Arthur, with a dismal groan, dropped down on his kneesand had to be dragged forcibly away by the colonel.
The glare of the torch seemed to anger the monster, for it advanced ayard or more up the island, and spattered the water furiously with itsgreat tail.
A general rush was made for the canoes, and it would have been nodifficult matter to have slipped quickly away and left the hideousmonster in undisputed possession of the island.
Unluckily Forbes was bent on resistance. He seized his rifle, made surethat it was ready for use, and started forward just as Guy hurried tohis assistance.
"Come away, Melton," he cried; "it will only make things worse if youwound it."
"But I don't intend to wound it," replied Melton. "I'm going to put aball through that ugly head. Stand back, Chutney; stand back."
As he spoke he advanced recklessly until the muzzle of his rifle waswithin two feet of the serpent's head, and, taking a quick aim, pulledthe trigger.
The stunning report shook the cavern; then, as Forbes turned to flee,the enraged monster, with blood streaming from a hole in his neck, threwhis slimy coils forward in convulsions of agony, and, before the eyes ofhis horrified companions, Melton was pinned to the ground.
He struggled to his knees, fighting desperately to loosen the tighteningcoils, and uttering heartrending appeals for help.
Then, with a mighty hiss, the serpent flapped wildly toward the water,dragging his victim with him, and with a terrific splash and aresounding slap of the great tail on the moist sand, both disappeared inthe gloom.
With a terrible cry Guy ran to the water's edge and shouted again andagain.
No response came back. The black river flowed as smoothly and calmly asbefore.
"Lost! Lost!" he cried hoarsely, and staggering backward he fell heavilyon the sand.
The colonel ran to his assistance, and at that moment a single cry camedistinctly from a point below the island.
"Listen!" exclaimed Canaris. "What is that?"
"Help! Help!" rang mournfully through the recesses of the cavern.
It was Melton's voice surely, and the familiar tones reached Guy's earsand brought him to his feet in an instant.
"It's Forbes!" he shouted wildly. "The canoe, quick," and snatching theheavy craft, he fairly threw it into the river and sprang in.
Canaris leaped after him, and seizing paddles they drove the canoeswiftly toward the distant sound.
"We are coming, Melton; we are coming," cried Guy. "We'll save you yet."
In their haste the lighted torch had been left behind, but fortunatelythe Greek had matches, and in an instant another torch was lit andflaring cheerfully over the water.
"This way, Chutney," came a feeble voice below them. "Hurry up. I'mnearly exhausted."
A few rapid strokes of the paddle brought them within sight of astruggling object on the surface of the water, and as the canoe ranskilfully alongside, Guy dropped his paddle, and, leaning out, seizedthe drowning man by the collar. With almost superhuman strength hedragged him into the canoe without assistance.
"Thank God!" he cried, "he's safe. Speak to me, Forbes. Are you hurt?"
But Melton lay white and helpless in the bottom of the boat, tooexhausted to reply.
"He's all right," said Canaris. "Don't make him talk. Take your paddle,Chutney. We'll have a struggle to make the island."
The Greek was right. Far above them shone the flickering torch, and thecurrent was bearing them further away.
"I can't paddle and hold the torch at the same time," said Canaris. "Wemust be guided by the light on the island."
And they bent to the paddles with a will, shouting from time to time toencourage the colonel and Sir Arthur. It was even a harder task thanthey had feared--to force the canoe through that fierce rush of water.And for a time it seemed as though they were losing instead of gaining.
But at last the distant light grew brighter, and soon their friendscould be seen standing on the edge of the island.
Ten minutes' more labor brought the canoe to the small eddy behind theisland, and then the colonel hauled it gently upon the sand. Theyclimbed wearily out and bore Melton tenderly up the slope. His clotheswere foul and slimy from the serpent's embrace, but he did not seem tobe injured.
A few drops of stimulant would have had a good effect, but as this wasout of the question they did the next best thing under thecircumstances. His wet clothes were stripped off and wrung out. Then hewas wrapped snugly in three or four big rugs and laid in one of thecanoes, which was emptied for the purpose. This heroic treatment had aspeedy effect, and the patient, much to the relief of all, recoveredfrom his prostration and insisted on sitting up.
"No, I don't think I'm hurt," he said, in response to Guy's inquiries."It was the closest shave I ever had in my life, though. You may imaginehow I felt when the monster dragged me into the river. I gave myself upfor lost at once. He dived straight down, and then shot through thewater like a streak. One coil was still around my body, and hard as Istruggled I couldn't tear loose. My ears began to sing, and I knew Iwould have to drown. Then I felt the coil grow a little looser, and withone desperate struggle I tore away and came to the top. The first thingI saw was the light away up on the island, and I shouted for help asloud as I could. I was terribly afraid you would not hear me, and allthe time I was growing weaker and weaker, and the current was draggingme farther and farther away. Then I saw your torch almost beside me, andthat is all I remember. I would have gone to the bottom in anotherminute, I know. It was horrible, Chutney. It makes me faint to think ofit," and Melton closed his eyes with a little shudder.
There were tears in the eyes of all as they listened to the marvelousstory of his escape, and a sterner realization came to them of theunknown and unseen dangers that encompassed them.
Further sleep was out of the question, and yet they could not well leavethe island until Melton's clothes were partially dry.
"Suppose we try some fishing," suggested Guy. "I have lines, and we canbait the hooks with bits of dried meat."
"That would be an agreeable change in our bill of fare," said thecolonel. "I second the motion."
"Gentlemen, I beg of you, don't harass my feelings by talking of fish,"protested Sir Arthur, who was gradually recovering from his severefright. "It makes me think of white-bait dinners at Greenwich. I dinedthere two days before I sailed for Africa."
"And you will dine there again, many a time," replied the colonel."Only keep up your spirits, Ashby."
"I hope so, I'm sure," groaned Sir Arthur, with a dismal shake of thehead that belied his words.
Meanwhile Guy had been preparing the lines, and handing one to theGreek, they cast them in the eddy below the island. In less than fiveminutes Guy landed a trumpet, a fish of a deep purple color, a foot inlength. Canaris hauled one out at the same time, and within an hour theyhad caught more than a dozen, all of the same species and of about thesame length.
"We'll take them along with us," said Guy. "We may find driftwood enoughto build a fire and cook them."
"And if we don't find any," cried Canaris, "we can cook them by holdingthem in the flame of the torch."