The Land of Mystery by Edward Sylvester Ellis

  CHAPTER XIII.

  A CHANGE OF CAMP.

  Professor Grimcke and Jared Long stood like a couple of warriors,exhausted from the desperate conflict which they had been waging forhours.

  And yet the sanguinary contest had lasted but a few minutes, while theywho had wrought all this destruction did little more than stand, aimand fire their guns. The task of the natives was tenfold harder, asthe results were tenfold worse against them.

  Like old hunters, the first thing the explorers did was to fill themagazines of their Winchesters with cartridges, after which theirrevolvers were reloaded. Then they were ready for business again.

  At this moment, Bippo and Pedros crept from the wood, the picture ofquaking terror. They had been roused at the beginning of the tumult,but deeming discretion the better part of valor, scrambled farther backinto the forest, where they remained almost dead with fright, untilsure the awful scene was over.

  There can be little question that Quincal was as much terrified as theyand possibly more. It was his very excess of panic, which turned hishead, and caused him to do that which would have been beyond his powerunder other circumstances.

  When they saw the dead body of their comrade, Bippo and Pedros brokeinto loud lamentations. There could be no doubt that they mourned thepoor fellow as much as did the explorers who had witnessed his death.

  The surroundings of the camp were so frightful that the Professorproposed they should get beyond sight of it by drifting further downstream, a proposal to which his companion willingly agreed.

  What should be done with the body of Quincal? This was the questionwhich caused the party to hesitate a minute or two after the canoe wasshoved into the water and ready to float down stream.

  The wishes of his companions were asked, and Bippo replied that themost fitting burial, and one in accordance with the peculiar customs oftheir people, was to give it burial in the Xingu.

  This was in consonance with the feelings of Grimcke and Long, and theyat once made arrangements to carry out the plan.

  The remains were tenderly carried into the boat, and a large stonefastened by means of a piece of rope to the ankles, which were tiedtogether. Then the craft was paddled to the middle of the river, andthe body carefully lifted over the side. Holding it thus suspended fora minute or two, Jared Long and the Professor lifted their hats andclosed their eyes while the New Englander uttered a brief prayer,committing the soul to Him who gave it, commending the other body,lying alone in the dark forest where it had fallen, to the samemerciful Father, and beseeching his protection to the living throughthe perils by which they were environed. A splash followed, and allthat was mortal of the native sank out of sight to sleep until awakenedby the trump of the resurrection morn.

  The sad duty completed, the attention of the party was given to theduties before them.

  It was a sorrowful reflection, that, since the set of sun, two of theirnumber had yielded up their lives, and they had barely reached the edgeof the Matto Grosso, that land of mystery into which they hoped topenetrate far enough to learn much that was yet unknown to thecivilized world.

  If they were compelled to pay such fearful toll before they were fairlywithin the strange region, what was to be the cost of exploring thewild country itself?

  But while Bippo and Pedros were more anxious than ever to leave thesection with its dreadful memories behind them, neither dare giveexpression to his thoughts, and the German and American were not madeof the stuff which yields when first exposed to the fire.

  They reasoned that if there were no such formidable difficulties toovercome, others would have visited the country long before andexplored it so fully that nothing would be left for those who cameafter them. The prize is the most valuable for which the highest priceis exacted. Neither referred to the abandonment of their work, for nosuch idea entered their minds.

  It is not to be supposed that during the fearful scenes through whichthe leader of the expedition and his friend passed, they forgot thattheir friend Fred Ashman was only a short distance away. Indeed, onecause for pushing the canoe into the stream and allowing it to driftwith the swift current was that they might join Fred with theannouncement of what had taken place during his absence.

  They supposed that he must have heard the rifle reports and the yellsand shrieks of the natives during the desperate conflict, for thoughthe rapids gave out a roar which penetrated miles, yet the sharpdischarges and cries of the combatants were of a nature to be heardstill farther.

  Had the explorers suspected what was coming, Ashman, of course, wouldhave staid with his friends; for his services were almostindispensable. In fact, but for the singular attempt of the natives tomake captives of the white men, they would have been unable towithstand the terrific onslaught, despite the vast superiority of theirweapons over those of the assailants.

  It never occurred to Grimcke or Long that their friend could have gotinto trouble himself. He was removed from the scene of conflict, whichwas over so quickly that he could not have reached the spot in time totake part, had he started on the instant the first gun was fired.

  But it struck both, while drifting downward and carefully scanning theshore, as strange that nothing had been seen of Ashman. Enough timehad now elapsed for him to traverse the intervening distance severaltimes, and it was to be supposed that he would have put in anappearance without delay, provided he was free to do so.

  The two talked together in low tones, and admitted that there wassomething to cause misgiving in Fred's continued absence. What couldbe the explanation?

  The Professor was inclined to think their friend had gone farther downstream than he first intended; but, even if such were the fact, hehardly could have traveled so far that he would not have been well onhis way back to the battle ground by this time.

  The trend of the Xingu was such at this point, that the thin line ofshadow along the wood on their left, as they passed down the river,steadily widened until it now almost reached the water itself. In ashort time it would extend over the surface and afford the canoe thatshelter which, had it come earlier in the evening, might have postponedthe desperate conflict with the savages.

  The move from above was merely to get away from the sights that metthem at every turn; and, without seeking to drift to the point whereAshman was supposed to be waiting, the explorers turned the prow toland, which they touched a moment later.

  It would have been more cheerful to have had a fire burning, but therewas no other call for it. The mild temperature rendered it really moreenjoyable without it, since the blaze was always sure to attractinnumerable insects, and possibly might tempt the defeated natives toanother effort to wipe out the deadly insults that had been theirs fromthe beginning.

  It was not yet midnight, nor indeed anywhere near it, but the Professorvolunteered to take his turn with Bippo for the remaining hours ofdarkness. But no such arrangement was necessary, since every member ofthe party was rendered wakeful by the exciting incidents, while thegrief of Bippo and Pedros over the loss of their friend was sure todrive away all slumber for a long time.

  The luggage was left in the canoe, where all the party would havestayed, had not their positions been so cramped as to render sleepingdifficult. Their blankets were spread on the ground, where theyreclined, talking in low tones, watching, listening, and speculating asto the cause of Fred Ashman's continued absence.

  Long was about to open his mouth to advance a new theory, when a slightsound apprised him that either the young man they were talking about,or some one else, was approaching.