"What! tumbled in?" said Rob excitedly.
"No; he took hold of a thick piece of branch and threw it into the water. What did you do that for?"
"Scare them "gators, my lad. There"s a whole school of "em out there, and I think they mean coming to supper. And fish too," he added, as there was another splash and then another.
By this time he was close alongside of the boat, under whose tent Mr Brazier was busy by the light of a lanthorn making notes and lists of the flowers and orchid bulbs which he had secured that day.
"Hadn"t we better put out a line, Shaddy? If we caught a fish or two the men would be glad of them in the morning."
"No, Mr Rob, sir; I don"t suppose they"d bite now, and even if they did, so sure as you hooked one a smiler would get hold of it, and you don"t want another fight of that sort. I"m beginning to think that we"d best get our bit o" food, and then drop slowly down the river again."
"What"s that?" said Brazier, looking up from his work. "That will not do, Naylor; we should miss no end of good plants."
"Well, sir, better do that than get into a row with any of the natives here," growled Shaddy.
"Why, you said there were no Indians near."
"Tchah! I mean the other natives--"sects and rept"les and what not.
But there, if we put a rope to the end of that largest tree and anchor ourselves yonder I don"t suppose we shall hurt. Eh? All right," he cried, in answer to a hint from the men; "supper"s ready, gentlemen."
"And so are we," said Rob with alacrity; and he leaped off the gunwale on to the tree trunk by whose side it was moored.
To all appearance it was a solid-looking stem of tons in weight, but covered with mosses, creepers, and orchids, which pretty well hid its bark.
Rob"s intention was to run along it to the root end, which stood up close to the fire; but, to his intense astonishment, he crashed through what was a mere outer sh.e.l.l of bark into so much dust and touchwood right up to the armpits, where he stuck, with a hedge of plants half-covering his face.
Joe burst out into a fit of laughing, in which Rob joined as soon as the first startled sensation was over.
"Who"d have thought of that?" he cried. "But, I say, I"m fast. Come and lend me a hand. I thought it was a great solid trunk, and all inside here you can see it looks as if it were on fire. Oh! oh! Ah!
Help!"
"What"s the matter?" cried Brazier excitedly, as Shaddy and he stepped cautiously to the boy"s side, Joe having already mounted on the tree trunk. "Not on fire, are you?"
"No, no," gasped Rob in agonised tones; and, speaking in a frightened whisper, "There"s something alive in here."
"Nippers o" some kind, eh?"
"No, no," cried Rob faintly; "I can feel it moving. Oh! help! It"s a snake."
As he spoke there was a curious scuffling noise inside, as if something was struggling to extricate itself, and Shaddy lost no time. Bending down, he seized Rob by the chest under the armpits, stooped lower, gave one heave, and lifted him right out; when, following close upon his legs, the head of a great serpent was thrust up, to look threateningly round for a moment. The next, the creature was gliding down through the dense coating of parasitical growth, and before gun could be fetched from the cabin, or weapon raised, the rustling and movement on the side of the trunk had ceased, and Joe in turn gave a bound to one side.
"It"s coming along by here," he cried, as, in full belief that he would the next moment be enveloped in the monster"s coils, he made for the fire.
"Where is it now?" cried Shaddy, knife in hand.
"The gra.s.s is moving there," said Brazier, pointing a little to the right, where the tree trunks cast a deep shadow.
"Can"t see--so plaguey dark," growled the guide; "and it"s no good if I could. Yes, I can see the stuff moving now. He"s making for the water.
Now, sir, send a charge o" shot where the gra.s.s is waving."
But before Brazier could get a sight of the reptile it had glided into the river, down among the branches of the fallen tree, as if quite used to the intricate tangle of pointed wood beneath the bank, and accustomed to use it for a home of refuge, or lurking place from which to strike at prey.
"Did it seize you?" said Brazier excitedly.
"No, I only felt it strike against my leg and then press it to the side.
I think I trod upon it."
"Made its home, I suppose, in the hollow tree. But you are sure you are not hurt, my boy--only frightened?"
"I couldn"t help being frightened," said Rob, in rather an ill-used tone.
"n.o.body says you could," said Brazier, laughing. "Master Giovanni seems to have been frightened too. Why, Rob, my lad, it would have almost frightened me into fits: I have such a horror of serpents. There, I believe after all these things are not so very dangerous."
"Don"t know so much about that, sir," said Shaddy. "I"ve know"d "em coil round and squeeze a deer to death, and then swallow it."
"Yes, a small deer perhaps; but the old travellers used to tell us about mighty boas and monstrous anacondas which could swallow buffaloes."
"Ah! they don"t grow so big as that now, sir. I"ve seen some pretty big ones, too, in my time, specially on the side of the river and up the Amazons."
"Well, how big--how long have you ever seen one, Naylor?"
"Never see one a hundred foot long," said Shaddy drily.
"No, I suppose not. Come, what was the largest?"
"Largest I ever see, sir, was only the skin, as I telled Mr Rob about.
Some half-caste chaps had got it pegged out, and I dessay skinning had stretched it a bit."
"Well, how long was that, Naylor?"
"That one was twenty-six foot long, sir, and nine foot across; and you may take my word for it as a thing like that, all muscles like iron--say six-and-twenty foot long and bigger round than a man--would be an awkward customer to tackle. Big enough for anything."
"Quite, Naylor."
"But how big was this one, do you think?" said Rob, who was getting over the perturbation caused by his adventure.
"Well, my lad, seeing what a bit of a squint I had of it, I should say it were thirteen or fourteen foot--p"raps fifteen."
"I thought it was nearer fifty," said Rob.
"Yes, you would then, my lad. But, never mind, it didn"t seize you. I dessay you scared it as much as it did you."
"You will not be able to eat any supper, Rob, I suppose?" said Brazier rather maliciously.
Rob looked doubtful, but he smiled; and they went to the clearest place they could find, but not without sundry misgivings, for another tree sheltered them from the fire, which now sent forth a tremendous heat, and a cloud of golden sparks rose eddying and circling up to a dense cloud of smoke which glowed as if red-hot where it reflected the flames.
This huge trunk, like the one through which Rob had slipped, was coated with parasitical growth, and though apparently solid, might, for all they knew, be hollow, and the nesting-place of half a dozen serpents larger than the one they had seen.
"Hadn"t we better shift our quarters?" said Brazier.