"Yes, sir. He"s a-gnawing away at me awful. Let"s see what berries and fruit we can find, and then try whether we can"t get hold of a fish."
"But we are forgetting all about poor Joe," said Rob in agonised tones.
"That we ain"t, sir. I know you"re not, and if you"ll show me what I can do more than I did last evening and afternoon to find the poor boy, here"s Shadrach Naylor ready to risk his life any way to save him. But set me to do it, for I can"t see no way myself. Can you?"
Rob was silent, and Brazier shook his head.
"You see, it"s like this, sir," continued Shaddy: "people as have never been in these woods can"t understand what it means, when it"s just this: Shut your eyes and go a dozen yards, turn round, and you"re lost.
There"s nothing to guide you but your own footsteps, and you can"t see them. You may live for a few days by chewing leaves, and then it"s lie down and die, wishing you were a monkey or a bird. That"s the truth, gentlemen."
"Then you give up in despair, Naylor?" said Brazier angrily.
"Not I, sir--not the sort o" man. What I say is, we can"t do no good by wasting our strength in looking for Mr Joe. We"ve got to try and save our own lives by stopping where we are."
"And what shall we do first?"
"Use our brains, sir, and find something to eat, as I said afore.
There"s fruit to find, fish, birds, and monkeys to catch. Snakes ain"t bad eating. There"s plenty of water, and--Oh, we"re not going to die yet. Two big men and a small one, and all got knives; so come along, and let"s see what we can do."
Shaddy turned to the fire, taking out his knife and trying the edge.
"First thing I want, Mr Rob, is a bit of hard half-burnt wood--forked bit, out of which I can make a big fish-hook, a long shank and a short one. It must be hard and tough, and--Why, hullo! I didn"t see these here before."
"What?" asked Rob and Brazier in a breath, and their companion pointed down at the earth.
"Fresh footmarks, gen"lemen," said Shaddy.
"Joe"s?" cried Rob.
"Nay, my lad; it"s a lion"s, and he has been prowling round about our fire in the night."
Rob started, and thought of his realistic dream, but he was faint, confused in intellect, and could not fit the puzzle together then.
"Well, he hasn"t eaten either of us," said Shaddy, with a grim smile, "and he"d better mind what he"s about, or we"ll eat him. Ah, here we are!" he exclaimed, pouncing upon a piece of burning wood. "Now you take your cap, Mr Rob, and hunt all round for any fruit you can find.
Don"t be wasteful and pick any that ain"t ripe. Leave that for another day. We shall want it. And don"t go in the forest. There"s more to be found at the edge than inside, because you can"t get to the tops of the trees; and don"t eat a thing till I"ve seen it, because there"s plenty poisonous as can be."
"All right!" said Rob, and he turned to go.
"And cheer up, both of you," said their companion. "We won"t starve while there"s traps to be made, and bows and arrows, and fishing tackle.
Now, Mr Brazier, please, you"ll sit down on that dead tree, take off that silk handkercher from your neck, and pull out threads from it one by one, tie "em together, and wind "em up round a bit of stick. Soon as I"ve made this big rough wooden hook, I"ll lay the silk up into a line."
"But you"ve no bait," said Brazier, who was already taking off his necktie.
"No bait, sir? Mr Rob"s going to find some wild oranges or sour sops, or something, and if he don"t I still mean to have a fish. Why, if I can"t find nothing else I"ll have a bait if I come down to cutting off one of my toes--perhaps one o" Mr Rob"s would be tenderer or more tempting--or my tongue p"r"aps, for I do talk too much. Work, both of you; I"ll soon have a bait, for I want my breakfast like mad."
Rob hurried off, but did not reach the great trees which surrounded the open spot, for at the third clump of bushes he came upon an orange-coloured fruit growing upon a vine-like plant in abundance. It seemed to be some kind of pa.s.sion-flower, and, in spite of Shaddy"s warning, he tasted one, to find it of a pleasant, sweetish, acid flavour.
Gathering a capful, he returned at once to where his companions in misfortune were hard at work.
"Hullo!" growled Shaddy. "Soon back! What have you got, my lad? Kind o" granadillas, eh? Well, they"re good to eat, but not much to make a breakfast of. Better wait till I"ve done a bit o" conjuring and turned some of "em into a fish. There, what do you say to that for a hook?"
He held up his piece of wood carving, which was about four inches long and two across, something in this shape:--
"Not much of a hook, Mr Rob, sir, but tough enough to hold a fish if we can coax him to swallow it by covering it with the fruit. We can get three of them juicy things on the shank and point. So now for the line!
How are you getting on, Mr Brazier, sir?"
"Very slowly, Naylor," said Brazier, with a sigh.
"All the more surer, sir. You help, Mr Rob, sir, and I"ll lay up some of my cotton handkercher for the snood. No; second thoughts is best.
I"ll make a loose hank of it, so that the fish"s teeth may go through if he tries to bite the line, which of course he will."
The result was that in an hour or so a silk line of about twenty yards in length was twisted up and attached to the loose cotton bottom secured to the hook. This was baited, and, after selecting a suitable spot, Shaddy climbed out upon a half-fallen tree whose trunk projected over the river, and dropped his line into a deep eddying pool, where the water ran round and round in a way which made Rob feel giddy.
There was a steep slope just here, so that the bank was not flooded, and hence the angler was able to drop his line at once into deep water, where the action of the whirling current sufficed to suck the bait right down, while Brazier and Rob looked on with the interest of those who depended upon success to give them the food from the want of which they were suffering keenly.
"Now then," said Shaddy cheerfully, "if the bait don"t come off, if a fish takes it, if there are any here, if the hook don"t break and the line give way, I may catch our breakfast. Plenty of ifs, Mr Rob, sir!
Remember the big doradoes we caught up yonder?"
"Oh, if you could catch one now!" replied the lad.
"Ah, if I could, sir! Perhaps I shall, but I don"t want a big one. Now for it!"
A quarter of an hour pa.s.sed away, during which time Shaddy pulled up and examined his bait twice, to see if it was safe, but there was no sign of fish there, though out in mid-stream and toward the farther sh.o.r.e there was evidently abundance, the water being disturbed and some big fellow springing out every now and then, to come down with a mighty splash, scattering the sparkling drops in all directions.
"I shall have to come down to a toe, Mr Rob, sir," said Shaddy grimly.
"The fish don"t seem to care for fruit so early in the morning. It"s all very well for dessert, but they like a substantial meal first. Now then, get your knife ready. Whose is it to be? Shall we pull straws for the lot?"
"Try a little farther this way, Shaddy," said Rob, ignoring the remark.
"Right, sir! I will," said Shaddy, shifting the position of his bait, "but it strikes me we"ve got into a "gator hole, and consequently there"s no fish."
"Do you think they can see you?"
"No, sir. Water"s too thick. Look yonder."
"What at?"
"Monkeys in that tree watching us. Now if you"d got a bow and arrows you might bring one or two down."
"What for?"
"What for, my lad?" cried the guide in astonishment. "And he asks what for, when we"re all starving. Why, to eat, of course."
"Ugh! I"m not so hungry as that!" cried Rob, with a shudder.
"You ain"t? Well, my lad, I am, and so I tell you. They"re capital eating. Why, I remember once when I was up the river with a party we all had--A fish! a fish!" he cried as upon raising his line, to see if the bait were all right, he suddenly felt a fierce tug; and the next minute the pool began to be agitated in a peculiar way.
"Here, Mr Rob, I"m going to hand you the line, and you"ve got to run him out at once upon the bank. If I try to play him he"s sure to go.
There, I"ll ease him down, and he"ll think it"s all right and be quiet.