"Doesn"t look like a fight now," whispered Rob.
"Not just now, sir; he has hauled off to repair damages, and he wants all his strength and lissomeness to tackle a great worm like that. Wait a bit, and you"ll see."
As he waited, Rob climbed up to where he could reach the puma, hesitating a little before he attempted to touch it, for the animal"s fur was erect, and it was growling and lashing its tail angrily.
But at the sound of the boy"s voice it responded by giving a low whimpering cry, turned to him, and gave its head a roll, as if in answer to a friendly rub.
"That"s right," said Rob gently; "you"re good friends with me, aren"t you?" and he patted and rubbed the beautiful creature"s head, while it let it lie on the branch, and blinked and purred.
All of a sudden, though, it raised its head excitedly, and Rob could feel the nerves and muscles quivering beneath its soft, loose skin.
Just at the same moment, too, Brazier and Shaddy uttered warning cries to the lad to look out, for the war had recommenced in the next tree, the jaguar having ceased to pa.s.s its paws over its head, and a.s.sumed a crouching position, with its powerful hind legs drawn beneath it and its sinewy loins contracted, as if preparing to make a spring.
The serpent had noticed the movement, and it too had prepared itself for the fray by a.s.suming as safe a position for defence and menace as the limited s.p.a.ce would allow.
Then came another pause, with the jaguar crouching, its spine all in a quiver, and a peculiar fidgeting, scratching movement visible about its hind claws, while the serpent watched it with glittering eyes, its drawn-back head rising and falling slightly with the motion of its undulating form.
"Do you think the jaguar will attack it, Naylor?" whispered Brazier.
"Yes, sir; they"re nasty spiteful creatures, and can"t bear to see anything enjoying itself. There"s room in the tree for both of them, and you"d think that with the flood underneath they"d be content to wait there in peace till it was gone. But if the snake would the tiger won"t let him: he"s waiting for a chance to take him unawares, and so not get caught in his coils, but I don"t think he"ll get that this time. My word! Look!"
For as he was speaking the jaguar seemed to be shot from the bough, to strike the serpent on the side of the head, which it seized just at the thinnest part of the neck, and held on, tearing the while so fiercely with its hind claws that the reptile"s throat was in a few moments all in ribbons, which streamed with blood. The weight of the jaguar, too, bore down the serpent, in spite of its enormous strength, and it appeared as if victory was certain for the quadruped; but even as Rob thought this, and rejoiced at the destruction of so repellent a monster, the serpent"s folds moved rapidly, as if it were writhing its last in agony, and the next instant those who watched the struggle saw that the jaguar, in spite of its activity, was enveloped in the terrible embrace.
There was a strange crushing sound, a yell that made Rob"s fingers go toward his ears, and then a rapid movement, and the water was splashed over where they sat.
For the tree was vacant, and beneath it the flood was being churned up in a curious way, which indicated that the struggle was going on beneath the surface. Then a fold of the serpent rose for a moment or two, disappeared, and was followed by the creature"s tail. This latter darted out for an instant, quivered in the air, and then was s.n.a.t.c.hed back, making the water hiss.
During the next five minutes the little party in the tree sat watching the water where they had last seen it disturbed; but it had gradually settled down again, and, for aught they could tell to the contrary, their two enemies had died in each other"s embrace.
But this was not so; for all at once Shaddy uttered an e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, and pointed along the edge of the submerged trees, to where something was moving about in the bright morning"s light.
It was right where the beams of the freshly risen sun gilded the rippling water, sending forth such flashes of light that it was hard to distinguish what it was. But directly after, there, before them, swimming slowly and laboriously, in undulatory motion, was the serpent, which they watched till it pa.s.sed in among the branches of the submerged trees and disappeared.
"Then the tiger was killed?" cried Rob, excitedly.
"Yes, sir; I thought it was all over with him when the snake made those half hitches about his corpus and I heard his bones crack. Ah! it"s wonderful what power those long sarpentiny creatures have. Why, I"ve known an eel at home, when I was a boy, twist itself up in a regular knot that was as hard and close as could be, and that strong it was astonishing."
"But surely that serpent can"t live?" said Brazier.
"It"s sartain, sir, that the tiger can"t," replied the old sailor. "You see, beside his having that nip, he was kept underneath long enough to drown him and all his relations. As to the sarpent--oh yes, he may live. It"s wonderful what a good doctor Nature is. I"ve seen animals so torn about that you"d think they must die, get well by giving themselves a good lick now and then, and twisting up and going to sleep.
Savages, too, after being badly wounded, get well at a wonderful rate out here without a doctor. But now let"s see what the river"s doing."
He bent down and examined the trunk of the tree, and came to the conclusion that the flood was about stationary; and as all danger of its rising seemed to be at an end, Shaddy set to work with his knife, lopping off branches, and cutting boughs to act as poles to lay across and across in the fork of the tree, upon which he laid an abundance of the smaller stuff, and by degrees formed a fairly level platform, upon which he persuaded Brazier and Rob to lie down.
"I"ll keep watch," he said, "and as soon as you are rested I"ll have my spell below."
They were so utterly wearied out that they gladly fell in with the old sailor"s plan, and dropped off almost as soon as they had stretched themselves upon the boughs.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
REALITY OR A DREAM?
It was evening when Rob awoke, and found the guide waiting as he had left him when he lay down.
"Only gone down about an inch, Mr Rob, sir," he said. "Feel as if you could do your spell at the watch now?"
"Of course. But, Shaddy, I"m terribly hungry."
"So am I, sir. To-morrow morning we must see if we can"t do something to catch some fish."
"Why not to-night?"
Shaddy shook his head, lay down, and in a moment or two was breathing heavily in a deep sleep.
"I can"t watch all night without food," thought Rob, as he looked round at the waste and wondered how soon the flood would go down. He knew what food there was, and how it would have to be served, and longed for his share; but felt that unless the others were present he could not take his portion, though how he would be able to wait till morning was more than he felt able to tell.
He looked up at the puma, to see that it had carefully lodged itself on the upper fork, and was asleep. So was Mr Brazier. Only he was awake and hungry. Yes, Brazier was, too, for he woke about then with a start, to question Rob about the advance of time, and their position; ending, as he heard that the flood had hardly sunk at all, by saying that they would be compelled to watch fasting that night, so as to make the provisions last longer.
Rob gave him an agonised look, and, plucking a twig, began to pick off the leaves to chew them.
"I don"t feel as if I could wait till to-morrow," he said faintly.
"It is a case of _must_," said Brazier. "Come, try a little fort.i.tude, my lad."
"But a little fort.i.tude will not do," said Rob drily. "It seems to me that we shall want so much of it."
"You know our position, Rob. There, lad; let"s be trustful, and try and hope. We may not have to wait longer than to-morrow for the subsiding of the flood."
How that night pa.s.sed neither of them knew, but at last the sun rose to show that the waters, which had seemed to be alive with preying creatures, had sunk so that they could not be above four feet in depth; and just as they had concluded that this was the case Shaddy sprang up, and sat staring at them.
"Why!--what?--Have I slept all night?" he cried. "Oh, Mr Rob!"
"We both felt that you must have rest, Naylor," said Brazier quietly.
"That"s very good of you, sir; but you should have been fairer to yourselves. Did you--?"
He stopped short.
"Hear anything in the night?" asked Rob.
"Well, no, sir, I was going to say something else, only I was "most ashamed."
"Never mind: say it," said Brazier.
"I was going to ask if you had left me a little sc.r.a.p of the prog."
Rob looked at him sharply and then at Brazier, who did the same, but neither of them replied; and the old sailor put his own interpretation upon their silence.