"Whether they eat men or not, they will knock us on the head, and it will come to much the same thing," said Casey; "so that we had better keep ahead of them until they give up the chase, and very likely, when they don"t find us, they will fancy that we have landed, and turn back to where they come from."
The paddles were accordingly plied with as much vigour as before. Tom had a pocket compa.s.s, but it was too dark to see it; he however judged by the stars overhead that the river was running from the southward, and he hoped, by landing on the right bank, to be able to strike eastward across the country and regain the sea-sh.o.r.e. Had he known the nature of the task, he would have considered the undertaking far more difficult than he now supposed it to be. In vain he and his companions looked out for another branch of the river which they might descend. No opening appeared either on one side or the other. After paddling on for another hour, they again stopped. At first no sounds were heard except the cries of night birds and the strange shrieks of animals in the forest.
"We might pull in now to one bank or the other, and rest until it is time to slip down again," observed Desmond.
They were on the point of doing as proposed, when again the sound of the natives" voices was heard coming up the stream. The enemy had probably by this time been joined by the other canoes which had been seen on the banks, and Tom confessed that he considered the risk of attempting to escape by the way they had come very great. The only thing they could therefore do was to keep on until Tom and Desmond had good reason to believe that they had completely distanced their pursuers, and then as soon as it was daylight they might hope to strike across the country and regain the coast, where they were sure that the boats would be on the look-out for them.
For some time they had seen no lights on the banks or other indications that the country was inhabited, and the further they got up the river the less risk there was of being discovered. They had not correctly calculated the distance they had gone. There had been for some time little or no current against them, but this they had not discovered while they were paddling on. The tide was setting up the river, and had thus sent them on much faster than they had supposed. Nick and Pipes urged them to continue their course.
"All right; we get away!" cried Nick.
"No fear," cried Pipes. "Paddle, boys, paddle!" Thus hour after hour they paddled on, until Tom declared that it would be folly to go further, and that they must either land or else secure the canoe to the trunk of a tree and wait in her until daylight. The latter plan was adopted. Steering to the right bank, where some thick branches overhung the stream, they secured the canoe to the stem of a small tree.
"We must keep watch," said Tom, "or we may receive a visit from a wild beast, or be found napping by the natives, and be made prisoners or killed without an opportunity of defending ourselves."
Gerald agreed to keep the first watch for a couple of hours, and then to call Tom.
"I wish we had something to eat," said Billy. "I shall grow as thin as a whipping-post, and never be able to march all the way to the coast, which must be very far off, I suspect."
"Never fear, Billy; you had better get some sleep, and forget all about the matter. In the morning we shall probably be able to kill some birds, or find some wild fruit," answered Tom.
Billy, with a groan, lay down in the bottom of the canoe, in which the rest of the party had stretched themselves as well as they could, although there was not much room for their legs.
Desmond sat up with his musket in his hands, keeping an eye down the river, and occasionally peering in among the trees on the sh.o.r.e.
Mournful sounds ever and anon came out of the forest, but he could detect no human voices; and he therefore hoped that the enemy had given up the pursuit. He had a hard matter to keep awake, the murmur of the water, as it pa.s.sed by, tending much to lull him to sleep. He contrived, however, to keep his eyes open. He knew that in that region such disagreeable creatures existed as anacondas, tigers, huge baboons, and alligators, and that one or the other of them might suddenly make its appearance. He had stood his watch, as near as he could calculate, about a couple of hours, when feeling that, notwithstanding the danger to be apprehended, he could not hold out much longer, he roused up Tom, who, after his two hours" sound sleep, was soon wide awake.
"I have been thinking of all sorts of horrible creatures who may chance to be in the neighbourhood. Take care you do not let any of them get hold of us," said Gerald.
"No fear of that," answered Tom, taking Gerald"s musket; "I will try and give a good account of any beast which comes near us."
Tom sat, as Desmond had done, with his rifle ready for immediate action.
It had hitherto been too dark to look at his watch, and he thought it imprudent to strike a light for the purpose. He had, therefore, no notion of how time went by. Greatly to his surprise he very shortly saw the streaks of dawn in the sky, and ere long a rich glow, heralding the rising sun, appeared to the eastward, shedding a ruddy tint over the calm surface of the river.
He had now to decide what was next to be done. To attempt to descend the river during the daytime would expose them to certain capture. He was anxious to try and reach the coast as early as possible. Taking out his compa.s.s, he ascertained that it lay due east, and that the course of the river was south-west and north-east; but how far off the sh.o.r.e was it was difficult to say. Nick and Pipes evidently did not like the thoughts of having to proceed in that direction, and, pointing towards the south, said that that was where their native village was situated.
"We must go to the coast, at all events," said Tom. "If they desert us we cannot help it."
"Since that matter is settled, let us have some breakfast," exclaimed Billy. "I wish you would knock over a few birds. There are plenty of them. Here are some small shot. I thought it would be useful."
There were parrots, paraquets, doves, and several other birds of exquisite plumage, flying about; and Tom, who was a very good shot, even with a ship"s musket, in a few minutes shot as many as would serve the party for breakfast. The men then set to work to pluck them, caring very little for their fine feathers. An open s.p.a.ce, where they could venture to light a fire, was soon found. Nick and Pipes had in the mean time been hunting about for wild fruit, and quickly brought in a good supply.
"There"s no fear of starving in this country; that"s one comfort,"
observed Billy, as he began to munch away at his share of a parrot.
The fruits were very refreshing. They ate them without fear, although they did not know their names, as Nick and Pipes a.s.sured them they were good.
The meal over, the party prepared to set out. They first, however, drew up the canoe, and concealed it as closely as possible under the bushes, that they might again make use of it if necessary. Nick and Pipes, when they understood what Tom required, offered to go in front and scout, but gave him to understand that should they fall in with an enemy they would retreat, and that he must be prepared to halt or turn back again, as they might deem necessary.
They soon found themselves in a very dense forest, through which it was a hard matter to make their way. Wherever there was an open s.p.a.ce the ground was covered with a profusion of flowers; and birds of gay plumage flew amid the trees, and monkeys of various sizes leaped from branch to branch. Occasionally they had to make their way with their cutla.s.ses, but it was a somewhat slow business, and fatiguing into the bargain. In many places Nick and Pipes were no more able to get through than they were, and they were also constantly afraid that they might come suddenly upon some natives and betray themselves. At last, coming to a brook, from sheer fatigue they were compelled to halt and eat the remainder of the provisions they had cooked in the morning. After resting they again pushed on, but their progress was not more rapid than at first. Towards evening Tom, in hopes of getting a sight of the ocean, climbed a tree taller than most of its fellows. Having his spy-gla.s.s, he could see to a great distance.
"How far off is it?" inquired Desmond, when Tom came down.
"Shall we get there to-night?" asked Billy.
"Not for a week if we do not make better way than we have done this morning," answered Tom. "I could make out the sea in the distance, and I fancied some huts and plantations between us and the sh.o.r.e. We must try to pa.s.s by them without being discovered by the inhabitants."
The heat had been excessive, and the midshipmen were glad to rest until the following morning. During the night it was utterly impossible to make their way through the wood. As no huts had been seen near, they ventured to light a fire, watching carefully that it should not spread, when, as Billy observed, their provisions would have been very much overdone.
After camping, the first thing they had to do was to look out for food.
The parrots, for some reason or other, were rather shy, but a troop of inquisitive monkeys came near to ascertain what the strangers were about.
Pipes, who accompanied Tom, urged him to shoot.
"Him very good, very good," he said.
Tom had of course heard that the creatures were eaten, although he had never tasted monkey. He accordingly fired, and brought down two who were sitting together grinning at him. The rest on this came chattering and screeching to the boughs close above his head, and began to throw down sticks and nuts, some of the latter of which they had been eating, and to spit at him in the most furious fashion.
"Kill more, kill more!" cried Pipes.
Tom again fired, and two others fell to the ground, when the remainder ran shrieking away through the forest. Pipes, taking possession of the game, marched back to the camp with a well-satisfied air.
"You do not mean to say we are to feed on these creatures?" exclaimed Desmond.
"I can"t shoot anything else, and better eat them than starve," answered Tom.
"Ah! let"s try them," cried Billy. "Anything better than an empty stomach."
By the time the monkeys had been cooked the appet.i.tes of all the party had considerably increased. Although the midshipmen made some wry faces at first, after a few mouthfuls they went on eating monkey as if they had been accustomed to it all their lives. Nick and Pipes advised that they should keep up the fire all night, as otherwise they might find that somebody had been carried off by a huge species of tiger which they said infested the woods and forests of their country. Their advice was followed, and all hands took it by turns to remain on watch. Billy called up his companions twice, declaring that he saw the head of a huge tiger peering from between the bushes, but he did not fire, as he was afraid of missing. Though Desmond grumbled at being roused up, it was proved that Billy was right by the marks the tiger had left on the ground.
They had not got far the next day when their scouts came back and urged them not to proceed. As to reaching the sh.o.r.e without being discovered, they said that it was impossible, as the country was thickly inhabited and open, their only chance being to pa.s.s through it at night. Should they advance much further they would run great risk of being seen.
After searching about Pipes and his companion discovered a good hiding-place, very similar to the one in which they had before concealed themselves. Towards night they could tell, by the soughing of the wind in the trees and the appearance of the sky, that there was a change in the weather.
"I am sure the boats won"t leave us while there is a chance," observed Tom. "I will make my way alone, with the help of Pipes, and see what has become of them. If I do not come back you will know that I am caught, and I would advise you to try and get to the southward, where you may perhaps find the inhabitants more friendly, and be able to get across to Australia."
Desmond begged Tom to let him go instead; but Tom had made up his mind to undertake the excursion, and as soon as it was dark he set off with Pipes, who had agreed to go, although he evidently did not like the work. Tom and his faithful attendant set off. They had a long distance to go, and detours to make. Occasionally they heard dogs bark, and saw lights in the windows of huts; but they kept clear of them, and made good progress. They had one or two narrow escapes; and on one occasion both tumbled into a water-course. They, however, scrambled out again, with only the inconvenience of a wetting, which, considering the warmth of the weather, was of no great consequence, even to Tom; and Pipes had only to rub himself over with his hand, and he was dry again in a few minutes. It was nearly daylight, however, before the beach was reached, when they hunted about and found shelter under some rocks, which would prevent their being seen by the people on sh.o.r.e.
Here they waited until daylight, when Tom eagerly looked out for the ship.
"There she is!" he cried out, as the gloom of night clearing away he saw her standing in towards the land, though at some distance to the northward of where he was. Presently a gun was fired, followed shortly afterwards by another. He was about to set off to try and make his way along the beach, feeling sure that the guns were fired as signals to some of the crew on sh.o.r.e, when he saw through his telescope a boat pull out from behind a point and make her way towards the ship, which at the same time swept round until her head was off sh.o.r.e. He had no means of making a signal. Even should he fire his rifle, it would not be heard.
To shout would be of no avail. He watched the boat until she was alongside, when she was hoisted up and the ship steamed away. It was high time that she should get off the sh.o.r.e, for a heavy gale had sprung up, sending the heavy breakers with fury against the rock-bound coast.
"There is no chance of our getting off if this continues," said Tom to himself; "we are left to our own resources, I see that. The best thing would be to start to the southward, as Pipes recommends."
Tom was eager to return and consult with Desmond, but Pipes earnestly entreated him to remain concealed during the day, and then at night there would be but little difficulty in making their way back to their companions.
It was a melancholy day, as he sat on the sea-sh.o.r.e under the rocks, watching the departing ship. A few sh.e.l.l-fish was the only food he and Pipes could procure. As soon as night came on and the inhabitants had returned to their huts, he and his faithful companion set out. As the storm was howling and making a tremendous noise, there was little danger of being discovered.