Part 33 (1/2)
And with the euns the A crash the forty-fives volleyed death and dis cannibals
The rush was checked For a few seconds the Red Bones wavered and milled about Into their un darts from the silent but no less deadly weapons of the Mayorunas As the whites paused to reload, Pedro opened a new blast from Lourenco's rifle, which his comrade had passed to hi madly and alone to save the equipuns, he saved it
Before the wicked belch of the three rifles and the two autoave backunmen and the canoes were virtually invisible in the deep shadows Downstreahtened out the line of boats
At the next lull in the firing Lourenco panted: ”In, couns! Are you still here?” snapped McKay ”I told you--”
”In! Talk later Cohters swiftly obeyed With a powerful heave Lourenco sent the canoe after the others A the packs, all went sliding down a jungle Styx
Aheart fro, poured an avalanche of arrows into the spot where they had been
And as the canoe, last in the escaping line, ed up in the i screech of diabolical fury blended with a swift succession of splashes back where the cannibals were plunging headlong into the stream to reach the dead or wounded men whom they vainly hoped to find on the farther shore
”I told you to take thisorders you risked losing him”
”Oh, pipe down, Rod!” remonstrated Knowlton ”If they had, where'd we be now? This was the last canoe”
”_Si_ It is so,” added Lourenco, his voice hard edged ”As it is, the man and the equipment and you also are here And let me tell you this, Capitao Makkay, whether you like it or not: Pedro and I would see this wild man and a million others like hi co no adequate answer, made none whatever
CHAPTER XXII
THE SIREN OF WAR
Like a fleet htless sailors the line of boats blundered on through the blackness With no guiding light, the canoes bumped the banks and collided with one another in perilous confusion Speed was impossible, yet speed was iht solved the probleested ”This little light isn't , and there are some extra batteries in my haversack when this burns out We can see a little way ahead, and pass back the word to the rest What say?”
”_Na terra dos cegos quem tem u,” said Pedro ”That little white eye in your box may save us all Lourenco, tell those ahead to let us pass”
Without question the preceding dugouts swerved, and the boat of the white men slipped by At the head of the line they found Tucu and his crew strugglingthe whole fleet at the turns Vast relief and instant acceptance of the new leadershi+p followed Lourenco's explanation At once the floating coluan to pick up speed And it ell that it did
Howls of baffled hate cah the tree mass froe sounded, much nearer--back at a place on the creek which the last boat had cleared only a few minutes previously So one of the Red Bone trails to a bend in the strea ripples
Whether the ene party never knew, for none succeeded in overtaking the rear uproar on the creek bank they heard no ained by the aid of the flashlight proved enough to give a co lead, and from that time on the only obstacles to their retreat were those of darkness and winding waters
Hour after hour Knowlton squatted in the extres just ahead and passing the word back to Lourenco, who, in the stern, steered in accordance with his orders and relayed the course to Tucu, just behind Amidshi+ps, Pedro and McKay plied steady paddles and the Raposa lay all but forgotten on the baggage There were no halts If any boat back in the blackness got into difficulties it extricated itself as best it could, unaided by the rest, and fell into a new place in the coluht, but rather a lessening of the density, came about the stream The renewed racket of birds and beasts announced that up overhead the sky had paled into dawn Slowly the nearest tree trunks began to take shape in the void, and presently the shore line became visible to all eyes At the same time Knowlton's tiny laone,” he announced, opening the case and dropping its contents into the creek ”Ho-yo-ho-hum! Gee! I'ents, I o ashore, feed our faces, look at the ladies, and perfor of applying the right thuers”
”Motion carried” McKay's set face relaxed Then, his glance dropping to the Raposa, it tightened again ”Oh, hullo, Rand! How you feeling?”
The unconscious er Moreover, his expression was not that of one just es Though he had e his position, his eyes indicated that he had been awake for some time They dwelt steadily on McKay, then strayed past the captain to Pedro, Lourenco, and the first Mayoruna crew following a few feet behind His face was inscrutable, and he spoke no word
”You're with friends Understand? Friends You're going home These Indians are friends, too Get that? _Friends!_”