Part 15 (1/2)
At the same time the serpents, not far above his face, kept continually coiling their long viscous bodies round the branches, and rapidly uncoiling them again--equally uneasy at the presence of the man and the tigers.
Mechanically closing the folds of the hammock over him, and thus holding them with both hands, the student lay perfectly still. He feared either to speak or make a motion, lest his voice or movement might tempt either the reptiles or quadrupeds to make an attack upon him.
In this way more than an hour had pa.s.sed, when over the surface of the waters, which now flowed in a more tranquil current, Don Cornelio fancied he heard a singular sound. It resembled the notes of a bugle, but at times the intonation was hoa.r.s.er and more grave, not unlike a certain utterance of his two formidable neighbours, which from time to time the student heard swelling from the tops of the tamarinds.
It was neither more nor less than the conch of Costal; who, making his way towards the spot in his canoe, was employing the time to advantage in endeavouring to invoke the G.o.ddess of the waters.
Presently the student was able to make out in the distance the little canoe gliding over the water, with the two adventurers seated in the stem and stern. At intervals, the Indian, accustomed to this sort of navigation, was seen to drop his oars and hold the sh.e.l.l to his mouth.
Lantejas then saw that it was from this instrument the sounds that had so puzzled him were proceeding.
Absorbed in their odd occupation, neither Costal nor Clara had as yet perceived the student of theology--hidden as he was by the thick network of the hammock, and almost afraid to make the slightest movement. Just then, however, a m.u.f.fled voice, as of some one speaking from under a mask, reached their ears.
”Did you hear anything, Costal?” inquired the negro.
”Yes, I heard a sort of cry,” replied Costal; ”like enough it's the poor devil of a student who is calling us. _Carrambo_! where can he be? I see only a hammock hung between two trees. Eh! as I live, he is inside it. _Carrai_!”
As Costal finished speaking, a loud peal of laughter burst from his lips, which to him in the hammock appeared like heavenly music. It told him that the two men had discovered his situation; and the student at once fervently returned thanks to G.o.d for this interposition of His mercy.
Clara was sharing the mirth of the Indian, when music of a very different sort stifled the laugh upon his lips. It was the cry of the jaguars, that, suddenly excited by the voice of the student, had all four of them sent forth a simultaneous scream.
”_Carrambo_!” exclaimed Clara, with a fresh terror depicted upon his face; ”the tigers again.”
”Rather strange!” said the Indian. ”Certainly their howls appeared to come from the same place as the voice of the man. Hola! Senor student,” he continued, raising his voice, so as to be heard by him in the hammock, ”are you making your siesta alone, or have you company under the shade of those tamarinds?”
Don Cornelio attempted to reply, but his speech was unintelligible both to the Indian and the negro. In fact, terror had so paralysed his tongue, as to render him incapable of p.r.o.nouncing his words distinctly!
For a moment his arm was seen elevated above the folds of the hammock, as if to point out his terrible neighbours upon the tree. But the thick foliage still concealing the jaguars from the eye of Costal, rendered the gesture of the student as unintelligible as his cry.
”For the love of G.o.d, hold your oar!” cried Clara; ”perhaps the tigers have taken refuge on the top of the tamarinds!”
”All the more reason why we should get up to them,” replied the Indian.
”Would you leave this young man to smother in his hammock till the waters had subsided?”
In saying this, Costal plied his oars more vigorously than ever; and, in spite of the remonstrances of his companion, headed the canoe in a direct line towards the hammock.
”If these be the same tigers we encountered yesterday,” said Clara, in an anxious tone of voice, ”and I am almost sure they are, by the mewing of their whelps, think for a moment, Costal, how desperately spiteful they will be against us.”
”And do you think I am not equally spiteful against them?” replied Costal, urging his canoe onwards with more rapidity than ever.
A few strokes of the paddle brought the light craft within gunshot distance of the tamarinds; and now for the first time did Costal obtain a good view of the theological student couched within the hammock--where he appeared to be indolently reposing, like some Oriental satrap, under a dais of tigers and serpents!
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
THE STUDENT RESCUED.
The odd spectacle once more overcame the gravity of the Indian; and, resting upon his oars, he delivered himself up to a renewed spell of laughter.
Through the network of the hammock the student could now note the movements of those who were coming to his rescue. He saw the Indian turn towards his companion, pointing at the same time to the singular tableau among the tops of the trees, which the negro appeared to contemplate with a countenance that betrayed an anxiety equal to his own.