Part 9 (1/2)
”Get in here,” suddenly shouted Mr Pepson. ”The very place! It may shelter us.”
He sprang to his feet, and forcing his way through some feet of the tangle, came to a tree of somewhat smaller dimensions as to height, but of enormous girth.
Like all the cotton trees in the forest at that point, the roots of this leviathan barely did more than penetrate the surface of the ground, for it was there that all the moisture lay. Below was a hard stratum which offered opposition, and as a result the roots had spread themselves out over a wide area, while they had risen into the air till there was an archway of large dimensions beneath the tree. d.i.c.k had seen the same before, and it had attracted his attention. At Mr Pepson's shout he tore after him, and presently all four were stretched under the arch.
Nor were they a minute too soon, for if there had been a roar before, the noise now was deafening and positively awe-inspiring. The gusts which had up to this caught the tops of the trees seemed now to be concentrated into one enormous blast. The very forest s.h.i.+vered and trembled. The treetops bent and the trunks groaned. Then the storm burst. A sheet of lightning lit up the sky and even penetrated to the forest depths. The roar became even greater, till the volume of sound was positively deafening. And how the trees bent! The one beneath which the party lay trembled and swayed. As d.i.c.k's hand rested on one of the giant roots he could feel it moving under the strain, and wondered whether the huge ma.s.s would topple.
Cras.h.!.+ There was a sharp sound as if a cannon of small calibre had been fired, and a mighty tree a few yards away, fractured some feet from its base, came with a thud to the ground. Meinheer hid his face in his hands and groaned, while Johnnie rolled on the ground in terror.
”That was what I feared,” shouted Mr Pepson, now quite calm. ”There will be many more before the storm is ended. But I fancy we are safe.
They will not always fall so close to us.”
d.i.c.k looked out into the jungle, his face calm and grave, though in his heart he felt terribly afraid. For this was something against which one could not battle. The storm would have its way whatever man might do, and to stand there utterly helpless, was trying. All round him he could hear the crash of trees. One fell even closer than the first, and caused him to step backward in alarm, for the mighty trunk was dropping directly towards him, sheering through everything that stood in its way.
It lopped the tops from half a dozen cotton trees, and brought two more cras.h.i.+ng through the forest with it. Then, as d.i.c.k thought that he and his companions must be destroyed, its branches became entangled in those of the tree which sheltered them. Again he felt the vast ma.s.s sway.
The trunk actually gave out a loud report as if it had cracked. But it was a veteran, and, thanks to its huge girth, was of unusual strength.
It stood its ground, and when d.i.c.k looked again there was the falling tree held up in midair, with its two victims with it. It was a marvellous escape.
”That is the worst, I should say,” said Mr Pepson, coolly. ”It was a narrow shave, I admit, but then I was expecting trouble. We are lucky, I can tell you, and you will realise the fact as we push on again. Ah!
here comes the rain. I fancy we may congratulate ourselves.”
They had indeed every cause to be thankful, for their escape had been a narrow one. An hour later, when they emerged from the friendly shelter of the tree and struck out on the path once more, all realised this more fully. For hundreds of giants had fallen. Their trunks lay in every direction, many fantastically supported in mid-air, pillowed on the branches of their fellows.
”That is what one sees all along the coast,” said Mr Pepson, turning his head, ”and I am told that some of the caravan routes which pa.s.s through this forest toward the interior are often almost completely blocked by fallen trees. It is the weedy youngsters that tumble. They run up swiftly, as straight as a rod, till they overtop the veterans.
Then comes a gale, and owing to the nature of the ground and the little hold which their roots give them, they topple over. We've had a lesson, d.i.c.k. Keep out of forests in future when the wind blows.”
A little later the party emerged into the open, and were delighted to find that there was a very wide clearing, the forest standing back on all sides for more than a mile. And in this s.p.a.ce the ground rose steeply, till its crest blotted out the view beyond.
”Rock,” said Meinheer Van Somering, with a chuckle of delight. ”Dad was ze report, I zink. We were told dad ze mine was well placed. I agree, Meinheer, for in zis coundry where zere is rock zere is gold.”
At this moment a shout rang out in the silence, and a figure appeared on the crest of the rock.
”Our Dutch agent,” said Mr Pepson. ”He is coming down to us, and soon we shall be at the stockade.”
Indeed, within a quarter of an hour the agent had joined them, making his way down the steep rocky hill by a path which was invisible from where they stood.
”Mein word!” exclaimed the Dutchman, as he stared at his agent and watched his agility as he leaped down the steep path. ”If zat is ze only way do ze stockade, we shall be dead. Yes, I tell you, we shall die, for who could climb such a blace? Id is too steeb.”
”And happens to be the nearest way,” replied Mr Pepson, rea.s.suringly.
”Never fear, Meinheer, there will be an easier way down.”
That the agent was glad to see some white men could not be doubted, for he rushed toward them with a shout, and commenced to greet Meinheer Van Somering volubly. Then he was introduced to the others, and shook hands with an eagerness which showed that for many a week he had had no one there with whom to practise the art.
”Glad to see you, gentlemen,” he cried, in excellent English. ”That am I, for it is dull here. When you get to the top I shall show you why.
You will see to the right and left trees in one dense ma.s.s. To the north and south there is the same. Nothing but trees, and the blue sky overhead. It becomes tiring. But now you are here and I shall have company. Come this way. We can go by the path which I have just followed, or we can skirt round the hill.”
They elected to go by the latter path, for the steep ascent would have been too much for Meinheer. After an hour's walk they found themselves on the far side of the rocky highland, and there before them lay the stockade, high up on the side of the hill, and within an easy rifle-shot of the forest.
”Trust a man who has been in these forests before to choose the right spot,” said the agent, as he pointed it out. ”This is the windward side, and the stockade even under a hot sun is delightfully cool. There is little fever here, and one can cope with it. Mr d.i.c.k, you need have no fears for your health. The loneliness is the only thing which will trouble you.”