Part 29 (1/2)
”See here, Tomkins,” he called out. ”You come along with the main party.
I'll go ahead with Sam, and one of your men can take your place. Then, in case there's need to change our plans, I shall be right at the head and able to stop the party.”
They pushed on after that at a steady pace, covering ground which for the most part was only thinly studded with bush, and stretched out flat and level before them; but some five miles ahead a range of hills and broken ground cropped up before them, hiding the country beyond.
”Perhaps we shall be able to catch a sight of those rascals from the top,” thought Jim, as he rode along in a brown study. ”In any case there's much to be thankful for. That rainstorm has softened the ground and made it easy to follow; a little more this afternoon, or when the night falls, would give us a fine line for to-morrow.”
Some two hours later they emerged at the top of the hilly ground, still on the tracks of the fugitives, and at a sign from Sam dropped from their horses.
”Stop here,” he said at once, raising a warning hand. ”Not show up above de skyline, else p'raps dem sc.u.m see us. Yo wait little while for me to squint all round; but not t'ink I be able to see um. De bush down dere very dense.”
It was precisely as he had said, for as Jim laid himself flat in a tangled ma.s.s of brier on the summit of the ridge, and wormed his way forward till he was able to obtain a clear view beyond, he saw that the country down below was green with jungle. A vast sea of waving treetops lay below him, broken only here and there where rocky ground effectively opposed the irresistible march of creepers and verdure. The sight was, in fact, most beautiful, for the leaves s.h.i.+mmered and displayed a thousand different shades of green beneath the sun's rays, while, far off to the left, there came the gleam and scintillation of light falling on water.
”De lagoon,” declared Sam without hesitation, tossing a finger to the front. ”Not able to see de entrance, ob course, 'cos it too far away, and trees hide um; and not able to see where de riber lie for de same reason. But dat de lagoon. Sam stake him hat on it.”
”And those men we are after?” asked Jim, his eyes searching every foot of the huge green vista.
”Dey down dar somewhere. Not see um wid all dose trees; but dere fo'
sure. To-morrow we come up with them.”
Our hero lay for a while gazing all round and thinking deeply. The sight of the lagoon s.h.i.+mmering and flas.h.i.+ng beneath the sun had reminded him of those natives with whom the two rascals they had formerly followed had struck up an acquaintance. Jim remembered that it was more than a simple acquaintance, for it had since been proved that Jaime de Oteros and his gang of evildoers had for long carried on an illicit trade in guns and spirit with the tribe in that neighbourhood. Obviously they were making in that direction to join hands with them, and, once there, how was Sadie to be recovered?
”It will be harder than I imagined,” he told himself despondently. ”Once these men reach the natives with their prisoner, nothing but a battle royal and the defeat of the tribe can save her. If only I were near enough to come upon them before they could reach their friends.”
Again he lay silent and thinking, till Sam looked at his young master wondering. ”Not good lie here and stare,” he said. ”Dat not de way to save de missie. S'pose we make right way down de hill and get into the jungle. Dey down dere, I say. To-morrow dey come up wid the black men we fight wid way ober by de lagoon.”
”And once there Sadie is almost lost to us,” cried Jim, a tone of bitterness in his voice. ”See here, Sam, I'm going to make a big effort.
Tell me, can those fellows travel once the night falls? Can they push on towards those natives?”
”Dat not easy,” came the answer. ”Sam not tink dey try to do so. For why? I tell yo. What fo' need hurry when dey tink no one follow? Back away near de ca.n.a.l dey ride fast, 'cos p'rhaps someone discober where dey gone, and follow quick; but dey seen no one to-day. Dat I sure ob, 'cos dere tracks have never stopped fo' once; so dey t'ink dey got heaps ob time and all de jungle to demselves. Why den hurry, and bash de head against a tree in de darkness? Dat not good enough fo' anyone; dat all tommy nonsense.”
”Then I shall do it.”
Jim stretched his head farther from between the brambles and stared down into the jungle beneath, as if he were trying to penetrate it to the tree roots. As for Sam, the little fellow started, and looked queerly at his master, as if he half thought that anxiety and excitement had unhinged his mind; but Jim returned his gaze coolly, and once more repeated the statement.
”Then I shall do it,” he said. ”Listen here, Sam, and tell me what you think of the idea. You admit that these men will camp for to-night, satisfied that they are not followed, and that they can easily reach their native friends to-morrow. Once there, you can see that Sadie will be surrounded, and that rescue will be almost impossible. Well now, I'm going to push along through that jungle as quickly as horses can take me, and as quickly as the undergrowth will allow. This evening, the instant night falls, I shall go on on foot, taking the lantern. There's not much danger of the light being seen with all those trees about, and there is a good chance of being able to come up with the fugitives. If I do, I'll s.n.a.t.c.h my sister away, and return towards our party, who will mount and ride at the first dawn.”
The little negro gasped as he heard the plan outlined. It was not that the danger of such an attempt staggered him; it was the shrewdness of the suggestion. He pinched himself as punishment for not having produced it himself, and turned upon his master with a flash in his eye which showed his pleasure.
”By lummy, dat fine!” he cried. ”Dat de only way to do um. S'pose dem sc.u.m camp as I say--I sh.o.r.e dey do it. But s'pose dey don't, and ride right on, den no harm done; but if dey camp, den yo have de one chance of savin' missie. Ob course I hab to go with yo; yo not able to follow de trail widout Sam. And Tom extry strong, and able to creep along right well, in spite of his size; besides, he able to carry missie once we have managed to rescue her. Den Ching know de ways ob de jungle; he mighty fine fighter. Him----”
Jim stopped the garrulous little fellow with a movement of his hand.
Suddenly his finger shot out from the brambles, and he pointed towards the huge sea of waving palms and forest trees, all thickly clad in green. But it was not the jungle to which he drew Sam's attention; it was a wide patch of yellowish-white that cropped up amidst the green some miles away, direct in the line of the lagoon.
”Watch that spot,” he ordered curtly. ”I saw something moving, but the distance is too great for me. What do you see?”
Eagerly he awaited the answer, but it was more than a minute before the negro ventured to open his mouth. He plucked Jim by the sleeve and drew him backward, sliding through the briers himself as if he were a snake.
”Dat extry lucky,” he suddenly whispered, when they had withdrawn from the skyline, and as if he were afraid someone beyond would overhear him.