Part 34 (1/2)
Desmond and Billy had becoh Billy uttered a deep groan when he heard that the shi+p had sailed away, and that he would have soh the country None of them indeed knehat they were about to undertake, and, with the exception of Billy, looked upon the journey as a pleasant excursion
As To the previous day, he was ready to set off early in the
Guided by Tom's pocket compass, they steered ard of south, which was the direction Nick and Pipes wished them to take
The two Papuans explained that they would have to go out of their way to reach the river, and advised the
During the day they travelled on without stopping, anxious to get away from the sea-board It was evidently thefrom what they had seen, there were few or no inhabitants in the interior In the afternoon, as they werein front, caet under the cover of some bushes, which he pointed out close at hand
Scarcely had they crouched dohen they heard the voices of a party of natives who passed close by without discovering them Further on they ca on it By turning aside in time, they escaped observation They were, however, afraid of lighting a fire that night, lest it ht betray their whereabouts to the natives They had, fortunately, preserved soh for supper, with the help of soed all hands, eachno fire there would be a great risk of being attacked by wild beasts All promised to obey his injunctions
Tom intended to take the first watch, Casey the next, Desood sleep, would keep awake--the fourth The three first had carefully kept their watches,coe beast could approach unperceived Des alooht look-out ”If you don't, depend upon it you or soers,”
he said, withti the time I have been on the watch”
Billy promised to remain broad awake and to keep his weather eye open
”Mind you do!” said Desmond, as he lay down
The whole camp akened by a fearful shriek and a loud cry froht of the day, which had just broken, a huge ani off Peter, the black, in its jahile Billy lay sprawling on the ground where he had fallen, his foot having caught in a supple jack, as he waschase after the depredator The whole party followed, but the tiger, if tiger it was, quickly bounded out of sight Toard for honest Peter, and were grieved to think that they had lost hiht of Peter in the monster's jaws
But the black was not inactive, for having been seized by the left shoulder, with his right hand, which was free, he was punching the tiger furiously in the eyes To, lest he should hit Peter; at the same time it see torn to pieces Suddenly, however, the tiger gave a spring forward, when the er in the creature's er bounded away On getting up, as their surprise to find Peter rising to his feet, and, although his left shoulder was very much torn and he looked somewhat confused, he ell able to accompany them back to the camp He knew no more about the matter than they did Suddenly he had felt hi animal, and as he said, ”naturally et free”
Billy looked very e that he er co
”It shows that we must keep very wide awake, or none of us will reach the end of our journey,” said Toet away from this the better; for the sound of our shots hbourhood”
Casey, who had been accustomed to see all sorts of wounds, assisted to bind up the hurt of poor Peter, who declared that he was perfectly ready to continue thea fire and had no food, they pushed on during the cool hours of theto take a substantial meal as soon as it was too hot to proceed They had no little difficulty, however, inplants, which, hanging from tree to tree, interlaced each other in a perfect network They often, therefore, had to hunt about until they could discover a h which they could advance
They calculated that they had pushed forward about ten miles, when they reached a strea nureat beauty and of varied and brilliant colours Many of theious size, some white and yellow, spotted with red, others of a pale violet There were scarlet flowers, blue, and sulphur-coloured flowers, and others of similar tints, striped and spotted in the ry travellers were the numberless water-fohich flew up and down the stream, and Tofishers, storks, and ducks, amply sufficient to supply all hands with food
The two natives had, in thefor honey and nuts, of which they brought in a supply The latter grew on soreat distance The natives had picked the been bitten off by the parrots The outer shell was black and hard, about the size and shape of a le, hite and hard, rese chestnuts when roasted
”Hurrah!” cried Billy ”We shall run no risk of starving, at all events These nuts will serve us for bread, and with the honey will stay our appetites”
The fire was quickly blazing up, and the birds, plucked and spitted, placed before it A sharp look-out was kept on every side for natives, snakes, tigers, or any other wild beasts which ed his friends to keep together as much as possible, and always to have their arain pushed on, and encae river, no doubt the one up which they had co the fire, the two Papuans were looking out for honey, and To some birds for supper, Billy went down to the water to fill a large gourd which Pipes had procured for the snout appeared above the surface, the possessor of which--a huge crocodile-- ourd, scampered off
Fortunately for hiourd, which it crushed in its huge jaws, and thus Billy was able to increase his distance
Pat Casey and Peter, on hearing his cries, started up with their rifles, and as they ran forward uttered loud shouts to distract the attention of the crocodile Still, so determined was the monster to seize poor Billy, that it did not seem to heed them
”Jump on one side, sir, jump on one side!” cried Casey to Billy, who followed the advice, and the sea his rifle, poured the contents down the crocodile's throat It iles lay dead
Tom and Desmond considered it advisable on their return to move further away from the river Fortunately they did so, for while they were sitting round the fire cooking their game, a dozen crocodiles crept out of the water and ca to their feet, shouted and shrieked, but not until Tom and Desmond had fired down the throats of a couple of the saurians did the rest turn tail, when, plunging into the water, they disappeared beneath the surface