Part 40 (1/2)
Venning reached for his glasses, and far back over the shi+ning lake he saw little black specks e, as it were, out of the forest
”Canoes,” he said; ”a great many”
If they did not find the outlet soon they would be sighted Muata and his nalled to the crew to enter the reeds This done, and the boat screened, he slipped into the water and disappeared shorewards For so which the flotilla of canoes came into view like a flock of ducks, still so far off that the boys could not hear the sound of paddles Presently Muata splashed back, and, towing the boat, made across a barrier of reeds that had been banked up, for the ht Mr Hu to the water, ed to hoist the boat over the barrier This done, they cliain, and were soon in the reat trees
”That is well done,” said Muata ”Noe can sleep, great one; for the other river runs far from this, so that Hassan's men will not hear us”
They were soon asleep Even the chief's wife stretched herself out with the jackal at her feet, and the two boys were left in sole charge They had been toughened by the rough-and-tu silence and dark avenues of the forest; but they entered into a scene that tried their nerves The trees closed in as they advanced, and very soon they entered a leafy tunnel, lit up by a faint light that barely showed up the slimy banks, covered by a network of snake-like roots
The little waves churned up by the screw splashed softly upon the roots,the only sound that disturbed the sombre silence of the place So loas the leafy roof at places that branches rustled on the awning
”Fix up the big lantern in the bows, oldup-streah to steer by Better sit up there with the bill-hook while I work the levers”
Venning went forward, and soon a shaft of light pierced the gloom
For a n of life was there the whole way When they eht, the boys wiped their faces, which were clammy with moisture
”A few more experiences like that, dick, and we cross the river for good”
”Eh?”
”Why, iven me the shi+vers”
”Quinine,” said Compton; and they dosed one another there and then
”I say, I'd give the whole five hundred ”
”Bother!”
”Of all the squir masses of misery, I think this is the worst”
”It is, dick; it is There's not a butterfly even”
”Thunder! It's raining fire! No; it's an ant S It's raining ants, by gum!”
”You ass, you've hooked the bill into a nest There--that round, black thing--like a football They're running up the bill-hook”
There was a splash as the boat was shoved off, then muttered exclamations and a yelp from the jackal: Many scores of ants had invaded the Okapi, and each ant, full of e for the wanton attack upon the nest, seized hold of the first soft thing it ca War aged on the invaders, and when the last had been discovered and crushed, there was no sleep in the savage eyes of the awakened
Incidents like these alone varied the h, and if it had not been for the regular exercise at the levers, and the hope of a speedy release fro explorers must have succuuid, and heavy-eyed; and Mr Hu sickness with anxiety, did not spare himself or Muata when it came to their turn to work the levers
CHAPTER XVII
THE PLACE OF REST