Читать книгу When Super-Apes Plot - Wilder Anthony - Страница 4

Table of Contents

AS soon as breakfast was finished and he and Batu had strapped cartridge belts and revolvers around their waists, Hardin started the engines and maneuvered the bird-boat close in to the beach so that he and the Dyak could jump ashore. Then, standing on the sand, he watched Irene return to their former anchorage.

When she had done so and killed the engines, he waved his hand in good-by and followed Batu up a deep, rock-walled gully which, they knew, would take them through the fringe of jungle to the open plateau which lay between the shore and the foot of the mountain.

In the beginning they proceeded slowly, for they were in no particular hurry; the path was steep and treacherous, and there was much to see. Ten yards from the beach they were as completely surrounded by bushes and lianas as if the lake had been miles away. The walls of the gorge were matted with creeping vines which interlaced overhead, so that the two men walked in a kind of tunnel that was carpeted with ferns and moss--covered stones.

Batu was pleased to the point of elation at this chance to revisit old scenes and renew old acquaintances. His ordinarily somber features were continually wreathed in smiles as they clambered along over the many obstructions which blocked the path.

"Look, tuan," he kept saying, "look, tuan, there is the place near that great rock where my people camped once. I remember this place well, tuan; I came here many years ago with my father, the headman, when we were on our way to visit the Fire Mountain. Great Ji-meeny!" The last exclamation was called forth by the sight of a great brown snake in the rocks ahead of them, and he bounded off to investigate.

Hardin smiled good-naturedly. Naturally very strong, he had kept his body hard as nails by sports and exercise so that he was not wearied by the steep climb as many men of sedentary occupations would have been. He was interested, however, in the many new and strange sights which were constantly appearing, and his thoughts were too engrossing to permit him to hurry.

He was wondering, too, just where they would first meet some member of the Bamangani tribe and what sort of a reception they would receive when they did so. The thought of danger never entered his head, but he knew that the ape-men would be surprised and at first suspicious, and he had, therefore, taken such precautions as he thought best to insure his wife's safety until after the first flurry of explaining their presence on the island was over.

In the meantime he relied upon Batu's knowledge of the Bamangani tongue and his own common sense to smooth over the rough spots. As a last resort, of course, the two men had their rifles and revolvers to fall back upon.

At last they reached the level of the plateau and paused to look around them. It was a strange and eerie sight which met their gaze. Directly ahead, five miles or so away, were the two peaks of the volcano, with the sluggish smoke spiral between them. To the rear was the jungle and the lake beyond; to the right and left, as well as straight ahead, the sun-baked plateau stretched for miles. Beyond this again were trees and still more trees; trees in an almost solid mass which near the spot where they stood extended into the plateau in a V-shaped point that almost touched the rim of the gorge.

This plateau was a freak of nature by itself. It was sprinkled with chunks of basalt and rocks of many colors which had been deposited there by the volcano during eruptions long since ended. It was cut up and crossed by innumerable gorges and arroyos similar to that up which they had come, and in many places there were queer stinking pools of mud and water, which rumbled and spouted at intervals like miniature geysers.

The air was permeated with a strong odor of sulphur, and the varied colors of the rocks and the soil beneath them denoted the presence of vast quantities of minerals of many kinds. Although the two men could see for several miles in nearly all directions except the rear, they saw nothing that moved except smoke and the spouting mudholes.

While Hardin sat down on a convenient rock to fill and light his pipe, Batu moved on for a bit. All at once, the banker saw the Dyak stoop and look closely at the ground, then turn and beckon to him. Putting his pouch back into his pocket, he got up and joined his companion.

"Look, tuan!" the Dyak burst out. "Many people pass here not long ago--Bamangani, I think. Look!" He pointed to a soft spot in the soil where the tracks of many bare feet were discernible.

Interested at once, Hardin bent over them. "They're headed toward the jungle," he said after a moment. "Hunting party, I suppose. How many do you think there were, Batu?"

"Fifty maybe," Batu replied. "They were not hunting, tuan. There were too many for that. These tracks are very fresh; they must have been made early this morning."

"Well, what of it?" Hardin asked, when his face suddenly went pale. "Good heavens!" he gasped, reading the thought in the other's eyes. "You think that--"

"I was thinking that it might be possible, tuan," Batu admitted quietly. "They are not headed directly that way, but they could turn after they reached the trees, and it is their nature to approach anything new and strange very cautiously. Still, there is nothing to be alarmed about. They would hardly dare to attack the Condor in broad daylight. Mrs. Hardin and Doctor Dumont have guns, and the Bamangani would be afraid to--"

He stopped talking abruptly, and both men turned their faces in the direction of the lake; then looked back at each other horror-stricken. Faint, but perfectly distinct in the still air, sounded the reports of two gunshots fired in quick succession. It was the signal agreed upon between Hardin and his wife--there could be no doubt of it. For an instant the banker stared at his companion, then he turned and began to run back down the gorge as fast as his legs could carry him.