"Help! An alligator has got Neal!"

CHAPTER XX.

A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.

There was no necessity for the outcry. The splashing of the water told c.u.mmings what had happened even before Jake had time to shout, and he started forward at full speed, carrying with him the materials for torches.

When Jake and Teddy were in a condition to understand anything, for the sudden attack had bewildered them to a certain extent, Neal was lying face downward upon the sand, and being slowly dragged backward.

The alligator had evidently snapped at his leg, and, missing his aim, had caught the boy's trousers rather than the flesh. Instead of releasing his hold for a better grip, he was trying to drag Neal into deeper water, and once there the struggle would have been quickly ended.

Neal had dug his hands into the sand, straining every muscle to prevent being pulled into the stream; but despite all efforts the monster was rapidly getting the best of him.

c.u.mmings lost no time after arriving on the scene of action. The boys'

cries had guided him to the exact spot, and he waited only long enough to kindle a blaze before joining in the fight.

"Teddy, go back to the entrance, get one of the guns, and be sure that no one comes through, for we are likely to make so much noise here that if any of the enemy are in the vicinity we shall be discovered. Jake, you are to hold the torch, and take good care that it burns brightly."

c.u.mmings was armed with nothing but his hunting knife and by this time the alligator had dragged fully half of Neal's body into the water.

There seemed to be but little hope that the boy could be rescued before serious injury had been inflicted.

Pulling off his coat and belt c.u.mmings leaped boldly on the back of the saurian monster, burying the blade of his knife in the alligator's eye at the same time, and then ensued a most terrific struggle.

Instead of releasing his hold on Neal the reptile held firm, and put forth every effort to sink in the deeper water to dislodge the more formidable antagonist who was striking beneath the surface with his weapon in the hope of hitting some vulnerable spot.

Jake stood on the bank holding the torch high above his head to prevent it from being extinguished by the showers which were sent up by the lashing of the monster's tail, and powerless to aid in the fight for life.

Slowly but surely Neal was being pulled from the sh.o.r.e. With only the sand to clutch he could r.e.t.a.r.d, not check the saurian's movements, and work as he might, it seemed impossible for c.u.mmings to strike a fatal blow.

"Drop your torch and seize the boy by the arms," the latter shouted as he saw that the battle was going against him. "At this rate I shall soon be where it will be out of the question to prolong the struggle."

Jake did as he was commanded, and in the darkness the remainder of the terrible fight was waged.

The engineer pulled until to Neal it seemed as if his arms would be torn from their sockets, and the alligator retained his hold as he struggled to throw off c.u.mmings.

The noise of the combat sounded almost deafening to Teddy, who was doing his best to listen for any unusual disturbance among the foliage outside, and he felt confident that if the enemy was anywhere in the vicinity the secret of their hiding place would soon be discovered.

The struggle lasted only five minutes; but Neal would have said an hour had pa.s.sed since he was first seized, and then c.u.mmings won the victory by slipping from the alligator's back regardless of the rapidly moving tail, and stabbing him under the fore leg.

Even then it appeared as if the victory was to be purchased at a great cost, for, in order to avoid being killed by the monster's dying struggles, c.u.mmings was forced to release his hold, and the current carried him rapidly toward the channel formed by the waters through the rock.

"Light the torch!" he shouted, putting forth all his strength in order to breast the tide. "I'm in the middle of the stream, and likely to be carried through the wall."

Jake had pulled Neal high up out of the water the instant the alligator's hold was released, and at this appeal he dropped him suddenly, groping around for the bundle of wood so hurriedly cast aside.

It was several seconds before he could find it, and then much valuable time was lost in trying to ignite the fuel made damp by the spray which had been thrown up. It seemed to him that never had he been so clumsy, and the anxiety to move quickly only served to r.e.t.a.r.d his efforts.

Finally, after what to Teddy appeared to be a very long while, the fat wood was ignited, and then it could be seen that c.u.mmings was in a most dangerous position. He was not more than six feet from the aperture through which the water raced with redoubled force because the opening was several inches lower than the surface, and swam as if nearly exhausted.

Jake was the only one who could render any a.s.sistance just at this moment, and he proved to be equal to the occasion.

Seizing one of the guns he waded into the water to his waist, and succeeded in extending the weapon sufficiently for c.u.mmings to grasp the end of the barrel.

"Hold on for grim death; I've got to drop the torch!" he shouted, suiting the action to the words, and Teddy could see no more because the light was suddenly extinguished.

Now the sentinel forgot that the enemy might creep upon them and running forward he cried:

"Don't give in, Jake; I'll help you."

Before he could reach the stream the work was accomplished. Jake pulled c.u.mmings on the bank by the side of Neal, and proceeded to relight the torch, a difficult matter since the matches in his pocket had been spoiled by the action of the water.

In this last work Teddy was able to render some a.s.sistance, and the flame had but just sprung up from the wood when c.u.mmings said hurriedly:

"Extinguish that light. If we haven't advertised our whereabouts to the Indians already there is no reason for taking foolish risks. We'll attend to matters here, Teddy, and you get back to the entrance."

This command was obeyed at once, and the sentinel heard only a faint sound from the direction of the stream until his companions rejoined him, none the worse for the battle except in the respect of being decidedly wet.

"Have you heard anything suspicious?" c.u.mmings asked anxiously.

"Not the slightest noise. If there had been any Indians in the vicinity they would surely have made an attempt to enter when all hands was raising such an uproar."

c.u.mmings crept through the short tunnel and investigated in the immediate vicinity of the opening before he could believe they had been so fortunate, and when he returned Jake said:

"I thought you wouldn't find anything. If those imps had had the slightest inkling of where we are it wouldn't have been necessary to wait so long as this before the fact was made known."

"It was better to be sure. Poyor was so careful to caution us about a noise that I was afraid he knew some of them were lurking near by. It is all right, however, and we can congratulate ourselves on a fortunate escape from more than one danger."

The weather was so warm that no one felt any serious effects from the involuntary bath. A portion of the wet clothing was taken off and hung on the guns set in the sand as stakes, to dry, and since their fears regarding the proximity of the Indians had been partially set at rest by c.u.mmings' survey, there was a general disposition to talk of something foreign to the struggle through which they had just pa.s.sed.

"You have said very much about the poisoned arrows which the Chan Santa Cruz Indians use," Neal began, "and I would like to know how they manage to render them so deadly."

"It is by no means a difficult matter, and as Poyor's people use very nearly the same method of increasing the death-dealing power of their weapons, I can describe the process exactly," c.u.mmings replied, speaking in a whisper, regardless of the Indian's remark that "he who talks cannot listen." "You have heard me say many times that the nahuyaca is the most venomous of serpents, and instead of being content with a single bite, as is the case with snakes in general, he strikes many times with almost incredible rapidity. When the Indians wish to prepare the poison for their arrows or spears they first get the liver of a tapir, or some other animal as large, and then hunt for the species of serpent I have spoken of. Once found he is pinned to the ground with a forked stick in such a manner that he can use his head freely; but yet be unable to escape, and the liver, fastened to a long pole, is held where he can strike at it.

"When the snake refuses longer to bite he is killed, and the liver placed where it will decompose without any of the moisture being lost.

You can imagine what a mixture it is when thus prepared, and in it the weapons are dipped.

"It is said that the venom retains its deadly properties for many weeks, and, in fact, I know of a native who came very near losing his life by being scratched with an old arrow that must have been poisoned nearly a year previous."

"I should think they might make a mistake when shooting game, and use a doctored arrow rather than one of the ordinary kind," Teddy said.

"That could only result from sheer carelessness. The point of a poisoned weapon is covered with a reddish brown substance which cannot be mistaken, and, for greater security, the feathers used for the tip are invariably green. A Central American Indian never takes a green shafted arrow, nor a spear on which is painted a band of the same color, when he goes out to procure food."

"Then if we happen to meet these fellows who are hunting for us, we are likely to come out second best even though they have only bows with which to shoot," Jake suggested grimly, and, evading a direct answer, c.u.mmings replied: