Harry Gordon

“ CHAPTER I.—ALL READY FOR THE AMAZON The opening of a door cast an oblong shape of light over the forward deck of a motor boat, against which an April rain drummed fast or slow, as the uncertain wind came in swift gusts or died down to whispers. As the illumination traveled past the splashed deck, bringing out a pier and a warehouse, and a sluggish current pushing and fussing against the piles of a pier farther down, the tousled heads of two boys appeared outlined against the ruddy doorway. In a moment their voices cut through the wind and rain. ”

“ Once Clay caught sight of the soft, appealing eyes of a deer, and now and then the howls of a swamp cat came to their ears above the roaring of the flood. Great water snakes struck their heads above the surface and looked, red-eyed, and hostile, at the boys.
Swamp creatures with soft fur and frightened eyes crouched on fallen trees and scanned the deck as a possible refuge. To make the scene more desolate still, if possible, two round-eyed owls answered each other’s cries from a near-by cypress.
“Say,” Jule whispered to Clay, during a little lull in the rain, “there’s a man by that tree. ”

“ The man who spoke was tall, slender, black of hair and eyes, and with a grace and freedom of movement which told of life in the open air. Clay rather liked his looks, and so consented for him to board the Rambler. Case stood by with a revolver to see that no rush was made as the other vaulted easily over the railing after scrambling lightly up the side of the motor boat. But there was no need of this, for the others sat stolidly at the oars, even backing off as the prow bumped the Rambler’s side. ”

“ CHAPTER IX—A BUSY NIGHT IN QUEBEC
“I don’t understand,” Alex said, peering through the curtain, “why he should want to do anything to us. Perhaps he won’t notice us at all.”
“Don’t you ever think he won’t,” grinned Case. “Didn’t I truss him up like a hen in the cabin and threaten to arrest him, and didn’t he declare that he would shoot me if he ever got a chance? Don’t you believe he’ll let us get out of here without trouble!”
“Oh, well,” Alex replied, “if he starts anything we’ll get out all right in spite of him, and in spite of his wharf rats.” ”

“ During a dark moment he heard the bunt, felt the jar, of a prow against the side of the Rambler. He sat still and listened, his only motion being that of an arm to bring his automatic revolver into position for use.
Presently the light boat tipped a trifle to the east, as if some heavy body or bodies were keeling her over by clinging to the railing which ran around the deck. Whispered words in Spanish followed, and then the soft pad of a naked foot on the planks. ”

“ Jule said, “you and I have been captured by pirates. Captain Joe has gone off to find Alex, and we’re here in the possession of a couple of Desperate Desmonds. We want to get away. Now what would you suggest?”
In the darkness the boy knew that Teddy was sitting up on his hind feet suggesting a boxing match.
“That’s the thing, Teddy,” Jule said, speaking into the bear’s ear, as if in belief that the cub understood every word he said. “That’s just the thing! You suggest a fight, and that’s just what it’s got to be.”
The boy and the bear sat together in the cabin for a long time. ”

“ THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI
CHAPTER I—A RAMBLER RECEPTION DAY
A white bulldog of ferocious aspect lay sound asleep under a small table. Lying across the dog’s neck, with his soft muzzle hidden between capable paws, was a quarter-grown grizzly bear. Now and then Captain Joe, as the dog was named, stirred uneasily in his sleep, as if in remonstrance at the liberties which Teddy, the cub, was taking with his person. The bulldog and the cub snored in unison! ”

“ For two days the boys sat under an awning which had been spread over the hot forward deck and feasted their city-bred eyes on the luxuriance of the tropical forest. It was all new and strange to them. In some places the boughs of the great trees met over their heads, making a green bower of the bayou through which they were passing.
Now and then a native Indian glided past them in a canoe made of some light wood. These natives are dark as negroes, but their hair is long and straight. They are not at all warlike. ”

“ When the Rambler darted away at a speed not less than twenty miles an hour, it all seemed to him like magic.
He stood for a moment on the bank watching the little spurts of flame shooting from the Hawk and then turned into the thicket with a chuckle which shook his broad shoulders.
“Sho’,” he exclaimed, “we mountaineers don’t know much about river folks, after all. I never knew there was anything on the face of the earth that could go as fast as that motor boat went.” ”

“ When I came aboard I thought I recognized the name of the Rambler. This menagerie of yours settles the point. You brought Captain Joe, the dog, from Para, on the Amazon and Teddy, the cub, from British Columbia.”
“You’ve got it,” Alex cried, “but how did you come to know so much about us? We rather expected to get away from our damaged reputations up here,” he added with a wink and a grin.
“You have long been famous in these parts,” the captain answered, “Ever since the Rambler came riding up to the Newfoundland coast on a flat car. It is a wonder that my men did not recognize you.” ”

“ Captain Joe seemed to Alex to be asking the bear why he had presumed to use him for a ferry boat on the previous evening, and the boy laughed heartily at thought of the scene under the flashlight.
He beckoned to the dog, threw a rope around Teddy’s neck and fastened it to the railing, thus making sure that he would not escape, and, followed by the dog, stepped over the plank to the ledge, from which he passed to the bottom of the canyon. The morning was sharp with frost, but the atmosphere was clear as crystal. ”

“ Paul still slept soundly, and the boys decided to wait until he awoke before looking over the town for a surgeon.
The steak and potatoes being done to a turn, the boys fell to with appetites sharpened by the keen air.
“Pie,” declared Alex, “is Nature’s best gift to man! There is green apple pie, dried apple pie, red apple pie, and pie-pie. Pie has all other food on its back with its tongue out!”
“When you get to pie,” Jule cut in, “you’re always due for a eulogy. If I had the appetite for pie that you have, I’d feed it to the bears! ”

“ With the assistance of the rope and the strong arms at the boat end of it, the visitor was soon on deck, sitting flat and leaning against the railing, as if every ounce of strength had been used in the swim from the shore. Clay’s light showed the stranger to be a boy of not more than fourteen years—a ragged, hungry-looking boy! ”

“ Taken all in all, the life the boys lived there on the mighty river, under the equator, was ideal from a boy’s viewpoint.
There were, besides many birds well known at the North, kingfishers, green and blue tree-creepers, purple-headed tanagers, and humming birds. Butterflies were everywhere, of every size and color. And there were the cicadas, at home in every tree, sending out their jarring, reedy notes. The forests were alive with sound, and the lads realized that even the roar of Chicago would sometimes be small beside the constant ring of wild life. ”

“ Just as the boy was about to move out of the thicket, he heard a heavy splash in the river, followed by words of command and entreaty from Case. The splashing continued, and presently the bushes at the edge of the stream were moved by an entering body.
“That’s Captain Joe!” thought Alex. “He’s always ready for a run in the woods. I suppose I ought to send him back.”
But it was not Captain Joe that thrust a wet nose into Alex’s hand. It was Teddy, the bear cub, and his greeting was so friendly and sincere that all thoughts of sending him back to the boat vanished from the boy’s mind. ”

“ The three lads, Clay, Case, and Alex who had visited the wild places of Peru during the Amazon trip, were wild with joy at coming back to the heart of Nature, but Gran, who was evidently taking his first degree in the wonderful order of Mountain, Life, did not take so readily to the dark shadows and the swirling eddies which threatened to tear the Rambler into bits in punishment for her intrusion into the secret places. ”

“ For a long time the boy fished without receiving any intimation that there was a fish left in the river! The boat caught plenty of driftwood, however. At times great masses of trees and timbers would go sailing down, advancing out of the darkness into the circle of light about the Rambler as if brought to life by the presence of mankind. ”

“ There was an indication of rain, though it was in the midst of the dry season, and a strange odor which they could not account for came to the nostrils of the lads.
“A Brazilian forest,” Jule said, as they left the row-boat tied up in a thicket and faced the jungle, “is about the most mysterious place on the round earth. Down here where we are, in the basement, it is always twilight, even at noon of a sunny day. We see only the stems of plants and creepers and the boles of the trees. The beauty, the blossoms, the colors, the magnificence, is all at the top. ”