Roy Rockwood

“ Bomba knew the stealth of the cruel beast, as subtle as it was ferocious. Its tawny hide was little discernible from the grasses and shrubs of the jungle.
Perhaps at this very moment its greenish-yellow eyes were fastened upon him from the shelter of some thicket. Possibly it was crouching on a branch of one of the overhanging trees, its body flattened so close to the bough that it seemed a part of the tree itself.
But it was best not to stand waiting too long. He was as much in danger there as though he were speeding through the jungle. Death might pounce on him at any time. ”

“ Jack found Robinson Crusoe’s island a pleasanter place than he had expected. Among the ridges were many pretty valleys which were covered with patches of woods or grass. Everything bore a peculiar hue of green, from the groves of myrtle, pimento and corkwood to the grassy plots, the natural fields of oats and even to the moss-covered rocks of the spinelike mountains.
The coast, as far as he could see, overhung the sea or rose perpendicular to such a height as to make it inaccessible, except at one place where a rent in the wall allowed man to enter the almost sacred domain. ”

“ Until now, this phase of his terrible danger had not struck Bomba. The painful freeing of his right hand, the fear that in the fall he might have sustained an injury that would cripple him and leave him a prey to the first beast of the jungle that might roam that way, the dread that he might never be able to free himself from those ruthless, imprisoning branches had blinded him to another and more imminent peril that threatened. ”

“ With a last tremble, as if to free herself from the hold of the waves, the gallant craft soared up into the air, leaving the water, which dripped from her keel like a fountain’s spray, and shooting aloft like a bird, escaped her terrible enemy which passed under her, so close that the lower part of the Flying Mermaid scraped the whale’s back. ”

“ The savages now became aware that they were discovered, and they set up a fierce shout. Those at the long sweeps began to row more swiftly than ever, as if thirsting for the blood of the whites.
"If we only had a gun or two," said Dave. "But we haven't a thing."
"Only the oars, and they'll make poor weapons," answered Captain Broadbeam, "I'm afraid it's all up with us, lad. We must look for the worst."
"Can't we outdistance them by rowing?"
"I think not."
"But we might reach shore again and take to the jungle. That will be better than being slaughtered on the ocean." ”

“ Do you think I could ever allow you to revisit the world, to let it be known through every newspaper how I pass my life?"
"How are we to address you, sir?"
"My name is Vindex. By my men I am called the Wizard of the Sea."
"Very well, Captain Vindex of the Searcher," said Mont, "we must make the best of our situation, but I will never give my word that I will not attempt to escape."
"I like you, boy, for your honesty," said the Wizard of the Sea, "though I warn you that if you are caught in the attempt, you will be instantly put to death."
"To death? You dare not!" ”

“ The Drifter struck a course as true as a die. The splendid machine and the young aviator were both at their best. There was a last fading picture of a forlorn man convulsed with rage and despair. Then the two boy aeronauts turned their back on the enemies who had been hoisted by their own petard.
"It's great, its grand," cheered Hiram, bubbling over with joy, as the exhilarating air and their magical progress made him realize what freedom meant to its fullest extent.
"I don't understand. Your arm, Hiram?" said Dave. ”

“ Roebach," said Professor Henderson, drily. "These instruments of mine, however, cannot lie. It is a simple calculation to figure that the moon, now just risen, is thousands of miles out of her course, if we are still on the earth. No, Mr. Roebach, I am stating the exact truth when I say that we have been blown off the earth by that awful volcanic eruption, and that we are now floating on a torn-away world, or a new planet, in space, doubtless hanging between the earth and the sun. We are as unsafe as though we were on a wandering star, or meteor—only this island is not afire. ”

“ For a moment Bomba was so taken aback by the sight of the jaguar that he did not stir.
His harmonica was still between his lips, and the sudden exclamation that was forced from him droned through the mouth organ in a weird, discordant note.
The wailing cry had a strange and instant effect upon the beast. It had crouched as though for a spring, but now it hesitated. It had never seen a human with a gleaming mouth like that. It had never heard that kind of sound. The jungle beast is a creature of habit. Anything new is disconcerting. ”

“ The road over the crater came to an end between two peaks, similar to those at the beginning. Jack was the first to pass them, and as he emerged he once more uttered a cry—a cry of fear and wonder.
And well he might, for in a valley below the wanderers there was a city. A great city, with wonderful buildings, with wide streets well laid out—a city in which figures of many men and women could be seen—little children too! A fair city, teeming with life, it seemed! ”

“ As Jack’s gaze followed his narrow orbit of vision he soon saw his firearm, which had slipped from him in his ride over the precipice and fallen near where he lay in that terrible situation.
He had no sooner seen the weapon than a wild desire to get possession of it filled his mind. If he only had that in his hands he believed he could shoot the jaguar before it could do him harm.
The longer he pondered upon this the stronger became the desire to make the attempt. Failure could not be any worse than that awful suspense, which in all probability must end in death. ”

“ Pipina whimpered and besought her gods, but the ears of Bomba were deaf to her cries.
Underfoot the trunk was like glass. The slightest misstep might mean disaster. But Bomba advanced steadily, scarcely troubled by the light weight of the squaw. He was so accustomed to the dark that he hardly needed the faint rays of moonlight that filtered through the trees to tell him where to place his feet. ”

“ By this time, superstitious terror had taken complete possession of Ashati and Neram, and Bomba himself could feel the hair rising on his head. The swift-falling darkness, the knowledge that danger was all about them, that insane enemies were skulking perhaps behind a tree, leering at them from branches overhead, crouching in ambush behind a concealing bush or shrub, at any moment to reach out a hairy arm—all these things combined to fill them with terror. ”

“ At this moment the engines began to revolve, and the Searcher skimmed over the surface of the sea like a bird.
The air was soon taken into the reservoirs, the flap or panel was closed, and sinking into the bosom of the waves, she glided along, moved by her powerful screw, like a big fish; only the helmsman, sitting in his solitary place of lookout, being responsible for her management. ”

“ But the feeling that Casson might at any minute be in danger urged the boy to take the shorter cut.
Nevertheless, he hated the swamp. Vaguely he imagined it peopled with evil spirits. The tall crabwood trees standing in clusters threw deep shadows over the blackish-brown water, giving it an indescribably dreary and sinister appearance. Here and there, out of the slimy ooze sprang huge tree ferns. No shrieking of parrots or howling of monkeys in this cheerless spot. Nothing but dead leaves and treacherous mud, without the stir of a leaf or the twitter of a bird to break the brooding silence. ”

“ It was a moment to Jack North which meant all to him. To stop the train was to throw it into the hands of his enemies; to keep on was like rushing into the very jaws of destruction. The commotion still raging at the rear of the train, the exulting fiends in the pathway ahead, and not less the silent but ominous bowlder on the gleaming track foretold the end, let him act as he might. ”

“ And it was this blood which the wild beast of the island forest had scented!
The growl of the jaguar echoed and re-echoed throughout the lonely cave, causing Dave to shiver as with the ague.
It did indeed look as if the young diver's last hour on earth had come.
"Hi, go away!" he cried, frantically. "Go away! Scat!"
The cries caused the jaguar to pause while yet fifty feet from the youth.
It had never before attacked a human being, and the new experience caused it to proceed with caution. ”

“ Come, dance with Sobrinini,” the woman said in a wheedling voice, as she untwined her shriveled arms to grasp him by the hand. “I will call back my snakes, and you shall fondle them to show you that they will not fill your veins with poison or crush your bones when Sobrinini is nigh. Come! Why do you draw back? What are you waiting for, Bartow?”
“But I am not Bartow,” blurted out Bomba in his desperation to be rid of her and learn the truth about himself. “Jojasta, the medicine man of the Moving Mountain, called me Bartow also. But I am not he. I am Bomba! Bomba, the jungle boy!” ”

“ For the flash of lightning had revealed no lurking jaguar, hungry for its prey. The foes of Bomba were of a far deadlier kind, deadlier even than the wicked anaconda with its folds of steel. For these were headhunters—bloodthirsty, cruel, cunning—bucks of the tribe of the dreaded chief, Nascanora.
The eyes of Bomba, keen as those of the big cats that stalked the jungle, had counted three of these in the brief space of the lightning flash. They stood like naked statues, each gripping a [3] spear, the eyes of each prodding the deeper shadows beneath the overhanging rock. ”

“ The clouds soon hid the whole earth from them and the great flying machine traveled in space, with the star-lit heavens above and the rolling mass of vapor, streaked now and then with lightning flashes, beneath. ”

“ The air in the diving bell was anything but pure, and now of a sudden it stopped coming in altogether.
"We are lost!" cried Dave. "We shall be smothered to death!"
"I cannot believe Captain Broadbeam has forgotten us," signed Amos Fearless. "As I said before, something must be wrong!"
The old diver was right; something was very wrong on board of the Swallow.
While the two divers were at work under the surface of the ocean, a wild cry had arisen on board of the ship, a cry which thrilled everyone who heard it to the heart. ”

“ THE ISLAND OF SNAKES
The native writhed and twisted, the eyes bloodshot with terror at the threat.
Ashati and Neram came a step nearer with menace in their eyes, and the captive subsided again, gasping and groaning beneath the pressure of Bomba’s knee upon his chest.
“Do not kill me! Only do not kill me!” he jabbered. “I will answer you! You have only to ask.”
“Then listen to me, and listen well.” The fierce, impatient note was in Bomba’s voice again. “Nascanora, the great chief, the chief with a black heart, is the man I want to find. ”

“ The sunken city of which Hondura had spoken came into Bomba’s mind.
“Is it that he has gone to the place where stood the city that had towers of gold?” he asked.
A startling change came into Abino’s tone and manner. His glance seemed to bore Bomba through and through.
“What foolish words are these that the stranger speaks?” he demanded sharply. “There is no city that has towers of gold. It is not well to ask too many questions. Men have asked questions of Japazy, and he has cut out their tongues. If the stranger is wise, he will let others speak while he listens. Abino has spoken.” ”

“ The great wind, the forerunner of the tropical thunderstorm, had come at the moment of Bomba’s greatest need.
All creatures of the jungle fly to shelter before the fury of the storm. Bomba knew this full well, as did all living creatures of these wilds, large and small.
At the first blast of that fierce gale the parrakeets flew screaming to shelter. The animals of the forests rushed for their dens and the earth dwellers scurried into their holes.
Even the savage vultures retreated before the onset of the gale and the rain of castanha nuts shaken from the bending trees. ”

“ At any moment a boa constrictor might drop like a flash from a tree above and seek to enfold him in its crushing coils. A turn of the trail might bring him face to face with a crouching jaguar. Or a cooanaradi, deadliest of all venomous snakes, might launch itself from the underbrush and inject its poison into his veins.
There were human foes, too, against whom Bomba had to be on his guard. With the natives who dwelt in that part of the jungle he was on comparatively friendly terms, though he never mingled with them on a footing of intimacy. ”

“ He vowed to the gods of the thunder and the rain that he would protect his friend to the last gasp; that if Casson were to die, he, Bomba, would die with him, stretched across his body.
But it was too early yet to think of death. Too long had Bomba braved the perils of the jungle not to know the fleetness of his foot, the sureness of his eye, the strength of his muscles. Bomba had fought the braves of Nascanora’s tribe before; had beaten and outwitted them. He [4] would fight them again, matching his strength against their strength, his brain against their brain. ”