CHAPTER VII.

VAN'S PERIL.

Jack Howard and his companions were admirably equipped for an overland journey through the African wilds.

It did not take them a great while to outfit Van, the mate and Gregory, the sailor, as well as they were themselves.

Each one of the six wore high top boots, buckskin breeches, and broad-brimmed straw hats. They also carried knapsacks over their shoulders, which were well filled with useful articles.

Before starting out on foot they hauled their boat well up from the muddy stream and covered it with boughs and leaves, as they found Doc Clancy had done before them.

By the looks of the trail made by the murderer and his followers they must have arrived there fully two days in advance of our friends.

This part of the country was so thickly wooded that in many places the rays of the sun never reached the ground.

Poisonous serpents held carnival here, and the explorers had to be continually on the watch for them.

Just before sunset they came to a halt, weary from their first day's tramp.

Thus far they had not been molested by savages, though they had passed through the domain of more than one band.

If they had been a large, regular organized exploring party, they would have had no end of trouble, as they would then have visited black tribes, supposed to be friendly, and begged permission of them to proceed through the various kingdoms.

In this way their presence would become known to every tribe within fifty miles of them, no matter in what section they might be, as was the case with Stanley and other great explorers.

But our little party were in for it on their own hook, and asked permission from no one to travel on their way.

They would be all right so long as they were not intercepted by some roving band.

Jack Howard calculated that they were now in a section of country where no one had ever been before, save the natives and the villains they were following.

Prof. Drearland made a rather lengthy note of this, and seemed much pleased at his young friend's idea of it.

The professor was a curious sort of a man. Some people would have said that he was better fitted to become a village schoolmaster than to go roaming about the wilds of the interior of Africa.

Probably he was; but that is not for us to say now. True, the professor was not the bravest man on earth in the time of danger.

But Dr. Pestle! he was a regular cyclone when necessity demanded it. He could shoot as well as anybody in the party, and that is saying a great deal, for Van and Jack were excellent shots.

They managed to put in quite a comfortable night of it, and at the first signs of daylight they were up and ready to resume their journey.

They managed to make a light breakfast from some sardines and sea biscuit found in their knapsacks, which they ate as they made their way through the gully.

It did not take Van long to discover that they were following a dry water course, and he was soon surprised at seeing footprints in the sand and gravel it contained.

The footprints were made by men of civilized habits, too, for the tracks were those of boots or shoes.

"We are in luck!" our hero exclaimed. "Doc Clancy and his companion have gone this way. It will only be a question of time now before I will capture the scoundrel and force a written confession that he murdered my uncle from him."

"If you can get him to do that you will not have a great deal of trouble in taking him back to the United States," returned Jack Howard.

"I don't believe Doc Clancy will ever see ther States ag'in," observed Lank Edwards.

"Why?" asked Van.

"'Cause, he'll git killed afore we git through with him."

"If he does my uncle's murder will be avenged. Only I should like to see the villain die with a rope around his neck."

"He might die a wuss death than bein' hung," said the mate. "You can't tell what'll happen in this strange country," and Lank Edwards shrugged his shoulders.

No one made any reply to the mate's words, and the party continued on in silence.

They noticed that the water course led them up a gradual ascent, and the professor reckoned that it would conduct them to a range of mountains.

When noon arrived they were still in the gully, and all hands were ravenously hungry.

Though they could have shot lots of game during the morning, they did not do it for fear that the natives might be in pursuit of them and hear the report of their rifles.

But now it was getting to be a case of necessity, and Jack Howard said he was dying for a roasted chunk of meat, and did not propose to go any further until he got it.

"We may as well camp right here," he went on. "It is as good a place as we can find; and while the rest of you are getting a fire going, Van and I will go into the woods a little way and get something for dinner."

This was satisfactory to all hands, so they came to a halt. Van and Jack at once left the gully and started on their mission.

They had not gone far, however, before they encountered a boy running, and behind him a half dozen savages. Both opened fire at once, and when the rescue was effected they took him back to the camp. There the latter explained that he was Joseph Hedgewood, the son of an Englishman, who had been killed by the savages, and who had left him an orphan and homeless. He was small and fair, with large, dark eyes and abundant dark hair. He wore a corduroy suit, much too large for his slender form, and his feet were encased in a pair of stout leather boots that were, however, small and shapely. All of the company looked at him quizzically, but when they perceived he was so young and tender they agreed to take him under their protection.

He, for his part, was diffident and wanted to serve them in the capacity of servant, but to that all objected.

"No, you won't," exclaimed Jack. "We have enough servants."

So he was installed as a companion, and when the first meal had passed he was as much at home as any of them.

That afternoon they proceeded onward, and when night fell they concluded to look for a suitable place to pitch their camp. Accordingly they pushed up the water course to where a gradual descent of perhaps a foot to every hundred yards became apparent.

"We will land in some beautiful valley that is inhabited solely by Amazons, see if we don't," said Prof. Drearland.

"That is yet to be found out, professor. I wouldn't make a note of it yet, if I were you," returned Jack Howard.

As far as they could see they were in a richly wooded valley.

But not a sign of anything human could be seen, save, perhaps, a well-beaten path that led from the mouth of the passage into the depths of the forest.

"I told you we would come out into a beautiful valley!" exclaimed the professor. "Now, let us follow this path, and in due time we will come upon the Amazons."

"It seems to me that you are getting remarkably brave all at once, professor," returned Jack Howard.

The professor was about to make some retort when a rather startling occurrence took place.

With shrill, warlike cries, fully half a hundred women burst from the cover of the trees and surrounded the party.