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Peril Finders

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<h3>Chapter Fifteen.</h3> <h4>Dry Fishing.</h4> There was a short, sharp council of ways and means held in the soft evening light which bathed the sterile rocky plain and the distant mountainous land with a weird beauty, that made those who gazed around feel a sensation of wonder, that nature could spread such a mask over a scene whose aspect to the adventurers was full of the horrors of thirst, and death by the stroke of the venomous reptiles. Close at hand, and showing no disposition to stray, were the horses and the mules, with their coats bristling with dried sweat, and the dust through which they had travelled. Their packs remained untouched, for every one felt that it was impossible to stay where they were, while before starting afresh water was an absolute necessity—a draught each to allay the feverish thirst, and the contents of one keg carefully divided so that about a pint each could be given to the wearied beasts. “But there must be water somewhere near on that higher ground,” said Wilton excitedly, and the doctor noted that his eyes looked bloodshot and wild. “Here, I tell you what; I’ll take our bearings and ride off to see what I can find, and then come back.” “No,” said the doctor, “it is impossible. Look at your horse: he cannot carry you right up yonder for miles upon miles in the state he is in.” “Then I must walk,” cried Wilton impetuously. “You would break down before you had been gone an hour,” said the doctor, “and we should have to search for you and bring you back.” “Oh! give me credit for a little more strength and determination, sir,” said Wilton petulantly. “We must have water, and it is to be found up yonder in the hills. What do you say, Bourne?” “I agree with you that water may be found yonder, but we must keep together. Our party is small enough as it is; we must not make it less by letting one of our most active members break away.” “Then what are we to do?” cried Wilton, and the boys’ lips moved as if they echoed his words. “We must wait till dark, and then get the kegs. After the whole party is refreshed, we must strike up into the hills at once and search the valleys till we find a fall or spring, but on no account must we separate.” So spoke the doctor, but Wilton was in no humour for obeying orders. “I think you are wrong,” he cried. “Well,” replied the doctor stiffly, “you have a right to think so, but you might as well bear in mind that you have sworn to obey orders, that I was elected to be chief of this expedition, and that it is your duty to obey—in reason.” “Do you want to quarrel?” cried Wilton, clapping his hand to his revolver-holster. “Certainly not with a man half mad with thirst,” said the doctor quietly. “Come, Wilton, be reasonable.” “Reasonable! Are we not all half dead with thirst?” “Suffering, not half dead,” replied the doctor, who noted that Bourne and Griggs had moved a little nearer to their angry companion. “Now, look here, we want your cool consideration of our position. We have water a few hundred yards away.” “What! Where?” “In the kegs, which lie where I told you.” “Oh, there!” cried Wilton contemptuously. “We don’t want that, but some big clear flowing spring such as I offer to risk my life to find.” “Risk your life in another way,” said the doctor firmly. “How?” “Go and fetch in the kegs from where they are lying.” “Bah! If I am to die, it shall be a decent death—not stung by some horrible reptile. I’ll risk losing my way going in search of water.” “I have already told you,” said the doctor, “that the state of the horses will not allow of such a search being made till they have had such water as we have near. The only thing to be done is to contrive some way of getting the kegs here without risk.” “Exactly,” said Bourne laconically; “but can you propose any way? For I must own that I cannot without horrible risk.” “At present no way,” said the doctor sadly. “My only hope is in the horrible pests returning deeply underground at night; but I am sorry to say I know very little about the habits of these creatures. Do you, Wilton?” “No,” replied their companion bitterly. “Latin, Greek, and mathematics were taught me, rattlesnakes left out.” “But you,” said the doctor, wincing at his companion’s contemptuous manner, “you, Griggs, have seen a good deal of these reptiles in your time?” “Tidy bit, sir. I saw one poor fellow die four hours after being bitten, and I’ve killed a few of the varmint; but I’ve seen more of ’em to-day than in all my life before.” “Then you cannot say whether it would be safe to risk an attempt to get the kegs away?” “Well, I don’t know about that,” said Griggs, who noted that Chris was watching him intently. “You see, sir, I’ve been thinking pretty closely about that matter. We must have those kegs somehow, even if the one who gets ’em is bitten for his pains.” “Oh, but no such risk must be run,” cried the doctor excitedly. “It seems to me, sir, that it must. There’s half-a-dozen of us, and one has to take his chance so that the other five may live.” “Our position is not so bad as that, Griggs,” said the doctor warmly. “I don’t want to contradict, sir, but I about think it is. It’s the sort of time like you read about at sea when they cast lots and one has to swim ashore with a rope so as to get help. We must have that water, and Mr Wilton here says he won’t risk the job of fetching the kegs, so it rests with five of us instead of six. Then you go a bit further and one says, here’s three men and two boys, and we who are men can’t hold back and let a boy go.” “Certainly not,” said the doctor and Bourne, as if in one voice. “Then we come down to three,” continued Griggs, “and one of them is the boss of the expedition—the captain. He can’t go, of course. So you see, Mr Bourne, it lies between us two.” “No, no,” cried the doctor, “between us three.” “Us two, Mr Bourne,” said the American, almost fiercely. “The doctor’s out of it. Now, sir, you’re a deal better man than I am in learning and proper living, and several other things that I’ve noticed since we’ve been neighbours, all through your having been a minister, I suppose?” “I am but a man, Griggs, with the weaknesses of my nature.” “Exactly, sir,” cried the American, totally misconstruing the speaker’s meaning. “That’s what I was aiming at—weaknesses of your nature. Consequently I’m a much better man than you are for this job. So we want no casting lots, for I’m going to get those kegs out of that serpent’s nest, if I die for it.” “No, no,” cried the doctor fiercely. “I will not consent to your going. We must try some other plan.” “There aren’t no other plan, doctor.” “I think there is,” cried Chris excitedly. “Be silent, boy!” said the doctor. “Yes, you’re out, squire,” said Griggs good-humouredly. “You’ve had your innings, and nearly got bitten. That’s taste enough for you. Let me have a bit of the fun. But look here, doctor; when a man is bitten you get out a bottle and a little squirt thing, make a hole in one of the veins, and send in a lot of stuff, don’t you?” “Inject ammonia?” replied the doctor. “Yes; as a resource after lancing the wound and drawing out the poison, I should try that.” “Ammonia,” said Griggs thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s it—counteracts the poison, doesn’t it?” “Yes, and in some cases successfully, if it has been injected soon enough.” “Hah!” cried the American. “That’s what I wanted to get at—soon enough. Now how would it be if to get quite soon enough you got out your bottle and gave me a dose of that stuff before I started?” “What, injected into one of your veins?” “Yes, sir. What do you say to that?” “Impossible! I would not venture upon such an experiment except with a bitten subject.” “Sorry to hear that, sir,” said Griggs thoughtfully. “Well, how would it be if I swallowed some?” “I fear that it would be useless.” “Very well, sir; you know best, and I must do without it. My boots will pull up a bit higher, and I’ll slip on another pair of trousers and my thick jersey over my jacket; then if one of the beauties bites, his teeth may not go through. There’ll only be my hands and face.” “But what do you propose doing—running in, seizing the kegs, and trying to carry them out?” “Nay, that makes the job too risky, sir. It would be just stirring the creatures up like bees in a hive, and they’d come raging out to fight. I’ve got a better plan than that.” “Yes; what is it?” said the doctor, and Chris took a step nearer. “Just this, sir. I’ll take a couple of the hide-ropes, knot them together, and coil them up lasso fashion. After that I’m going to make a fire and heat one of these iron tent-pegs red-hot—one of those with the eye to them. Soon as it’s well hot I’m going to bend it round into a hook, slip one end of the rope through the eye and make fast, and then I’m going to fish with that hook—throwing it in till it catches the keg chain that couples them together, and as soon as I’ve got a bite run out the line ready for a couple of us to haul the water right away clean from the snake’s nest. What do you say to that?” “I say it isn’t fair,” cried Chris excitedly. “You, Ned, you are a sneak to go and tell him.” “I didn’t tell him,” cried Ned indignantly. “How did he know, then?” said Chris, growing angry. “I never said a word to any one else.” “What do you mean, Chris?” said the doctor sternly. “Why, I invented that plan, father,” cried Chris, “exactly as Griggs says; and I was going to propose it, only Griggs spoke first.” “I never knew you thought the same way, squire,” said Griggs quietly. “It was my invention,” said Chris warmly. “Very well, lad, you may have it,” said Griggs. “It’s yours, then.” “Yes,” cried Chris, “and I’ll go and throw the hook till I catch the chain.” “Nay! That’s where I come in, my lad,” cried Griggs. “You shall have all the credit, but I’ll do the work.” “No, no,” said Chris angrily. “It’s my invention, and I shall do it.” “No,” said the doctor firmly; “you both had the same idea, my boy, but Mr Griggs is your senior, he is better adapted for the dangerous task, and you must give way.” “Must I, father?” said the boy, in a disappointed tone. “Yes. You have run risks enough for one day.” “Ha, ha!” cried Ned, laughing, to the astonishment of all, and his satisfaction rang out in his tones. “You can’t do it, after all, Griggs,” and though he said no more his eyes looked a finish to the sentence—serve you right for getting the better of Chris! “Why can’t I do it?” said Griggs quietly. “Because there’s no fire to heat the iron.” “But I can soon make one.” “What of? Stones?” Griggs brought his right fist down into his left hand with a loud spang, uttering a low hiss the while, for there was not a scrap of wood in sight. Then his face lit up and he went to the mule laden with the tent, cast loose a rope, and ran an iron ringed peg about two feet long off from where it had been placed for safety, and walked off amongst the rocks till he found a crevice suited to his purpose. There he thrust the thin end of the peg in between the sides some six inches, and exerting his strength a little, bent the iron round till the lower part stood off at right angles to the upper. This done, he raised the iron, placed the point upon the surface of a level block, and pressed heavily down, the point yielding slowly, and, the iron being fairly soft, he very shortly produced a roughly-made hook. “’Taint so neat as I could wish,” he said quietly; “but it is a hook, and you can’t call it anything else.” “Yes,” said Chris frankly, “and it’s a better one than I expected; but wouldn’t it be better to try if you can catch the chain with it before it gets dark?” “He would have to keep on throwing several times perhaps,” said Bourne, “and bring the snakes swarming out.” “Well I don’t know that it would matter much,” said Griggs thoughtfully. “I should be standing perhaps a dozen yards from where the hook kept on falling, and they’d strike at it and not at me. I shall try it at once, doctor, for it’ll be far better than doing it by lanthorn light.” “Yes,” said the doctor thoughtfully; “and at the worst, if the reptiles swarmed out, we would hurry away till they settled down again.” “Yes,” said Griggs, with a quick nod of the head, and a few minutes later he had his tackle ready, the hook securely tied on, the rope hanging in coils from his hand, and all ready for the advance. “I’ll go alone, please, and at once,” he said sharply. “In ten minutes it will be getting dusk. Did any one notice whether the chain lay at the top?” “Yes,” cried Chris sharply; “I did. So that it would be quite easy to catch.” “Good,” cried Griggs, in a satisfied tone. “Then here goes.” “Promise me you’ll be careful, Griggs,” said the doctor. “Yes, sir,” said the American, smiling, “if you’ll strike a bargain.” “What do you mean?” “Promise me you’ll have that stuff ready to give me a strong dose if I’m bitten.” “Trust me,” said the doctor. “And trust me, sir,” cried Griggs. The next minute he was striding along over the sand in and out amongst the scattered blocks of stone, and followed by his friends, cautiously on the alert for any reptiles that might be coiled up asleep. But it was past their time; the sun had gone down, and the dusk of evening was rapidly growing into darkness, showing the party that if they had waited until a lanthorn was necessary there would have been great difficulty in putting into practice that which in theory sounded as easy as drawing on a glove. Not a snake was to be seen when the party halted, following Griggs’s example, and standing about thirty feet behind him, the many blocks of rugged stone in front completely hiding the place where the barrels lay. “Can you see any of the enemy?” said the doctor, just loudly enough for his voice to reach the American’s ears. Griggs turned quickly, shook his head to indicate that the coast was clear, and then turned back to face his task. The next minute they saw the deftly-thrown hook flying through the air, describing a curve, and the rings of the rope opening out as they followed the iron. There was a loud jangling sound, and Chris held his breath as he saw the operator begin to draw upon the rope hand over hand, fully expecting to see a check, and that the hook had caught. The boy was not disappointed—it had, and Chris uttered a low cheer. “Got it!” he whispered.—“Why is he doing that?” That was the jerking of the rope to set it at liberty to be drawn in again, for the simple reason that the catch was only the corner of a rock. But Griggs was soon ready again, and he mounted on to the top of a stone before taking careful aim, as he swung the hook to and fro, and then once more launched it through the air, to fall this time with a dull sound as if it had struck upon wood. “He’ll do it this time,” whispered Ned excitedly. “Yes: he has got it.” For as Griggs hauled there was again a check, evidently, from the sound of the iron, against wood. “Oh!” groaned Chris, as they saw the rope hauled in again quickly for another throw. “What a while he is! He won’t be able to see.” “All right, Chris,” cried Ned cheerily; “third time never fails.” “We shall have to do it, Ned,” replied Chris merrily. “Now then, once to be ready, twice to be steady, three times to be off: there it goes.” Away went the hook, and after it the dimly-seen coils of rope, followed by a sharp clang again of iron upon stone. “Now he’s hauling,” whispered Ned, and all held their breath, for the change from daylight into darkness was rapidly going on, and Griggs’s figure standing erect upon the grey rock began to look as if some thin, filmy, smoke-tinted veil was being drawn over it. Tchingle! came—clearly heard! “Hurrah!” cried Chris. “He has caught the chain this time. He’ll want us to help haul.” The boy strained forward as if ready to start at the first call; but he did not, for no call came, but Griggs himself began to move sharply after a tug at the rope, and then leaping down from the stone upon which he had stood, he came running towards them swiftly, dodging in and out amongst the stones standing in his way. “Off with you,” he shouted; “the varmint are coming along the rope!” All turned at the order, retreating steadily to allow Griggs to overtake them, which he did directly. “I don’t think we need go far,” he said. “I don’t suppose they’ll come further than the end of the rope. I could see dozens of them striking at the barrel and the hook at that last throw. We shall have to let them settle down before we try to get the water, but I’ve hooked the chain fast.” “Then we can do the rest after dark,” said the doctor. “Well, not quite, sir. We shall have to bring a light to find the end of the rope and see that there are none of the reptiles hanging on to it.” “Yes, exactly.” “Why not bring one of the mules next time?” cried Chris eagerly. “What for?” said Griggs sharply. “To make fast the line to his saddle or pack, and let him drag the barrels over the sand.” “Good!” cried Griggs. “Excellent!” said the doctor. “I wonder whether the snakes will follow when the kegs are being dragged over the sand?” said Bourne. “I don’t think they will, sir,” said the American. “They might perhaps if there are any about after dark, but there are lots of small stones about where they lie, and the critters will have an ugly time of it ground under those two heavy tubs.” “I’m in hopes that we shall have no further trouble,” said the doctor thoughtfully. “The only thing to decide now is, how long had we better wait?” “An hour,” said Wilton decisively; and that hour was passed in luxury, for a soft cool air came whispering among the reeking stones which had been bathing all day long in the sunshine, and there was a crispness and revivifying sensation in that gentle evening breeze which seemed to affect even the animals, the mules crouching down in the sand and the horses standing facing the quarter from which the wind blew, as if satisfied to wait for the water that they instinctively expected would come. The hour seemed long, and then with a dull star-like lanthorn Griggs began to pick his way through the transparent darkness, holding the light low in his lookout for enemies, till the end of the rope was found, though not without difficulty, the boys, who led one of the mules between them, having to stop at last and wait till the search came to an end. “No snakes about here,” said Griggs, in a low voice; “bring the mule on, lads. That’s right. Now then, turn. Back him a little more.” This was done, the rope made fast to the pack-saddle, and all was ready. “Now,” said the doctor, “will the enemy follow the two kegs or no? Forward!” <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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