CHAPTER VII
THE BLACK BEAR IN TROUBLE
One still night on the Amazon Jack Bosworth got out a map and turned a flashlight on it. Frank and Harry stood looking over his shoulder.
"Right here," Jack said, presently, "is where we leave the main stream of the Amazon and take to the Madeira."
"How do you know that stream is the Madeira?" asked Frank. "We have passed so many large tributaries that I'm all mixed up."
"And why not try some other stream?" Harry questioned. "I've heard that the Madeira is full of falls and rapids."
"Anyway," Jack insisted, "it takes us away up into the Andes, almost to Lake Titicaca, and that's all any stream will do. As for the falls and rapids, do you expect any stream to creep down from that great plateau without jumping off occasionally?"
"All right," Frank cut in. "Go your own way to destruction! But how do you know that rippling sheet of water off there," swinging an arm to the south, "is the Madeira river? It looks like a lake to me."
"I found out while you were asleep this morning," Jack replied. "A chap came along in a launch and I asked him all about it. He said he had just come from the Andes, and advised me to turn back."
"Kind-hearted little fellow, eh?" laughed Harry.