“Knowing the country couldn’t help me, not with Gostel and his men trailing into the jungle after the boys.”
There was a new fear creeping into Ned’s heart, and he was beginning to realize that there are perils more to be dreaded than the perils of the jungles.
“How many went in?” asked Ned, in a moment.
“Oh, half a dozen—I don’t know. Some one must go for help. Gostel will kill the boys. I should think that after the experiences of the afternoon—”
“I am ready to go this minute,” Ned said.
“Oh, but you must have torches, and guns, and stand ready to fight against wild beasts as well as against men. There are jaguars in there, and boas—serpents ten yards in length. Natives have been killed by jaguars within the month.”
“Jaguars rarely come as far north as this,” Ned said, “and your serpents are not dangerous,” but the other insisted that there were both jaguars and boas in the jungle.
“This man Gostel may have gone to the rescue of the boys,” suggested Ned.
Gastong laughed weakly.
“You don’t know him,” he said. “I tell you he is a spy, a Japanese spy, watching every inch of the canal as it is excavated. He is in the pay of hostile interests, and will work you all a mischief. He knew before you arrived that you were coming.”