"Go ahead!" ordered the petty officer, and the launch speeded up the river against the tide, and finally disappeared from view.
Chéri-Bibi and the Nut felt fairly certain that they had now thrown the warders off the scent, for obviously they still believed that the two men were at some point on the opposite bank of the river. Thus they landed on the right bank, and leaving both the river and sea behind them, plunged boldly into the heart of the jungle.
Chéri-Bibi seemed to be following some well thought-out plan, for he interrupted their journey from time to time to take his bearings. Their progress, moreover, had become extremely difficult, and the Nut made the suggestion that they might now call a halt for a little sleep, and set out again the next day.
Under the canopy of the high forest trees and in the dense entanglement of creepers and parasitical vegetation of all sorts, they forged their way in murky darkness.
"Have you anything to light a fire with?" said Chéri-Bibi in answer to the Nut's proposal. "No, of course you haven't. Well, I've got three matches left, and I needn't tell you that after our dip in the river they won't light, so what then, old man? To go to sleep at night in the forest without having a fire beside you is to stand a pretty good chance of waking up in the jaws of a jaguar. Come on. We'll have a sleep during the day."
Thus they moved on for the remainder of the night, conscious that if they stopped to lie down they would close their eyes in utter prostration.
Chéri-Bibi sought to encourage the Nut by telling him stupendous stories of the jungle, so stupendous, in fact, that the Nut had some difficulty in believing them. What strange tragedies and what legends of mysterious and fabulous fortunes were associated with the gold-diggers! . . . Meantime they were almost naked, and each carried a knife as his sole weapon.
"As we've been walking for such a time, it can't be long now before we come to the Pupa," said Chéri-Bibi.
"What's the Pupa?"
"It's a small river which flows into the Cayenne, and, of course, it bars our route. We are bound to come up against it whether we go a little farther one way or the other. So when we get there we shall be able to see how we stand."