"Never mind, we will take a chance," said Dick. "We're going to win out! And come through with flying colors!"
CHAPTER XI
KING SOLOMON'S CROWN
Suddenly Mutaba raised both arms above his head and opened and closed his hands rapidly.
It was a signal.
The paddlers in the following canoes slowed down and the leader in each little vessel relayed the silent order until the last boat had received it.
The keen-eyed jungle tracker had spied an opening in the wall of trees and vines that Dick and his friend could hardly see, even when the canoe was making straight for it.
Apparently the little vessel which was headed right across the stream was about to run its nose into the bank, but at a muttered warning from Mutaba the crew ducked low and the canoe glided under a leafy fringe and entered a creek that allowed free passage.
As the stream widened Dick could see it extending like a black trail deep into the forest. Here the shadows were so heavy that there was not enough light for plants that grow close to the ground, consequently the undergrowth was not so dense as it was near the river bank.