Moving leisurely up the narrow path were eight or ten large Indians carrying an old organ. Ropes were tied tightly around the instrument, and to these the Indians held with a death grip.
Where they were taking the organ, the whites could only guess. Perhaps it belonged to a plantation owner, who wanted a musical instrument in his house.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, one of the Indians cried out in fright, and then there came other cries.
“The organ’s slipping!” shouted Joe. “It’s going over the cliff! And oh!”—he gasped for breath—“it’s taking one of the Indians with it!”
CHAPTER XX
Difficulties of the Trail
THE sight that the explorers beheld was unpleasant to the extreme. Scarcely had Joe uttered the cry of horror when the organ suddenly fell, pushing one of the natives over the cliff.
The man screamed in terror and then disappeared into the depths below. It was thousands of feet to the bottom of the abyss, and instant death was almost certain.