Almost instantly the jungle swallowed them up. As they vanished from sight, Raynor sighed. Merritt looking up saw that he looked distressed. He ventured to ask him what was the matter.
“I don’t just know why, my boy, but I’ve got an idea that the lads are in trouble in the woods yonder,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of that distant shot.”
“You—you don’t think that there are any Indians off in the forest, do you?” asked Merritt, turning a shade paler.
“I don’t think anything. I don’t want to say anything till I’m sure; but we’re not so far from San Blas country that a wandering hunting party might not happen along through the forest. They have the jungle honeycombed with paths known only to themselves.”
“But supposing—just supposing that the boys did fall in with them, would the Indians do them any harm?”
“Impossible to say, Merritt. This I do know, however, that the Indians’ minds have been worked on by those who are opposed to the canal until they have been taught to regard all white men as their enemies. They have been told that the making of the canal will flood out their hunting grounds and drive them into remoter parts of the country. Naturally, they regard white men with suspicion and hatred.”
While this conversation was going on, Mr. Mainwaring, whose face was sadly troubled, and his young companion, had been pushing their way through the jungle. Fortunately the trail of Tubby and Fred was pretty well marked where they had shoved their way through the underbrush. Finally they came to the spot where the two boys had met with the serpent. Rob examined the ground with the instinct of a true scout and skillful trapper. Traces of a sudden stoppage and a precipitate flight off into the jungle were plainly visible.
But what had caused the boys to beat such a rapid retreat was by no means so plain.
“Can you make out anything, Rob?” asked Mr. Mainwaring, after a pause.
“No, sir,” said Rob perplexedly, “except that something appears to have frightened them just at this point. You can see by their footmarks in this soft mud that they were running fast when they made off. And see here, sir, where one of them fell and scrambled up again, going on as quickly as before.”