“Bomba has not asked you yet how it was you came just in time to save his life,” said the lad.
“We hunted Bomba day and night,” Ashati replied. “Our lives were yours, for you had saved them. We came on your trail in the jungle, and followed after. Ashati saw you in the tree as the jaguar lifted its paw to strike. Then Ashati prayed to the Spirit of the Jungle and shot his arrow. The Spirit made it go straight, and the jaguar died.”
It was now late afternoon, and Bomba and his followers had not traveled far before the swift tropic night descended on them and forced them to rest for the night.
Bomba chafed at the necessity, though he himself was almost exhausted in mind and body by the stirring events of the day that had taxed both to the utmost.
He was up with the dawn, however, and, rousing Ashati and Neram, summoned them to share his hasty breakfast and start on the day’s journey. They obeyed with willingness, though no more than half awake. Their bodies wasted and their strength sapped by years of deprivation and torments at the hands of Jojasta could not throw off the fatigue as readily as the healthy jungle lad, whose veins were pulsing with vitality.
But Bomba’s quest of Nascanora could not wait. Delay, however slight, might result in the death of his friends, if indeed they still lived. If Ashati and Neram could travel at Bomba’s pace, he would be glad to have them with him, for they were companions in his loneliness and allies in case of danger.
But if they could not keep up with him, he would have to go on ahead, leaving them to join him when they could.
But once roused, they seemed as eager as himself to continue the journey. Even the prospect of an encounter with Nascanora and his braves did not deter them, as long as they were under Bomba’s leadership. What they had already seen of him had led them to attribute to him almost magical power. Their anxiety to please and serve the lad in every way they could deeply touched Bomba, in whose life loyalty and service of any kind had been so sadly lacking.
They stamped out the embers of the fire they had built to keep off the jungle beasts during the night, ate of their supply of jaguar meat, and struck onward through the forest in the direction of the Giant Cataract.
The sun rose higher, and with full daylight came a fresh burst of speed on the part of Bomba. If Ashati and Neram found it hard to keep up with him, they did not murmur. They would have suffered any hardship rather than be left behind by him whom they had chosen as their master.