But though they helped him willingly to carry the canoe to the portion of the river where it would be safe to launch it, they seemed so terrified when Bomba spoke of his eagerness to reach Snake Island that the lad stared at them with amazement.
“You are afraid to go?” he asked.
Poor Ashati and Neram flinched before his accusing gaze and hung down their heads. For a long moment there was silence, and then Ashati answered:
“This Sobrinini is a witch and her island is full of snakes. If she is a witch, she can make the snakes do her bidding. Did not the caboclo say that to go there was to die?”
Bomba pondered for a while, staring at his companions. He had not their superstition, but he could put himself in their places and understand their feelings.
“You have not the reason to seek out Sobrinini that I have,” he conceded. “Perhaps that is what makes me blind to dangers that you see. Bomba will go alone. You stay here till I get back.”
At this they cast themselves at his feet, crying out that they would go with him in spite of their dread of Sobrinini and her island of snakes.
But Bomba would not accept such a sacrifice on their part, and persisted in setting off alone.
They dropped the canoe into the water, and almost before Bomba had time to get into it the current caught the frail bark and sent it dancing out upon the swirling waters like a feather caught in the wind.
The jungle boy needed all his skill to keep the tossing craft on an even keel and set a straight course down the river. When he could at last look back, he could see Neram and Ashati standing on the bank like bronzed statues, looking after him. He knew that in their hearts they never expected to see him again.