Bomba the jungle boy

by Roy Rockwood

The resistance had infuriated the birds, who were coming in numbers. And the monkeys, timid folk at best except when they were cornered, had come to Bomba for help.

Even as Bomba gathered this from Tatuc’s chattering, a sinister whirring of wings sounded and a cloud of the birds of prey swept down through and under the trees.

Except when attacked or thwarted of their prey, the vultures rarely attack living creatures, preferring to feast in safety and at leisure upon carrion.

But when the latter is scarce, they do not hesitate to swoop down upon lambs or other small game and carry them off. In this instance the young monkeys had been tempting bait, and the attempt of the mothers to defend their offspring had aroused the ferocity of the vultures, never far from the surface, and had prompted this wholesale raid in reprisal.

Against these creatures the monkeys had little defense. They could only fly from them, and quick as they were, the wings of the great birds were swifter.

Now the monkeys crowded close to Bomba, chattering and howling, begging for his protection. He had power. Had they not seen the jaguar slink away from him? Why should he not also disperse the vultures?

As the black pursuing crowd of vultures came closer, Bomba reached for the revolver, balancing it in his strong brown fingers. The expression of his mouth was grim, but in his heart was already coming the delight of battle.

Again that feeling of power swept over him. In all his contests with bird or beast or reptile of the jungle he had never faced them with such a sense of mastery as now. The revolver, gift of the white men, made all the difference—that deadly little toy from the mouth of which spurted fire and death.

As the ominous cloud swept closer, thickening overhead, Bomba set his sturdy brown legs wide apart and fired into the midst of it.

The friendly monkeys at first were more scared by the report than by the attacking vultures. They shrank away from Bomba, screaming more wildly than before. What had happened? Was their best friend turning against them?