To be on his guard as much as possible, however, he had thought best to keep a short distance ahead of the teams, while Plum Plucky followed about the same distance behind, the two thus maintaining a continual watch over the train.
Nothing occurred to delay their progress, until Jack found himself climbing the steep upgrade, which the Peruvians had declared impassable before they had done so much work in clearing it. The course was uneven now, and considerable of the way it was little more than a scratch on the mountain side, with a sheer descent on one side of hundreds of feet.
He had got about half way toward the top when the loud cries of the teamsters caused him to look back.
A glance showed him that the foremost team was “hung up” at a particularly bad place.
The drivers were belaboring the patient oxen unmercifully, but not another inch could they make the animals pull the load.
Shouting to the men to stop their useless goading of the oxen, our hero ran back to the spot, finding that the second team had stopped a short distance below, where it was comfortably waiting for the other to move ahead so it could resume its tedious journey.
As there was no chance to get the oxen on the lower team past the upper one, so as to be hitched on to help, on account of the narrowness of the road, Jack quickly dismissed such an idea from his thoughts.
Not wishing to throw off a part of the load, which must be lost by so doing, he stepped alongside the cattle and began to stroke them and to speak gently to them.
“Both teams couldn’t pull the load up this path, señor,” said one of the drivers.
“I am sorry I did not think to double up at the foot of the ascent, but it is too late to complain now. Come, boys! all together.”