iver, the
surface of the soil being not more than a foot above that of the water,
and with no rushes to form a screen. Therefore, if they were to camp
there for the night, as indeed they must, there being apparently no
other place for them, they would have to manage as best they could
without a fire wherewith to cook their supper. But needs must, under
certain circumstances, so, with a glance astern to assure themselves
that they were not being followed, the sail was lowered, the canoe was
turned into the creek, and a minute later the voyagers were ashore and
glancing keenly about them to ascertain the possibilities of the place.
These were rather better than a first glance had led the wanderers to
hope for, for their first necessity was to find a hiding-place for the
canoe, and there, about a hundred and fifty yards away, was a clump of
detached bush which would serve admirably for such a purpose. So,
availing themselves of the very last of the waning light, they hauled
the canoe out of the water, hoisted her upon their shoulders, and,
carrying her to the clump of bush, very effectively concealed her
therein, afterwards going back over their trail through the grass and
carefully obliterating it by means of a leafy branch, in the manner
which they had learned from Vilcamapata. Then they looked about them
for a spot in which they might themselves pass the night. The place was
by no means an ideal one for fugitives to pass the night in, for there
was nothing even remotely resembling a hiding-place that they could see;
and concealment was just then what they wanted more than anything else.
True, there was an enormous ceiba tree growing upon the very edge of the
clearing, among the upper branches of which they might possibly be able
to conceal themselves; and in the absence of anything more suitable they
at length determined to avail themselves of that, braving the perils of
possible jaguars, scorpions, snakes, ants, and other undesirable
bedfellows. Accordingly, the two friends ascended to the lower branches
of the tree by climbing the lianas, hand over hand, which depended
conveniently from the boughs, and, working their way aloft as well as
they could in the thick darkness created by the luxuriant foliage, at
length established themselves quite safely and comfortably in the fork
formed by the junction of two enormous branches with the parent stem.
They had no food with them, and were possessed of a healthy hunger, fo