They stopped at noon under a bower they made
of palms, and, spreading the nets over them, got a
little rest after a lunch. Then, when the sun
was less hot, they started off again.
"Forward is the word!" cried Ned cheerfully. "Forward!"'
They had not gone more than an hour on the
second stage of their tramp when Tom, who
was in the lead, following the direction laid out
by the compass, suddenly stopped, and reached
around for his electric rifle, which he was carrying
at his back.
"What is it?" asked Ned in a whisper.
"I don't know, but it's some big animal there
in the bushes," was Tom's low-voiced answer.
"I'm ready for it."
The rustling increased, and a form could be
seen indistinctly. Tom aimed the deadly gun
and stood ready to pull the trigger.
Ned, tho had a side view into the underbrush,
gave a sudden cry.
"Don't shoot, Tom!" he yelled. "It's a man!"
CHAPTER XIV:
A NEW GUIDE
In spite of Ned Newton's cry, Tom's finger
pressed the switch-trigger of the electric rifle,
for previous experience had taught him that it
was sometimes the best thing to awe the natives
in out-of-the-way corners of the earth. But the
young inventor quickly elevated the muzzle, and
the deadly missile went hissing through the air
over the head of a native Indian who, at that
moment, stepped from the bush.
The man, startled and alarmed, shrank back
and was about to run into the jungle whence he
had emerged. Small wonder if he had, considering
the reception he so unwittingly met with.
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