Yet the
current flowed smoothly onwards, through a wealth of vegetation which
clung precariously to every ledge and natural escarpment.
Joey, embarrassed by his gag, nevertheless managed to emit a warning
growl. Then the boat crashed into a canoe, and a hoarse yell of alarm
came from beneath the lowermost trees, whose dense foliage flung a pall
over the water. Gray was seized with an inspiration. He grasped the
canoe as it bumped along the gunwale, and held it down on one side
until it filled and sank. He sent another, and yet a third, guzzling
to the bottom before the outburst of raucous cries from both banks
showed there were Indians here in some force.
Stones, too, began to hum around them; some struck the boat, but the
greater number whizzed unpleasantly close to the heads of the two men
and the girl, proving conclusively that they were visible to the unseen
enemy. Gray whipped forth the revolver and fired twice. The second
time a shriek of pain told that he had hit one of their assailants.
The two reports made a deafening din in that place of echoes. They
appeared to stir the Indians into a perfect frenzy, and it was evident,
by the sounds, that the islanders had not much liberty of movement on
the narrow strips of land they occupied on both sides of the gorge.
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