第23章

A FALSE FRIEND

"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Tom springing from his cot and hastening to the side of his chum in the tent."What has happened, Ned?""I don't know, but Jacinto is yelling something about vampires!" "Vampires?""Yes.Big bats.And he's warning us to be careful.I stuck my head out just now and I felt that same sort of shadow I felt this evening when we were down near the river.""Nonsense!"

"I tell you I did!"

At that instant Tom flashed a pocket electric lamp he had taken from beneath his pillow and in the gleam of it he and Ned saw fluttering about the tent some dark, shadow-like form, at the sight of which Tom's chum cried:

"There it is! That's the shadow! Look out!" and he held up his hands instinctively to shield his face.

"Shadow!" yelled Tom, unconsciously adding to the din that seemed to pervade every part of the camp."That isn't a shadow.It's substance.It's a monster bat, and here goes for a strike at it!"He caught up his camera tripod which was near his cot, and made a swing with it at the creature that had flown into the tent through an opening it had made for itself.

"Look out!" yelled Ned."If it's a vampire it'll----""It won't do anything to me!" shouted Tom, as he struck the creature, knocking it into the corner of the tent with a thud that told it must be completely stunned, if not killed."But what's it all about, anyhow?" Tom asked."What's the row?"From without the tent came the Indian cries of: "Oshtoo!Oshtoo!"Mingled with them were calls of Jacinto, partly in Spanish, partly in the Indian tongue and partly in English.

"It is a raid by vampire bats!" was all Tom and Ned could distinguish."We shall have to light fires to keep them away, if we can suc- ceed.Every one grab up a club and strike hard!""Come on!" cried Tom, getting on some clothes by the light of his gleaming electric light which he had set on his cot.

"You're not going out there, are you?" asked Ned.

"I certainly am! If there's a fight I want to be in it, bats or anything else.Here, you have a light like mine.Flash it on, and hang it somewhere on yourself.Then get a club and come on.The lights will blind the bats, and we can see to hit 'em!"Tom's plan seemed to be a good one.His lamp and Ned's had small hooks on them, so they could be carried in the upper coat pocket, showing a gleam of light and leaving the hands free for use.

Out of the tents rushed the young men to find Professor Bumper and Mr.Damon before them.The two men had clubs and were striking about in the half darkness, for now the Indians had set several fires aglow.And in the gleams, constantly growing brighter as more fuel was piled on, the young inventor and his chum saw a weird sight.

Circling and wheeling about in the camp clearing were many of the black shadowy forms that had caused Ned such alarm.Great bats they were, and a dangerous species, if Jacinto was to be believed.

The uncanny creatures flew in and out among the trees and tents, now swooping low near the Indians or the travelers.At such times clubs would be used, often with the effect of killing or stunning the flying pests.For a time it seemed as if the bats would fairly overwhelm the camp, so many of them were there.But the increasing lights, and the attacks made by the Indians and the white travelers turned the tide of battle, and, with silent flappings of their soft, velvety wings, the bats flew back to the jungle whence they had emerged.

"We are safe--for the present!" exclaimed Jacinto with a sigh of relief."Do you think they will come back?" asked Tom.

"They may--there is no telling."

"Bless my speedometer!" cried Mr.Damon, "If those beasts or birds-- whatever they are-- come back I'll go and hide in the river and take mychances with the alligators!"

"The alligators aren't much worse," asserted Jacinto with a visible shiver."These vampire bats sometimes depopulate a whole village.""Bless my shoe laces!" cried Mr.Damon."You don't mean to say that the creatures can eat up a whole village?""Not quite.Though they might if they got the chance," was the answer of the Spanish guide."These vampire bats fly from place to place in great swarms, and they are so large and blood-thirsty that a few of them can kill a horse or an ox in a short time by sucking its blood.So when the villagers find they are visited by a colony of these vampires they get out, taking their live stock with them, and stay in caves or in densely wooded places until the bats fly on.Then the villagers come back.

"It was only a small colony that visited us to- night or we would have had more trouble.I do not think this lot will come back.We have killed too many of them," and he looked about on the ground where many of the uncanny creatures were still twitching in the death struggle.

"Come back again!" cried Mr.Damon."Bless my skin! I hope not! I've had enough of bats-- and mosquitoes," he added, as he slapped at his face and neck.

Indeed the party of whites were set upon by the night insects to such an extent that it was necessary to hurry back to the protection of the nets.

Tom and Ned kicked outside the bat the former had killed in their tent, and then both went back to their cots.But it was some little time before they fell asleep.And they did not have much time to rest, for an early start must be made to avoid the terrible heat of the middle of the day.