<h2 id="c19"><span class="small">CHAPTER XIX</span> <br/>Partners in Crime</h2>
<p>“Look out, Biff! He may have a knife!”</p>
<p>The warning came from Kamuka as the Indian boy
grabbed Biff’s arm, hauling him away from Urubu. But
there was no way for them to dodge, except toward
the wall, as Urubu was between them and the corner
of the building.</p>
<p>Then, from around that very corner came a limber
figure, a thin man clad in dungarees and a big sombrero,
whose tight fists moved like pistons as they
jabbed at Urubu’s face. Jolted backward, Urubu
dropped the knife that he was pulling from beneath
his shirt. Warding off a few blows, he turned and ran
wildly for a landing below the riverbank.</p>
<p>The boys turned to thank their rescuer, who had
lost his big sombrero and was stooping to pick up the
wide-brimmed hat. They were amazed when they
saw his smiling face and white hair. The man who
had routed Urubu was Joe Nara.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_165">165</div>
<p>“The way to spot snoopers,” advised Nara, “is to
go snooping for them. Nobody would know old
Joe Nara in this outfit, particularly with his white
hair out of sight.”</p>
<p>Nara chuckled as he put on the sombrero, showing
how quick and complete the change was. Then
Nara pointed to the river where a small, squat motorboat
was scudding downstream.</p>
<p>“There goes Urubu,” said Nara, “with another rat
who was waiting for him, probably Pepito. They’re
going to tell their boss Serbot that the gold rush is
coming his way.”</p>
<p>The boys couldn’t see the boat closely, because they
faced the glare of the late afternoon sun. When they
told Mr. Brewster what had happened, he agreed
with Nara.</p>
<p>“We’ll keep going downstream, though,” Mr.
Brewster decided, “until we reach the rapids above
Puerto Carreno, the only town on the Colombian
side of the river.”</p>
<p>“Can we go through those rapids?” asked Biff.</p>
<p>“Yes, they are quite navigable,” his father replied,
“but that is where Serbot and his crew will be waiting
to attack us. If we get by the rapids, we’ll be all
right, because Mr. Stannart should be at Puerto Carreno
in his yacht, by this time.”</p>
<p>“Can he come that far up the Orinoco, Dad?”</p>
<p>“Yes, he can make it,” replied Mr. Brewster. “And
in his letter he said he would, unless we met him
farther downriver. Since we have taken longer than
the time he allotted us, we should find him there.
Then we’ll close the mining deal with you, Joe.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_166">166</div>
<p>“If we get there,” put in Nara glumly. “We can’t
go around those rapids unless we take a back trail,
and Serbot will be watching that, too.”</p>
<p>As the loaded flotilla continued down the river,
Mr. Brewster continued to weigh the coming problem.
He was hoping that a solution might crop up,
and as the expedition approached the rapids, the answer
came.</p>
<p>Back from the river on the Venezuelan side stood
an old, abandoned blockhouse flanked by a few dilapidated
mud huts.</p>
<p>“We’ll make camp there,” Mr. Brewster decided.
“We can bring enough supplies into the blockhouse
to hold Serbot off if he tries to attack us.”</p>
<p>“Do you think he has spies watching for us now?”
asked Biff.</p>
<p>“Very probably,” his father rejoined. “And when
he learns that we aren’t coming down the river, he
will have to come up here to find us.”</p>
<p>Mr. Brewster signaled the other boats to shore,
and when they landed, he explained full details of his
plan.</p>
<p>“Tomorrow, Nara,” stated Mr. Brewster, “I want
you to move your Wai Wai Indians down by a back
trail to the rapids. They should be able to creep up
on Serbot’s crew without his knowing it.”</p>
<p>Nara nodded agreement.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_167">167</div>
<p>“As soon as Serbot becomes impatient and starts
up here,” Mr. Brewster went on, “the Wai Wais
can spring a surprise attack on any men that he leaves
there. Then, before Serbot has time to attack us
here, we’ll come down the river in the boats. We’ll
pick your men up at the rapids, where they will have
cleared the way for us.”</p>
<p>“But what about my <i>monteria</i>?” asked Nara, tilting
his head in canny style. “It has all the gold ore.
Remember?”</p>
<p>“We’ll bring it with the other boats,” promised
Mr. Brewster. “It means more to me than to you,
Nara, because you have lots more back at El Dorado.
But these are the samples that I need to show Mr.
Stannart and close the deal for Ajax.”</p>
<p>“But suppose Serbot does attack here?”</p>
<p>“We’ll drive him off from the blockhouse. When
he sees that we are well fortified, he is sure to withdraw
until he can bring up more men. Your Wai
Wais will have taken care of them. That’s when we’ll
surprise him by dashing out to the boats and starting
down the river.”</p>
<p>They spent the rest of the day bringing the supplies
in from the boats and putting the blockhouse
into shape. The small windows of the square, squatty
building were equipped with screens, but most of
them were in poor condition. Mr. Brewster insisted
upon repairing them first.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_168">168</div>
<p>“Let’s get fortified against mosquitoes and other
insects for tonight,” he suggested. “During the evening,
we can strengthen the shutters and fix loopholes
so as to fight off Serbot and his pests tomorrow or
whenever they come this way.”</p>
<p>While the others worked late into the evening, Joe
Nara strode about wearing a gun belt with two revolvers
poking from its holsters, ready for trouble.
Later Nara and his Wai Wais slept under netting on
their <i>monterias</i>, so as to get a good rest.</p>
<p>In the blockhouse, the other members of the party
took turns at guard duty through the night. At dawn,
Jacome awakened Biff, who was scheduled to take
over at that time. From one of the screened windows,
Biff saw the squatty figures of Igo and Ubi emerge
from Nara’s <i>monteria</i>. They roused the other Indians,
and soon were stealthily moving off among the trees,
to seek a trail to the rapids.</p>
<p>The next few hours were the longest that Biff had
ever experienced. The others woke up, had breakfast,
and strolled about the camp. But the very air seemed
charged with expectancy. It would probably be mid-afternoon,
perhaps even later in the day, before a
move came from the other camp—if a move came at
all.</p>
<p>Mr. Brewster, Hal Whitman, and Jacome were all
carrying their rifles, fully loaded, but that was purely
a matter of precaution.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_169">169</div>
<p>“Nara’s party can’t have reached the rapids yet,”
Mr. Brewster told Biff and Kamuka. “Even so, they
won’t make a move unless Serbot starts out with
his main force. If he sends some men ahead, they
may try some sniping so, naturally, we must be ready.
But that will show their hand—”</p>
<p>A sudden interruption came from the surrounding
trees, the blasts of a dozen guns or more. Mr.
Brewster wheeled and fired back from the spot where
he was standing, midway between the blockhouse and
the boats. Mr. Whitman and Jacome were nearer the
blockhouse. They turned and fired, too.</p>
<p>A bigger volley answered from a wider angle, accompanied
by the whine of bullets that were high,
but close. Whitman was shouting from near the
blockhouse:</p>
<p>“This way! Quick, or you’ll be cut off! Serbot is
here with his whole outfit!”</p>
<p>Amid new gunbursts, Mr. Brewster made a rapid
decision. He pointed the boys to the shore and told
them:</p>
<p>“Quick! Get to Nara’s <i>monteria</i>. Start it down
the river, and don’t stop until you reach Stannart’s
yacht!”</p>
<p>The boys were on their way, and Mr. Brewster
was dashing back to the blockhouse, to join Whitman
and Jacome. He made it safely, although he
drew the fire of Serbot’s followers, who were now
visible as they came clambering, shouting, from the
surrounding brush.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_170">170</div>
<p>But Biff and Kamuka were now beyond the range
of immediate gunfire when they boarded the
<i>monteria</i>. Then they had the big motor started, and
the heavily loaded boat was plowing its way out to
the middle of the Orinoco.</p>
<p>When Biff looked back, he saw tiny figures on the
shore, but the boat was now half a mile away, too far
for bullets to reach it.</p>
<p>“Serbot staged a surprise attack of his own,” Biff
told Kamuka, who was with him in the stem. “And
Dad had promised Nara that he would get this
<i>monteria</i> down the river. So here we are!”</p>
<p>“Soon we reach rapids,” was Kamuka’s comment.
“I better get ready so we can work like team.”</p>
<p>The space under the thatched cabin was stacked
with packs as well as sacks of ore, so Kamuka didn’t
try to crawl through it to reach the bow of the boat.
Instead, he scrambled over the low roof, picked up a
paddle from the forward cockpit, and waved back to
Biff as he took his position.</p>
<p>Soon the white foam of the rapids showed ahead.
Biff steered for what looked like the main channel,
and the <i>monteria</i> was swept into a series of whirlpools
that licked the sides of jutting black rocks. The
contrast in color helped Kamuka ward off those
obstacles, while Biff did some fancy piloting to keep
to the channel.</p>
<p>Then, as Biff veered from a new hazard in the
shape of a sandbank, he saw what he had feared most.
Human figures rose from the tall grass beyond the
sandy shoal and aimed rifles directly at the swift-moving
boat and the boys who manned it.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_171">171</div>
<p>They were Serbot’s reserves, Biff realized, stationed
here to block the flotilla if it came down the rapids,
and Biff was sure he saw the gleaming face of Urubu
in the midst of the group. Urubu was finding it an
easy task with only a single <i>monteria</i> coming his way.
He waved his hand as a signal to fire.</p>
<p>As the rifles barked, Biff gunned the motor, adding
enough speed to carry the boat from the path of fire.
But Urubu’s crew was aiming again, this time at
point-blank range. Fortunately their fire never
came. The tall grass stirred behind them, and from
it sprang Igo, Ubi, and the rest of Nara’s Indians.</p>
<p>The Wai Wais had been stalking Urubu’s riflemen
to the edge of the sandbank. The first blast of gunfire
had given away the position of Urubu’s men.
Now, the Wai Wais were engulfing them like a human
tidal wave, while Biff and Kamuka resumed their
battle with the rapids, keeping the big, clumsy boat
clear of the rocks and sand.</p>
<p>Finally, the water subsided, and they were chugging
peacefully down the river past the little settlement
of Puerto Carreno and a great jutting point of
sand where the Meta River flowed in from the left
to join the Orinoco.</p>
<p>Kamuka waved his paddle and pointed ahead.
Moored well away from the channel was a sleek
white craft that could only be Mr. Stannart’s yacht,
the <i>Coronet</i>. Though small, it had a trim build that
marked it seaworthy, capable of braving the Caribbean,
yet also suited to river travel.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_172">172</div>
<p>Smiling men in trim uniforms appeared on deck
as Biff maneuvered the <i>monteria</i> alongside the yacht.
The boys made their boat fast and clambered up a
rope ladder to find Mr. Stannart coming from his
cabin to greet them. Biff introduced Kamuka, then
started to pour out his story in one breath:</p>
<p>“Dad’s upriver in a lot of trouble. Old Joe Nara is
somewhere along the rapids. But we’ve brought the
gold ore from the mine, down there in the boat—”</p>
<p>Mr. Stannart smilingly interrupted with a wave
toward the cabin as he suggested:</p>
<p>“Step in there and tell me all about it. I have a
friend who would like to hear it too. You will agree
when you meet him—”</p>
<p>The boys entered the compact cabin, then stopped
short in amazement. Mr. Stannart’s friend was smiling,
too, but in a way that was anything but pleasant.
For both Biff and Kamuka had seen that fixed smile
before.</p>
<p>The man who awaited them in the cabin was Nicholas
Serbot!</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_173">173</div>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />