Secrets of the Andes by James H. Foster

Secrets of the Andes by James H. Foster

Author:James H. Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620135686
Publisher: Duke Classics


Chapter XVI - Just in Time

*

"Let go!" cried Bob, in his excitement forgetting that the Indians could not understand English.

The group had completely surrounded the youths, and one man was holding tightly to Bob's camera.

The two chums knew that they had little chance against so many. But they fought doggedly to save the moving-picture machines, which were the only two they had.

With one supreme effort, Bob pushed the Indian nearest him to the ground and turned to find an opening in the crowd of natives.

But they were all about him, pushing and grabbing and striking to the best of their ability. It was plain that they were determined to take possession of the small boxes that the whites carried.

If it had not been for the necessity of holding onto the cameras, Bob and Joe could have put up a good fight, and perhaps driven the Indians away. But as it was they found themselves at a sore disadvantage.

"Help!" cried Joe, raising his voice to a shout. "Help! Help!"

Several seconds later a figure showed itself at the brink of the hill and came toward the fighting group.

"It's Dad!" Joe cried happily. "Now there'll be a fight!"

Mr. Lewis was soon joined by Mr. Holton and Karl Sutman. Like a flash the three grasped the meaning of the scuffle and rushed to the aid of the chums.

They dived headlong into the furious mob, using their fists to great advantage. One big fellow Mr. Lewis knocked flat on his back in a daze.

"Here, take my camera," directed Bob, speaking to Karl. "Run as fast as you can back to camp. I want to take a lick at some of these beggars."

Karl did as asked and dashed out of the mob for the tents. The last Bob saw of him he was rounding a bend and heading toward the monoplane.

Then Bob faced the man who had grabbed his camera.

"Take that!" the youth snarled, sending the Indian crashing to the ground.

The other natives, seeing that they were unable to hold their own against these whites, took to their heels and disappeared in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them.

"Well, we licked them." Mr. Lewis was panting for breath. His face was red from fatigue, his clothes torn and wrinkled.

And the others were no better off. They had put up a game fight, determined to drive away their enemies.

"What was their motive for attacking you?" inquired Mr. Holton, wiping his face with his handkerchief.

"Beyond us," Joe answered him. "We just looked at them and pointed our cameras at them—"

"Oh." Mr. Holton seemed to understand everything. "That's all you did, huh? Well, you did enough to excite their anger. Those natives are decidedly against having their pictures taken. They believe that any evil which might befall their pictures will come upon them later."

"So that was it?" Bob laughed. "Well, we'll know enough not to try the same thing again. Anyway, we got several feet of film exposed, and that's better than nothing."

The adventurers made their



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