The Valiant Runaways [57]
other side."
Their utterance was thick. Their veins felt as if packed with lead, not
so much from need of food as need of drink. But they stumbled to their
feet and entered the cactus forest. They were obliged to pursue their
way in single file; the spikes were long, and many of the larger leaves
abutted so obstructively that they were obliged to go down on their
hands and knees and crawl. Nor could they maintain a straight course,
but zig-zagged among the great plants as nature permitted. More than
once they heard the rip of silk, more than once blood sprang through
their skin. Their progress was slow and fraught with peril, their only
consolation that the end must come sooner or later.
Night came suddenly. They were near an open a few feet in circumference.
They lay down side by side, knowing that a step at night might mean
instant blindness.
The cactus never moves, not even in a storm. There was not a breath of
wind to-night. The thick dull green plant-trees looked as solid as
stone, a petrified forest. The sky had never seemed so high above, the
stars so hard and bright.
Adan moistened his lips with his tongue. "Do you feel that you can last
another day?" he asked.
"I expect to die of old age."
"Well, if you do, it won't be the fault of the Mojave desert. You have
courage, and so have I; but this is worse than all--Do you feel that?"
"I have felt it many times before, to-day. It is said that parts of the
Mojave shake all the time."
"We can swear to that. Supposing a great shake came, how could we get
out of this?"
"We are as well here as anywhere. Let us sleep, and rise with the sun."
But although he spoke confidently, almost contemptuously, he was
possessed with a wild desire to spring to his feet and fight his way out
of this terrible prison. He had seen a huge fish flounder in a net, and
looked on callously. He should never witness such another sight without
a responsive thrill of horror. Were he paralysed from crown to heel he
could not be more helpless in this thicket of needles. The vast
unpeopled desert had been bad enough, but it had been intoxicating
liberty to this. Tired as he was, he moved his hands and feet
constantly; supineness was impossible. He wondered how men felt when in
prison, and vowed that when he held the law in his hands he would invent
some other way of punishment. For his part he would rather be shot at
once.
Being young and healthy, he fell asleep after a time. When he awoke the
sky was grey, the stars had gone. He shook Adan.
"There is no sunrise to be seen from this place," he said, "but I am
sure of the direction now. I took note of that big cactus ahead, last
night--Hist!"
"Dios de mi alma!" whispered Adan, his tongue rolling out. "In this
place! It is worse than earthquake."
Nothing was to be seen from where they stood, but from no great distance
came the faint hollow rattle which strikes terror to man in the
wilderness. The volume of sound was suddenly augmented: there appeared
to be a duet. Immediately it was supplemented by a loud furious hissing;
a moment later by a whirr and impact.
"There are two, and they are fighting," whispered Adan, his eyes
bulging.
Roldan advanced softly to an aperture between two leaves of a cactus,
then lifted his finger to his shoulder and beckoned. Adan turned
mechanically in the opposite direction; but curiosity overcame him, and
he joined Roldan.
Between two plants not three feet apart two rattlesnakes were engaged in
mortal combat. They coiled with incredible rapidity, flew at each other
with burning eyes and darting tongues, burying a fang somewhere in the
tense bristling armours. The lashing tails struck the spiked surface of
the cactus and augmented their fury; occasionally they whipped about,
hissing deliriously, then returning as swiftly to the only enemy in
sight. They had coiled and struck some four or five times, whipping all
over their narrow arena, when as if by common consent, they retreated to
extreme opposite points, coiled as lightning
Their utterance was thick. Their veins felt as if packed with lead, not
so much from need of food as need of drink. But they stumbled to their
feet and entered the cactus forest. They were obliged to pursue their
way in single file; the spikes were long, and many of the larger leaves
abutted so obstructively that they were obliged to go down on their
hands and knees and crawl. Nor could they maintain a straight course,
but zig-zagged among the great plants as nature permitted. More than
once they heard the rip of silk, more than once blood sprang through
their skin. Their progress was slow and fraught with peril, their only
consolation that the end must come sooner or later.
Night came suddenly. They were near an open a few feet in circumference.
They lay down side by side, knowing that a step at night might mean
instant blindness.
The cactus never moves, not even in a storm. There was not a breath of
wind to-night. The thick dull green plant-trees looked as solid as
stone, a petrified forest. The sky had never seemed so high above, the
stars so hard and bright.
Adan moistened his lips with his tongue. "Do you feel that you can last
another day?" he asked.
"I expect to die of old age."
"Well, if you do, it won't be the fault of the Mojave desert. You have
courage, and so have I; but this is worse than all--Do you feel that?"
"I have felt it many times before, to-day. It is said that parts of the
Mojave shake all the time."
"We can swear to that. Supposing a great shake came, how could we get
out of this?"
"We are as well here as anywhere. Let us sleep, and rise with the sun."
But although he spoke confidently, almost contemptuously, he was
possessed with a wild desire to spring to his feet and fight his way out
of this terrible prison. He had seen a huge fish flounder in a net, and
looked on callously. He should never witness such another sight without
a responsive thrill of horror. Were he paralysed from crown to heel he
could not be more helpless in this thicket of needles. The vast
unpeopled desert had been bad enough, but it had been intoxicating
liberty to this. Tired as he was, he moved his hands and feet
constantly; supineness was impossible. He wondered how men felt when in
prison, and vowed that when he held the law in his hands he would invent
some other way of punishment. For his part he would rather be shot at
once.
Being young and healthy, he fell asleep after a time. When he awoke the
sky was grey, the stars had gone. He shook Adan.
"There is no sunrise to be seen from this place," he said, "but I am
sure of the direction now. I took note of that big cactus ahead, last
night--Hist!"
"Dios de mi alma!" whispered Adan, his tongue rolling out. "In this
place! It is worse than earthquake."
Nothing was to be seen from where they stood, but from no great distance
came the faint hollow rattle which strikes terror to man in the
wilderness. The volume of sound was suddenly augmented: there appeared
to be a duet. Immediately it was supplemented by a loud furious hissing;
a moment later by a whirr and impact.
"There are two, and they are fighting," whispered Adan, his eyes
bulging.
Roldan advanced softly to an aperture between two leaves of a cactus,
then lifted his finger to his shoulder and beckoned. Adan turned
mechanically in the opposite direction; but curiosity overcame him, and
he joined Roldan.
Between two plants not three feet apart two rattlesnakes were engaged in
mortal combat. They coiled with incredible rapidity, flew at each other
with burning eyes and darting tongues, burying a fang somewhere in the
tense bristling armours. The lashing tails struck the spiked surface of
the cactus and augmented their fury; occasionally they whipped about,
hissing deliriously, then returning as swiftly to the only enemy in
sight. They had coiled and struck some four or five times, whipping all
over their narrow arena, when as if by common consent, they retreated to
extreme opposite points, coiled as lightning