The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-10-12
A TIMELY SHOT.
A Boys Adventure in the Wilds
of Africa.


of Africa
The anxiety and distress of Ralph
'ampbell, n youthful masters mate
rom the survey gun ship Petrol, were
beyond description when. on awaken
,u~ one morning in his guar;crs-an
African hut on Il bank of the Senegal
river. up which he had been sent
long distance on government business
he discovered that his little brother,
Frank. was missing
Frank was a bright. clever boy of
twelve. who had accompanied his
brother from the ship. which was
anchored outside the bar. He WAS the
captains nephew. and was a general
pct and favorite aboard the vessel.
where he had been receiving instruc-
tons To lit hlm for naval duties.
Ralph. who now had all his cutters
rev looking for the lost lad. worried
much over the pcrils to which the lit
lie fellow might be exposed from
venomous serpents and wild beasts
At length, while searching in the
thick shrubbery on the rivers bank,
he youth reached Il cove where, on
ic night before. he had left a small
..auoe which he had bought OF one OF
the natives.
lie had intended to use it for navi-
rating some of the shallow creeks
further up the river, as the cutter he
had charge of was too deep and wide
for that purpose. Startled To perceive
that the canoe was missing, a suspi-
cion of the truth broke all at once
upon his mind.
lie remembered having remarked to
Il sailor. in FRANKS hearing, that the
little craft must be brought up and
made fast to the latter the first thing
N the morning. The boy, eager To
please his brother had probably risen
and gone, before any of the rest of the
party were awake, to fetch the canoe,
but if so, what had become of him?
Ralph, shuddering, thought of the hid
eOus crOcodiles that infested this river,
while he vainly scanned 1t for some
sign of the lad.
Then, having resolved not to wait
for the return of his men, but to take
the cutter and go off alone in search
of his lost brother, he hurried back to
the bank in front of the hut, along
side of which the boat lay.
This boat was a light, swift one,
which could be easily sculled by an
oar. There was small, loaded swivel
ready for use, fixed in the bow, but its
weight would not interfere with the
speed of the craft.
The young officer was soon vlgor-
ously sculling the vessel on its way,
going with the tide, as he thought
that Frank would have been apt to take
this course. Past lofty elevations Gov
cred with shrubbery and flowers glided
the cutter, often shadOwed by the far
extending branches of huge baobab
trees that formed broad green arches
.tbovc it.
1t had rounded a peninsula full of
bloom and foliage, when the watchful
youth saw ahead of him an over
turned, broken canoe. He soon reached
it. and. by the peculiar carving on
the bow, he recognized it as the miss
ing canoe.
1t had been partly crushed-most
likely. he thought, by the teeth OF
crocodile
In dismay, he pulled Franks little
cap from Il Jagged projection of the
broken wood on which it was caught
The dreadful truth forced itself on his
mind.
The lad had been pursued by the
monster that had destroyed the canoe.
Had he already met his fate? The
Young officer tried to shake OFF his dcs-
pondency-to hope, in spite of appear
auces. that his brother might, in some
way. have escaped and still be alive
lie looked toward the peninsula
rom which the canoe seemed to have
irifted. This peninsula, consisting of
Two high, rojecting banks composed
Of soft rock and earth, opposite each
other, about fifteen feet apart, was
rooted by the branches of slender
frees that tlourished in wild IuXuriance
IN both banks
The trunks of these trees slanted so
that their boughs interTninglcd and
were so thicllly interwoven with vines
that they formed a dense canopy OF
.aves and blossoms over the open
pace beneath, which thus resembled a
sort of long water cavern
Ralph directed the cutter to this
cavern, and. looking through the green
archway into the partial obscurity be-
! vord, he bchcld a sight well calculated
to arouse apprehension.
In the back part OF the cavern, lying
in a shallow, among sandbanks that
partially concealed it, was a large
crocodile. with its head raised and
thrown back and its horrible jaws wide
open. while its eyes were strained, as
if turned up toward some elevated
point
Gazing in the same direction, Ralph
was startled to see, about ten feet
above those hideous jaws, the form of
his little brother, lying, with pale face
and closed eyes, on the narrow shelf
of rock. The rock was under the
branches of slender trees, which rose
On each side of 1t from low banks on
the right and left, about two yards
from the elevation. One of the over
hanging branches, broken off, ex-
planned the boys situation.
He had evidently climbed the tree to
escape the crocodile, had crept out on
the slender branch, it had given way,
and he had fallen on the rock his
head striking it with force enough to
render him unconscious. There he
now lay, so perilouSly near the edge
of the rocl1-shelf that the slightest
movement on his part would cause him
to roll off and fall into the jaws of
the monster below. AS he was proba-
bly, but temporarily stunned, he was