What had become of Joe, while his master was thus
vainly seeking for him?
When he had dashed headlong into the lake, his first
movement on coming to the surface was to raise his eyes
and look upward. He saw the Victoria already risen far
above the water, still rapidly ascending and growing
smaller and smaller. It was soon caught in a rapid current
and disappeared to the northward. His master--both
his friends were saved!
"How lucky it was," thought he, "that I had that
idea to throw myself out into the lake! Mr. Kennedy
would soon have jumped at it, and he would not have
hesitated to do as I did, for nothing's more natural than
for one man to give himself up to save two others. That's
mathematics!"
Satisfied on this point, Joe began to think of himself. He was in the middle of a vast lake, surrounded by tribes unknown to him, and probably ferocious. All the greater reason why he should get out of the scrape by depending only on himself. And so he gave himself no farther concern about it.
Before the attack by the birds of prey, which, according
to him, had behaved like real condors, he had noticed
an island on the horizon, and determining to reach it, if
possible, he put forth all his knowledge and skill in the art
of swimming, after having relieved himself of the most
troublesome part of his clothing. The idea of a stretch
of five or six miles by no means disconcerted him; and
therefore, so long as he was in the open lake, he thought
only of striking out straight ahead and manfully.
In about an hour and a half the distance between him
and the island had greatly diminished.
But as he approached the land, a thought, at first fleeting
and then tenacious, arose in his mind. He knew that
the shores of the lake were frequented by huge alligators, and was well aware of the voracity of those monsters.
Now, no matter how much he was inclined to find
every thing in this world quite natural, the worthy fellow
was no little disturbed by this reflection. He feared greatly
lest white flesh like his might be particularly acceptable
to the dreaded brutes, and advanced only with extreme
precaution, his eyes on the alert on both sides and all
around him. At length, he was not more than one hundred
yards from a bank, covered with green trees, when
a puff of air strongly impregnated with a musky odor
reached him.
"There!" said he to himself, "just what I expected. The crocodile isn't far off!"
With this he dived swiftly, but not sufficiently so to
avoid coming into contact with an enormous body, the
scaly surface of which scratched him as he passed. He
thought himself lost and swam with desperate energy. Then he rose again to the top of the water, took breath and dived once more. Thus passed a few minutes of unspeakable anguish, which all his philosophy could not overcome, for he thought, all the while, that he heard behind him the sound of those huge jaws ready to snap him up forever. In this state of mind he was striking out under the water as noiselessly as possible when he felt himself seized by the arm and then by the waist.
Poor Joe! he gave one last thought to his master; and
began to struggle with all the energy of despair, feeling
himself the while drawn along, but not toward the bottom
of the lake, as is the habit of the crocodile when about to
devour its prey, but toward the surface.
So soon as he could get breath and look around him, he saw that he was between two natives as black as ebony, who held him, with a firm gripe, and uttered strange cries.
"Ha!" said Joe, "blacks instead of crocodiles! Well, I prefer it as it is; but how in the mischief dare these fellows go in bathing in such places?"
Joe was not aware that the inhabitants of the islands
of Lake Tchad, like many other negro tribes, plunge with
impunity into sheets of water infested with crocodiles and
caymans, and without troubling their heads about them. The amphibious denizens of this lake enjoy the well-deserved reputation of being quite inoffensive.
But had not Joe escaped one peril only to fall into
another? That was a question which he left events to
decide; and, since he could not do otherwise, he allowed
himself to be conducted to the shore without manifesting
any alarm.