Such risks were due to great speed, but there were occasions when in this very speed lay safety from disaster. One day, having a longer holiday than usual, Will ran down nearly to the mouth of the Orinoco. While going easy at some twenty knots he saw what looked like a bank of water stretching right across the river ahead of him. It did not need a second glance for him to recognize that a tidal wave was sweeping up the river, and threatening to engulf him within a few moments. Before he could bring the hydroplane round, the mass of water, moving at tremendous speed, was almost upon him. He had perhaps five seconds to spare, and drove the hydroplane at its hardest. For a moment it seemed to him that the issue hung in doubt, a very unpleasant moment, as he afterwards confessed. Then the vessel began to draw away, and the immediate danger was over. But for ten or fifteen miles he thought it wise to keep a respectful distance between himself and the tidal wave, which followed him, although at a gradually diminishing speed. Since then he had avoided the Orinoco itself, and limited his excursions to the tributaries within easy distance of the advancing railway.
We left Will on the bank of the river, the Indian before him, the dead jaguar at his feet. The Indian glanced at his rescuer with a timid, hunted look; then, as if reassured, began to thank him in harsh imperfect Spanish. Will had perceived at once that the man was not one of the workers on the railway.
The hunted look returned to the man's eyes. He glanced nervously up and down the river, and towards the opposite bank. Lifting his hand, he described a half-circle with it in the air.
"But where is your home?" Will asked again.
"I have no home, señor," muttered the Indian. "It was burnt with fire."
The man hesitated, then mumbled something which Will failed to catch. Evidently he was suspicious, and did not wish to be communicative. Will noticed scars on the upper part of his body; and from other slight indications, as well as the man's manifest nervousness, guessed that he was a fugitive.
"Well, you had better go," he said, "and keep out of the way of tigers. Here, take this beast if it's any good to you."
"It is yours, señor," said the man, surprised.