The Adventures of Piang the Moro Jungle Boy | Page 9

water, dashing in his face,
kept him blinking and gasping, and still that wild thing pawed and
snorted. Fascinated, Piang gazed into the vicious, bleary eyes, and
finally he realized that they were losing some of their fury; the tusks
sank into the spongy earth; the head fell lower. The babui was a
prisoner, pinioned to the ground by a fallen tree! Relief was Piang's
first sensation, but pity for the animal and fear for himself, roused him
to the realization of new dangers yet to be faced. He must plunge into
the dense jungle; it was only a short distance now. He glanced back to
be sure that the babui could not free itself; it was swaying and moaning,
unable to move.
As Piang paused to get his directions, the earth gave a tremendous jerk,
which threw him on his face. He lay stunned for a few minutes and
when he rose to his knees, he had the sensation of floating gently,
softly. The jerking and trembling had ceased, and the ground swayed
soothingly. Piang turned toward the jungle, to the spot where he had
been about to step. Could he believe his eyes? Almost numb with terror,
he gazed stupidly into the receding jungle. He was on land, but he was
floating. He was sailing away from the jungle! Piang had taken refuge
on a floating island.
In despair he gazed about him, trying to penetrate the thickly driving

rain. He was on the very edge of the island and he wondered why he
had not been swept into the lake. The mass of vegetation, wrenched
from its bed, trailed along in the water as the nomad island whirled and
danced on the angry waves. A tree, the branches of which were hanging
in the water, was pulled from its bed, dragging part of the island with it.
One long vine struggled to right itself against the current, to gain the
shelter of the island again. It seemed most lifelike, and suddenly Piang
realized with a shudder that it was alive. A python had been knocked
from the falling tree and was being dragged along. Only the end of its
tail was twined about a log; desperately it strove to work its way back,
and Piang watched with dread. Its struggles grew weaker and weaker,
and finally its head sank below the waves, and it joined the unresisting
creepers that were being dragged along to destruction.
Piang leaned wearily against the only tree that remained standing; the
fall of water, tearing down the trunk, cascaded over the jungle boy, and
he raised his hand to shield his eyes. What had saved the solitary tree,
Piang could not imagine, until he discovered a small diamond-shaped
cut in the bark. He drew back with a shudder. Two crossed arrows were
carved within the diamond. This was another Dyak custom so hateful to
the Mohammedan; the tree was the sarcophagus of some Borneo chief.
A century must have passed since the burial, for the incision was
almost obliterated, but Piang knew that the mummy of his enemy
reposed in savage dignity within the heart of the tree, and that the Dyak
belief was that the tree could not fall or decay. He fought his way to the
other side of the island. On it sped. Cries of frightened animals came
faintly from the mainland; screams of birds, beaten to earth, pierced the
din.
A tremor ran through the island. There was a tearing sound as if strong
timbers were being forced apart; the whole mass stood still, then came
a tremendous crash. It had collided with the fleet that Piang had been
sporting with only an hour before. Surely the stray bits of jungle would
crush each other to bits. A gray streak flew past Piang, and a frightened
monkey, thinking to save itself from the other derelict, nearly landed on
the babui. Paying no attention to either the boy or the babui, the
monkey shrank against a log and hid its head, whining piteously.

A pale light broke through the gloom, and the rain ceased as suddenly
as it had come. Piang's heart gave a bound as he watched the tempest
abate. Suddenly he straightened himself and strained his ears to catch a
new sound. What was that deep, distant rumbling? A cry so piteous
broke from him, that even the dying babui started. The falls! He could
hear them distinctly and realized that he was rushing toward them at a
mad pace. Louder and clearer grew the thunder of those falls, and
Piang's staunch little heart rebelled. He would not stand there like a
Dyak prisoner! He would do something. He would save himself! A
blazing flash rent the heavens and Piang caught sight of Ganassi Peak
frowning and lowering in