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With Rokoff away from the steamer it might be possible that by offering those in
charge a large reward they could be induced to carry her to the nearest civilized
port. It was worth risking--if she could make the steamer at all.
The current was bearing her swiftly down the river, and she found that only by
dint of the utmost exertion could she direct the awkward craft toward the vicinity
of the Kincaid. Having reached the decision to board the steamer, she now
looked to it for aid, but to her surprise the decks appeared to be empty and she
saw no sign of life aboard the ship.
The dugout was drawing closer and closer to the bow of the vessel, and yet no
hail came over the side from any lookout aboard. In a moment more, Jane
realized, she would be swept beyond the steamer, and then, unless they lowered a
boat to rescue her, she would be carried far out to sea by the current and the
swift ebb tide that was running.
The young woman called loudly for assistance, but there was no reply other than
the shrill scream of some savage beast upon the jungle-shrouded shore.
Frantically Jane wielded the paddle in an effort to carry her craft close alongside
the steamer.
For a moment it seemed that she should miss her goal by but a few feet, but at
the last moment the canoe swung close beneath the steamer's bow and Jane
barely managed to grasp the anchor chain.
Heroically she clung to the heavy iron links, almost dragged from the canoe by
the strain of the current upon her craft. Beyond her she saw a monkey-ladder
dangling over the steamer's side. To release her hold upon the chain and chance
clambering to the ladder as her canoe was swept beneath it seemed beyond the
pale of possibility, yet to remain clinging to the anchor chain appeared equally as
futile.
Finally her glance chanced to fall upon the rope in the bow of the dugout, and,
making one end of this fast to the chain, she succeeded in drifting the canoe
slowly down until it lay directly beneath the ladder. A moment later, her rifle
slung about her shoulders, she had clambered safely to the deserted deck.
Her first task was to explore the ship, and this she did, her rifle ready for instant
use should she meet with any human menace aboard the Kincaid. She was not
long in discovering the cause of the apparently deserted condition of the steamer,
for in the forecastle she found the sailors, who had evidently been left to guard
the ship, deep in drunken slumber.
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