BIGGLES IN THE JUNGLE

by Captain W. E. Johns

III. DUSKY TELL HIS STORY AND GINGER LEARNS A LESSON (Pages 28 - 37) (ON THE TOP OF THE PAGES OF THE CHAPTER IT IS CALLED ‘DUSTY TELLS HIS STORY’)

Biggles says Dusky’s wound is nothing serious. “The bullet went right through, so we haven’t got to extract it. Luckily it missed the bone. The flesh looks clean enough, so it should heal in a few days”. “In making this statement Biggles did not allow for the astonishing recuperative ability of a healthy native, and the wound actually healed at a speed that amazed him. Dusky, possibly because he was accustomed to pain and discomfort, treated it as a mere scratch”. Dusky talks in a pigeon English. When he talks of slavery and Biggles says that was done away with long ago, he is told "Not up dis ribber, massa - De Unknown Ribber" (Does everyone call it the unknown river?). Dusky explains the stranger was Cristoval Bogat. Dusky and his brothers were chicle-collectors who worked for themselves. They ran into Bogat’s men and his brothers were killed and he was captured - "Dey make me slabe" and after a year he escaped only to be chased and shot. Dusky explains that Bogat is “sorta right-hand man for de King of de Forest”, though he knows little about this King. “Dey call him de Tiger. He mighty big boss, and eberyone mighty afraid of him. He boss thousands of Indians and all sorts of men. Dey say he got town up the ribber”. Dusky says that after two white men came and spoke with the King, Dusky was made to go, with others, to a “big old spooky city” and dig for gold. That’s when he tried to escape with friends and they were shot. Dusky ran until he could run no longer. Biggles looked at the others. “This is a nice thing,” he muttered savagely. “These fellows were British subjects – or at least under British protection. It seems to me that it’s high time this self-appointed King of the Forest was shot out of his throne”. Biggles suggests returning to Carruthers to let him decide what they ought to do. In the end, they decide that Algy should fly back alone to tell Carruthers what they have learned and ask his advice. Against the protests of Dusky, who states that it is a most dangerous thing to do, Ginger goes exploring the jungle looking for butterflies, only to get lost. He uses a curtain of pink creepers as a landmark, only to find they are different flowers from the ones he had originally seen. It then begins to rain. Thick foliage overhead prevents light getting through and Ginger fires his revolver three times in the air. He hears answering shots and tries to head towards them. When he fires a single shot, he hears the answering report of a rifle but it sounds a great distance away. After another interval he fires again and hears no answering shot and by now it is quite dark. He brushes off a creature and is then stung on the neck by a wasp or ant, “he knew not what”. “For a minute or two he stood still, getting himself in hand, well aware that at all costs he must not give way to panic”. Eventually, on the border of delirium, he fires his last shot and it is answered by a shot nearby. Biggles arrives with a torch and Dusky hobbling on two sticks. Dusky takes them back to camp. Ginger has been “stung all over, and had been pricked by countless thorns” and Biggles put linament on his wounds. “I think you’d be wise to follow Dusky’s advice in future,” was all he said.e