BIGGLES IN THE JUNGLE

by Captain W. E. Johns

XVII. UNEXPECTED MEETINGS (Pages 180 - 191)

“Eddie was a long time recovering from his fall, for only on the screen do people who have been stunned by a blow on the head recover in a few seconds”. After he slowly recovers consciousness, Algy and Ginger help him make their way through the underground cavern. They then find the floor is soft and they have to carefully cross a bog, but they find stepping stones just under the surface. Water has collected from the walls in a sort of basin in the rock and they drink greedily out of their cupped hands. Passing the bog, they continue down the cave but see a broad dark moving shadow. “It seemed to dart forward a little way, then pause, then come on again”. Ginger notices a ghostly grey glow and they turn up a side turning and recognise daylight. There is a narrow crack in the rock, but not enough to get through. Ginger looks behind and is confronted by tarantulas. (A gasp of horror broke from his lips when he saw the tarantulas – is the illustration on page 185). Algy throws himself against the rock, near the crack and to his astonishment it gives way and he tumbles out and down towards the fearful void. Algy is able to stop himself just as he reaches the stairway. Ginger and Eddie follow and see the King of the Jungle coming down the steps. The Tiger appears to be unarmed and behind him come a yelling hoard of Indians. Of course, Algy, Ginger and Eddie don’t know what has happened on the plateau, so they don’t know that the Indians are chasing the Tiger, they think they are with him. The Tiger then, with a cat-like leap, jumps up to a unseen narrow ledge above the path and starts to make his way to the hole from which the comrades had just emerged. Algy shouts a warning, but the Tiger disappears into the hole and then comes out moments later covered in spiders. He loses his balance and falls, landing head first on the stairway amid a shower of rocks, unconscious. Ginger looks up and sees a white man in spotless ducks on the stairs and realises it is Carruthers who tells them “It’s all over”. They go slowly up the steps and by the time they reach the top, Biggles is standing there. The Tiger is carried up unconscious by the former slaves. Biggles wants the map but Ginger tells him there is no need, they have already found the treasure. “The rest of the story is soon told”. They return to the underground chamber and use crowbars from the tool-store to force the idol covered door open. The treasure is bought out into the open where Carruthers officially takes possession of it in the name of the Crown. “It was a wonderful find, for many of the objects were unique examples of the craftsmanship of the early inhabitants of tropical America, and as such were likely to bring high prices from collectors of such things. As a matter of detail, most of the pieces later found their way into museums, the comrades, including Eddie, receiving a fair percentage in cash of the total sum they produced. The treasure is transported back to Belize and our heroes stay for an official enquiry which "exonerated them from all blame in connection with the deaths of the leading conspirators, and unofficially congratulated them on their work in putting an end to a menace that had long been a scandal in the colony". The Tiger was in prison, awaiting trial on several charges of murder, evidence of which had come from the former slaves. When Biggles, Algy and Ginger came to leave the colony, they had little doubt as to what his fate would be. Eddie returned to the United States. Dusky was given a responsible position in the native police. “Then, as there was no reason for them to stay, they climbed once more into the Wanderer and continued their interrupted pleasure cruise, well satisfied with the result of their call at the little outpost of the Empire”.