THE BOY EXPLORERS IN DARKEST NEW GUINEA [Illustration] [Illustration: [See page 205 ALL THE GENEROUS INSTINCTS OF YOUTH ROSE UP IN HIM AT THE SIGHT, AND WITHOUT THINKING FURTHER HE RAISED HIS PISTOL AND FIRED AT THE NEAREST PYGMY] _THE BOY EXPLORERS SERIES_ THE BOY EXPLORERS IN DARKEST NEW GUINEA BY WARREN H. MILLER _With Illustrations by_ FRANK SPRADLING [Illustration] HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON THE BOY EXPLORERS IN DARKEST NEW GUINEA Copyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. ARU 1 II. INTO THE JUNGLE 22 III. PIRATE VISITATIONS 42 IV. NICKY ENCOUNTERS A DEATH ADDER 65 V. THE OUTANATAS 83 VI. THE CURATOR’S AIR PISTOL 98 VII. CASSOWARY CAMP 116 VIII. PYGMY LAND 136 IX. THE FIGHT AT THE CRATER 160 X. CINNABAR MOUNTAIN 177 XI. THE FLIGHT TO THE COAST 198 XII. THE ESCAPE TO ARU 219 ILLUSTRATIONS ALL THE GENEROUS INSTINCTS OF YOUTH ROSE UP IN HIM AT THE SIGHT, AND WITHOUT THINKING FURTHER HE RAISED HIS PISTOL AND FIRED AT THE NEAREST PYGMY _Frontispiece_ THE WAY LED BACK THROUGH THE SAME TRAIL THE NATIVES HAD COME UP ON, THE JUNGLE PATH WORKING GRADUALLY DOWNWARD TO THE LAGOON _Facing p._ 96 THEN A SHIVER WENT THROUGH THE BIRD, ITS EYES FLUTTERED CLOSED, AND THE GRIP OF ITS BILL LOOSENED, WHILE THE BOY TUGGED HIMSELF FREE ” 132 THE PISTOLS BARKED IN UNISON WITH THE HIGH-PITCHED YELL THAT THE MAN LET OUT ” 226 THE BOY EXPLORERS IN DARKEST NEW GUINEA THE BOY EXPLORERS IN DARKEST NEW GUINEA I ARU “Land ho! fellows--yonder to the east. Can you make it out?” The two youths beside the tall man who had spoken shaded their eyes from the tropical glare and searched the cloud banks on the horizon of the blue Banda Sea. “I think I see it, sir,” said Dwight. “Part of those clouds seem to have faint white lines in them.” “I see it!” exclaimed Nicky, peering through his glasses. “It’s developing out like a camera plate--high, jungly mountains that seem to be floating in the clouds. I see dark spaces now, with streaks of sunlight edging the outlines of the hills. Hurrah for Aru!” “That’s not Aru; that’s Ke’,” returned the man. “Aru is too low and flat to be seen yet. It lies to the east of Ke’. Our bungalow is on Kobror, the southernmost of the Aru Islands; we ought to pass the port of Dobbo in a few hours.”