XVI. THE BATTLE IN THE JUNGLE 191 XVII. THE TERROR OF THE ISLAND 203 XVIII. WHEN THE WATER RAN HIGH 216 XIX. THE BROWN MEN OF THE JUNGLE 229 XX. THE DRIFTING ENDS 242 ILLUSTRATIONS New cuts were made in the trees for the next day’s supply _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE A huge silvery form ... leaped out of the water, rolled and wallowed convulsively, and sank from sight 74 He delivered thrust after thrust with his right at the vulnerable neck and throat 150 Again facing toward the ... white men ... he grasped the arrow in both hands, snapped the shaft in two ... and threw the pieces into the river 232 ADRIFT ON THE AMAZON CHAPTER I FIGHTING JONES To David’s friends he was commonly known as “Fighting Jones”; but this name carried nothing of discredit with it; for, though the title had been earned by the not infrequent use of two good fists, the encounters had always been occasioned by a righteous cause--in protection of someone who was unable to defend his or her own interest. The trouble was that the one higher up, the final authority as it were, had always decided against him. Sometimes words of sympathy, even approbation, had softened the rebuke that invariably followed each altercation; but in the final summing up he had never escaped the penalty. David was downcast. It seemed as if the bottom had dropped out of everything. And as he mentally reviewed the events of the past ten minutes and speculated upon their consequences he knew that at last he had reached the very end of his tether. He had arrived at the parting of the ways; a break was plainly in sight; and at last he meant to assert himself. His determined nature began to show itself so long ago as David could remember and probably before that. But he could recall the first difficulty in the kindergarten when one of the older and larger boys took advantage of his small size to deprive him of some cherished plaything. He never forgot that fight, nor the punishment he received at the hand of a stern father.