As the boys passed out on deck, the barking of a dog came from up the river. There was no mistaking the voice. It was Captain Joe, and he was deploring the absence of his floating home. Case smiled happily at the sound, and then his face grew serious, for gunshots followed the echo of the dog's voice.
Case hastened to put the _Rambler_ under motion, and, with Fontenelle and Howard still on board, headed her into the current. At a signal from Fontenelle, the launch _Cartier_ drew up her anchor and followed.
To Captain Joe's vicious barking was now added the surly voice of the bear cub, so the boys knew that the animals were not far away. In fact, as they paused to investigate the ugly nose of the bulldog was pushed through the curtain of shrubbery at the edge of the stream, and Teddy leaped snarling into the water.
Fontenelle greeted the approach of the animals to the boat with shouts of laughter. Even in their haste to reach the boat, the animals could not avoid snapping and striking at each other, playfully. No more shots were heard, but presently a great tramping in the undergrowth came at the point where Joe and Teddy had made their appearance, indicating human presence there. All on board the _Rambler_ anxiously awaited the appearance of those who were struggling in the jungle.
"Would the menagerie run away and leave the boys in captivity?" asked Fontenelle, as the bulldog and the bear cub were assisted, streaming, to the deck. "They seem to have had a long run."
"Indeed, they would not," replied Case. "If Clay and the others were tied up in the woods, Captain Joe and Teddy would be there with them. No, it is my opinion that it is Alex making all that racket in the brush. He's a noisy little chap, and particularly troublesome when hungry."
The next moment proved Case's reasoning to be correct, for the undergrowth parted again and the three boys appeared on the bank.
"Ship ahoy!" Alex shouted, wrinkling his freckled nose. "Do you want to take on passengers?"
"I hope," Case called back, "that you fellows haven't gone and lost the rowboat. And where is the two-foot fish you were going to bring for breakfast? I don't see it anywhere."
"Well," Jule called out, as the _Rambler_ edged toward the bank, "if we have lost a boat, you seem to have found one."