10 Gorilla Adventure by Willard Price Read Free Book Online Page B

hold.’
    Hal himself gripped the net near the upper end of the two-headed monster. Other men, encouraged by his example, hesitantly stepped forward and slipped their fingers through the stout meshes of the net. There was no room for more than ten men, five on each side.
    Hal, whose scientific mind reduced facts to figures whenever possible, estimated that this number of hands would be enough. The gorilla must weigh five hundred pounds or more, and the snake added another two hundred. That made seven hundred pounds, or seventy for each of ten men. That shouldn’t be too much for anyone.
    And yet it was not easy, for both animals began to struggle when they were tipped to a horizontal position and carried towards the camp. The snake released the gorilla’s shoulder and tried to get at Hal but was baffled by the net. Hal examined the ape’s shoulder and was glad to find that the heavy hair and tough hide had resisted the sharp teeth of the python. A bite that would have sunk an inch deep in a human shoulder had not even drawn blood. He could not believe his good luck. Two of the animals
    they had most wanted were in that net. They had not been so much as scratched in the taking. They were both perfect specimens, and the snake was super-perfect. A white python was as rare as a snow-ball in a hot place.
    The men who were not occupied as bearers were chattering in Swahili and looking at Roger. He could understand only enough of what they were saying to know that it wasn’t bad. Suddenly they seized him, hoisted him to their shoulders and bore him along in triumph.
    ‘Let me down,’ he demanded, but for once they refused to obey him. They did not set down the much embarrassed boy until they reached the trucks.
    Under Hal’s orders, a large cage on one of the trucks was opened and to Roger’s great surprise, both animals were placed inside.
    ‘Surely not both in one cage,’ he objected.
    ‘Why not?’ Hal said. ‘They’ll be company for each other.’
    ‘They’ll fight and one of them will be killed.’
    ‘No, I don’t think so. You’ve already seen that the python can’t do a thing to the gorilla. And when a gorilla isn’t defending its family it’s generally good-natured. I think they’ll actually need each other.’
    ‘Need each other, my eye! What do a snake and an ape have in common?’
    ‘Companionship,’ Hal said. ‘A solitary gorilla is apt to die of lonesomeness. That’s why there are only thirteen mountain gorillas in all the zoos of the world. They must have something to interest them. The best thing would be another gorilla, and perhaps we’ll get one. But until we do, the python may be enough to keep her interested.’
    ‘Her?’
    ‘Yes. They’re both ladies. And we’ll have to treat them as ladies should be treated. The first thing is to get them out of that net.’
    He climbed into the cage and let down the door, shutting himself in with his two visitors, either one of which was quite capable of hugging him to death.
    He took out his bush knife and slit the heavy strands of the net from top to bottom and got out again before the animals realized they were no longer bound. They disentangled themselves slowly. There was nothing to excite or disturb them, except that they were in unfamiliar surroundings. The gorilla retreated to one corner and the snake to another and each pretended to be completely uninterested in the other.
    ‘It will take them a little time to get used to being roommates,’ Hal said.
    The two watched each other suspiciously, but without fear. The snake was not afraid of the gorilla. Gorillas do not eat snakes but dine on fruit, bark, bamboo shoots, and herbs. The gorilla was not afraid of the snake. The python’s coils that could squeeze the life out of a lion were not strong enough to crush the great ape’s chest.
    There was no reason, Hal thought, why they should not get along together.
    Discussing the matter at bedtime, the brothers agreed it had been a great day.