“And a man, too?” asked Ned.
“Well a man has hands with which to use weapons, but a helpless quadruped has not. Though if a sufficient number of these bats attacked a man at the same time, he would have small chance to escape alive. Their bites, too, may be poisonous for all I know.”
The Indians seemed glad to leave the “place of the bats,” as they called the camp site. Jacinto explained that the Indians believed a vampire could kill them while they slept, and they were very much afraid of the blood-sucking bats. There were many other species in the tropics, Professor Bumper explained, most of which lived on fruit or on insects they caught. The blood-sucking bats were comparatively few, and the migratory sort fewer still.
“Well, we’re on our way once more,” remarked Tom as again they were in the canoes being paddled up the river. “How much longer does your water trip take, Professor?”
“I hardly know,” and Professor Bumper looked to Jacinto to answer.
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“We go two more days in the canoes,” the guide answered, “and then we shall find the mules waiting for us at a place called Hidjio. From then on we travel by land until — well until you get to the place where you are going.
“I suppose you know where it is?” he added, nodding toward the professor. “I am leaving that part to you.”
“Oh, I have a map, showing where I want to begin some excavations,” was the answer. “We must first go to Copan and see what arrangements we can make for laborers. After that — well, we shall trust to luck for what we shall find.”