A Thousand Miles an Hour by Herbert Strang

A Thousand Miles an Hour - A Tale by Herbert Strang.

A Thousand Miles an Hour Excerpt:
The little tent in which he spent the nights with Pedro had been pitched on a rocky bluff a few yards above the level of the river. Juan and the Indian crews were camped a short distance away. Below them the three canoes were moored to trees on the bank. On both sides stretched the forest-not such immense trees as Derrick had admired lower down, but trees which, though smaller, grew more closely together, and were thickly festooned with creepers and climbing plants. At this point the stream was about two hundred yards broad. The opposite bank also was densely wooded; whichever way he looked Derrick's eyes met nothing but sluggish muddy water, green vegetation dotted with bright spots of colour, and the heavy grey sky above.

While he and Pedro waited for their supper, a sudden jabbering broke out among the Indians beyond the bluff. Presently they came running up, their leader holding something in his outstretched hand. He halted in front of the two young men and began to pour out a torrent of shrill discordant cries, to Derrick incomprehensible.

Herbert Strang was the pseudonym of two English authors, George Herbert Ely and Charles James L'Estrange. They specialized in writing adventure stories for boys. Ely and L'Estrange have been classified as "popular writers of imperial fiction" and "successors of G. A. Henty...."