Chapter 26 Summary

Father says he has saved everyone's life and demands to know what they are going to do to repay him. Fox completely ignores the fact that he got the family in this predicament. He insists that downstream "it's a toilet." Even Mother suggests they take their chances on the coast. Instead, the family travels up the river. Jerry and Charlie work in the bow of the boat, sounding the river for shallows and watching for rocks. They travel in silence except for the outboard motor. The noisy Evinrude frightens all of the jungle creatures into silence. When they pass Zambu or Miskito men in kayaks traveling downstream, Father insists the men are doomed.

When Father is not listening, Jerry says that one day he will take the dugout and let the current carry him downstream. The twins tell Father, and he forces Jerry...