Part 19 (2/2)
”Be thankful you did not That bullettheir puzzled expressions a moment he continued
”We are nearer to a Mayoruna _ht Not the one I intended to seek, but a smaller one It is about three days' journey froh the bush The man who left this arrow here to-day is fro, and he has not returned So this young savage and three of his con of hi in a different direction, agreeing to ht at a place less than half a day's journey fro this creek, knowing his brother would hardly go beyond the water He spied our canoes, then sought the men who had come in them and found you
”He watched you for some time, and if you had not rushed at hi you, for he was alone and he saw your guns But when you, Capitao, suddenly leaped at hih to send an arrow at you After that he dodged out of sight and ran to the ca about you”
”Great guns! You chaps are wizards!” cried Knowlton ”How do you know all this?”
”Because wehard, and we heard him, so we blocked him After we convinced him that ere friendly we talked for soue--and he told us about you He was sure you were enemies to hi brother, and he was going first to rejoin his co all their fighters against you It ell that we met him in time It ell, too, that you did not shoot him--or even shoot at him His companions would have learned of it, and then--death for us all”
”And nohat?”
”Now, coo to the _maloca_ of that man We meet him and the other three to-morrow at the place where we talked to hi to visit that other chief whoh he was at first suspicious of a trap, he finally agreed to lead us to his own chief So in thewe lanced at each other and nodded
”Luck's with us so far,” said the captain
”Right We justPretty soft! Wonder if they'll turn out the to He squinted again at the headless arrow, then inspected the breech bolt of his rifle
CHAPTER XIII
THE WAY OF THE JUNGLE
Dawn came, dismal, damp, and chill Moisture dripped drearily from the upper reaches, and under the dense canopy of leaves and lietherbushmen were scarcely visible to the North A; the noise of the aniht of a sullen smoky fire and oil-s theht fro a more solid meal than the Brazilians seemed to require, also rolled their blankets, hammocks, nets, and other paraphernalia; strapped the outfits into the army pack harnesses which they had transported for thousands of miles and never yet used; cra their sheathed uns; and announced theo
While the northerners uides slipped away for a time Pedro, on his return, announced that the canoes had been concealed Lourenco, bringing back the freshly filled canteens of the ex-ar orders of the day
”If you thirst, comrades, drink only from your canteens If the canteens fail, never fill the water unless the Indians also drink from the streah their water may be warm and stale, it is not likely to be poisoned, as the streams may be
”To-day, and every day after we meet the cannibals, h or sneer at the foes when angered Letht Then kill
”Above all, pay no attention to their woo I lead”
He turned and strode away into the fog as easily and surely as if cat-eyed and cat-footed Pedro swung nonchalantly after hi at their backstraps
The ghostly haze about theh the interstices overhead calow of a clear dawn
The whole sky evidently was overcast, and around the looh the shades and the dark shroud blurring the trunks, for his steady gait did not falter The little file hung close together, for all knew that any igantic colu direction abruptly when blocked by so ankle-deep in clinging h the wilderness Repeated glances at his coeneral trend of the march was southeast; but the impassable obstacles encountered at frequent intervals necessitated not only detours, but so