Part 23 (1/2)

”Aas jest tryin' her to ht”

”Put it on!” snapped the lieutenant Another tiny click told him the order was obeyed

Out fro low to avoid hitting his head Others followed instantly, all ar tribesmen when Yuara and the rest reached it But none made a hostile move when it was seen that the son of the subchief was in coers seemed friendly

Yuara spoke, briefly but authoritatively, and the weapons sank Then, with a word to his three coh the doorway The other three remained where they were

”We shall have to wait now, comrades, until Yuara tells his father and the chief about us,” Lourenco said ”So let us take off our packs and rest”

He set the exa his pack, squatting beside it, and coolly rolling a cigarette Apparently he was paying no attention whatever to the savages, atched his everyat hi unconcern, the Brazilian bush rover was keenly watchful and that his gun lay within reach of his hand

From within the tribal house sounded thea moment Lourenco quietly addressed the nearest warrior

A slightly surprised looked passed over the cannibal's face He replied, and a slow conversation ensued

Meanwhile the others looked over the array of savage fighting men

Except for difference of stature, build, and expression, they were as like as brothers All were light skinned--hardly darker than the river-tanned whites theht-set eyes, with no hint of the slant often found a the Indians of the Amazon headwaters; and the cheek bones of all were fairly low Their average stature was a little under six feet, and most of them had an athletic symmetry of physique Their feet, McKay noticed, were small and shapely

All wore tall feather headdresses of parrot and s around the eyes, the streaks fron on their bodies And each wore in the cartilage of his nose a pair of s outward At another tiht have smiled at those nose feathers, which resembled odd mustaches; but as they studied the austere faces around them they found no occasion for ht of the weapons grasped in the strong hands of the warriors

Great bows and arrows, such as the hunters had borne, were supplely spears The clubs teruar teeth The spears were triple pronged, each prong ending in a saw-toothed araya bone and each bone darkened by the fatal wurali Frightful weapons they were--the one designed to smash skulls and tear out brains, the other to stab and poison at the sa, and the others observed that now the wild men stood more easily, their holds on their weapons loosened

”I have shown theo to visit the chief Monitaya as friend,” he explained ”They tell reat since last I saw him Another tribe which lost its chief and subchiefs by a swift sickness has joined his own, and he now rules two big _hter, and if he is friendly to us we have a good chance of success

Ah! here is Yuara”

The son of the subchief cah the doorway as he spoke, followed by an older man whose facial resemblance and ornaear was more elaborate than that of hisa brilliant feather dress, while a wide belt of green, blue, and black plumes encircled his hips Yuara himself had inserted feathers in his nose and donned a headband of tall parrot pluhters, and soer, fiercer ht which had not been there before

The olderthe line of new faces Then his gaze returned to McKay His mouth set and his countenance turned hard He spoke curtly to Yuara, who replied with one word After another long, unpleasant look at McKay, who stared coldly back at hirunted a feords and re-entered the house

Lourenco, nonplussed by the frigidity of the subchief where he had expected gratitude or at least hospitality, glanced questioningly at Yuara But the young ht ahead

”The subchief says we shall enter and see the chief We uns outside”

”Don't like that,” ly”

”But we ht, Capitao Besides, our rifles would be useless inside, as they would be instantly seized if we lifted them

So let us make the best of it But I think you can carry your pistols with you; they are covered by the holsters, and I do not believe these people knohat they are And since Rana spoke only of guns, ill keep our machetes Come”

”Wait a second”

McKay dived a hand into his haversack and brought forth a heavy hunting knife with a gaudy red-and-white bone handle, sheathed and attached to a leather belt