Part 24 (2/2)
”Yeah,” grunted Ti to go through his right I want to hop to it, not set round in the shade o' the shelterin' paluys are heatin' up the stewpot This waitin' stuff gits , senhor, to pass the tiht-lipped suys I don't give a rip And while their ears are dazzled by it me holster unbottoned and me masheet kinder liht he ell, Pa-a-arley-voo!
He ium yell, Pa-a-arley-voo!
But the Yanks co he run like hell, Rinkydinky-parley-voo!”
Under cover of his outbreak, which led suspicion and a of pistols and machetes
”A noble sentirinned Knowlton
”But don't give them another spasm for a few minutes, or they may rise up and kill us all in self-defense They're on the ragged edge now”
”Aw, thein' But I should worry; I got ed past The Aed casual comments on subjects far removed from their present environilance, as if expecting a sudden break for life and liberty Their chief had intimated that Monitaya would kill these e death But neither the black-bearded McKay nor any of his htest concern And at last the canoe of Yuara came back
It came, however, without Yuara himself The son of Rana had remained at the _malocas_ ahead, whence he sent the command to advance Closely heed onward at a brisk pace Around a bend in the creek it went, and at once the do tribal houses, each considerably larger than the one of Suba, rose pompously in a wide cleared space beside the streaed in a semicircle, stood hundreds of Mayorunas-- the canoes of the newcomers In the center of the arc, like the hub of a hunity, four of them adorned with the ornate feather dresses of subchiefs, backed by a dozen tall, e war club Before all stood a powerful, irdle of squirrel tails, decked with necklaces of jaguar teeth and ebony nuts, crowned by plumes which in loftiness and splendor surpassed all other headgear present--the great chief Monitaya
At the shore, beside a row of e He ular landing place, and when they obeyed he gave coo,” stated Lourenco, rising ”You stay here until called Yuara has told his men to leave all weapons in the canoes”
He walked away after the son of Rana, and if anywas in his heart it did not show in his confident step Halting before the big chief, he began talking as coolly as if there were not the least doubt of welcon of recognition, of friendliness, or of enmity Proud, statuesque, he stoodon those of the Brazilian
”Sultry weather,” rereed Pedro, narrow eyed ”We shall soon knohether we shall have stor soon,” Knowlton contributed ”See those husky club? Looks as if a public execution were about to be pulled off”
”Yeah But say, ain't that chief a reg'lar he-h! No pot-bellied fathead like that there, now, Suby guy Hope I don't have to drill him I bet I won't, neither He looks like he had brains”
Hoping Tiress of the parley Lourenco evidently was stating his case in logical sequence, recalling to the chief's ainst the Peccaries of Peru, then going on to tell of the arrival of the strangers and the object of their search Yuara's sudden, quick glance at him showed that the Raposa had been mentioned for the first tihtly sullen, and the watchers guessed that Lourenco was now referring in somewhat uncomplimentary terms to the treatment received in the _maloca_ of Suba Soon after that the Brazilian ended his speech
In a deep, quiet tone Monitaya spoke first to Lourenco, then to one of his subchiefs The bush companions At the same time the subchief stepped out and called two names As McKay, Knowlton, Tim, and Pedro arose and stepped ashore with the weaponless reat huh the Aures as they walked, they also noticed that the pair of Mayorunas who had been summoned were la was paralyzed
”Squad--halt!” ned and alert, two strides fro on McKay, and they were hard eyes
Without shi+fting his gaze he grunted a feords The two crippled Indians stu row in the air about them
Then, slowly, the cripples turned about and faced their ruler In the tones of men sure of themselves, they spoke one word
With the utterance of that word the tension broke Through the long line of watching tribesmen ran a murmur The clublanced at one another as if disappointed And the stern face of Monitaya himself was transforesture and the cordial timbre of the chief's voice told the Americans plainly what Lourenco translated a moment later