Part 27 (1/2)
”Yes They are quite handsoh to help you about if your legs remain weak In that case you will probably be allowed to put your aret fever, too”
Tirowl, but his face did not look so doleful as before
”Grrru females, and I don't like 'e dolls in Paree--sort o'
pee-teet and chick Still, a feller's got to do the best he can Mebbe I'll live till you guys git back”
With which he availed hirinned openly at the two co any demand for services They were not at all backward in reciprocating, and, despite the tribal paint and their labial orna their faces made them not half bad to look upon
”'O death, where is thy sting?'” laughed Knowlton ”Be careful not to strain your heart while we're away, Tih old heart--been kicked round so rowed a shell like a turtle Besides, I seen o his apparent resignation, however, Tim erupted once more when his couns, and spoke their thanks and good-by to Monitaya He arose on shaky legs and desperately offered to prove his fitness by a barehanded six-round bout with his coruff tones, pere to the door to watch his coht not return Nor did he take advantage of his chance to hug the girls on the way
With one arrinned proudly at the honor of being selected to help a guest of the great chief, he followed the departing column out into the sunshi+ne, where the entire tribe was assembled And when the stalwart band had filed into the shadows of the trees and vanished he stood for a ti in his throat
Straight away along a vague path beginning at the rear of the _ under the weight of their packs, the pair of Brazilians sweeping the jungle with practiced eyes, the score of Mayorunas striding velvet footed, resplendent in brilliant new paint and headdresses, armed with the most powerful weapons of their tribe, and loftily conscious of the fact that they were chosen as Monitaya's best Savage and civilized, each man was fit, alert, formidable Nowhere in the loosely joined chain was a weak link
Before the departure the Americans had been at some trouble to rid themselves of Yuara, ith hisTi his ripped ar he had cal the expedition into the Red Bone country, and it had taken souer All four of the adventurers would gladly have taken hi had he not been ha all th, he had to be left
Now, as on the previous jungle marches, the as led by two of the tribesmen, followed by the Brazilians and the Americans, after whom the uide, one Tucu, was a veteran hunter, fighter, and bushranger, who had been ion and withal possessed the cool judg experience; a lean, silent ood one if given the opportunity With hied that a direct course should be followed, and that whenever dense undergrowth blockaded the way the machete men should take the lead
For some time no as spoken The path wound on, faintlyit out It was not one of the frequently used trails of the Monitaya people, but a mere _picada_, or hunter's track; yet even this had its pitfalls to guard the tribal house Soon after leaving the clearing Tucu turned aside, passed between trees off the trail, went directly under one tree whose steep-slanting roots stood up off the ground like great down-pointing fingers, and returned to the path All folloithout comment
A considerable distance was covered before any further sign of the presence of aic suddenness
Tucu grunted suddenly, and in one instant shi+fted his gait fro anirew tense The click of rifle ha thrown off breech bolts blended with the faint slither of arrows being swiftly drawn fro no enemy
Twointo so care not to touch one another's weapons, crowded around and looked down at the huddled form of a man
A matted mass of black hair, a neck burned copper brown by sun, tattered cotton shi+rt and trousers, big, bare dirty feet, a rusty repeating rifle of heavy caliber--these hat they saw first The ht, his face in the dirt, his hands a little ahead as if he had been crawling forward at thea blanched yellon face which was proof positive of his race
”Peruvian,” said Pedro
”What got him?” demanded Knowlton ”No wound on him”
Lourenco questioned Tucu The leader, who evidently knew just where to look, tore open the thin shi+rt at the left side and pointed to a tiny discoloration surrounding a red dot under the ribs He un trap,” Lourenco explained ”The gun is set a little way beyond here Thisthe path, broke the little cord which shot the gun The poisoned dart struck in his side He o far before his legs beca to crawl, he died”
Pedro picked up the dead un and worked the lever The weapon was fully loaded and showed no sign of recent firing Pedro coolly pues, and pocketed the in satirical approval Then, leaving the body where it lay, he went stooping along the path ahead, his keen eyes searching the undergrowth In a few minutes he returned with the blood-stained dart which, as Lourenco had guessed, the stricken prowler had pulled froun man
The latter carefully opened his poison pouch, redipped the point of the dart, held it a ht, and slipped it into his dart case a a score of unused missiles