Part 12 (1/2)
The native cae of question and answer Captain Mac turned to the others and Burt saw that a strange light stood in his dark and rather sad eyes
”Get out themen on our hands
We may save one or tith serum and iving a shout for John
When the trusty cook had been dispatched for the medicine chop-box Captain Mac explained further
”Those chaps we left wi' the beasts yonder drove off sonorant o' what the dwarfs were They got a shower o' poisoned arrows in return A bunch froin' 'em in here”
John arrived with the es while the boys stared at each other in amazement
”That's what them dirty little black arrow-points do,” said Critch in a low tone Just then a band ofinto the camp On their shoulders they bore rude litters which they set down before Mr Wallace with gestures of despair
On the litters lay sevenprofusely As they lay there Burt could see their naked breasts rise and fall with the increased palpitation caused by the poison The otten on the instant, as all four went to work in a desperate effort to save the wounded es and handed them to the other three, who injected the contents into the ar on the cauns of John and the other men held them outside
One of the h neither of the boys noticed it until they had finished Then the wounds were cauterized, a task which was not relished by the boys In fact, the s flesh was nearly too much for Burt, who retired tehtened up with a sigh of relief, ”I guess that's all we can do, Wallace”
”Will they recover?” asked the Ae
The other shrugged his shoulders
”Mayhap Don't let the village people have 'em, John The witch doctor'd kill 'e If they wake they can be thankin' us for it”
Critch said nothing He was pale and his knees felt shaky, for their task had been no pleasant one, and he fervently trusted that they would have no more poisoned arrows in future A few athered about the table in the dining-tent, where Burt rejoined thean
”As I was sayin', Wallace, the yarn is a long one I'h,” and the Scotchrimly ”We have time to burn” For a moment the other puffed away in silence, his eyes fixed on the tent-wall behind Burt Then he began his story, the strangest story which the two Ao, it was I started out o' Nairobi wi' the h a month to select 'em
I laid it out as a scientific trip, to the British authorities, but the uns wi' lots of as
”Trip before that, I had met up with an Arab dealer called Yusuf Ben Salir, what er He was a slave-merchant on the quiet, an' would ha' sold ot away I was after higin' a little ivory as ent
”One day we learned from the natives that Yusuf entytrade-caravan Two days later we caught up, formin' a zareba near his He had twice as many men, but mine were picked, ye remember
”Well, the details o' what happened don't matter We were busy for three days, and I will adhter But at the last his nerve failed hietaway--leaving everything behind While I was lookin'
over his stuff I found two things wrapped up in oilskin
”One was a queer shaped bit o' hich I flung away, like a fool The other was a bit o' cloth with Arabic written on it I can read the lingo, and I mies!” ejaculated Mr Wallace in astonishment, while a look of keen interest swept across his face ”Then the story was so!”
”What story?” asked Montenay sharply
”Why, a tradition I heard up in the Sahara, that there was a white race of small people sohty reticent about it, and I gathered that there was soious feature to the tradition, if it was one”
”It was not,” asserted Montenay, betraying signs of excite forward ”Wallace, it was fact! I found the white pigmies!”