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Gradually the dominant nature overruled their timidities, and the protests subsided. Following Piang's directions, strips of bamboo were cut, and the charm boy constructed light frames for his feet. They looked like snow-shoes, and when he bound one securely to each foot and jumped lightly to the bank, there was a cry of surprise. Piang, the wonderful, was indeed sent by Allah to guide them!
To gain the lake again, he must pass through that treacherous creek, and he knew that Sicto would think nothing of robbing him and hastening to the village to buy the treasures with Piang's hard-earned bright sand. Somewhere those wicked eyes were watching him from the foliage, but Piang bravely covered his misgivings.
The Moros were quickly assembled for the advance, and Kali paused by the side of Piang's raft: "If we are driven back, Piang, I will give three calls of the mina-bird. Answer likewise and retreat as quickly as possible." "Forward, Kali Pandapatan," answered Piang with great dignity. "We will not retreat."
Piang's bare limbs, bronze and powerful, glistened in the brilliant sunshine, and he was very picturesque as he paddled along the stream, dipping his slim hands into the current, arresting objects that floated by.
Had not the pandita said that Ganassi would be with the real charm boy, and was not Piang sure of that protection? Who but Piang was the charm boy? Piang's courage began to flag, however, as he caught the cold, damp odor from the cave, but he bravely plunged into the forbidding-looking cavern. Man had probably never set foot in that place before.
It was so simple that Piang laughed heartily. The mina-bird, startled, squawked an admonition and fluttered to Piang's lap. "Where do we go when we die," asked the inquisitive boy. Ganassi scouted the Christian's belief that heaven is in the clouds. Were they not in the clouds now? "When a child is born, the soul enters the body through the opening left in the skull.
You will become the wise man of Mindanao, the guide of your people, the heart of the island." Solemnly the boy followed the words of the old man. "You shall be taught all the truths of the nation, and you shall pass them along to the generations." Piang's face brightened. At last he was to know the answers to many puzzling questions. "Ask what you will, boy.
Piang's big, black eyes filled with mystery when he described how the juramentado rides to the abode of the blessed on a shadowy, white horse, taller than a carabao, just as dusk is falling. Indeed, he assured them that he had seen this very phenomenon himself and shivered at the recollection of the unnatural chill and damp that crept through the jungle while the spirit was passing.
"Piang, all these creatures are going to be your friends." Piang seated himself on the soft turf opposite Ganassi; the fawn nosed her head under Piang's arm and sank by his side. "The charm that I am about to give you will protect you from tempest, danger, and deceit: no storm can destroy you; no animal can creep upon you unaware, and no man can lie to you.
One instant they seemed as minute as fireflies, the next as large as moons. Yes, the tree was alive; it was moving. A giant creeper was swaying toward him, would grasp him in its toils. "Le le li li!" persistently the call was repeated. "Le le li li!" A duty! What was it? Charm boy? Who was charm boy? Involuntarily Piang's hand sought the charm on his breast and grasped it. He was saved!
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