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But when at last they came to a clear pool of water, half hidden by overhanging rocks and long masses of depending mosses, in the midst of a natural grotto of enchanting loveliness, and Oda Iseka signaled that their journey was at an end, Byrne laid Theriere gently upon the flower-starred sward, and with a little, choking gasp collapsed, unconscious, beside the Frenchman.
And now Oda Iseka took in the situation, and with a grin of triumph raised his voice in a loud halloo. "Come quickly, my people!" he cried; "for both the white men are dying," and from the jungle below them came an answering shout. "We come, Oda Iseka, Lord of Yoka! Your faithful samurai come!"
Again the natives conferred in whispers. Finally he who had acted as spokesman before turned toward the strangers. "We shall not harm you," he said, "so long as you do not harm Oda Iseka; but we shall watch you always until you leave the island, and if harm befalls him then shall you never leave, for we shall kill you all." Barbara translated the man's words to the mucker.
Presently he noticed the bound and gagged Oda Iseka lying in the brush behind them where he and Theriere had left him. The samurai were now sneaking cautiously toward their refuge. A sudden inspiration came to the mucker. "Didn't I hear youse chewin' de rag wit de Chinks wen I hit de dump over dere?" he asked of Barbara. The girl, oddly, understood him. She nodded her head, affirmatively.
When he was directly opposite the watchers Theriere sprang suddenly upon him, clapping a silencing hand over the boy's mouth. In Japanese he whispered a command for silence. "We shall not harm you if you keep still," he said, "and answer our questions truthfully. What village is that?" "It is the chief city of Oda Yorimoto, Lord of Yoka," replied the youth. "I am Oda Iseka, his son."
Then she explained that they held the son of Oda Yorimoto prisoner, and that his life would be the price of any further attack upon them. The samurai conferred together for a moment, then one of them called out that they did not believe her, that Oda Iseka, son of Oda Yorimoto, was safe in the village. "Wait!" replied the girl.
"Where is de Chink?" And, sure enough, Oda Iseka had disappeared! The youthful daimio had taken advantage of the preoccupation of his captors during the last moments of Theriere to gnaw in two the grass rope which bound him to the mucker, and with hands still fast bound behind him had slunk into the jungle path that led toward his village.
"The jungle approaches the village most closely on the opposite side the side in rear of the chief's hut," pointed out Theriere. "We must circle about until we can reach that point undetected, then we may formulate further plans from what our observations there develop." "An' dis?" Byrne shoved a thumb at Oda Iseka. "We'll take him with us it wouldn't be safe to let him go now."
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