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Updated: June 14, 2025
All we shall have to do will be to buy our own provisions at the villages we stop at, just as the boatmen will do.” “You must give me an address where a letter will find you, Pita. Is there anyone at Lima to whose care I could send it?”
They stopped at frequent intervals for a minute or two, and Stephen found himself able to keep up with them without any great difficulty, although long before morning broke he felt terribly exhausted. At last Pita said: “In two hours it will be dawn. We will wait here, señor, and you can take a short sleep before we go on again.”
When it was finished the Indian rolled three cigars, and when these were lighted, and three cups of excellent coffee made, Pita said: “Now, señor, in what way can I serve you?” “I want to go down the Amazon to the coast.” “It is a long journey, long and difficult; I have never been so far. The farthest point that I have reached has been Barra, where the Madeira falls into the Solimoes.”
'I am Insato, said he, 'but in my own country I take man's shape even as you see me for this is Pita, the land over which I am king. He then took Gopani-Kufa by the hand and led him towards the town.
Pita has gone, in his time, with a score of expeditions in search of the treasure; most of these thought that they had obtained some clue to it, but nothing was ever discovered, and I doubt whether Pita himself was ever earnest in the search.
“You will understand, Pita, that in paying you and Hurka only the balance of wages agreed on, I do so because I have no more money with me than is needed to carry me home; it in no way represents the deep obligation which I feel towards you both.”
Now, Gomez, we had better go out and look to the mules, and leave Pita to himself to think the matter over.” “The Indian will not overcharge you,” Gomez said when they were outside the hut; “the pay of these men is small. They value their lives lightly, and when, like Pita, they once take to the life of a guide, either to those who are searching for mines or to traders, they never settle down.
“I am strong enough to hear about it now, Pita. Tell me where I am and how you come to be here.” “Hurka will tell,” the Indian replied; “it is a long talk.” Stephen looked to Hurka, who at once began. “When you did not return that evening, señor, Pita and I went out to search for you. We knew where you generally sat, but you were gone.
The first day's journey was devoid of interest; we traversed long stretches of sandy plain, with scarcely any signs of vegetation, save here and there a clump of sage brush, or the wild pita plant, whose stalk towered into the air like a sign-post to guide the wanderer over these sandy wastes.
By this time Stephen had come to appreciate the good qualities of Hurka, whose unfailingly good temper and gaiety had lightened the journey, and whose humorous stories of his adventures, and of the obstinacy and folly of his employers, raised a smile even on the impassive face of Pita.
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