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To-morrow Yuara shall once more see his people, the first man of the Mayorunas to come back from the death of poison. And he and his comrades shall tell of the white man's wisdom, without which he now would lie cold on the ground." "So shall it be," Yuara himself faintly answered. "Yuara, son of Rana, second chief of the men of Suba, will not forget." "Por Deus!" exclaimed Lourenço.
And what is more, the men who did this were not chance parties who came only to get women for themselves and then stayed away. The same men came back time after time. "A few of these were killed, but only a few; and all the dead were Peruvians. Being dead, they could tell nothing. But the Mayorunas felt that all these raids were directed by one mind.
While the whites talked some of the Mayorunas had quietly slipped away into the bush, seeking whatever fresh meat might be obtainable without straying too far from camp. Naturally, the hunting was poor so near an inhabited place, but now the absent men came stealing back with a few small birds and one monkey.
After that perhaps he intends to find us and get Rand, or perhaps to attack other Mayoruna malocas. At any rate, his first objective is this place. Am I right so far?" "Dead right," Knowlton nodded. "Very well. Now he may figure that, having found the water connection between the two creeks, the Mayorunas will come against Umanuh by the canoe route. Or he may think they'll make the overland trip.
It was not only the population of Tabatinga which crowded to the door of the loja. The news of the arrival of Fragoso was not slow to get abroad; natives came to him from all sides: Ticunas from the left bank of the river, Mayorunas from the right bank, as well as those who live on the Cajuru and those who come from the villages of the Javary.
The old man now seemed somewhat uncertain of himself. The silent duel between McKay and Umanuh went on. At length the chief's eyes flickered a trifle. In a hissing whisper he said something. "The men of the Mayorunas never come to this country unless seeking something," the interpreter promptly spoke up. "What do they seek?" "Only that which Makkay seeks."
And though the Americans were studying the central figures as they walked, they also noticed that the pair of Mayorunas who had been summoned were lame. One walked with a stiff knee, the other as if a whole leg was paralyzed. "Squad halt!" muttered McKay. A step and a half and the four stood aligned and alert, two strides from Monitaya.
The first night's camp of the strangely assorted company was a wet one, for well on in the day the skies poured down the watery weight which had been troubling them once morning. Yet even in such miserable weather the four tribesmen of the Mayorunas declined to sleep in the same camp with the whites.
Walking down the malodorous street, he said, quietly, "There will be a small moon to-night." "You are becoming a reader of the mind, comrade," Pedro grinned. No more was said. Down to the shore of the creek trooped the party, followed closely by the hatchet-face and a score of tribesmen. The whites and the Mayorunas got into half a dozen of the waiting canoes and paddled across.
But I cannot help wondering " He glanced at McKay. "I'm wondering, too, Pedro," said the captain. "It's hardly possible that these people know why we're here, and hardly likely that they have any interest in the Raposa. Lord knows I've nothing else up my sleeve. It's a riddle to me." It remained a riddle to the rest, for no explanation could be gleaned from the Mayorunas.
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