A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 169: what you’re looking at

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168 A QUEER RACE. and then the Cariberoe, seemingly satisfied with the re- sult of his inspection, rose to his feet and waved his hand, whereupon six more Cariberoes rose to their feet; and ~ after another look round, the seven put their heads to- gether, like jurymen considering their verdict. At the same moment the note of the bell-bird rang out loud and clear. “Tam glad you are safe, Mab,” I muttered; ‘* but I am afraid I shall not be able to join you until these rascals have taken themselves off.” That they would take themselves off I made no doubt —intime. ‘T'hey had nothing to gain by following us further, and were not in sufficient force for a raid. This was my theory, at least; but after awhile I began to fear that the Cariberoes did not take quite the same view of the matter. Their proceedings, when they had done put- ting their heads together, were ominous in the extreme, They went down to the water’s edge, gesticulating fiercely and talking incessantly. ‘hey pointed to our footmarks in the mud, then tothe bluff and toward the forest, as if they had a very strong suspicion that we were not very far off. Perhaps they had seen the flutter of a gown among the trees. Were they going to follow us up, after all? It looked like it; for after another putting together of heads, they | unstrung their bows and fastened the strings round their heads. Then the tallest of the lot, after beckoning to the others to foilow, stepped into the stream, and cau- tiously feeling his way with his long spear, made straight toward the bush behind which I was lying perdu. “‘T am in a pretty tight fix now, and no mistake!” I thought. ‘‘Seven blood-thirsty savages within a hun- dred yards of me, and no getting away! The mere rais- ing of my head would be my death-warrant.” I confess it candidly, I was dreadfully frightened; but only for a moment. ‘T’he very extremity of my peril seemed to steel my nerves and clear my brain, and almost on the instant I made my plan of campaign. Though I had little hope of saving my life, the attempt was worth making, and .1 might, at any rate, stop the pursuit and give the two girls a chance of making good their escape. Again the note of the bell-bird. | Slowly, and taking infinite pains to avoid stirring the comicbooks.co