“The savages who come over from the Amazon valley eat folks,” Jimmie answered, “and those fellows look as if they came from that neighborhood.”
“Let’s start on up toward camp and see if they will interfere!” suggested Carl.
“Have you got a gun with you?” asked Jimmie.
“Of course not!” was the reply. “I didn’t come out to shoot fish!”
“And I left mine at the camp, too!” Jimmie complained. “I’ll never do it again!”
“Well, let’s make a start and see what comes of it!” suggested Carl.
As the boys moved away the savages, men of medium height but apparently very strong and supple, lifted naked arms in gestures which commanded them to remain where they were.
“I wonder if they’ve got guns?” questioned Jimmie.
“They’ve got little short spears!” answered Carl. “I saw one in that fellow’s hand.”
“And I suppose they’re poisoned, too!” Jimmie asserted.
The two savages now advanced from the thicket and stood threateningly before the two boys. Except for breech-clouts, which seemed to be woven of some sort of fiber, the men were naked. In color they were almost as dark as the negro of Africa. Their features seemed to be a cross between the tribes of Asia and Africa. They were armed with short spears which they flourished with many hostile gestures.
The savages conversed together in a dialect which seemed to the boys to resemble a confidential conversation between two hogs, and then pointed down the river.
“Here’s where we get abducted!” Carl exclaimed.
“You needn’t get funny about it!” Jimmie expostulated. “This is no joke!”
“Anyhow,” Carl went on, “the ginks don’t know anything about good manners. They never answered your salutation!”
The savages were still uttering what appeared to be wordless commands, and, as they continued to point down the river, very reluctantly the boys started in that direction.
“I wonder if the brutes have captured the camp, too?” queried Jimmie.
“Oh, I suppose so!” Carl answered. “These fellows travel in droves, like wild hogs, and I guess we lit right in the middle of a large tribe.”
In spite of the impatience expressed by the gestures of their captors, the boys proceeded very slowly. As they walked they listened for some indication of trouble at the camp. They knew that Glenn and Ben were well armed, and that they would not submit to capture without first putting up a spirited defence.