"Do you live here in the forest now?" I asked.
He shook his head, and after a while said: "We come to kill
animals."
"You are like me now," I returned quickly; "you fear nothing."
He looked distrustfully at me, then came a little nearer and
said: "You are very brave. I should not have gone twenty days'
journey with no weapons and only an old man for companion. What
weapons did you have?"
I saw that he feared me and wished to make sure that I had it not
in my power to do him some injury. "No weapon except my knife,"
I replied, with assumed carelessness. With that I raised my
cloak so as to let him see for himself, turning my body round
before him. "Have you found my pistol?" I added.
He shook his head; but he appeared less suspicious now and came
close up to me. "How do you get food? Where are you going?" he
asked.
I answered boldly: "Food! I am nearly starving. I am going to
the village to see if the women have got any meat in the pot, and
to tell Runi all I have done since I left him."
He looked at me keenly, a little surprised at my confidence
perhaps, then said that he was also going back and would
accompany me One of the other men now advanced, blow-pipe in
hand, to join us, and, leaving the wood, we started to walk
across the savannah.
Pages:
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341