“To explain the shots if any of our party heard them!” exclaimed Biff. “And did you see the way Luiz looked at us when he mentioned scared animals? Maybe they glimpsed us going into the brush.”
“Maybe,” agreed Kamuka. “I think they shoot anaconda, or big sucuria would not let Luiz go so easy.”
“That’s another reason why Luiz claimed he shot it,” added Biff. “We might come across the anaconda and find the bullet marks.”
Shortly afterward, the boys found a chance to repeat those opinions to Mr. Brewster, who added a few points that they had overlooked.
“Luiz couldn’t possibly have brought the gun from his pocket, as he claimed,” stated Mr. Brewster, “because the snake was already coiled about his body. For that matter, he could not have drawn his knife, either.
“However, from the clumsy way he showed us the gun and put it back in the wrong pocket, you could tell he had never handled it before. In contrast, he was smooth and quick with his knife, which is obviously his customary weapon.”
One question still perplexed Biff.
“That other camp is a good way off, Dad,” Biff said, “yet we heard the anvil strokes before we started out. How come you didn’t hear the gunfire later?”
“Urubu may have made the first strokes closer by,” replied Mr. Brewster. “The anvil sound is also sharper than a gunshot and should carry farther. That is probably why they chose it as a signal. Kamuka did well to detect it.”
That evening, Biff was glad there had been time to build the thatched shelter, for a tropical dew had begun to settle, almost as thick as a dripping rain. It was less damp beneath the shelter, where Biff and Kamuka had slung their hammocks.