Tim shook his head, his abhorrence of poison strong as ever. Knowlton spoke.
"I've heard that this wurali poison is much overrated, that it will kill only birds and monkeys, not men."
"Por Deus! Whoever said that was a fool trying to appear wise!" Pedro snorted. "We have seen the poison death, and we know."
McKay also shook his head.
"Experiments have been made with the wurali of the Macusis," he stated. "It was tried on a hog, a sloth—and a sloth is mighty hard to kill—also on mules, and on a full-grown ox weighing almost half a ton. It killed every one of them."
A momentary silence followed. Tim gazed sourly at the arrow, now harmless but still sinister.
"Urrrgh!" he growled. "Cap, ye had a narrer squeak—come near gittin' it from in front, and behind, too. Wisht I could have drilled that guy."
The bushmen grinned. And Lourenço's next speech was amazing.
"Be thankful you did not. That bullet might have killed us all."
After enjoying their puzzled expressions a moment he continued.