It seemed to Terry and Prim that these people were eating half their time. Huge amounts of fish and fruit were consumed. They started at sunrise and only ended at bedtime.
Terry and Prim slept that night in the chief’s hut, with the faithful Rosa sleeping on a mat before the door. They rose at dawn when the blacks began to stir.
It was still early in the morning when they heard the drone of a motor in the sky and hurried into the hut. For now the real trouble was beginning. Joe Arnold had returned. Skybird soared, banked and circled about the island. Joe headed her low over the plateau, so low that Terry, peering through the matted vines, saw Joe’s face distinctly. His grin of triumph was always unpleasant, now it was threatening as well.
Terry’s face went white with anger as she saw Skybird.
“How dare he use our little plane for his shady business! The crook!” she exclaimed.
If Terry and Prim could have heard the Big Chief when Joe Arnold returned to the beach, they would not have been so trusting. For Pedro told Joe that his men had captured the girls and had them safely in the cave. Bud Hyslop was there now to guard them.
Joe nodded approvingly. Things seemed to be working out just as he planned. His trip to the mainland had been successful and now he was free to fly to South America where he would attend to that little matter of taking up the option on the Dick Mapes Flying Field. But in the meantime he would search the girls and see if they were carrying the money.
“Guess I’ll go on up and take a look at them,” said Joe carelessly. “You might fill up the plane with gasoline. I may need to go out on another trip soon.”
As Joe followed the path through the jungle he thought to himself. “You have to handle these savages rough! If I hadn’t threatened to kill them all, they’d have turned against me. Some day I’ll have a big base here and they’ll all be working for me like slaves.”
But Joe had come by the jungle path and the girls were fully warned of his approach. Rosa went to meet Joe Arnold with a broad grin on her face.