Morning came, and with it came the native who had seen the White Swallow come down. He was very tall, but with a sly and rather cruel face. Carrying three spears for him came a small, thin boy, with a sharp face and such a merry twinkle in his eyes that all the children liked him at once.
“Who is that boy?” asked Jack, curiously. Ranni asked the man, and he replied, making a scornful face.
“It’s his nephew,” said Ranni. “He is the naughty boy of the family, and is always running away, exploring the country by himself. Children of this tribe are not allowed to do this — they have to go with the hunters and be properly trained. This little chap is disobedient and wild, so his uncle has taken him in hand, as you see.”
“I like the look of the boy,” said Jack. “But I don’t like the uncle at all. Ask him about the White Swallow, Ranni. See if he knows anything about Captain and Mrs. Arnold.”
Ranni did not speak the man’s language very well, but he could understand it better. The man spoke a lot, waving his arms about, and almost acting the whole thing so that the children could nearly understand his story without understanding his words.
“He says he was hunting not far from here, keeping a good look-out for any of the Secret Mountain Folk, when he heard the sky making a strange noise,” said Ranni. “He looked up, and saw a great white bird that said ‘r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r,’ as loudly as a thunderstorm.”
The children shouted with laughter at this funny description of an aeroplane. Ranni could not help grinning, even though he knew the man had probably never seen a plane before, and went on with his translation.
“He says the big white bird flew lower, and came down over there. He stayed behind his tree without moving. He thought the big white bird would see him and eat him.”
Again everyone laughed. The tribesman grinned too, showing two rows of flashing white teeth. The little boy behind joined in the laughter, but stopped very suddenly when his uncle turned round and hit him hard on the side of the head.
“Oh my goodness!” shouted Jack in surprise. “Why shouldn’t he laugh too?”