“No, Majeronas.”
“The savages?”
He nodded his head.
None of them asked any more questions for a full minute, then Harvey said rather hoarsely, “How many of them are there?”
“It’s a large band, my boy. More by far than I would wish for. I counted forty.”
Forty—and they were four! No wonder their cheeks blanched.
“They have eaten a deer and other animals that I could make out,” the captain continued, “and are lying around on the ground, resting after their feast. It would be an easy matter for us to creep up to them and pick off a score and probably put to flight the remainder, but I don’t like to have the blood of even a Majerona on my hands, unless to save our lives. What do you say?”
They agreed with him, then inquired what would be best to do.
“There’s nothing to do, but to wait developments. We are in no danger to-night, so long as we keep still. The probabilities are that they will move in the morning, and I think they are going down stream. However, should they come this way, we shall have to face the music.”
“Could we not confer with the chief and promise him presents if they will let us alone?”