He did not answer. He was looking at the little article, and his face turned pale as he thought of his narrow escape from death; and at the same time he thought of those he had left behind and of the giver of that which had so strangely saved his life, Señorita Bella Caceras, niece of the famous Captain Grau, who, the evening before the departure of the three from Callao, had made this little present to the lad, that he might have some token to carry with him into the wilds of Peru. Thus a girl’s thoughtful gift and a boy’s romantic manner of carrying the keepsake had resulted in the arrest of a Majerona arrow, aimed at the heart.
He did not explain all this to his companions, who pressed closer, congratulating him and patting him on the back, for every moment they realized more and more what a narrow escape he had had; no, he kept his secret and later he sewed up the pocket, replaced the little pincushion, and vowed that he would carry it with him so long as he lived. He also saved the arrow, so that when he returned to Callao he could present it to the señorita.
The men attempted to assist him into the fort, but Harvey protested that he was as well and as able to be about as ever in his life.
“Then let’s start for the white rock,” said Ferguson.
“No, indeed,” was Señor Cisneros’s rejoinder. “I for one favor a good rest.”
“Perhaps that would be a better plan.”
“Indeed it would,” assented Hope-Jones. “I confess that I am played out.”
“First, let’s give these bodies some sort of burial,” said the Peruvian, and he pointed to the corpses that were strewn over the ground.
They dug a trench with their picks, and gathering the dead Majeronas from near the fort and from several hundred yards away, they placed them in the shallow opening and covered them with earth. Fourteen were thus interred. How many savages had been wounded they never knew. A few of those who had been struck by bullets and not killed during the battle, had been helped away by their comrades; others, who were mortally wounded, had been killed, as was the custom of the tribe.