"Vera good. Now I'll be lookin' after a letter or so under the awnin' aft where the shakin' ain't so strong." Montenay rose and strolled aft and was immediately absorbed in his traveling writing-case. Mr. Wallace gazed after him reflectively.
"There's a curious man, boys! We're in luck to have him along. There probably aren't a dozen men in Africa who haven't heard of him and there probably aren't a dozen who know him outside of officials. He always travels alone. If he strikes in at Zanzibar or Nairobi he's likely to come out at Cairo or the Cape."
"Strikes me as a good sport," agreed Burt heartily. "He don't say much but I'd hate to monkey with him when he gets mad. Say! Ever hear o' Pongo, Uncle George?"
"Pongo?" repeated the explorer as he stared hard at Burt. "Pongo? No, don't think I have. What is it?"
The boys explained what had taken place the previous afternoon but to their surprise Mr. Wallace frowned disapproval. "Whatever it is, boys, it's his business. If you'll look at his arm you'll see a dozen scars. I have a few myself. That's where a native chief cuts a gash in his arm and ours, the cuts are rubbed together and we are then termed 'blood-brothers.' It may have been some such mark that scared the black boy."
"No it wasn't," asserted Critch positively. "It looked like a cross. Wasn't cut either. Looked like a burn more than anything else."
"Then forget it," commanded Mr. Wallace decisively. "It's none of our business. I must say that Montenay's mighty indefinite though. He says he's after ivory and wants to have a look at the country. But if I know anything he's not worrying about ivory this trip."
"Why not?" asked Burt. "D'you mean he's lying?"
"Lying is a strong term, Burt!" smiled his uncle. "It's not a nice word to use either. No, I think he's keeping us in the dark about his own projects. Probably he has some new animal or some new tribe he wants to be sure of getting all the credit for discovering. Naturally he wouldn't want to run any risk of our cutting in on him."
Just then the subject of their discussion rejoined them and the topic was changed. On up the river they went all that day while the big canoes followed closely with the paddling-chants of the men rising from time to time. The breeze created by their motion relieved them of the clouds of mosquitoes and other insects but the heat was so great that it even affected John to some extent.