“I was indeed, and your arrows whistled sharply enough about my ears.”
It was now my turn to laugh, as I assured him that our fire was harmless; the men being instructed to aim wide.
“I am glad to hear it,” he replied, “for I should be loath to think you would have willingly harmed your countrymen, and to tell you the truth I wondered greatly that none of us were hit. I must confess that I fired as straight as I knew how.”
Heavy clouds had now gathered over the sky, and a moaning wind had arisen. One of the oldest of the Quadrucos came to me and said:
“We are going to have a great storm, such as I remember once many years ago. We will make places to sleep under behind that ridge, where the wind will not touch us.”
This was of course spoken in the Quadruco tongue, and Hoogstraaten looked at me inquiringly.
“He predicts a great storm, and is going to erect shelters for us.”
“Ask him about your bay,” said the captain.
I guessed at what he meant, and the Quadruco returned answer:
“The waters of the bay are never much troubled, no matter how strong the wind blows.”