"See! they are going to select another," whispered his friend. "Bet you two figs of tobacco they choose that tall fellow with his hair tied in a knot."
"Done! I'll back the nuggety fellow alongside him."
Brown lost, the tall fellow being marched out to receive the marks of the cannibalistic brotherhood.
Columbus and the others now assisted the old man to hobble away, and the blacks squatted down by the fire and relit fresh ones about the ground.
"Get back to camp," said Morton; "the circus is over for to-night."
Scrambling down the cliff, and using every precaution, the party soon regained their camp, which they found as deserted as they left it.
CHAPTER VIII.
Charlie as Decoy—Death of the old White Man—The Fight in the Cave—The Catastrophe.
Tired out with their exertions and the continued night work the party slept soundly, and awoke at dawn to find the camp as calm and silent as if no such tragedies as they had witnessed were ever enacted in the neighbourhood.