"How lifika? (How are things?")
The Nut asked Chéri-Bibi if it were true, as was declared, that certain tribes in Guiana practiced cannibalism.
Chéri-Bibi nodded his head.
"There are some. There are not many, but there are a few when the opportunity for a good 'feast' offers itself—you follow me—and we can't bear them any grudge for it. From what I hear, it's not so very bad. . . . In general, the natives are quite decent sorts if the medicine-men do not egg them on. But there are tribes who work only with these 'feasts' in view. They don't live in these parts, but much farther away, near Pelzgoudars. Yoyo told me that in that district you must take no risks. . . . Those people are fond of tasty dishes!"
"What about the terrible tribe of Oyaricoulets?"
"I can tell you that I've never seen the tribe of Oyaricoulets, and I really believe that those who talk the most about them haven't seen them any more than I have. Still, one can never tell. The jungle is a world to itself, and we must never be astonished at anything. The story runs that these people have big ears resembling the ears of donkeys, and enormously long legs. They're giants, in fact. They climb trees like monkeys. They are said to be armed with bows as big as my arm, which carry an incredible distance, and of course they 'eat' the stranger within their gates. It's said, too, that they have noses as big as a macaw's beak. Stuff and nonsense!"
About eleven o'clock on their third night, Chéri-Bibi fell asleep, utterly done up, and the Nut was mounting guard. With rifle in hand he listened to the weird night noises of the forest, and often he gave a start, imagining that he heard a stirring in the underwood, and even, as Chéri-Bibi said, a man's breathing.
Once or twice he got up to make a tour of the camp, stopping with ears on the alert, and taking a step forward only with the greatest caution. Chéri-Bibi's stories of forest witchcraft were like an obsession on his restless mind.
Several times he stared into the darkness ready to fire; and then he laughed at his childish fears and came back and sat down beside Chéri-Bibi.
Nearly an hour passed in this way. Suddenly there was a very distinct creaking, as of some body bearing down upon making its way through the undergrowth. And then he caught a sigh—it was very distinctly a breath, for it was something more than a sigh—like a human whisper.