"Yes. Or the Arabs may be close by. And that terrible Jess Slythe."
"I hope he is!" Dan exclaimed. "I'd like to get my hands on that fellow."
"Don't, Dan! It makes me shudder to think of it. He wouldn't think twice about killing you in cold blood."
"I'm not scared of him!" boasted Dan, who always liked to show off a little before his sister. "If I could meet him in a fair fight, I'd soon show you who is the better man."
He was interrupted by the sound of a distant drum. The noise came from some native camp, that might be miles away and the message it tapped out in code seemed to convey a lugubrious warning.
"Gosh, that's enough to make a fellow want to creep in and hide," muttered Dan. "Suppose it is a signal for some war party to attack us!"
"It does scare a person," Ray admitted. "Here in the jungle everything is so terrifying and the drums get on my nerves."
Dick was far in advance at the head of the party with Mutaba.
"What do you make of that drum?" he asked.
The guide shook his black head and grinned.