"Not a scratch, Dan!"
"That's lucky. Lucky for you and all of us. We would be lost without you."
"We may be, anyhow. Dan, how can we fight off those raiders? They are armed with guns, old style single-shot, Arab guns, to be sure, but at that, they are more than a match for stone hatchets and spears."
"Or even bows and arrows," agreed Dan. "Looks as though we were up against it."
"Well, there's one thing we can do. Defend the cliffs and keep them from coming any farther."
"Yes, we can roll rocks down on them if they start to climb, and if any get to the top, we can fight them off before they get a foothold."
Raal and Kulki approached followed by the old chief of the Gorols, Wabiti. Evidently they wanted a council and Dick asked them to say what was on their minds.
"Advise me, O mighty warriors!" he said.
Raal spoke first. "I say, do not wait. We are many and we are brave. Let us sweep down upon them from the cliff and destroy them."
"Yes, but you forget the sticks that speak like thunder and carry death," said Wabiti.