"The horses will be put in a corral by the river," went on the Hindu. "My men will build a corral quickly. Meanwhile we can start out in comfort, paddling down the smooth river to a point within a mile of the enemy camp!"
"Now you're talking," said Dick.
He explained to Raal how that would save time; for a canoe could be paddled more than twice as fast as it would take to travel through a swamp.
Raal smiled joyfully at this news and muttered, "Good! Longbeard, good!"
"Hooray for Old Whiskers! He has thought up a good idea at last," said Dan. "But say," he whispered to Dick, "Sikandar didn't think of that. It was the black guide. The wise old boy is just stealing the credit for it."
Mahatma Sikandar scowled at Dan and said, "A fool and his folly cannot be parted! As I told you, we saved time by talking and taking counsel."
"Okay, let's go!" said Dick. "We travel by canoe to within a mile of the camp, you say? How is the trail from there?"
Sikandar asked the guide a question. The latter burst out in noisy explanation.
"Bad. Very bad!" said the Hindu.
"From the river, there is hardly any trail but just a dense growth of trees, vines and creepers. It is full of wild beasts and huge snakes. We must cut a path. But the distance is not great."