How far? A journey of many, many days through wild, heavily forested country. It would not be safe to attempt the journey.
The professor then asked the chief how he thought the unknown tribe would treat the explorers, and the big Indian shook his head doubtfully.
“Otanima turutee nevark [take big chance],” he said vaguely, and then proceeded to point out the many dangers that would accompany the venture.
But despite the Indian’s warning, Professor Bigelow was determined to investigate this unknown tribe. It was more than likely that Otari was influenced by native superstition and that the dangers that he feared were largely imaginative. After all he (Professor Bigelow) had looked up many other strange people in various parts of the world and had had little difficulty in winning their good will. Even the wildest of savages, if well treated and presented with gifts, were more or less easily won over. Surely this tribe would not be worse than others he had visited.
Professor Bigelow sought out his companions and put the facts before them, not hesitating to tell them that the venture would probably be dangerous and fraught with displeasures. But he pointed out much stronger that there would be a wonderful opportunity to study the most primitive of men, in addition to finding many strange, or perhaps unknown, animals.
The others listened intently, and in the end they were very thoughtful.
Bob and Joe remained silent. Here was a time when they thought it best not to voice an opinion, for they had had no experience in the work of exploring.
“If it were not for the fact that the boys are with us I would answer ‘yes’ at once,” said Mr. Lewis. “But since they are, I hardly know what to say.”
“It would be terrible if anything should happen to them,” put in Mr. Holton. “But they have proven that they are able to take care of themselves in almost any predicament, and we wouldn’t need to worry about them. Still, that wouldn’t prevent anything from happening to the whole party. Yet Professor Bigelow has shown that he has an enormous amount of ability to handle savage people, and I’d be willing to bet that in the end we’d come out all right. What do you think of it, Ben?”
“I’m willing to go if you are,” Mr. Lewis replied. “As you said, we’ll probably have little or no trouble.”