Slowly and cautiously they walked toward the village, gripping their rifles tightly. When within a short distance from the foremost hut they stopped, and the professor, who had studied the languages spoken in this region, called out loudly in the native tongue—or rather what he thought to be the native tongue.
There was no answer, and the explorers proceeded on into the habitation.
“No signs of life anywhere,” said Professor Bigelow.
“Perhaps another tribe invaded and killed the inhabitants,” suggested Mr. Lewis, glancing about.
“No,” disagreed the professor. “There is evidence that the place has been recently inhabited. For instance, look at those ashes over there,” pointing to a place where a fire had been built. “They are not very old. I know the signs. We can look for the tribe at almost any time now.”
“Seems strange that the women and children went away too,” said Mr. Holton, almost unbelievingly.
“They often do it,” answered the professor. “The women, you see, do almost as much as the men. In many cases they do much more. They many times go along on excursions into the forest to carry the weapons and the trophies of the hunt. And as this is a rather small settlement, we can take that for granted.”
“When do you think they’ll return?” asked Bob.
“That is hard to say,” was the reply. “It is all according to how long they have been out. They may be back in a few hours, or it may be a week. But,” he added, “I am all for waiting. The chances are we’ll be all right.”