Cummings crept through the short tunnel and investigated in the immediate vicinity of the opening before he could believe they had been so fortunate, and when he returned Jake said:
"I thought you wouldn't find anything. If those imps had had the slightest inkling of where we are it wouldn't have been necessary to wait so long as this before the fact was made known."
"It was better to be sure. Poyor was so careful to caution us about a noise that I was afraid he knew some of them were lurking near by. It is all right, however, and we can congratulate ourselves on a fortunate escape from more than one danger."
The weather was so warm that no one felt any serious effects from the involuntary bath. A portion of the wet clothing was taken off and hung on the guns set in the sand as stakes, to dry, and since their fears regarding the proximity of the Indians had been partially set at rest by Cummings' survey, there was a general disposition to talk of something foreign to the struggle through which they had just passed.
"You have said very much about the poisoned arrows which the Chan Santa Cruz Indians use," Neal began, "and I would like to know how they manage to render them so deadly."
"It is by no means a difficult matter, and as Poyor's people use very nearly the same method of increasing the death-dealing power of their weapons, I can describe the process exactly," Cummings replied, speaking in a whisper, regardless of the Indian's remark that "he who talks cannot listen." "You have heard me say many times that the nahuyaca is the most venomous of serpents, and instead of being content with a single bite, as is the case with snakes in general, he strikes many times with almost incredible rapidity. When the Indians wish to prepare the poison for their arrows or spears they first get the liver of a tapir, or some other animal as large, and then hunt for the species of serpent I have spoken of. Once found he is pinned to the ground with a forked stick in such a manner that he can use his head freely; but yet be unable to escape, and the liver, fastened to a long pole, is held where he can strike at it.
"When the snake refuses longer to bite he is killed, and the liver placed where it will decompose without any of the moisture being lost. You can imagine what a mixture it is when thus prepared, and in it the weapons are dipped.
"It is said that the venom retains its deadly properties for many weeks, and, in fact, I know of a native who came very near losing his life by being scratched with an old arrow that must have been poisoned nearly a year previous."
"I should think they might make a mistake when shooting game, and use a doctored arrow rather than one of the ordinary kind," Teddy said.
"That could only result from sheer carelessness. The point of a poisoned weapon is covered with a reddish brown substance which cannot be mistaken, and, for greater security, the feathers used for the tip are invariably green. A Central American Indian never takes a green shafted arrow, nor a spear on which is painted a band of the same color, when he goes out to procure food."