Those on the outside were armed chiefly with bows and arrows; but a few carried a sort of spear with a tip which looked not unlike glass, and Neal whispered to Cummings:
"If they have got nothing but arrows we ought to be able to hold a large number in check with our guns."
"Don't make the mistake of despising their weapons, for every one is covered with a poison so deadly that a single scratch would be more dangerous than a wound from a bullet."
"Do you think they have learned that we are here?"
"I can't explain in any other way the motive for the gathering; but none of them appear to be paying very much attention to the building."
As a matter of fact, although there were four to five hundred directly in front of the house, hardly one of them glanced toward the openings through which the little party were gazing; but the majority appeared to be having a most sociable time.
As the moments passed without any evidence that an attack was to be made the voluntary prisoners began to grow more comfortable in mind, and again Jake proposed that such people were neither able nor inclined to inflict much injury upon any one.
Suddenly there was a great commotion among the crowd; the men shouted and waved their weapons, danced about in the most grotesque fashion and from afar off could be heard the sound of music.
Five minutes later the cause of this sudden change of demeanor became apparent.
Down the street from the direction of the forest came several hundred women decorated with the most beautiful flowers, and carrying huge bouquets or wreaths. They trooped along without any attempt at marching in regular order: but on arriving in front of the men they halted suddenly in response to sharp strokes on a gong or tongueless bell which one of them held high in the air.