We all became thoughtful at this suggestion. I knew we had supplies of fresh water sufficient for an ordinary voyage, and an aërator to doctor it with if it became stagnant and unpalatable; but barreled water is not the safest thing to depend upon, and thirst was a greater menace than lack of food. Yet it seemed improbable that a savage chieftain would have thought this all out and determined upon so tedious and unwarlike a plan of conquest.
Afterward I found Bryonia alone and said to him:
“Why do you think the Faytans wish to keep us here?”
“Don’ know, Mars Sam.”
“Yes you do, Bry. Anyhow, you’ve some idea.”
“I may be wrong.”
“This is in confidence, Bry. You may trust me.”
He hesitated a moment.
“I wish, Mars Sam,” he said in a low voice, speaking his native tongue, “that the lady passengers had not showed themselves.”
“Oh, that’s it!” I exclaimed. “Are the natives partial to white women, Bry?”