“I indeed perceive that it will be ‘look out for your head.’ ”
“Quite so; that will be our motto, Look out for your head! The country abounds in head-hunters. I dare say you have heard of them.”
“Certainly; but I have always thought that the reports are grossly exaggerated.”
“On the contrary the narratives do not give a tenth part of the reality,” continued Johannes, “for the simple reason that the natives seek to keep head-hunting a profound secret from the Dutch.”
“Now then, as a first step in the direction of safety, we must [[48]]part with our military attire. That alone is sufficient to betray us. Baba Poetjieng foreseeing the danger, provided us each with a suit of clothes. These we can examine when it is daylight. We shall find our new costumes suited to their purpose and the sooner we assume them the better.”
“How funny I shall look,” said La Cueille, “dressed in an ewah.”
“It will not be in harmony with your white skin I dare say.”
“It is more suited to your coffee-colored carcass,” rejoined the Walloon.
“I—that reminds me. You cannot possibly retain those white skins of yours. They would at once betray you. I wish you all had my coffee-colored complexion. I must speak to Dalim, he will surely think of something.”
“You will see,” said the Walloon, laughing. “We shall all have to put on black suits.”