“We will dissect and clean it nicely for you,” said Johannes, “and you may take it with you to Jupille. It will be quite a treasure to you, and the Walloon ladies will almost besiege you when you tell them that Dayak fashion you are able to lay a skull at the feet of your lady love.”
They all laughed at this suggestion except La Cueille himself, [[104]]who had not yet wholly recovered from his fright. A good draught from the toeak bottle soon restored him.
After such stirring events sleep was an impossibility, although Dalim assured his companions they had nothing more to apprehend. It was, however, resolved to continue watching until the sun should appear in the heavens.
“We are getting on,” Schlickeisen observed; “our little force has suffered one death and two wounded. If things continue at this rate, by the time we reach the upper country few of us will be left to tell the story of our adventures.”
“Ah, bah! Did you think to escape without even a scratch?” Johannes asked. “If only half of us reach the Chinese sea we may think ourselves lucky indeed. In real fact no one of us is safe.”
“Your predictions are certainly far from reassuring,” Wienersdorf said.
“He is always prophesying something horrible,” La Cueille muttered. “This ugly fellow tries to make our lives more insupportable than they already are.”
“You will have to take life as it comes, and to face its trials fearlessly. Our position, however, is not quite so bad after all; we certainly have to lament the loss of one of our companions, but fortunately no one of us four has fallen yet. Wienersdorf’s wound received from the boa has nearly healed, and since La Cueille is not quite dead yet we may laugh at his pin pricks. What a noise our Walloon made about it, did he not?” Johannes laughingly remarked.
“Since I am not dead yet you may enjoy your fun,” La Cueille said. “But was I really in danger?” [[105]]
“I did not entertain much hope for your life when I saw that arrow. Those weapons usually act very rapidly indeed. First, you are taken with a shivering fit, then your teeth begin to rattle, you talk at random and with the vehemence of a drunkard; and then all is over within half an hour. Since you have survived all these symptoms you may consider yourself out of danger.”