“I have no boat,” had been the short reply.
“Get one! And listen to me, dog of an unbeliever!” added Jai Singh. “If it isn’t ready before the sun goes down behind those palms yonder, why——”
He finished the admonition by raising his spear and flourishing it with a graceful dexterity that the other man understood at once.
The boat was ready at the time set, and Jai Singh superintended the putting into it of such stores as he thought they might need on their journey into the wild country they contemplated invading.
Rice, canned meats and fish, fruits, a bag of hard biscuits, and several skins of water were put in the boat.
“What’s the idea of putting water in the boat?” inquired Patsy. “Isn’t there enough in this river for us to drink?”
“Poison to white men,” replied Jai Singh curtly. “None must drink of the river.”
“It does look kind of yellow,” observed Patsy. “Thick, too! Still, that might not be so bad if a fellow happened to be hungry. Meat and drink all in one—like an oyster stew. I don’t know but what——”
“Patsy!” interrupted Nick Carter.
“On deck!” responded Patsy, with a facetious military salute.