Muro's arm was bleeding profusely, and George[p. 219] quickly bound it up, while the enemy were hesitating. "Do not shoot, unless they rush at us. I will talk: to them, and try to get an understanding."
Then, in a loud voice Muro called to them, saying they were friends, and not enemies. There was no response. Thinking that they knew nothing of the dialect, he tried another, and the only response was the evident determination of the savages to attack again.
The boys and Muro could plainly hear their chattering, but the latter said that what they were saying was not intelligible to him, and that they must now prepare for a fight.
"Get your guns ready, and be prepared for a charge. If they come so close that you cannot use the guns, then we must be prepared to meet them with our knives, and we must all stand together, and not become separated."
Instead of attacking, however, there was silence, after the first excitement. "They are trying to find, out what struck their comrades when we fired," remarked Muro.
"Yes; I think it was a big surprise."
"I recall," continued Muro, "when we had our first brush with you that we could not find the arrow which we supposed was made by your bullet. That frightened us more than anything else."
There was not the slightest movement on the part of an enemy for a full half hour. This is the most trying sort of tactics. If you can see the enemy, or note that he is doing something, there is some relief[p. 220] to the tension, but where he can neither be seen, nor heard, it tries the nerves of the strongest man.
Muro knew that this inactivity on the part of the savages had its purpose. Probably, they intended to remain there until night, and overwhelm them in the rush. Muro had other plans, however.
"We cannot remain here. We must make the attack. Remain here, and permit me to feel out their positions, and also to determine what they are doing." He glided away from them noiselessly, and how he kept the tall grass and weeds from swaying, the boys could not determine at that time.