When Uraso returned, and the chiefs were placed before them, the boys had an opportunity to study the famous chief of the Illyas. They took occasion to compare him with the others, for the boys now knew all of them.
He was a man, probably sixty years of age, with the most curious headdress, which was worked to imitate, somewhat, the crown, to which his position entitled him. He wore a brightly colored mantle, if it could be called such, for it was simply thrown over one shoulder, and its pendant[p. 185] ends were bound to the waist by a wide girdle.
He wore short trousers, or pantalets, and Harry could hardly keep from laughing, as George suggested that he was ultra-English in the way his trousers were rolled up. He had the face of a man of authority. His every action and look betokened one who knew his authority, and the first question, together with the imperious manner of uttering it, indicated that he was a king, and he knew it.
He looked at Uraso and Muro, both chiefs, and equal to him in rank. He did it with such an imperious air as plainly indicated that he considered them his inferiors. Uraso and Muro stood there, with arms folded, dignified, and returned his gaze with a dignity that won the admiration of the boys.
"I wonder how Uraso and Muro feel now, when they have that old devil at their mercy?" George whispered to Harry.
When the circle had been arranged the chief, Oroto, addressed John in this terse manner:
"What do you want?"
The question came like a shot. It was the first word he had said. Neither of the others had asked for information, nor had they deigned to notice him, as they were marching to the council chamber. This neglect on the part of Muro and Uraso may have nettled him. The attitude of the chiefs plainly irritated him.
It is well known that people of this kind are very sensitive to slights, or what they consider so. It is just as likely that the two chiefs purposely neglected him in that manner to make the humiliation the more complete.