"To the place where the great trees are." And he pointed to a group of trees less than five hundred feet beyond. Progress with the team was impossible, and all alighted. Leaving three of the warriors with the team, the others ascended the slight elevation, and before them was the mouth of the cavern.
The opening was not more than eight feet in height, and not over six feet wide, with irregular sides. Arriving in front of it, John advanced to Oroto, and said: "I am about to show you that the Great Spirit will not injure me!" And saying so boldly marched in.
He remained for a full half hour, and the chief became uneasy. The boys, as well as Uraso and Muro, affected not to be disturbed. What John did was this: It was evident to him that the occupants of the cave had no knowledge of the approach of the party.
They knew that the White Chief and the allies had captured the village and the chiefs. They felt a certain sense of security in their home, because in all the tribal warfares the medicine men and the wise men of the tribes were regarded with fear and reverence.
When John entered the cave, he went in a sufficient distance to be surrounded by total darkness. He remained concealed long enough so that he could become accustomed to the darkness, and[p. 216] slowly moved toward the interior, as he felt assured the occupants' presence would sooner or later be revealed by their lights.
In this he was not mistaken, and he was surprised to find them much nearer the entrance than he anticipated. It would be more impressive to remain for some time than to emerge at once, so he sat down to observe the wise men.
There was the most oppressive silence when he first observed the light, but as he neared them, a more or less animated conversation took place. Much of this was understood by John, as his knowledge of two of the dialects gave him some key to the words uttered. From this it was evident that they knew of the rescue of the captives.
The chief had told them of ten belonging to the order. John could count only eight. Possibly two were in some other part of the cavern, and he moved along at the opposite side of the large chamber to discover what was beyond.
Brushing along the wall, a hanging stalactite was dislodged, and it fell. The noise did not give even a momentary start to the company. John was surprised. He stopped and reflected, and the reason soon became plain. They supposed that it was caused by the absent ones returning.
But John waited and the two did not return, and they began to glance about. At this time he was on the opposite side of the chamber, so that the medicine men were between him and the mouth of the cave.