"Give them to me."
The chief ordered them to be brought forward, and spoke to them: "The White Chief has asked[p. 106] me not to injure you, and at his command I have given you to him."
This announcement seemed to stun them, but Muro was quick to assure them that the White Chief meant no harm.
The boys took complete satisfaction in going over to the large hut, to again witness the place where they had spent two weeks in terror, expecting that each day would be their last.
But we must return to the Professor and the colony. Two days after the departure of John and his force, the second insulting message came from the Illyas, in which the statement was made that they and the Tuolos had united to drive the White Chief from the country and to destroy the tribes who were allied against them.
A messenger was sent after John, but this was not necessary, as the Tuolos were in their power before the messenger came.
The Professor had ordered the building of a number of small houses, each containing two or three rooms, and these were plainly fitted up for comfort. Some of the natives became quite expert at putting up these structures when once directed.
George and Jim were set to work, with a half dozen of the men, at building chairs and tables for the houses, and the work of weaving the cloth goods was not interrupted for a moment. As stated, the women began to drift in, and the Professor welcomed them. When they arrived, many of them with their children, the Professor assigned them and their husbands to these cottages.
This was an intense delight to them. Each cottage had a small patch of ground surrounding it, and the first care was to advise them how to lay off and plant flowers about the place, to make the surroundings attractive.