He had become therefore a person of great influence in the tribe, not only because of his prowess as a hunter but also because of his knowledge of the world outside and his education, which gave him great superiority over his ignorant and simple-minded mates. And he was cunning enough to make this count for all that it was worth and considerably more, considering that, after all, he had gained only the merest smattering of learning.
Bomba knew something of the history of Grico, and hope sprang in him anew as the giant caboclo made his way through the sullen group and peered at that faint scrawl upon the wall. Slowly he read the words aloud:
“Nascanora is taking away Casson, Pipina, Hondura to camp near Giant Cataract. Come. Help.”
Then he turned to the Indians, his one eye gleaming at them in a contemptuous manner.
“Bomba speaks truth,” he said. “Those are the words he said, and that is the writing on the wall. Take the point of your knife away, Lodo. The boy is right. Chief Hondura has been taken away by the wicked Nascanora. We will capture Nascanora and tie him to a tree and pile the brushwood up about his knees and with flint and stone make red flames that will lick at his flesh and bones. Ayah! Ayah!”
The cry of vengeance, indescribably weird and savage, was taken up by the Indians and filled the jungle with a long wailing shriek that chilled the blood of Bomba as he thought of what might have happened to him had it not been for Grico’s timely appearance.
Once their enmity was turned from him, the Indians became as friendly and pleasant as they had been savage a few moments before.
One of them found a bit of native cloth in the hut and bound it about the wound in Bomba’s shoulder. Then they squatted outside the hut to hold a council and decide upon plans for the rescue of their chief.
While the Indians talked in their guttural language, sometimes sitting for many minutes of silence between their laconic sentences, Bomba fretted and fumed, eager to be once more on the trail of the headhunters.
However, he could not risk offending Lodo and his braves, who might prove valuable helpers in his quest, by going off too abruptly. So he waited, answering as best he could the questions that Lodo and Grico put to him from time to time.