No, he must go in the daylight, with his palms extended outward as a sign of amity and goodwill. Then he would be brought into Japazy’s presence and would explain his errand. Then he would listen to the words that would give him the information for which his soul yearned or else doom him once more to heartache and despair.
He looked at the sky and judged the time from the position of the moon. It was not yet midnight. He would have some hours in which to get the rest that he so sorely needed. Then at the first streak of dawn he would be astir, would go scouting cautiously about the island and find out the dwelling place of Japazy and his people. After that he could decide how to approach the half-breed.
The mysterious humming mixed with louder and more discordant notes still persisted. Bomba glanced riverward and saw the flickering lights dancing weirdly on the surface. What did they mean? What did they forebode?
He looked about the jungle. In the faint moonlight that filtered through the trees the things he saw took on fantastic shapes. The creepers hanging from the trees swayed and writhed and seemed to stretch out ghostly arms. The knots and boles of the trunks framed themselves into grimacing faces that seemed to be chuckling over the fate of the young invader who had come unbidden into their realm.
With an effort Bomba shook himself free from the morbid fancies that were stealing upon him.
“Is Bomba an old woman?” he asked himself scornfully. “Will he be whimpering soon like Pipina, the squaw? No! Bomba does not fear what the natives fear. He does not tremble like Ashati and Neram who talk foolish words about ghosts and demons. For Bomba is white. He is like Gillis and Dorn, who laugh at the talk of ghosts. If they can laugh, so can Bomba. For Bomba has a white skin and he has a white soul, and he is afraid of nothing that the foolish people say walk in the darkness.”
Strengthened in his own mind by this defiance, he took food from his pouch and made a hearty meal. Then he burrowed still further into the heart of the thicket, where, knowing that no wild beast would attempt to get at him, he lay down and slept.
The first faint light of day was creeping up the sky when he awoke. He made a hasty breakfast, and then, after looking closely to the condition of his weapons, set out on his voyage of discovery.
It was not long before he discovered that the island was many acres in extent. Much of it was jungle, almost as thick in places as on the mainland. But it was much easier to traverse, for there were numerous well-beaten trails extending in various directions which attested the presence of quite an island population.
There were sections also on which grew little vegetation. These were sandy and rocky plateaus, seamed with ravines. There was one great hill that almost rose to the dignity of a mountain, and from this a bluish vapor or smoke kept constantly rising and spreading out in the shape of a fan. At times a flash of flame would issue forth from the summit.