He had no more than uttered this casual wish than there sounded, from all sides of where they sat, screeching whoops. The naked brown men who suddenly appeared seemed to materialize from right out of the excavations. As they yelled they raised their weapons. The air was filled, for an instant, with what looked like long arrows. Most of them whistled harmlessly past the two scientists, but one hit the side of the station wagon, making a resounding thump and leaving a deep dent, while two buried themselves in the wood of the U-Haul-It and remained there, quivering.
George and Sidney, after the shock of their first surprise at this attack, leaped to their feet.
"The car!" cried Sidney. "Let's get out of here!"
They both started to move. Then George stopped and grabbed Sidney's arm. "Wait!"
"Wait?" Sidney demanded. "They'll kill us!"
"Look," advised George, indicating the red men who surrounded them; they now made no further move of attack.
George gazed about. "Oh," he said, "you think somebody's playing a joke on us?"
"Could be," said George. He ran one hand over his bald head.
"Some dear friends," Sidney went on, resenting the scare that had been thrown into them, "hired some Indians to pretend to attack us?"
"Maybe Pimas," said George. He peered at the Indians, who now were jabbering among themselves and making lamenting sounds as they glanced about at the ruins of the ancient village. There were eighteen of them. They were clad in nothing more than a curious cloth of some kind run between their legs and up and over a cord about their waists, to form a short apron, front and back.