At length, however, we made out, chiefly by signs, that something was wrong at home—either that his children were ill, or that his wife had run away; at all events, that he wished to return northward. This was to us a serious announcement, as we had greatly depended on his assistance for traversing the country. It had, however, been tolerably evident that he had got tired of acting as our guide; indeed, few of the wild natives can ever be depended upon for associating with the whites for any length of time. Only the younger men, who get gradually habituated to civilised customs, will ever remain faithful to the duties they undertake. Pullingo was no exception to the rule.
“Will it be necessary for us to turn back?” I asked.
“Certainly not,” answered Mudge; “we can make our way very well without him, and as it is important for the sake of your mother and sister that we should undertake the journey, I say, by all means let us push on.”
“I am perfectly ready to do so,” I answered; “indeed, I very much doubt whether Pullingo knows anything about the mountains, and I suspect that from the first he had no intention of conducting us over them. I suppose, however, that he does not intend to leave us at once?”
“Little fear of that while we have the pigeons roasting at the fire,” observed Mudge. “Perhaps during the evening we shall be able to learn more about the matter; however, in the meantime we must make him and his son assist us in plucking the birds, for I am getting pretty sharp set.”
Pullingo and Quaquagmagu very willingly obeyed our directions, especially as they were to benefit by the task, and we quickly had a dozen pigeons and parrots roasting on as many spits.
“And so, Pullingo, you intend to leave us to make our way over the hills by ourselves! That is not treating us properly,” observed Mudge.
The black hung down his head, as if he had understood every word that was said, and then with a sigh pointed northward.
“But why couldn’t you have told us this before?” asked Mudge.
Pullingo pointed to his son, to intimate that he had brought him intelligence which made him wish to return.