Chapter Thirty One.
On the Horizon.
Instantly the tiny people of the Wambutti, none of whom reached higher than my waist, scampered back into the undergrowth, startled by my unearthly yells, but at the same moment Yakul jumped to his feet in alarm, an arrow in his bow.
“Why hast thou given warning?” he cried, glancing at me. “What hideous shape hath frightened thee?”
“See! in yonder bushes, the pigmies are lurking,” I gasped in alarm, pointing to the spot where they had concealed themselves.
“How didst thou detect their presence?” he inquired.
“I watched them.”
Turning towards the thick bushes, the savage chieftain shouted some words in a tongue unknown to me, and next second the impish little denizens of the forest depths sprang from their hiding-places, and recognising their friend, came crowding around, dancing and greeting us effusively.