orunas hungered for
human flesh it would be more economical of labor to let the meat travel
to the slaughterhouse on its own legs than to kill it here and carry it
home.

Again the mutum whistle drifted away. Again no answer came. For a short
distance farther the file continued its march. Then, in a small opening
where the uptorn roots of a tree rose like a wall at one side, it
halted.

"The place of meeting," Pedro said. All peered around. None saw anything
but the upstanding roots, the forest jumble, the misty serpentine
lianas. None heard any sound but their own hoarse breathing, the solemn
drip of water, the insect hum, and the occasional melancholy notes of
birds. The place seemed bare of life. Yet upon McKay came again that
feeling of being watched.

Slowly, deeply, Lourenco spoke. The words meant nothing to his mates.
They were like no words they knew. His eyes roved about as he talked,
and it was evident that he saw no more than did the silent men behind
him. But they guessed that he said he and they were there as agreed,
with peace in their hearts, and that he was telling the men of the
wilderness to come forward without fear. And they guessed rightly.

As quietly as a phantom of the mist a man took shape at the edge of the
tree roots. Tall, straight, slender, symmetrically proportioned, with
unblemished skin of light-bronze hue, straight black hair, and deep dark
eyes, he was a splendid type of savage. Face and body were adorned with
glossy paint--scarlet and black rings around the eyes, two red stripes
from temple to chin, wavy lines on arms and chest. He held a bow longer
than himself, with a five-foot arrow fitted loosely to the string and
pointed downward, but ready for instant use. Diagonally across his body
ran a cord supporting a quiver, from which the feathered shafts of
several arrows projected above his left shoulder. Around his waist
looped another cord from which dangled a small loin mat. Otherwise he
was totally nude--a bronze statue of freedom.

Lourenco spoke again in the same quiet tone. The savage stepped warily
forward. At the same moment three other naked men appeared with equal
stealth from tree trunks which had seemed barren of all life. Like the
first, each of these held an arrow ready, but pointing downward; and
each moved with the slow, velvety step of a hunting jaguar. Their eyes
searched those of these strange men of another world who, wearing
useless clothing, carrying heavy we