aloca_,
explained that the absent men had gone hunting for their breakfasts.
Before long the hunters came straggling back, bearing monkeys and birds,
which were divided among their companions. None of this meat was offered
to the prisoners, who ate unconcernedly from their pack rations. Tim,
after watching the Indians sink their sharp-filed teeth into broiled
monkey haunches and tear the meat from the bones, snorted and turned his
back to them.

"Look like a gang o' bloody-faced devils gobblin' babies," he muttered.
"I'll believe now they're cannibals, all right."

So uncomfortably apt was his simile that the others grimaced and turned
their eyes elsewhere until the savage meal was finished. Then their
attention became riveted on a queer proceeding at the canoe wherein
Yuara had journeyed yesterday.

To the gunwales amidships two of the men fastened a couple of small
crotched posts. In the forks was laid a pole, crosswise of the boat, and
from this, by slender fiber cords, four slabs of wood were hung.
Strolling down to the canoe, the travelers found that athwart its bottom
had been laid a crosspiece supporting two shorter crotched posts,
between which stretched another transverse pole; and from this pole in
turn the lower ends of the four slabs had been suspended. Now the
savages joined the tips of each pair of slabs by carved end sections,
and the contrivance seemed to be complete--a sort of grate, its bars
sloping at an angle of forty-five degrees.

As the Americans eyed the arrangement in perplexity, one of the crew
picked up from the bow of the canoe a pair of mallets the heads of which
were wrapped in hide. With these he struck the slabs in rapid
succession. Out rolled four notes of astonishing volume--the first four
notes of the musical scale. Again and again he ran them over, then
stopped. The deep tones thrummed away along the creek and died.

"By George! a big xylophone!" Knowlton exclaimed, admiringly.

"It sure talks right out loud," said Tim. "Lot o' class to these guys,
at that. Bet this is their brass band, and we'll go rip-snortin' into
the next town like we was on parade. Oughter have some flags to hang up
in the boats, and mebbe a drum corps to help out. Wisht I had a tin
whistle or somethin' and I'd join the orchester. I can toot a whistle
fine."

"My favorite instrument is the old-fashioned dinner horn," laughed
Knowlton. "But I think you're wrong--this is some kind of signaling
apparatus."