reeping, crawling, sneaking death. And though they had faced death too
often in another land to fear it in any form, though they marched on
with unwavering step, their eyes were somber as in their hearts echoed
the last appeal of the man they had left behind them:

"Ye ain't goin' to desert a comrade amongst a lot o' man eaters--"

CHAPTER XIX.

THE RED BONES

Four days the expedition tramped steadily onward through the rugged
labyrinthine hills. Four nights its members slept in utter exhaustion.
Neither by day nor by night was any sign of the Raposa seen, nor of any
other human being.

So tired from the constant struggle did the Americans become that their
jaded brains began to picture the mysterious wild man as a mere
legendary creature, which they never would find even though they
searched the inscrutable forests until the end of time. Yet when, on the
fifth day, Tucu informed them that they now were nearing the principal
settlement of the Red Bones, the announcement cheered them as if they
were about to enter a civilized city and there meet David Rand safe and
sane.

Not that any chance of striking his trail had been neglected in the
meantime. It was thoroughly understood that if he were met anywhere he
was to be made prisoner, and that thereafter the back trail should be
taken. Lourenco had impressed on Tucu the fact that the whole journey
had for its object the finding of the wild man, and that he must not be
killed if found. Since the Indians were not in the habit of hunting so
assiduously anyone but a bitterly hated foe, it is quite possible that
they misunderstood the spirit of the quest and believed the "dead-alive"
prowler would, if captured, undergo some extremely unpleasant treatment
at the hands of the white men. But so long as it was made clear that the
Raposa must be caught alive, if caught at all, Lourenco did not trouble
about what the Mayorunas might surmise.

Now, as the end of the long, pathless trail approached, arose a question
of which McKay had previously thought but had not spoken--how he was to
converse with the Red Bone chief. Lourenco asked Tucu whether the Red
Bones spoke the Mayoruna tongue. Tucu replied that they did not. He
added, however, that the languages were not so dissimilar as to prevent
some sort of understanding being reached between members of the two
tribes. The veteran bushman nodded carelessly.

"When the tongue fails, Capitao, the hands still can talk," he