their leader
but the long habit of obedience caused them to suppress their
resentment. So they merely looked sad and said nothing.

"Now go," Choflo said, ceremoniously presenting the magic arrow, "and
return when you have slain the Black Phantom. Bring back the ears, the
claws and the tail so that we may have the proof. And do not return
until your mission has been fulfilled."

Oomah gathered up his bow, a pack of arrows of various types to use in
procuring game, and a small bag of food, and without a word vanished
into the night. The last thing the watchers saw was the tuft of white
feathers which had been inserted in his head-band.

The youth did not go far. Entering the edge of the forest flanking the
sandbar, country of which he knew each square foot, he went straight to
a giant ceiba tree and took up his station between two of the buttressed
roots to await the coming of daylight. And while the long hours of
darkness dragged their way into eternity Oomah laid his plan of action.

The first thing he did after the sun appeared was to examine minutely
the arrow prepared by Choflo. Certain words whispered into his ear by
old Yaro had had the effect of making him cautious. Besides, there were
his own suspicions to verify or to disprove.

The subject for a test was not hard to find in the form of a spiny rat
that he dug out of a decayed stump and holding the rodent in one hand he
pricked the tender skin with the point of the arrow. The rat struggled
and squeaked, but when he released it a few minutes later it scurried to
cover. Choflo's treachery had been proven.

Oomah replaced the missile in his pack and started up the river. Two
hours later he halted, started a fire by rubbing together two dry sticks
and placed a forest partridge which he had shot on the way, to roast.
While the meat sputtered on the spit he collected the slender stems of
the same species of creeper that Choflo had gathered and buried in the
floor of his shelter, and prepared the poison of whose deadliness there
was no question.

The process was a simple one. First the stems were crushed to a pulp
between stones and the juice pressed out into a small bowl taken from
his food-bag. The container was placed over the fire; when it had boiled
half an hour its contents had been reduced to a thick, black liquid
which was ready for use. The point of the arrow was dipped into the
concoction and revolved until it was covered with a uniform, heavy
coati