und it,
unrolled the matting, and disclosed to his own and his companion's
astonished gaze the figure of a little old man, securely bound hand and
foot. He was an Indian of some sort, evidently, but not of the same
race as the inhabitants of the village, his colour being that of light
copper, while that of the others was a very dark brown, nearly
approaching to black; also his features were of a totally different and
much higher type, his forehead being broad and high, his nose thin and
aquiline, and his cheek-bones rather high and prominent; in fact he
must, in the days of his youth, have been a decidedly handsome man, with
an imposing presence; but now he was old--how old it was rather
difficult to guess, but probably not far short of a hundred--shrunken
and shrivelled up until he resembled an animated mummy more than
anything else. His head and face were clean shaven, and he was naked,
except for a sort of petticoat of feathers about his loins, the said
petticoat having evidently at one time been an exceedingly handsome
garment, though now it was soiled, frayed, and generally very much the
worse for wear.

As Dick bent over the old fellow, with his long, keen knife in his hand,
to sever his bonds, the creature suddenly cried out some half a dozen
words, in a thin, high, piping voice, causing Stukely to start forward
and gaze earnestly into the face of the speaker; then, to Dick's
stupefaction, Stukely replied in apparently the same tongue, bent over
and rapidly loosed the thongs which bound the old fellow's hands and
feet together, and proceeded gently to chafe the shrunken limbs.

CHAPTER TEN.

HOW THE TWO ADVENTURERS ACQUIRED A COMPANION.

"Why, Phil," exclaimed Dick, in amazement, "what does this mean? Surely
you are not pretending that you understand the old chap's lingo?"

"No, Dick, I am not pretending," answered Stukely, regarding Chichester
with a dazed expression. "It is a fact--a most extraordinary and
unaccountable fact, that I really understand what the poor old chap
says, without knowing it, without even previously suspecting it for an
instant. I seem to possess a sufficient knowledge of his tongue to be
able to comprehend his speech, and even to answer him; and I believe
that in the course of a day or two I shall be able to converse freely
with him. What he cried out just now was an entreaty that we would
spare his life, and I answered that he need not fear us, for we meant
him no harm."