he
tribe. Their arrows did not fly, the warriors held them, waiting for a
command.

Then a command came, loud and clear. It was a surprise to Dick, for it
came from a point directly above his head and the voice was not that of
an African savage. The hidden chief spoke in the language of the
tribe. It was an order; the inflection of the voice told Dick that
before the warriors dropped their bows and arrows and bowed low to Dick.

Then the voice again boomed out in broken English, "Advance white men!
I will protect you! Mahatma Sikandar speaks!"

CHAPTER VIII

BLACK WARRIORS

"Can you beat it!" exclaimed Dan Carter in astonishment, on hearing the
English words spoken among a savage tribe in the jungle.

A chuckle was heard from the tangle of foliage above the heads of the
two boys as they drew rein where the jungle path entered a clearing.

"Advance, Dick Sahib! Mahatma Sikandar speaks!"

"Don't go!" whispered Dan. "There's something spooky about this. How
does he know your name? Maybe it's a trap. If we go out there in the
open they will use us for targets."

"Keep quiet, Dan, I want to speak to the man. Besides they can shoot
us here if they have a mind to do it. If there is a trap we're in it
right now," Dick answered impatiently.

But Dan could not keep quiet. Before Dick could stop him the boy
called out:

"Say, Mister, I bet you don't know what my name is."

A hearty laugh issued from the hiding place of the Mahatma. "Dan Sahib
is young. After many lives, he will gain wisdom--perhaps!"

Dan stared above his head in speechless amazement. Here they were
miles away from any one they knew, yet this man had called them both by
their names and in their own tongue.

"Who is he, anyway?" whispered Dan.

"He must be a Hindu with that name, and I judge also by the sing-song
English he uses. But what is he doing here? That's what I want to
know."

"Advance friends," once more the Mahatma spoke. "The men of the
Kungoras are brave warriors, they will not harm you for I have given
them promise that you are my friends."

"Let's go!" said Dick, touching his horse's sides with his heels,
sending the animal trotting into the clearing where the savages had
ranged themselves in a huge semicircle.

A file of the Taharan and Gorol warriors followed Dick and Dan into the
clearing.

There was a tense pause.

It seemed as though a battle might follow at any moment, for the
Taharans and Go