When they awoke, it was still dark and much colder. The village fires
had died away, or had been banked for the night. All was silence. Yet
the boys were conscious that they had been awakened by a noise, as
though the echo still lingered in their ears. Presently they were sure
of it--a thunderous sound that rolled in mighty volume out of the dark
jungle and made the earth tremble.
"Are you awake?" whispered Doc.
"Yes."
"Did you hear that?"
"It's a lion."
"Do you suppose he's in the village?"
"He sounds awful close."
Numa was not in the village; he roared with his nose close to the
palisade, voicing his anger at the stout barrier that kept him from the
tender flesh within.
"Golly," said Dick; "it wouldn't do us much good if we did escape. It
would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire."
"Do you mean you'd rather stay here and be eaten by cannibals than try
to escape?" demanded Doc.
"No, I don't mean anything of the kind--I just think we haven't much
chance of getting out of this mess, one way or the other--but I sure
would rather try to get out of it than just sit still and wait to be
eaten, like Bulala and Ukundo are doing. Have you any scheme, Doc, for
getting away?"
"Not yet. From what I could understand of Bulala's gibberish I guess
they won't eat us for a while. He seems to think that they will wait
until we are fattened up a bit; but from something else he said, it is
just possible that they are saving us for a big feast that they have
invited a lot of other villages to attend. Anyway, if we can have a few
days to get a line on the habits and customs of the village, we will be
in a better position to pick out the best plan and the best time for
making our getaway. Gee, but it's cold!"
"I didn't know anyone could be so cold and hungry, and live," said Dick.
"Neither did I. It's no use trying to get to sleep again. I'm going to
get up and move around. Maybe that will make us warm."
But all it did was to awaken Bulala and Ukundo, who were not angry at
all at being awakened and only laughed when the boys told them how cold
they were. Bulala assured them that one was always cold at night and
as he and Ukundo were practically naked the twins felt a little bit
ashamed of their grumbling.
Daylight came at last and with the rising sun came warmth and renewed
vitality. The boys felt almost cheerful and now they were so hungry
that they knew they would eat whatever their captors set before them,
however vile it might appear. But nothing was brought them. In fact it
was almost noon before any attention was paid them and then a warrior
came and ordered all four of them out of the hut. With their guards
they were herded toward the chief's hut in the center of the village.
[Illustration: A warrior ordered them out of the hut.]
Here they found many warriors lined up before the blear-eyed old
cannibal. The chief looked them all over; then addressed the twins.
"He wants to know what you were doing in his country," interpreted
Bulala.
"Tell him we were passing through on the train and that we wandered
into the jungle and got lost," said Dick. "Tell him we want to go back
to the railway and that if he will take us, our fathers will pay him a
big reward."
Bulala explained all this to the chief and there followed a lengthy
discussion between the chief and his warriors, at the end of which
Bulala again interpreted.
"Chief Galla Galla says he will take you back after a while. He wants
you to stay here a few days. Then he will take you back. Also he wants
all your clothes. He says you must take them off and give them to him
as presents, if you want him to take you back to your people."
"But we'll freeze," expostulated Doc.
"You had better give them to him, for he will take them anyway,"
advised Bulala.
Doc turned and looked at Dick. "What are we going to do about it?" he
asked.
"Tell him we'll freeze at night without our clothes, Bulala," cried
Dick.
Bulala and Galla Galla held a lengthy discourse at the end of which the
former announced that the chief insisted upon having their clothes, but
would furnish them with other apparel to take its place.
"Well, tell him to trot it out," snapped Doc.
Again there was much haggling, but finally the chief sent one of his
warriors to bring a handful of filthy calico rags, which he threw
at the feet of the two boys. Doc started to argue the question, but
Bulala's council, combined with the menacing attitude of Galla Galla,
convinced the twins that they could do nothing but comply with the
commands of their captor.
"I'm going to take the things out of my pockets," said Doc.
"They'll probably swipe everything we've got, but if possible we ought
to try to save our knives," suggested Dick.
And sure enough, the first thing that came out of Dick's pocket, which
happened to be a fountain pen, Galla Galla held out his hand to receive.
"A lot of good it'll do the old robber," growled Dick.
"He wants to know what it is," said Bulala.
"Tell him it's a bottle with something good to drink in it," snapped
Doc. "Here, I'll show him how to get it out--looky, old tar-baby," and
Doc stepped forward and removed the cap from the pen point. "Tell him,"
he explained to Bulala, "to put the shiny end in his mouth and then
pull up this little lever here--that'll squirt the nice drink into his
tummy."
Galla Galla did as Bulala directed. A peculiar expression overspread
his evil face and then he commenced to spit, to the great astonishment
not only of himself but of the assembled warriors, for Galla Galla
was undeniably spitting blue. The effect upon him was astonishing and
rather terrifying. He leaped about like a mad man, emitting strange
noises which were interspersed with remarks that the boys were positive
were not at all nice; but the remarkable part of the performance was
that he vented all his rage upon Bulala, striking and kicking the poor
fellow unmercifully.
"Tell him it won't hurt him," yelled Dick, fearful now of the results
of Doc's joke. "Tell him white men drink it to make them strong,"
and when Bulala had succeeded in transmitting this information to
Galla Galla the chief immediately calmed down and apparently was well
pleased, though for a long time, thereafter, he continued to spit blue.
The boys had now emptied their pockets, but each clung to his knife,
attempting to hide it from the eyes of the greedy Galla Galla. The
attempt was vain; a filthy, pinkish palm was extended toward Doc who
needed no one to interpret the cannibal's demands into gimme, gimme,
gimme! It was then that an idea came to Doc that was little short of
inspiration. His eyes snapped and sparkled.
"Why not?" he demanded aloud.
"Why not what?" asked Dick.
"Watch me!" cried Doc.
Galla Galla was becoming insistent--he was demanding in peremptory
tones that Doc deliver the knife forthwith. But Doc did nothing of the
kind. Instead, he held up his left palm outstretched for silence, then
he opened his right hand, exposing to the view of all the coveted knife.
"Tell them," he said to Bulala, "to watch me closely and I will show
them a trick they never saw before."
"Big medicine?" asked Bulala.
Doc seized upon the words. "Big medicine!" he cried. "That's the idea,
Bulala! Tell 'em I'm going to make some big medicine with a capital B."
Even Galla Galla seemed impressed as the white boy covered the knife
with his left palm. Doc clasped his hands and blew upon them. Then he
raised them above his head. "_Abacadabra!_" he shouted. "_Allo, presto,
change cars and begone!_ Now you see it, now you don't." He opened his
hands and held them palms up. The knife had vanished! The chief was
greatly puzzled. He looked all about for the knife and when he came
close to Doc the latter reached suddenly toward him and apparently
extracted the missing article from Galla Galla's left ear. This was
evidently too much for the savage old cannibal.
[Illustration: The knife had vanished!]
He leaped backward so quickly that he stumbled and fell sprawling over
the stool upon which he had been sitting.
The blow to his dignity had a bad effect upon his temper,--none too
good at best. He came to his feet fairly bubbling with rage and angrily
demanded that the boys remove their clothing and don the rags that had
been brought them.
"Hang on to your knife as long as you can," admonished Doc. "I think I
can save 'em both when I get my new minus-fours wrapped around me. How
do you put this stuff on, anyway?"
"Ask Bulala," advised Dick. And that worthy showed the boys how to
wrap the cloth about their hips and carry the end between their legs so
that a little apron fell down in front and another behind.
All this time the two boys had managed to conceal their knives, but, at
last, Galla Galla again demanded them. Doc was desperate.
"We mustn't give them up, Dick," he said, "they're the only useful
things we have. By Jimminy crickets! I won't give 'em up!" He turned to
Bulala. "Tell that fat boy that if anyone takes this medicine away from
us, it will kill him; but that if he doesn't want us to keep them, we
will send them away. Watch!" He exposed his own knife and repeated the
mystic signs and words that he had used before--and the knife was gone.
Then he took Dick's knife and did the same things. Galla Galla shook
his head.
"He wants to know where they are," said Bulala.
Doc looked about in an effort to gain time, while he conjured some
reply that would put an end to Galla Galla's search for the knives.
His eyes fell upon the same youth who had attempted to brain him the
previous day, while Zopinga had been escorting them into the village.
Doc never could account for the idea that popped into his head as he
beheld again the hideous features of the young imp who had come so near
killing him, but he always admitted that it was a good idea--for him
and Dick, if not for the black youth. He stepped suddenly close to the
youth and pointed into his ear.
"Tell Galla Galla," he said to Bulala, "that our big medicine has
hidden itself inside this fellow's head and that it won't come out
until we are with our own people."