John had purposely selected the route to the east, as he saw the high elevation in that direction, and George laughed, as he said, slyly: "John is still after the caves," and Harry laughed, as he recalled the keenness with which John had arranged the trips.

John did make his way to the highest points, and soon learned, from the observations, that the island was inhabited, but the trip of the boys was more exciting, so we shall more particularly detail their adventures.

Before they had gone two hours evidences grew thick and fast that tribes inhabited the island. Muro, and the different men, were continually finding traces, none of them, however, which indicated that the people were near at hand, or that the telltale marks had been recently made.

But now signs began to be apparent to the boys also; the bones of animals, lying around the spot where a fire had been gave them the first real sensation. Muro glanced at the boys, and at some bones, and the action on his part was so peculiar, that George quietly remarked:

"Muro looked so peculiarly at me when I glanced at the bones, over there, that I wonder what he meant?"

"I saw it too," answered Harry. "Let us have another look at them;" and acting on the suggestion they went over. Muro followed. They did not appear to pay any attention to him; but he was quick to join them, and as he did so he slowly nodded his head.

"Are they human remains?" said Harry, as he turned to Muro, questioningly.

"Yes; and this is not the first we have seen," he answered. "We may find them now at any time. I am now sure that there are several tribes here."

"What makes you believe so?"

"Because we have found different kinds of hair, which is usually the best evidence of the differences in the tribes, as each has its own peculiarity."

"Savages, and cannibals!" said George reflectively.

"But we must go on. We have still an hour in this direction before we turn to the south and east," said Harry.

There was more caution now exercised, and the speed was accordingly reduced, in view of the especial care which they took. In order to understand what happened the reader should know something of the nature of the country.

Some places in Wonder Island had the same sort of timber and undergrowth, and they went through some dense forests, in which vines and small brush made traveling difficult. They had to cut their way through some of this vegetation.

The land was not low or flat. If it had been there would have been a dense jungle. Sometimes they pa.s.sed through half-grown forests, and these places were the most difficult to scour, because an enemy might be within fifty feet, and not be discovered.

It was in just such a place that they received their first surprise; a shower of arrows, so thick that they instantly knew it could not have been made by only a dozen or so. Some of the arrows found their marks, and two of the men sank down, while Muro coolly drew one of the crude missiles from his arm.

"Drop down!" cried Muro.

There was not a savage in sight; still a number of arrows fell around them. "Remain quiet, and I will find them?" said Muro, as he crept forward quietly through the dense gra.s.s.

George and Harry followed, although it was evident it was not Muro's wish. Before they had gone ten feet, Muro turned, and pointed ahead.

"They are there; at least one party. Get ready for a shot."

The savages, noting the quiet in their front, now cautiously peered through the bush, and the boys saw the most hideous countenances. "We might give them a round," said Muro, and after carefully aiming, the guns spoke.

The simultaneous explosion of the three guns, raised pandemonium on all sides. They were now surrounded by at least a hundred of the savages, but for some reason the little party of twenty awed them, and instead of making a charge, they rushed toward the place where the three victims of the gunshots lay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "_She ... found herself standing in front of a tall oval mirror_" [See p. 204]]

Muro's arm was bleeding profusely, and George quickly bound it up, while the enemy were hesitating. "Do not shoot, unless they rush at us.

I will talk: to them, and try to get an understanding."

Then, in a loud voice Muro called to them, saying they were friends, and not enemies. There was no response. Thinking that they knew nothing of the dialect, he tried another, and the only response was the evident determination of the savages to attack again.

The boys and Muro could plainly hear their chattering, but the latter said that what they were saying was not intelligible to him, and that they must now prepare for a fight.

"Get your guns ready, and be prepared for a charge. If they come so close that you cannot use the guns, then we must be prepared to meet them with our knives, and we must all stand together, and not become separated."

Instead of attacking, however, there was silence, after the first excitement. "They are trying to find, out what struck their comrades when we fired," remarked Muro.

"Yes; I think it was a big surprise."

"I recall," continued Muro, "when we had our first brush with you that we could not find the arrow which we supposed was made by your bullet.

That frightened us more than anything else."

There was not the slightest movement on the part of an enemy for a full half hour. This is the most trying sort of tactics. If you can see the enemy, or note that he is doing something, there is some relief to the tension, but where he can neither be seen, nor heard, it tries the nerves of the strongest man.

Muro knew that this inactivity on the part of the savages had its purpose. Probably, they intended to remain there until night, and overwhelm them in the rush. Muro had other plans, however.

"We cannot remain here. We must make the attack. Remain here, and permit me to feel out their positions, and also to determine what they are doing." He glided away from them noiselessly, and how he kept the tall gra.s.s and weeds from swaying, the boys could not determine at that time.

It did not take Muro long to see the situation. They were surrounded by a cordon of savages, and while spying, saw a new lot of them coming up.

The plan was plain enough, and it meant a fight now, or a night defense.

When he returned, he had his plans formed. "They are being reinforced, and we have, probably, a hundred and fifty, or more, around us. John is, no doubt, too far away to come to our a.s.sistance, and our only hope is to attack them now, so we might as well take the necessary steps."

While on his investigations Muro had discovered a fallen tree, which was not more than fifty feet to their left. "We must reach that tree, and by digging a shallow trench at one side, can easily defend ourselves, as well as pick them off at our leisure."

Slowly they moved, in crawling att.i.tudes, toward the place indicated.

The tree was not a large one, but it made an admirable breastworks, and with their knives each man dug out a shallow hole, piling up the earth beyond the hole, so as to shelter them from the arrows, which they knew would be rained on them.

This work required a full half hour, and when it was completed, and Muro had satisfied himself that each one was supplied with sufficient ammunition, he was ready for the second stage of the game.

"We must attract them, by some form of action. I will take three with me, and crawl forward, until we can catch glimpse of some of the watchers. Those we will attack, and then fall back, and do the same on the other sides."

Muro indicated those who were to follow, and after going only a short distance the boys heard the shots, then four more. This brought the sounds of voices from every direction. Muro and his men, during the excitement, crawled to another portion of the line, and repeated the manoeuver.

This, for the moment threw them into consternation, but they quickly rallied, and now it was plain that they were pressing forward to rush the position occupied by the boys. It was now obvious that the precaution of making the defensive position, as Muro had suggested, was their only salvation.

CHAPTER XVIII

DISCOVERY OF A NEW ISLAND, AND A SAVAGE TRIBE

Nothing could describe the uproar that the second volley created in the ranks of the besiegers. Yell after yell came from the hundreds of throats that were about them. It was now war to the end. There could be no compromise.

While the boys had been in many difficult and trying experiences before, this was the first time that they grew pale, and had strong misgivings.

They knew, however, that the object of the shrieks and yells of savages were for the purpose of driving terror into the hearts of their foes.

In this respect it might not thus affect them, but when they considered the overwhelming numbers around them, we cannot blame them for feeling alarmed.