Adventure, December 3, 1920 — page 77: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Tucandeira as if speaking of something very large and wide. Once he pointed to us and shook his head. Before he finished his face grew ugly, as if he talked of something hateful. Then he moved as if trampling on something and spat on the ground. Wherrhe was through he folded his arms like the chief and stood looking steadily into his eyes. Z <i THE chief seemed thoughtful and a & little doubtful. He said nothing. I thought he was decided what to do with us; and though I held my head high and stood as if unafraid, I was a little nervous, for I felt that he was unfriendly. But before he spoke again another thing happened. Voices came to us—merry young voices some- where behind the house. We heard quick foot- falls too, and calls and laughter, as if girls were playing with one another. Then around a corner dashed several young women. As they saw us they stopped short. “Nossa Senhoral”’ gulped Pedro. “T’ll be ——!”’ muttered the Tucandeira. I said nothing. I was too much surprized for words. The girl in the lead, senhores, was white! Not only was she white, but she was strikingly beautiful. Her hair was wonderful—a rich, glossy red, and so long and thick that it seemed like a mantle of flame, rippling down almost to her knees. Her deep gray eyes were still full of laughter, and her little red mouth kept its smile as she looked us over. She was breath- ing fast from her running, her face was flushed, and her whole body glowed pink through the light tan on her smooth skin. Unlike the Indian girls with her, she wore a little clothing; for she had a skirt of feathers reaching to her knees, and around her breasts was a wide girdle of some bright blue material. Her throat, too, was encircled by a necklace of small, irregular globes of gold. This, I felt, must be the woman of whom Googoo had spoken. Instead of telling us she was bald and blind he had been trying to show us that her hair was not black like ours and that her eyes were neither black nor brown. The memory of what the American had said came to me and made me grin. “T do not hear you hissing like a snake, senhor,’~I said. ‘‘And Pedro has forgotten to make his noise of a jaguar.” Senhor Locke told me I was a “boob” and asked me to shut up. But Pedro, still looking at her, laughed. She did not like it. Her face and throat flushed still more, her eyes snapped, and she stamped a little foot on the ground. Then she spoke to the chief, and her tone was angry. At once the men around us seemed to become hostile. Before the chief could answer, though, the Tucandeira bowed gracefully to her and talked 67 again. She looked surprized at the sound of her own language coming from his mouth. Then she glanced at us and laughed. Lifting her hands, she covered her head as if to show us how she would look with no hair, then put them before her eyes. Our companion had explained our mistake in expecting to find her an old hag, and she thought it very funny. The barbaros guarding us grinned too, and I saw a slight smile at the corners of the mouth of the chief himself. I felt, though, that they were pleased only because she was, and that if she had remained angry it might have gone hard with us. “T’d advise you jiggers to go slow on the wit and humor,” Senhor Locke said. “This little lady seems to be the whole works, and she was sore as a boil when she thought you were laughing at her. Be meek and mild, like me.” Then the chief said something to the girl, and she looked at us again more seriously. Her eyes rested only a moment on me, longer on my good-looking comrade Pedro, longest on the black-bearded man who spoke her tongue. At length she replied in a rather doubtful tone, as if not able to decide something just then. ‘The tall Indian nodded slightly, gave directions to Googoo, turned his back on us and went inside. After another long look at us the red-haired girl followed him. Now that she was gone, I glanced around at the others. All were maidens excetp one older woman who had come up behind them, and all were Indians. - Their hair was damp, and I judged that the party had been bathing in some private pool. As we looked at them they giggled and went away toward the smaller houses. Googoo touched my arm, motioned with his head, and led us to a mud house where, he told us, we were to stay. Everything we owned, except our weapons, was brought there also and left on the floor. Pedro’s rifle, the rifle and revolver of Senhor Locke, and our machetes had been put into the house of the chief. guards at our door, one afmed with a big club and the other with a bow. Googoo said some- thing, then went away with the others. “He says food will be brought,” explained Locke. ‘Nothing for us to do now but sit around and wait for the chow. Say, stand in the doorway a minute and let me run through this pile of junk. I think they overlooked my pocket-knife.” We did as he said, filling up the doorway, talking, and pointing across the clearing. ‘The guards looked that way to see what drew our attention. Soon the Tucandeira spoke again. “All nght, I got it.- These jiggers didn’t understand it because it’s closed. It has a four-inch blade that might come in handly. Here, Louren¢o, put your hand behind you.” CORMIGLOOKS Two men were left as. (C@