“We’ll see what Donald says about it when he comes in,” added Adrian; “though I feel pretty sure he’ll think the same that I do. We don’t want anything to interfere with our enjoying that wonderful affair tomorrow, you know. And this fakir of a showman can’t just swoop off with the main part of the village in the wink of an eye. If they concluded to go with him they’d have to take some time to make preparations, you see; and that’d let us have a chance to whisper a few interesting things in the ear of the old chief, that might make him sit up and take notice.” “You’re right, Adrian, quite right,” admitted Billie, as though fully convinced by this time; “there’s no desperate need of hurry; and just as you often say, many a well laid plan’s gone to pieces because of too much haste. But we’ll soon know what Donald has to say about it, because here he comes right now, and with a wide grin on his face, as though he’d made good friends of those cow-punchers!” CHAPTER XXII. ANOTHER WARNING. That night saw many strange things going on in the Zuni village, to all of which our three young friends gave close attention; for they were deeply interested in the quaint ceremonies of these people who traced their ancestors far back beyond the time of the red man on the continent of North America. They did not forget to keep close together after the shades of night fell; for both Donald and Adrian were agreed on that subject, to the effect that a man with such a lack of conscience as Braddon, who would scheme to rob these poor Indians, and lure them away from their home on a false trail, just to endeavor to learn the old medicine man’s secret, and profit by the same, would not stop at anything. Donald had been of the same mind as the other chum, with regard to keeping their secret for a short time, until the Zuni ceremony of the rattlesnake dance had been gone through with. And accordingly none of them had made the first move looking to interviewing the old chief, who was so much taken up with his duties that he had no time for talking now. When they finally came back to the tent, cautious Adrian made it his business to carefully examine it all over. Billie watched this operation with interest. He finally demanded to know what the other expected to find, and if it could be anything in the nature of a bomb. “I know that away Down East, around New York City, the Italian Black Hand do that sort of thing regularly; but I never dreamed it could happen out here,” he went on to say, uneasily; as though it was not very pleasant to suspect that in the middle of a sentence a fellow might be suddenly hoisted heavenward by some infernal machine exploding under his blanket.