"Our cannibals make that poison in much the same way. Yet Guiana is many hundreds of miles from here, and our Indians know nothing of those Macusi people. Queer, is it not, that the same plan should be used by savages thousands of miles apart?" "Rather odd. Must have started from some common source hundreds of years ago and spread around. Queerest thing is, though, that a poison so deadly doesn't spoil meat for eating." "Huh?" exclaimed Tim. "Mean to say them cannibals can kill us by scratchin' us with a poison arrer and then stummick us afterwards?" "Exactly. You'd taste just as sweet as ever, Tim--maybe more so. Cheer up! They say it doesn't hurt much to die that way; you're paralyzed so quick you just sort of fade out." Tim shook his head, his abhorrence of poison strong as ever. Knowlton spoke. "I've heard that this wurali poison is much overrated, that it will kill only birds and monkeys, not men." "_Por Deus!_ Whoever said that was a fool trying to appear wise!" Pedro snorted. "We have seen the poison death, and we know." McKay also shook his head. "Experiments have been made with the wurali of the Macusis," he stated. "It was tried on a hog, a sloth--and a sloth is mighty hard to kill--also on mules, and on a full-grown ox weighing almost half a ton. It killed every one of them." A momentary silence followed. Tim gazed sourly at the arrow, now harmless but still sinister. "Urrrgh!" he growled. "Cap, ye had a narrer squeak--come near gittin' it from in front, and behind, too. Wisht I could have drilled that guy." The bushmen grinned. And Lourenço's next speech was amazing. "Be thankful you did not. That bullet might have killed us all." After enjoying their puzzled expressions a moment he continued. "We are nearer to a Mayoruna _maloca_ than I thought. Not the one I intended to seek, but a smaller one. It is about three days' journey from here, and to reach it we must go through the bush. The man who left this arrow here to-day is from that _maloca_. "A week ago his brother went hunting, and he has not returned. So this young savage and three of his comrades now are searching the bush for some sign of him. To-day they separated, each going in a different direction, agreeing to meet again to-night at a place less than half a day's journey from here. This man circled around and worked along this creek, knowing his brother would hardly go beyond the water. He spied our canoes, then sought the men who had come in them and found you. "He watched you for some time, and if you had not rushed at him he would have slipped away without attacking you, for he was alone and he saw your guns. But when you, Capitao, suddenly leaped at him he darted away, then stopped long enough to send an arrow at you. After that he dodged out of sight and ran to the camp of his three friends. He is there now, telling about you." "Great guns! You chaps are wizards!" cried Knowlton. "How do you know all this?"