At last the chief returned. He was excited and pointed up the river. Looking in that direction they saw a group of Indians in the act of pushing a heavy log far out into the stream with the aid of long poles. Caught by the swift current, the log began to race down toward them and in a short time it had sped past them on the far side of the rock. Suddenly it wavered, swung around and then stopped beside their footing. It was not until then that they discovered that there was a strong rope of braided palm fiber attached to the log, the other end of which was on shore and held by a large number of Indians. The latter made their way down along the rocks, slowly and cautiously, until they were directly opposite the rock. The leader, now in deliberate pantomime, showed the plan that had been worked out for the rescue of the white men. One of them was to tie the rope around his body just below the arms and then jump into the river as far as possible. The Indians would pull him ashore. The question now came up as to who was to go first, each offering to make the attempt that would test the feasibility of the scheme and the strength of the rope; but the matter was quickly settled when David tore one of the few remaining buttons off his clothes and flipped it as he would a coin. He was the winner. Miguel carefully adjusted the end of the rope around his companion’s body and tied the knot securely across his chest. Then, at a signal from the chief, David jumped as far as he could; at the same instant the Indians holding the other end raced into the forest. The moment the man struck the water he felt himself dragged against the frightful current that whirled him over and over, drew him down into the boiling depths and again tossed him up to the surface. The pull was so great that it seemed he must be torn in two. The ordeal, however, lasted but a short time. Before he was fully aware of what had happened strong arms pulled him out of the water and placed him on his feet where he stood sputtering and gasping but none the worse for his experience. The rescuers immediately went upstream, sent out another log and rescued Miguel in the same manner. The two followed the Indians into the forest, where the latter started a fire and proceeded to roast some game that they had apparently shot earlier in the day. The brown men now paid no attention to their guests, for such they were, and David and Miguel remained quietly on one side, watching their actions. Before long the meat was roasted and one of the Indians brought two large, forest partridges to the strangers. Then they all sat down and ate in silence. Miguel knew a good deal of the customs of the Indians. He was sure that there would be questionings and explanations later on. But first, the law of hospitality required the providing of food.