The arrows rattled about the clump of bamboo in which the two men were hiding. Soon after, a line of howling savages charged out of the darkness, flitted through the lighted area and disappeared again in the gloom on the other side of the fire. David drew his revolver and held it ready for action, for the first time since Miguel had found him. He had saved the few precious cartridges he possessed for the time when it might be necessary to defend their lives and that time, he thought, had arrived. But the swarm of Indians swept past them all unaware of their presence. How the savages could see in the darkness was beyond his ability to explain; but see they did, or otherwise they soon should have killed themselves by colliding with the trees and many other obstructions in the forest. The pursuit continued far beyond, as was evidenced by the shouts that grew constantly fainter and then died in the distance. The Parintintins had been routed completely and many of them had probably perished in the unexpected assault; the survivors, doubtless, were scattered hopelessly and were either in hiding or fleeing for their lives. “We’d better get away from here,” David whispered, “but they went right in the direction we want to go.” “Don’t be in too big a hurry,” Miguel admonished him. “The forest is full of Indians. I know them. There are some of them right around us here. We can’t leave until we’re sure all have gone.” The wisdom of his words was demonstrated a moment later, when a shadowy form flitted out of the night and made for one of the clusters of arrows that had been deserted when the charge came. He had hardly reached the spot when there came the snarl of an arrow, followed by a dull thud, and the Indian pitched headlong to the ground. It was as Miguel had said. Unseen eyes were watching the fire in anticipation of the return of some of the routed savages for their effects. But greatly to the relief of the onlookers, no others came. After an hour’s nerve-racking silence the crackling of twigs told of the return of the victorious party and presently the vanguard, in small groups, came into view. They were talking and gesticulating wildly; then half a dozen others who had acted as sentinels around the fire joined them. Soon more came until there must have been over a hundred. They piled wood on the fire until they had a blaze roaring toward the tree tops, while a train of sparks, like miniature comets, soared high above the forest. That served as a signal to announce victory, and after a short time a group of women and children appeared out of the jungle and joined the warriors. The women carried baskets on their backs; they were filled with calabashes, and packages wrapped in green leaves. When all had arrived the celebration of the victory began. The remainder of the tapir was placed in the fire to roast; bundles were unwrapped, revealing quantities of fish, Brazil nuts, cassava bread and corn.