The Pathless Trail

by Arthur O. Friel

  CHAPTER XVII.

  FEVER

  In the _maloca_ of Monitaya a feast was in the making.

  Fires glowed all about the great room. Hunters came in, bearing birds orbeasts which were placed before the tribal ruler for inspection andapproval. Fishermen armed with tridents or crude harpoons arrived withsizable trophies of their skill. And at length two young bowmen advancedproudly with a freshly killed wild hog. After glancing at this the chiefadded to his usual nod a few words of praise which made the huntsmengrin with all their pointed teeth.

  Lourenco, squatting comfortably on a jaguar skin beside the lavishlydecorated hammock of Monitaya, carried on a lazy-toned monologue whichprobably dealt with his various experiences since his last meeting withthese people and which appeared to interest and amuse the chief. Theothers, lolling back in mingled fatigue and relief from tension, studiedthe interior of the place and watched the activities around them.

  As in the _maloca_ of Suba, the small forest of poles and hammocksseemed a higgledy-piggledy maze wherein was neither beginning nor end.Yet, as the newcomers took time to observe it, they presently found thatthe confusion was only apparent and that there existed an efficient andorderly arrangement. The hammocks, seemingly slung from any availablepair of poles in utter disregard of one another, really were arranged intriangles. On the ground under the hanging beds lay woven grass mats andhides of the sloth and the jaguar; and in the space inclosed by eachtrio of hammocks burned a small fire. The hammocks were the beds of men,the mats and furs the couches of women and children, and each fire wasthe focal point of the family residing in that triangle.

  Above the hammocks, from transverse poles, were suspended the weapons ofthe men: the great bows, the long blowguns, the fighting spears whosedeadly points now were sheathed in thick scabbards of grass, theunpoisoned fish spears and harpoons. From these poles also hung thequivers of arrows and darts and the small rubber-covered pouches whereina little fresh poison was carried by warrior or hunter. Thus both theground and the air were utilized, and by the compactness of thearrangement an entire family with its worldly goods, was enabled to livein a comparatively small space. Looking around the wide room andremembering the big half circle of Indians who had stood outside, thetwo ex-officers estimated that in this tribal house and its twin dweltseven hundred people.

  Tim and Pedro, less interested in the Mayoruna domestic economy than inthe Mayorunas themselves, were scanning the figures moving about in thereddish haze of smoke. Most of them were women, all nude and naivelyunconscious of any need of clothing. Like the men of the tribe, theybore the red and black rings and streaks on face and body; but, unlikethe males, each wore a facial ornament in the shape of an oval piece ofwood thrust through the lower lip. From time to time those near byglanced up from their work and gave the new men unmistakably friendlylooks--particularly several young but well-grown girls who obviouslywere still unmated. In fact, these last smiled openly at the lithe,handsome Pedro, and red Tim was by no means overlooked.

  "I got me orders," said Tim, _sotto voce_, "and I'm danged if I crack asmile back at them girls. But I sure feel like grinnin'. Watch yourself,old-timer; they're tryin' to flirt with ye."

  Pedro, mindful of watchful eyes, turned his gaze to Tim's face beforeallowing himself to smile. Then he laughed.

  "Do not fear," he said. "My heart is still my own."

  "Same here. Specially when I remember these females would grin jest thesame if them club swingers had spattered our brains all over the frontyard awhile back. But I wisht sombody'd give the girls a nightie orsomethin' to wear. I been around some and I seen quite a lot, but Iain't used to bein' vamped by a bunch of undressed kids with goo-gooeyes the size of a plate o' fish balls. I'm only a bashful country kidfrom N'Yawk."

  "Live and learn," chuckled Pedro. "And clothes really have nothing to dowith modesty."

  "True for ye. Clothes is mostly a disguise, anyhow, specially withwomen, and an awful expense, besides. These guys are lucky, I'll say;they 'ain't got to buy their wives no fur coats or silk stockin's ornothin'. All the same, I got all I can do to hold me face straight whenI see these li'l owl-eyes givin' us the glad look. I'd oughter stayedback in Remate de Males, where a feller can wink at a woman withoutgittin' all his pardners massacreed."

  "Perhaps it would not be fatal, now that we are guests of the chief. Butit is best to take no chances."

  "Safety first. That's us. Grin at one of 'em and another might git sorebecause she missed out, and first thing ye know ye've started somethin'without meanin' to. Let's look at somethin' harmless--one o' thempoisoned spears, f'r instance."

  At that moment Monitaya and Lourenco both arose, the chief to inspect inperson the progress of the arrangements for the feast, the bushman toreturn to his companions with additional news.

  "Monitaya tells me," he said, "that his people have lost girls in otherways than by the murderous attacks of the gunmen. A number of youngwomen who have gone into the bush near their _malocas_ to get urucu andgenipapa, which they use to make the red and black body dyes, havedisappeared. So have several who went to the creeks for their dailybaths. Warriors who tried to trail them have found the footprints of afew men, but always lost them at water. The girls had been taken away incanoes. Even this tribe of Monitaya, which never has been attacked bynight raiders because it is too strong, has not been safe from thesestealthy woman stealings by daylight. Three girls have been taken fromhere within the past two moons, and others have disappeared from other_malocas_."

  "Hm! And Schwandorf hasn't been here recently," said Knowlton.

  "No. It must be that he has agents who work when he is not here, or elsethis is done without his knowledge. I have told Monitaya what I know ofSchwandorf, and he agrees that the women are taken as slaves. I havealso told him that when we return down the river we shall see thatSchwandorf troubles the Mayorunas no more."

  "Excellent," McKay approved. "Have you asked him about the Raposa?"

  "Not yet. It does not pay to hurry business with these people. After thefeast is out of the way I will talk further with him."

  No more was said for a time. The five lounged at ease, sniffing thesavory odors arising from the reddish clay pots and pans in which fruit,fish, or fowl was frying in tapir lard, or meat was stewing. At length anumber of tall, shapely women, apparently the handsomest of their sex inthe tribe, laid a number of small mats in a semicircle on the groundbefore the chief, and placed thereon a steaming array of edibles. Furswere placed outside the line of mats. From somewhere appeared all fourof the subchiefs, accompanied by Yuara. Thereupon Monitaya, with asmiling nod to his guests, squatted within the arc. Forthwith thevisitors advanced in a body, disposed themselves comfortably on thefurs, and assailed the viands with a vigor that brought a delighted grinto the face of their barbaric host.

  Fried bananas, tender fish, broiled parrot which was not so tender, athick stew of somewhat odorous meat seasoned with tart-tasting herbs,roast wild hog, and other things at whose identity the whites could noteven guess, all were chewed and washed down with generous draughts of arather sour liquid resembling beer. Remembering Lourenco's previouswarning, each man took care not to slight any portion of the meal or toshow distaste with anything, whether it pleased the palate or not.Throughout the feast the tall women hovered near, bringing freshsupplies whenever a dearth of any edible appeared to threaten. And whenat last the feasters were full to repletion Monitaya himself designatedwhat he considered titbits to tempt them further.

  "Gosh! if I eat any more I'll bust, and I'm danged if I'll bust jest tosatisfy this guy," asserted Tim. Wherewith he put one hand under his jawand patted his stomach with the other, signifying that he was filled tothe throat. Pedro lifted his elbows, dropped his jaw, and made motionsas if gasping for air. The chieftain grinned widely. The grin became achuckling when Tim, after a vain attempt to rise, lay back at fulllength on his rug and begged some one to make a cigarette.

  "Guess I'll have to follow Tim's example," confessed Knowlton. And h
etoo stretched out. Pedro and Lourenco also sprawled back. McKay, afterglancing around, compromised with his dignity by leaning on one elbow.The subchiefs and Yuara, with slight smiles, relaxed in variouspostures. Monitaya alone arose--not without some difficulty--and gotinto his hammock, where he beamed down at them.

  "Suppose this is a compliment to the chief," smiled McKay. "He thinks hehas eaten us helpless."

  "Speakin' for li'l old Tim Ryan, that ain't no joke, neither. Lookit allthe girls givin' us the laff. Who are them tall ones that's been rushin'the grub? Waitresses or somethin'?"

  "Those are the chief's wives," Lourenco explained.

  "Huh? Gosh! he's one brave guy, that feller! Two--four--six--eight--nineof 'em! Swell lookers, too. I s'pose he has his pick o' the whole crowdhere."

  "He does not have to pick them Senhor Tim. They pick him. He and thesubchiefs are the only ones who can take more than one wife. When a girlwishes to become the wife of the great chief or of a subchief, she worksfor months making feather dresses and necklaces and hammocks, and whenthese are done she gives them all to him. If he likes her well enough heaccepts the gifts and allows her to be a wife to him."

  "Yeah? And she's flattered to death, I s'pose. Wisht they'd startsomethin' like that up home, or, anyways, fix it so's a feller could getan even break. Way it is now, a feller blows in every dollar he's got,and then when he's fixin' to git the ring the girl leaves him flat forsome other guy that 'ain't spent his dough yet. Yo-ho-hum! I'm goin' totake a snooze right there on the table. Wake me up, somebody, when thenext mess call blows."

  And with no further ado he shut his eyes and drowsed.

  His companions lolled for some time, smoking and watching the familylife of the ordinary members of the tribe, nodding now and then to somefriendly-looking young fellow, but ignoring the mischievous glances ofthe girls. Monitaya himself lay back in his hammock and dozed. Hiswives, stepping nonchalantly among the strangers, cleared away theremnants of the feast by the simple process of eating them. Then theycarried off the clay vessels.

  For another hour all hands rested. Then Monitaya sat up, stretched hisbig arms, looked casually around the house to see that all was well, andsmiled down at his guests. Lourenco, rising to a squat, began a newconversation. After a while he turned to McKay.

  "The Red Bones and the Mayorunas are neither friendly nor hostile towardeach other, and there is little communication between them," hereported. "From those _malocas_ to the town of the Red Bones is ajourney of five long days, so the men of Monitaya hardly ever go there.

  "The Raposa whom we seek is known to the men of Monitaya, but he neverhas come here to the tribal houses. Hunters from this place have met himat times roving the wild forests, and some of the younger men fear himas the bad spirit of the jungle. The Mayorunas believe in two spirits ordemons, one good and one bad, and the bad one is said to roam thewilderness, seeking lone wanderers, whom he kills and eats; the peoplesometimes hear this demon howling at night in the dark of the moon. Sothe young men have thought the Raposa might be this demon and haveavoided him--it would do no good to try to kill a demon, and it wouldonly make their own deaths more sure and horrible.

  "But the older men do not believe this. They say the wild man is of theRed Bone people, and that the reason why his bones are marked in red onhis living body is that he is neither alive nor dead. If he were deadhis body would be thrown into the water and left there until his boneswere stripped by those cannibal fish, the piranhas, and then the boneswould be dyed red and hung up in his hut, as is the custom among thosepeople. If he were alive like other men he would not have those marks onhis body, but would wear only the tribal face paint. The bone paint onhim is a sign to all the _Ossos Vermelhos_ that he is alive, but dead,and is not to be treated like other men."

  "Crazy!" exclaimed Knowlton.

  "Yes. I think that is it. His body lives, but his mind is dead. Death inlife."

  "Has he been seen lately?"

  The Brazilian repeated the question in the Indian tongue. The chieflooked toward a certain hammock some distance off, called a name, raisedan imperative hand. A slender savage came forward. To him the chiefspoke, then to Lourenco, who, as usual, relayed his information.

  "This young hunter saw him six days ago while following a wild-hog trailfar out in the bush toward the Red Bone region. He came on the freshtrack of a man who was following the same hogs, and later he caught upwith that man. It was the red-boned wild man, and the wild man was verylame, having a hurt foot. They stood and looked at each other, and thenthe wild man walked away, watching him closely and ready to shoot withhis bow. After he disappeared in the forest this hunter heard a long,shrill laugh and words that sounded like 'Podavi.'"

  "Podavi--Poor Davy!" ejaculated Knowlton. "That's he, sure enough! Thenhe's near his own town now--he won't go far with a bad foot. We'd bettermove as soon as we can. Ask about an escort."

  Once more the bushman conversed with Monitaya. The ruler's smiledisappeared. For some time he sat gazing out over the heads of all,evidently weighing matters in his mind. When he responded, however, itwas without hesitation.

  "There is neither friendliness nor enmity between the two peoples, ashas been said," Lourenco stated. "Our business among the Red Bones isour own affair, not that of Monitaya, and Monitaya will make no requestsfor us. But in order that we may go safely and return without harm hewill send with us twenty of his best men. These men will have orders toprotect us at all times, unless fighting is caused by our making aneedless attack on the Red Bones. In that case the Mayorunas will donothing to help us. They will only defend themselves."

  "Fair enough!" nodded McKay. "Tell him we'll start no fight. If anytrouble comes it will be from the other fellows. We'll leave hereto-morrow morning."

  Lourenco translated the promise into Mayoruna. But the chief seemed notto hear. His eyes had narrowed and were fixed on the face of Tim, whostill lay on his back and was giving no attention to what went on.Following his look, the bushman gazed critically at the red-haired man.

  Tim's florid face had paled. His mouth was drawn and his eyes staredstraight up, wide and glassy. Slowly he rolled his head from side toside.

  "Gee! Cap," he whispered, hoarsely, "I et too much. My head aches so I'mfair blind, and I'm burnin' up. Gimme some water."

  With a swift, simultaneous movement McKay and Knowlton put their handson his forehead. Lourenco and Pedro leaned closer and peered into hisface. All four glanced at one another. Pedro nodded. His lips silentlyformed one dread word:

  "Fever!"