es of the great chief. Of the two McKay looked by far the worse, but
actually was in much better condition. From the waist up he was clawed,
bitten, and bruised so badly that he was a fearsome spectacle; his left
arm was dislocated, three fingers of his right hand were broken, and his
muscles were so wrenched that for a week afterward he moved like a
cripple; but his present unconsciousness was largely due to exhaustion
and partial asphyxiation. Knowlton, whose skin was comparatively
unmarked, but whose veins had continued to pour vital fluid from his
gaping bullet wound during his stubborn fight, now was badly weakened.
But whatever could be done for him was being done, and the others could
only stand by.

The women not engaged in caring for the fighting visitors soon found
themselves busy with their own male relatives, who came stumbling in by
themselves or were carried by others. The Red Bones, though finally
annihilated, had made their mark in the Mayoruna tribe. At that moment
thirty-six of Monitaya's warriors lay dead among the bodies of their
enemies, and before the next sunrise several more passed on to join the
spirits of their comrades in arms. Yet all who survived, though some
were crippled for life, thought only of the victory and gloated on their
scars of combat. As for those who had fallen, they were dead, had died
as Mayorunas should, and so needed no sympathy or regret. Even now their
bodies were being collected for immediate transportation into the
forest, where, in accordance with the tribal custom, they would be
burned.

Some of the men who brought in the wounded men continued on to the
bushmen and, in significant sign manual, requested a loan of their
machetes. Having received them, they hastened out to join those who,
equipped with hardwood knives, were gathering the sinister trophies of
triumph before heaving the dead Red Bones out to the waiting vultures.

"Urrrgh!" growled Tim. "'Twas a lovely scrap, but I wisht I was
somewheres else, now it's over. While ye was away they brought in the
fists and feet o' some guy they caught in a trap--"

"We know," nodded Pedro.

"Yeah. Wal, I s'pose we got to look pleasant. Dog eat dog, as the feller
says. Long as somebody has to git et, I'm glad it ain't us." Wherewith
he turned to the Raposa and changed the subject. "Raposy, old sport, ye
sure done some good work, for a crazy guy. I'll tell the world ye
cracked heads like a Bowery cop full o' bootleg boo