m boy,
but should other lips utter it, they should never speak again. Enter."

Ganassi held back the slender trunk-roots of the banian. Curiously,
the boy looked about. All the wonder of the jungle seemed centered
in this sacred spot. A forest of stems and aerial roots greeted his
eyes; from overhead the graceful and rare Vanda lowii sent inquisitive
blooms to caress his cheek; they mingled with his dark hair, scenting
the air with their strange fragrance. From tree-ferns, nestling in
the branches, tiny heads peeped out, and little feathered creatures
chirruped a welcome. A civet-cat was lazily stroking its face with one
paw. Something large and hairy stirred on a nest of dried grass, and
sleepily a full-grown packda stretched himself and gazed at Piang. The
python approached it, and a hairy paw was extended; his snakeship
coiled up beside the ape, and the mina-bird flew to the ape's shoulder.

Piang could scarcely believe his eyes. Here all was at peace, and
natural enemies forgot to fight and kill.

"Piang, all these creatures are going to be your friends."

Piang seated himself on the soft turf opposite Ganassi; the fawn
nosed her head under Piang's arm and sank by his side.

"The charm that I am about to give you will protect you from tempest,
danger, and deceit: no storm can destroy you; no animal can creep upon
you unaware, and no man can lie to you. You will become the wise man
of Mindanao, the guide of your people, the heart of the island."

Solemnly the boy followed the words of the old man.

"You shall be taught all the truths of the nation, and you shall pass
them along to the generations."

Piang's face brightened. At last he was to know the answers to many
puzzling questions.

"Ask what you will, boy. I will answer you truthfully and justly,
telling you the things as they are, as they have been since the day
of creation."

"Why, O Ganassi, must Mohammedans never eat the flesh of the wild
boar? It is forbidden that we touch pork, yet the Christians find it
good." Ganassi's brow clouded:

"Have you never heard of the Christian's God? Do you not know that we
hate Christians because they believe a Son of God could be killed by
man? They call him Christ, but we know that the Almighty is Toohan,
omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Their prophet Isa [Jesus]
once visited the great Mahomet, and when Mahomet demanded that he
divine what was in the room beyond, Isa refused, saying that he had
no wish