fittings made, we can put them together without having the shop in
running order."

"In talking with Harry yesterday," said Tom, "we made up the scheme of
putting a small bench in the wagon, with the vise, so that we can put
together some of the guns on our way."

"All that is in the right direction. And now, another thing. The wagon
we have is not at all adequate for what we have to take with us, but we
have plenty of people to carry things, and they will be glad to do it,
but some things are very inconvenient to carry, so that it will be of
material assistance if we build another wagon."

The boys looked at John, merrily laughing at the suggestion.

"Just the thing," said Ralph, "and it is easily done. We still have the
old wheels that were used before we built the last set."

"Quite true; I had entirely forgotten about that. Uraso will help, and
will be just the fellow to direct his men. Now let us start at this with
vigor. We must return as early as possible. The hostiles may attack the
Professor at any time, and the weapons are necessary articles."

As they were about to separate, Harry remarked: "We have a quantity of
the iron which we made, and instead of carrying it along in the wagon,
it occurred to me that we ought to forge out some spears and bolos."

"I had counted on doing that myself, but many thanks for the
suggestion," answered John.

There was one thing noticeable in all the warriors, and that was the
universal tattoo. This was something practiced by all. Referring to the
custom, Ralph asked: "What is the cause of the tattooing habit?"

John looked at him with a smile, as he answered: "People who wear few
clothes want something with which to decorate themselves. The idea
always was and always will be, to improve on nature. That is one of the
reasons. The other is, that it was an original way of distinguishing one
individual from another. You will notice among these people, that the
chiefs have a different tattoo from the others in the tribe."

"Do you mean that the name of each man was tattooed so he would be
known in that way?"

[Illustration: _Fig. 3. The Tattooed Arm. Antelope._]

"Yes; and also to designate his rank. The names of great warriors and
wise men of the tribe are generally descriptive. The North American
Indian adopted that course, and it was a very sensible thing to do. You
have heard of Sitting Bull, Rain in the Face (that is, a pock-marked
individual), Antelope, and other