hich they met no
living creature, though the noises from the wood left no doubt that
wild animals were on every hand.

Fred began to think he had gone far enough, though his wish to obtain a
glimpse of the village, which he believed was not far off, prevented
his coming to a full stop. Johnston noticing his hesitation put in
another vigorous protest, but he was easily persuaded to venture
further under the pledge that if they discovered nothing within the
next ten minutes, they would withdraw and return to camp.

Knowing that his companion would insist on the fulfillment of this
agreement, Fred pushed on faster than before; the sailor, however,
easily maintaining his place almost on his heels. It was only at
intervals they spoke, for there was no call to do so, and it was not
wise to allow any cause to interfere with their watchfulness for the
peril which was liable to come with the suddenness of the thunderbolt.

By stepping carefully they were able to proceed without noise, and, at
the same time, hoped to catch the sound of any other footsteps, since
there was not supposed to be any call on the part of the natives for
the caution which they might have displayed under different
circumstances.

The young man's heart gave a quicker throb than usual when he caught
the sound of something like a shout, and observed a faint light in the
path in front. It was apparent that the latter made an abrupt turn,
and the cause of the noise was but a brief distance beyond.

Fred reached back his hand and touched his companion, as a warning for
the most extreme care on his part, but the admonition was not needed.
Johnston understood the situation too well.

Sure enough, less than a couple of rods further, and the path turned
almost at right angles. Passing guardedly around this, the explorers
came upon a striking scene.

There was an open space with an area of perhaps three or four acres; it
was as clear of trees as a stretch of western prairie. It was
triangular in shape, the boundary being so regular that there could be
no doubt it was artificially made.

Around three sides of this space were erected huts or cabins, the
excellence and similarity or their structure suggesting that the
natives were the superior in intelligence of any that had yet been
encountered during the ascent of the Xingu. The huts were a dozen feet
square, half as high, and each had a broad open entrance in the middle
of the front. They seemed to