,
sons of mine! Ha, ha! I have lost one son, who was lazy, who cared not
for his poor old mother, and often left her for many days without so
much as the smallest morsel of deer meat, and let her garden be overrun
with weeds. And in his place I have gained two--two who are brave
enough to protect me, and strong enough to till my garden and my fields,
and to keep my hut well supplied with all that I need. Ha, ha! I have
done well; I am a gainer! Come, white men, come, and make old Insipa's
declining years pleasant and happy!" And she proceeded to drag her
prisoners away, followed by the other women who were--or believed they
were--part owners of the bodies of Dick and Phil.

"Now, what does all this mean? What is to be our fate; and what has
that withered old mummy to do with us?" grumbled Dick, who had scarcely
half-understood what had passed since he and Phil had been led back to
the cacique.

Phil explained, adding, "It will probably be unpleasant enough for a
time, but we must grin and bear it, lad; and at all events it will be
less disagreeable than being lashed to a stake and slowly tortured to
death. If we had accepted that fate everything would have been at an
end for us within the next two or three days; whereas by choosing the
alternative we at least save our lives; and that is the main thing with
us at present. There would have been no comfort or satisfaction in
being tortured to death by a parcel of savages, after having come so far
and done so much. Besides, if we are to hunt and fish for these women
we must be free to come and go pretty much as we please. And do you
need me to tell you what we shall do as soon as we obtain our freedom?"

"Of course not," answered Dick. "We shall just watch our opportunity
and continue our journey."

"Precisely," agreed Phil. "And I must confess I am greatly surprised
that our friend the cacique did not foresee such a possibility. Well,
then, it seems to me that what we have to do is to be good boys for the
present, do everything with a good grace that we have undertaken to do,
and, generally, use our utmost endeavours to win the confidence of these
people and disarm the suspicion with which they are certain to regard us
at the outset, and then our way to escape will soon become clear."

The hut of Insipa was a wretched, neglected hovel of a place, in the
very last stages of dirt, neglect, and decay, situated on the outskirts
of the village, and to this d