reatures, now that they were satisfied that we intended to
do them no harm.

The woman began at once to see to the fire, and fetch water from the
river, and only once showed any sign of resentment. That was on the
morning following her coming, when my uncle began to unfasten his
patient's bandages after dressing my arm.

This she tried to stop by seizing my uncle's hand, but at a word from
her husband she sat down and watched the whole process. After that the
morning performance of the surgical duties was looked for with the
greatest interest, the woman fetching water and waiting upon my uncle
during his attention to both his patients.

The days passed on, with my wound troubling me but very little. The
prisoner's was far worse, but he did not seem to suffer, settling down
quite happily in a dreamy way, and as no danger came near, the shooting
and collecting went on, my uncle going alone, and leaving Pete and Cross
to protect me and the camp.

Fortunately we had a sufficiency of stores, my uncle shot for provisions
as well as science; I helped by sitting down in one particular spot by
the rushing stream and catching fish almost as fast as I could throw in,
and Mapah, as the woman's name seemed to be, went off every morning and
returned loaded with wild fruit and certain roots, which she and her
husband ate eagerly.

Some very good specimens were brought in by my uncle, and the two
Indians sat watching us curiously as we busily skinned them, filled them
out, and laid them to dry, Mapah eagerly taking possession of the
tail-feathers of some parrots intended to be cooked for the evening's
meal, and weaving them into a band of plaited grass so as to form tiaras
of the bright-hued plumes for herself and her husband, both wearing them
with no little show of pride.

"And only to think of it, Master Nat," said Pete. "Reg'larly cheated me
when I see 'em first over the bushes; I made sure they was birds."

They expressed a good deal of pleasure, too, over some of the brighter
birds brought in, and our prisoner talked and made signs to me and
pointed in one direction as he tried hard to make me understand
something one day; but I was alone with him, and very dense for a time,
as in a crippled way I put the finishing touches to the skin of a
brilliant kingfisher.

Then all at once I grasped his meaning.

"Why, of course!" I cried. "How thick-headed of me!"

I went to the bamboo half-box, half-basket Cross had made