On the second trip Divine and
Theriere each carried a burden up the cliffs, Miller and Swenson
following with Barbara Harding, and as they came Oda
Yorimoto and his samurai slunk back into the shadows that
their prey might pass unobserving.
Theriere had the bulk of the loot hidden in a rocky crevice
just beyond the cliff's summit. Brush torn from the mass of
luxuriant tropical vegetation that covered the ground was
strewn over the cache. All had been accomplished in safety
and without detection. The camp beneath them still lay
wrapped in silence.
The march toward the new camp, under the guidance of
Divine, was immediately undertaken. On the return trip after
the search for water Divine had discovered a well-marked trail
along the edge of the cliffs to a point opposite the spring, and
another leading from the main trail directly to the water. In
his ignorance he had thought these the runways of animals,
whereas they were the age-old highways of the head-hunters.
Now they presented a comparatively quick and easy approach
to the destination of the mutineers, but so narrow a
one as soon to convince Theriere that it was not feasible for
him to move back and forth along the flank of his column.
He had tried it once, but it so greatly inconvenienced and
retarded the heavily laden men that he abandoned the effort,
remaining near the center of the cavalcade until the new camp
was reached.
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