"Wot's de Chink sayin'?" asked Billy Byrne, impatient of
the conversation, no word of which was intelligible to him.
"He says, in substance," replied Theriere, with a grin, "that
Miss Harding is still alive, and in the back room of that
largest hut in the center of the village street; but," and his face
clouded, "Oda Yorimoto, the chief of the tribe, is with her."
The mucker sprang to his feet with an oath, and would
have bolted for the village had not Theriere laid a detaining
hand upon his shoulder.
"It is too late, my friend," he said sadly, "to make haste
now. We may, if we are cautious, be able to save her life, and
later, possibly, avenge her wrong. Let us act coolly, and after
some manner of plan, so that we may work together, and not
throw our lives away uselessly. The chance is that neither of
us will come out of that village alive, but we must minimize
that chance to the utmost if we are to serve Miss Harding."
"Well, wot's de word?" asked the mucker, for he saw that
Theriere was right.
"The jungle approaches the village most closely on the
opposite side--the side in rear of the chief's hut," pointed out
Theriere. "We must circle about until we can reach that point
undetected, then we may formulate further plans from what
our observations there develop.
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