Presently he noticed the bound
and gagged Oda Iseka lying in the brush behind them where
he and Theriere had left him. The samurai were now sneaking
cautiously toward their refuge. A sudden inspiration came to
the mucker.
"Didn't I hear youse chewin' de rag wit de Chinks wen I
hit de dump over dere?" he asked of Barbara.
The girl, oddly, understood him. She nodded her head,
affirmatively.
"Youse savvy deyre lingo den, eh?"
"A little."
"Tell dis gazimbat to wise his pals to de fact dat I'll croak
'im, if dey don't beat it, an' let us make our get-away.
Theriere says as how he's kink when his ole man croaks, an'
his ole man was de guy youse put to sleep in de chicken
coop," explained the mucker lucidly; "so dis slob's kink hisself
now."
Barbara Harding was quick to see the strength of the man's
suggestion. Stepping to the edge of the clearing in full view of
the advancing enemy, with the mucker at her side, revolver in
hand, she called to them in the language of their forbears to
listen to her message. Then she explained that they held the
son of Oda Yorimoto prisoner, and that his life would be the
price of any further attack upon them.
The samurai conferred together for a moment, then one of
them called out that they did not believe her, that Oda Iseka,
son of Oda Yorimoto, was safe in the village.
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