—away out here in the Iao valley. If they put us out of the way, who would be the wiser for it?"
I could not help but shiver at the words. "If it comes to the pinch, I'll fight as hard as I can," I said firmly.
"We'll all do that," said Dan. "Here comes somebody now!"
As he concluded, the threshold of the hut was darkened and Buowa entered, followed by a dried-up old man, a former head chief of the settlement.
So far we had been in the dark, but now a smoky oil lamp was lit, and the two natives squatted on the floor before us. For a few seconds neither spoke.
"Why you burn down village?" demanded Buowa at last. "Want to steal?"
"We didn't burn your village—we weren't near it," answered Oliver.
"American boy tell big lie. American boy run from village—we see um."
"We ran away because we knew you would think we set the place on fire," I put in. "We are sorry now that we started to run at all."
"We were just coming up when you saw us," added Dan.
"Where you come from?"
"We came from Rulukoa."
