certain that Dan and Oliver had not yet left the vicinity.
Had I dared I would have sent up a call for my friends. But this I did not deem a prudent thing to do. Casting about I found a heavy stick, which I fashioned into a club, and with this as a weapon, walked slowly up the river bank, keeping my eyes and ears on the alert for the first token of danger.
Nothing came to view until I had covered a hundred yards or more. Here, on turning a bushy projection, I came upon a sandy strip, backed up by a grove of cocoanut trees. The sand was tumbled about, and I easily made out a number of footprints, some made by shoes or boots and others by the naked feet.
"There has been a fight of some sort here," I thought, when I saw a form coming from among the cocoanut trees. It was a native approaching, and as he came closer I discovered that he held a pistol in his hand.
I made up my mind at once that this was the rascal who had attacked me and dropped me into the hollow tree. Probably he was the same individual who had paddled the canoe for Ramon Delverez. He was a fellow not to be trifled with, and as he came near to me I resolved that, come what might, I would not let him get the best of me a second time.
