the river, why it was they were not in sight. He scrutinized the dark
forest and the line of moonlit space in the expectation, of seeing them
come forth to welcome him, but not a soul was in sight.

He did not know what to make of it. There was something so uncanny
about the whole business, that a strange distrust and uneasiness took
possession of him. It could not be that the natives had deceived him
and were anxious to place the Xingu between them and the fierce savages
who had handled the whites so roughly. Bippo and his comrades had
shown a loyalty from the first which gave their employers the fullest
confidence in them.

The canoe was almost against the bank, where something of the
bewilderment of Ashman seemed to enter the head of Bippo. He spoke to
his companions and the three ceased paddling. Ashman had done so a
moment before and was scanning the bank with a searching but vain
scrutiny.

"You must have been mistaken," he said in a low voice; "they could not
have swam the river and they had no other way of crossing."

"We seed 'em--motion dat way," and the native beckoned with his right
arm, just as a person would do when signaling another to approach.

"I can't understand it," replied Ashman, with a shake of his head.

His doubts were confirmed, when he recalled that the professor and
Jared Long had gone up the bank of the river with the purpose of
learning the extent of the rapids. It followed, therefore, that if
they had made their way to the other shore, it must have been at a