felt sure; at the same time it might not be friendly towards the
Indians; for, on that day, it had made itself heard only after my
companion had taken flight; and it had then seemed incensed
against me, possibly because the savage had been in my company.

That was the result of my reflections on the day's events when I
returned to my entertainer's roof and sat down among my friends
to refresh myself with stewed fowl and fish from the household
pot, into which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture to
dip my fingers.

Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think--certainly not
reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me,
probably surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid
temper. I laughed at the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he
dropped his head down again. After a minute or two I took the
metal match-box and tossed it on to his breast. He clutched it
and, starting up, stared at me in the utmost astonishment. He
could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had failed to
carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to the
loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up
the box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid
look; while all the others gathered about him, each trying to get
the box into his own hands to admire it again, notwithstanding
that they had all seen it a dozen times before. But it was
Kua-ko's now and not the stranger's, and therefore more nearly
their own than formerly, and must look different, more beautiful,
with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful
enamelled cock on the lid--figured in Paris probably, but just
like a cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of