“They are on the ground again, bobbing worse than ever,” she whispered, for his back was toward them.  In a few minutes, after a descent made more tortuous by the uncertainty of its ending, they found themselves on a level with the huddled natives.  Taking her hand in his left and clutching his club nervously in his right, Hugh advanced slowly toward the band.  Every nerve in his body was quivering under the strain which his apparent coolness cost.  When within fifteen feet of the prostrate figures they halted and Hugh cried out boldly: 

“Get up!”

Instead of obeying the command instantly, the little band peeped slyly at the strangers.  Then they struggled to their feet, crowding into a bunch, the picture of bewilderment.

“By George, they look at us as if they never had seen white people before,” said Hugh.  With stately tread he approached the now trembling, shrinking natives, holding his left hand aloft to signify graciousness.  Lady Tennys walked beside him, a smile playing on her exceedingly pale face.  “My good friends, be not afraid,” said he.  The brown men looked at each other in deeper wonder than before.

The leader, a perfect giant, stepped forward hesitatingly, fairly pushed on by his comrades.  In an awed voice he gave utterance to a most outlandish rattle of sound, the like of which his hearers never had heard.  In conclusion he touched his mouth and ears and shook his head solemnly.  Hugh, taking the cue, repeated the performance.

“That signifies that we don’t understand each other.  He sha’n’t beat me on the sign language,” he said.  “I believe this is a great time to work in something dramatic.  We can make a hit by simply going among them and laying our hands on their heads.  It will be graceful and fetching, I’m sure.  First, I am going to see if they are afraid of us.”  He suddenly threw up both hands and cried “Boo!” in a loud tone.  The eyes of the watchers hung out and they jumped like so many mice at the sound.  It was so laughable that she was compelled to place her handkerchief over her mouth and turn her head away.  “I guess we’ve got ’em pretty well paralyzed,” grinned Hugh.  Then he went among them, placing his hands gently upon their woolly heads, Lady Tennys doing likewise.  The flesh of the savages fairly quivered at the touch, yet all seemed delighted that the visitors had condescended to lay hands of kindness upon them.  They began to chatter and chant softly, all the time eyeing Hugh and his companion with reverence.

“They don’t seem to thaw out or show any signs of friendship,” said Hugh, very much puzzled.  He and his companion walked over to the shade of the rock and calmly sat down to await the next move.  They now had no fear of harm at the hands of the simple though savage-looking men, who watched them from a distance jabbering excitedly.

“Hugh, I am firmly convinced that they have never seen white people before.  They don’t know what we are.”