"
So on they went to the river bank, Alan so tired now that the excitement
was over, that he was not sorry to lean upon Jeekie's arm. Reaching the
stream they drank deep of its water, and finding that it was shallow at
this spot, waded through it to the island without waiting for a canoe
to ferry them over. Here they found a party of the cannibals already at
work clearing reeds with their large, curved knives, in order to make a
site for the hut. Another party under the command of their chief himself
had gone to the top end of the island, to cut the stems of a willow-like
shrub to serve as uprights. These people stared at Alan, which was not
strange, as they had never before seen the face of a white man and were
wondering, doubtless, what had become of the ancient and terrible fetish
that he had worn. Without entering into explanations Jeekie in a great
voice ordered two of them to fetch the buck, which the white man, whom
he described as "husband of the goddess," had "slain by thunder." When
these had departed upon their errand, leaving Jeekie to superintend the
building operations, Alan sat down upon a fallen tree, watching one of
the savages making fire with a pointed stick and some tinder.
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