bow.

The feathered missile zimmed high and wide by a matter of scant inches, for Biff could hear it whirr past his ear and stop with a sharp thud in a tree trunk just behind him.

A piercing yell seemed to echo the timely gunshot. The Macu had dropped his bow and was gripping his left arm with his right hand as he dived off into the jungle. The bullet had jolted the bow from the Macu’s grasp, sending the arrow wide.

Now, looking up the trail, Biff saw his father hurrying in his direction, rifle in hand. Biff started to meet him, shouting, “Dad!” only to have Mr. Brewster wave him back. Next, Biff saw his father take a quick shot at another Macu huntsman who had popped up in the brush, only to drop from sight again.

Now, from the other side of the trail, a brown head and arm poked from among a mass of blossoms that sprouted from the thin bark of a fallen tree trunk. Biff heard the familiar call: “Biff, come this way! Quick!”

It was Kamuka. Biff vaulted the log and took shelter behind it, but tried to shake off Kamuka’s restraining hand as he saw his father come along the trail with Mr. Whitman and Jacome. All three were taking long-range shots at distant Macus.

“I have to warn Dad,” Biff explained. “Serbot’s party is just around the bend.”

“He knows,” assured Kamuka. “We were coming back when we heard their guns. So we hurry fast.”

“Coming back along this trail?”

“That’s right. When they couldn’t find us on the main trail, they think maybe we take this one. So today, they take it to look for us.”

“Then you sneaked ahead of Serbot’s party after you ducked from sight. But how did you know to take this side trail when you reached it?”

“Jacome leave special message that I understand. Twist of grass and broken jungle branch are as good as mirror signal, sometimes.”

Mr. Brewster and his fellow-marksmen had rifles with a longer range than the Macu weapons. Also, they were able to shift positions along the trail, preventing the Macus from picking a point of attack.

Serbot’s party, on the contrary, had first let the Macus close in on them. Then, in 

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