courageous. A moment later he burst through the last fringe of underbrush to emerge upon the clearing that faced the sea. There by a tiny rivulet he saw a sight that filled him with thanksgiving, and farther out upon the ocean that which he had been waiting and hoping for for all these long, hard months—a ship. [Pg 70] [Pg 70] CHAPTER VI A CHOICE Seamen upon the beach were filling water-casks. eamen There were a dozen of them, and as Waldo plunged from the forest they looked with startled apprehension at the strange apparition. A great, brown giant they saw, clad in a few ragged strings of white duck, for Waldo had kept his apparel as immaculately clean as hard rubbing in cold water would permit. In one hand the strange creature carried a long, bloody spear, in the other a light cudgel. Long, yellow hair streamed back over his broad shoulders. Several of the men—those who were armed—leveled guns and revolvers at him; but when, as he drew closer, they saw a broad grin upon his face, and heard in perfectly good English, "Don't shoot; I'm a white man," they lowered their weapons and awaited him. He had scarcely reached them when they saw a swarm of naked men dash from the forest in his wake. Waldo saw their eyes directed past him and knew that his pursuers had come into view. "You'll have to shoot at them, I imagine," he[Pg 71] said. "They're not exactly domesticated. Try firing over their heads at first; maybe you can scare them away without hurting any of them." [Pg 71] He disliked the idea of seeing the poor savages slaughtered. It didn't seem just like fair play to mow them down with bullets. The sailors followed his suggestion. At the first reports the cave men halted in surprise and consternation. "Let's rush 'em," suggested one of the men, and this was all that was
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