6 .sx A night or two later we were strolling , Lord Undertone and I , on sentry-go , round the tents and we caught sight of Mr Septimus looking out through the flap of the one he occupied with his lordship's own self .sx 'Bit moody,' remarked my companion .sx 'Like he used to be years ago .sx . remember ?sx ' Well did I remember the crisis of emotion into which he was plunged one night at Abbotsfield .sx . a dinner-party it was .sx . when he first set eyes on Miss Ariadne ; but I did not wish to impart my thoughts or any misgivings I might have on this subject and in any case my recollections of the Manor , of my parlour and Sally sitting there , and of all the amenities were at that moment so strong that I dared not speak .sx 'Something's up,' said Lord Undertone , carefully casual .sx 'The servants are all on edge .sx . did you notice ?sx And the mules didn't seem to want to get off the raft .sx ' He peered as it were into the dark secrets of the jungle .sx 'Think there's Indians about ?sx ' It was most certainly an eerie night , exceptionally brilliant and strange , for in the proximity of the mountains , whose presence I could almost smell , the air grew less humid and as there was no moon the galaxies had it their own way so that the forest looked ever more mysterious in their faint , silver light .sx 'Impressive,' Lord Undertone said , gazing reverently on the cosmic handiwork .sx 'All those stars .sx But I'm a bit earthbound tonight , Trout .sx I've got a queer feeling , like I always get when something sensational's going to happen .sx There's things lurking if you ask me .sx Might be jaguar , might be .sx . head-shrinkers .sx Hope I die kind of composed , Trout .sx I mean you can't imagine the Christian martyrs twisting and shrieking , no matter how bad it felt , the fire you know , or a lion munching , or arrows where it hurts most .sx Or can you .sx Look over there .sx ' He pointed to the shadows beyond the river .sx 'Something moved .sx ' 'It may well be the case , my lord , that the darkness conceals some threat .sx ' I did what I could to dissemble my dislike of the situation .sx 'Well , what are you going to do about it ?sx ' 'I , my lord ?sx ' Somewhat resentful of a responsibility that did not fall within the strict terms of a butler's engagement , yet at the same time flattered , I felt bound to advance one or two suggestions that occurred to me .sx 'Bottle-Foot , my lord .sx ' 'Bottle-Foot ?sx ' His lordship may have thought I had become unbalanced through fear .sx 'A character Mr Gilberto mentioned the other day , my lord .sx A being of whom the forest Indians are said to be mortally afraid , with a hoof shaped like the heel of a bottle .sx If your lordship will excuse me a moment .sx .' 'All right , but don't be long .sx ' Rummaging among the remains of our provisions I found a bottle with which I made numerous marks on the ground surrounding our tents and a few yards into the jungle , as far as I dared venture .sx 'If they should observe these footprints , my lord,' I said , rather proud of the device , 'they may be deterred from attacking us .sx ' 'Ummm .sx Any other ideas ?sx ' 'Yes , my lord .sx There is also a creature known as the water-mother who sits on a lily-leaf singing and entices men into the stream , where they drown .sx She has long green hair and .sx .' 'Kind of Lorelei , you mean ?sx ' 'Precisely , my lord .sx A highly poetical conception .sx If we could impersonate such a being .sx .' 'What , me ?sx Sit on a lily-leaf and sing ?sx Not likely , Trout .sx Better get hold of Mrs Caine .sx . she's a witch if you like .sx . draw anyone into the water .sx ' His lordship sighed as one who wouldn't mind dying in certain unlikely circumstances .sx 'D'you think Septimus has gone nuts over her ?sx ' The question startled my secret thoughts ; but before I had time to formulate a discreet answer the Indians were all over us and though I was able by means of a trick practised in equally repugnant circumstances to floor the first three who attacked the situation got out of hand .sx Small , repulsive creatures they were , with black , matted hair and a striking resemblance to the shrunk heads we had gazed at recently ; and I have no hesitation in saying that they would have made an end of us but for an intervention so unexpected , so unusual , that only the necessity of rounding my narrative compels me to mention it .sx It will be appreciated that whereas what I am about to relate passed in a series of flashes it seemed very long during the action .sx Standing with the blade of a rough kind of spear at my back ( and I was aware of cuts and scratches that might or might not prove poisonous ) , I did my somewhat futile best by necessarily restricted gestures to draw attention to the ground ; but whether these savages saw Bottle-Foot's print or not they seemed to have no fear of him , neither did they take the least notice of the alarming countenance Lord Undertone had assumed .sx At first glimpse of our assailants I had of course smitten the empty tin of fruit-salad that constituted our warning note , hoping that its flat tinkle would serve to rouse our companions ; trusting also that it might evoke some magical demonstration on the part of Mrs Caine .sx In what was I suppose little more than a few seconds Canon Pluckley emerged from his tent with the air of one who desires to investigate a situation in the interests of scholarship , but the Indians seized and threw the poor gentleman to the ground and when Mr Septimus followed , armed with a boathook and fiery with indignation , as having a measure of savage clearsightedness they could undoubtedly see , they prepared for the kill .sx Certainly there would have been a painful resolution of our existence but for the mysterious intervention to which I have alluded .sx I had more than half expected that Mrs Caine , if and when she appeared in our midst , would make with her raised hand a sign of power ; she did nothing of the kind .sx She came from her tent indeed , with Mr Gilberto , both of them cool as you wish ; but though at sight of them the Indians made a curious hissing noise like the noise of snakes and poised their spears with a view to hurling or stabbing , having first no doubt dispatched those of us they already held , our host and his lady seemed to have no resource but a kind of personal immunity .sx It was scarcely a moment in which I expected to be reminded of another book that is frequently in my mind , Through the Looking-glass , in which , it will be remembered , as two characters are about to engage in battle a fierce , black bird , a crow of unusual size , appears over the wood , putting an end to the quarrel by its formidable aspect .sx In just such a manner there now showed itself over our heads , not with noise and menace but in silence more frightening than thunder , a great bird not black but white , as it were an eagle ; and when , having circled , it rose and returned into the starry sky the Indians , if Indians they were , had vanished .sx Believe it or not .sx I have only to add that Mrs Caine dressed our cuts and scratches with medicaments from her little box while Mr Gilberto held his hand over them with effect that I myself felt a kind of radiant heat .sx =3 .sx 'IS this the place ?sx ' asked Lord Undertone , peering about for vestiges of a golden temple or like portent .sx 'Is this where the feller jumped in , Gilberto ?sx ' We were gathered at the edge of a cliff perhaps three hundred feet over a lake , deep in the Cordillera .sx 'Es posible que .sx . I mean .sx .' But Mr Gilberto broke off .sx 'What do you say , Feather ?sx ' 'It is always told that where the man of gold plunged in his image is to be seen under the surface,' she said .sx 'Nothing there,' said his lordship , gazing down the wall of clean rock that reflected mountain and forest , the cliff and our own peeping faces .sx It was such a lake , remote and magical , as well might have been the scene of some legendary event , though I imagine that the landscape must have looked very different in those far-off days .sx We came to it riding muleback along wooded slopes ; and agreeable it was after that humid , malodorous journey by river and swamp , for as the path ascended the climate grew temperate and the vegetation , so Canon Pluckley said , subtropical , characteristically so , although I myself should have described it as fairylike .sx Here then we were , disposed in a commodious hut built of pine-logs or some such timber , on the shore of the lake at a point where it debouched in a stream that must find its way , I supposed to the distant Atlantic ; around us abundant provision of fruit , fish and if we desired it duck .sx I had a distinct impression that the hut had recently been cleaned and prepared for visitors .sx Mrs Caine said we were to go no further unless and until we were sent for , confirming another impression that became more and more definite , namely , that she was in touch with an invisible source of authority .sx Naturally her words stimulated an already lively interest in the near future and as usual Lord Undertone could not refrain from questions .sx 'Sent for ?sx ' His gaze examined the hut .sx 'No telephone .sx No wireless .sx No .sx .' It dawned on him .sx 'Stupid of me !sx Tele-what-d'you-call-it of course !sx ' Mrs Caine smiled and with this all of us must be content .sx For my own part I should have been ready to remain here several days , collecting my wits so to speak , arranging my expectations , though wondering if Sally could be brought here by aeroplane , as I am unwilling to undertake any adventure without her ; not that there was any place where even a vertical landing could be effected .sx Sally and of course Mrs Septimus , for surely Mr Septimus stood in the same case as myself ?sx But was it so ?sx I allowed myself to entertain for an instant the idea , the strange , the unwelcome , the almost inconceivable idea , that Ariadne's arrival would be inopportune ; and with the idea came a somewhat vulgar impulse , which I refused , to watch Mr Septimus more closely , Mrs Caine too and Mr Gilberto who would surely show some anxiety by now if he noticed anything untoward .sx But all three were to the casual observation I permitted myself unruffled ; Mr Septimus reserved and certainly very thoughtful , but that was his habit .sx Indeed we were all invaded by a most tranquil mood .sx Even the Indian servants relaxed , knowing , so Mr Gilberto told us , that the wild and savage tribes never approached this region :sx at any rate they remained with us , perhaps for such protection as our presence , or Mrs Caine's , afforded , sticking rather to their quarters , going no further than the beach to fish , whereas we ourselves explored the whole neighbourhood , half , I think with an eye to fabulous remains .sx But after what Mrs Caine had said it was never far from our minds that at any moment we were to receive a summons .sx I could see that Mr Septimus was impatient for it .sx This afternoon , then , we climbed a promontory , a mass of clean rock crowned with trees and bushes , that stood well out over the lake .sx The thing about this great sheet of water on which we looked down was its astonishing stillness :sx it seemed to reflect not only its own dreamy shores , not only the forests of red-leaved trees on the mountainsides and the snowfields above , not only the sky but the invisible ground of being itself , as if a man should gather himself into himself and in meditation perceive what is otherwise imperceptible .sx Away to the right , far below , I could see one of our Indians fishing and I declare that the ripple his cast made was the only change in all that expanse .sx