The Wonder Island Boys: Conquest of the Savages | Page 5

united and are now on
the big river."
"When did you last see them?"
He held up his fingers to indicate the time, and the Professor called to
Will: "Do you know what time he means?"
Will soon interpreted the sign to mean three in the morning.
"If they have not been separated it is a sign that they intend to continue
the fight," said John.
"I suggest," replied the Professor, "that we call a council of the
principal men in the tribes, and let them fully understand what our aim
and desires are, and thus unite the four tribes in a bond of unity. This is
a most opportune time."
The news of the obvious action of the tribes to the north was soon
learned by all, and when the Professor's view was communicated there
was a universal assent.
Within an hour the chiefs assembled, and the Professor addressed them

as follows: "My brothers, I am glad to be able to talk to you, and Uraso
and Muro will tell you what I have to say. The Great Spirit sent us here,
and we tried for a long time to tell you why we came, but you did not
understand it.
"The Great Spirit is the same to all tribes; he does not favor one more
than the other, but sometimes one tribe will understand better than the
other what he wants, and when they do know what he says it makes
them stronger and better.
"We believe the Great Spirit wants the different tribes to live together
in peace, and not kill each other, and for that purpose he has given each
one something to do. If he does that in a right way he not only helps
himself, but he helps everyone else.
"We want to show you how to do this, but before we can start we must
all be like one family. We do not ask the Berees to give up their
customs and become Saboros, nor do we want the Brabos to do as the
Osagas do. We do not care what you believe about this or that, or how
you shall dress, or what language you shall speak. The only thing we
should be careful to do alike is to so work that we shall not injure each
other.
"It will not be hard to learn this, and we will all be patient, and we ask
you to be patient with us. We want to show you that the ground is your
mother, and when you ask her for fruit she will give you plenty, and
you can soon learn to make things which will make your wives and
children happy and contented.
"You will know that anything you own will be yours, and none can take
it from you, and if anyone tries to take it, everyone will stand up and
protect you. The tribes which are now to the north must be made to
understand this, and we must unite to compel them to agree to this
manner of living.
"I know that the tribes are powerful enemies, and can bring a great
many warriors to fight against us, but we do not want to kill, nor do we
want them to kill us. Your weapons are not any better than the ones

they have, and we want to make some that will enable us to overcome
them, not for the purpose of killing them, but only to protect ourselves
and our homes and children.
"If that is what you want and you agree with me that it is the right thing
to do, we will help you. To do that you must not fight each other. I
have heard that you do not believe in sacrificing captives, as the Tuolos
and the Illyas and the Kurabus do, and I am glad of it.
"I am told that you all know Suros, the great, father of the Berees, and
that he is wise. He is my friend, and he must be present at our councils,
but we cannot go to him now, because we must protect our friends, the
Brabos, against the warring tribes.
"But we must also be prepared to meet those enemies, and where we
live, we have the workshop by which we can make all the wonderful
things needed for our protection. We must go to the Brabos' village, to
be on guard, while others must go to our village and bring back those
articles, and we will make the things at your own homes, so we can
compel those tribes to submit."
These words affected all the warriors, and they gathered around the
chiefs and expressed their willingness to do all that the Professor had
suggested.
One after the other, the chiefs assented, and the Brabos were especially
pleased.