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there was utilized in various ways the conventional figure of the parrot, and, to a
lesser extent, that of the lion and the monkey.
Their captors led them along the pavement beside the lagoon for a short distance
and then through an arched doorway into one of the buildings facing the avenue.
Here, directly within the entrance was a large room furnished with massive
benches and tables, many of which were elaborately hand carved with the figures
of the inevitable parrot, the lion, or the monkey, the parrot always predominating.
Behind one of the tables sat a man who differed in no way that the captives could
discover from those who accompanied them. Before this person the party halted,
and one of the men who had brought them made what seemed to be an oral
report. Whether they were before a judge, a military officer, or a civil dignitary
they could not know, but evidently he was a man of authority, for, after listening
to whatever recital was being made to him the while he closely scrutinized the two
captives, he made a single futile attempt to converse with them and then issued
some curt orders to him who had made the report.
Almost immediately two of the men approached Bertha Kircher and signaled her
to accompany them. Smith-Oldwick started to follow her but was intercepted by
one of their guards. The girl stopped then and turned back, at the same time
looking at the man at the table and making signs with her hands, indicating, as
best she could, that she wished Smith-Oldwick to remain with her, but the fellow
only shook his head negatively and motioned to the guards to remove her. The
Englishman again attempted to follow but was restrained. He was too weak and
helpless even to make an attempt to enforce his wishes. He thought of the pistol
inside his shirt and then of the futility of attempting to overcome an entire city
with the few rounds of ammunition left to him.
So far, with the single exception of the attack made upon him, they had no
reason to believe that they might not receive fair treatment from their captors,
and so he reasoned that it might be wiser to avoid antagonizing them until such a
time as he became thoroughly convinced that their intentions were entirely
hostile. He saw the girl led from the building and just before she disappeared
from his view she turned and waved her hand to him:
"Good luck!" she cried, and was gone.
The lions that had entered the building with the party had, during their
examination by the man at the table, been driven from the apartment through a
doorway behind him. Toward this same doorway two of the men now led Smith-
Oldwick. He found himself in a long corridor from the sides of which other
doorways opened, presumably into other apartments of the building. At the far
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