"Yes, um tax. But him big Vief."
"He must be, unless he gives the people some benefit for the tax
they are forced to pay," said Tom.
At one of the villages they leaned that there was another
American Party in that territory, one sent out by an Eastern
college to collect specimens of the flora of central Africa. It
was said that the party consisted of an elderly man and half a
dozen young fellows.
"I wouldn't mind meeting that crowd," said Sam. "They might
brighten up things a bit."
"Never mind; things will pick up when once we meet King Susko,"
said Dick. "But I would like to know where the crowd is from and
who is in it."
"It's not likely we would know them if they are from the East,"
said Sam. "Probably they hail from Yale or Harvard."
Two days later the storm which Cujo had predicted for some time
caught them while they were in the midst of an immense forest of
teak and rosewood. It was the middle of the afternoon, yet the
sky became as black as night, while from a distance came the low
rumble of thunder. There was a wind rushing high up in the air,
but as yet this had not come down any further than the treetops.
The birds of the jungle took up the alarm and filled the forest
with their discordant cries, and even the monkeys, which were now
numerous, sit up a jabber which would have been highly trying to
the nerves of a nervous person.
"Yes, we catch um," said Cujo, in reply to Dick's question.
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