Secondly, he alone knew how hopeless any
attempt at a rescue must prove. Finally, he wished to spare the
feelings of those who had befriended him; of what avail were useless
mind-torturings regarding the hapless beings in the hands of the
savages?
There was a certain plausibleness in this reasoning which curbed
Courtenay's wrath, though it in no way diminished the disgust which
filled his soul. What quality was there lacking in the Latin races
which rendered them so untrustworthy? His crew had mutinied, de
Poincilit was ready to consign his companions in misfortune to a most
frightful death on the barren island, and here was Suarez hugging to
his breast a ghastly secret which chance alone had brought to light.
He strove hard to repress the contempt which rose in his gorge, as it
was essential that the broken-spirited miner should not be frightened
out of his new-born candor.
"Ask him to ascertain if the Indians believe the white men are still
living?" he said. A fresh series of grunts and clicks elicited the
fact that the smoke-column seen the previous day on Guanaco Hill had
not been created by the tribe.
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