Presently the Indian uncovered his eyes. And I saw that they had a curious piercing gleam in them--like the eyes of an eagle, but kinder and more gentle. He slowly raised his right arm, the rest of him still and motionless like a statue, and took the Doctor's hand in his. It was a great moment. Polynesia nodded to me in a knowing, satisfied kind of way. And I heard old Bumpo sniffle sentimentally. Then the Doctor tried to speak to Long Arrow.
But the Indian knew no English of course, and the Doctor knew no Indian. Presently, to my surprise, I heard the Doctor trying him in different animal languages.
"How do you do?" he said in dog-talk; "I am glad to see you," in horse-signs; "How long have you been buried?" in deer-language.
Still the Indian made no move but stood there, straight and stiff, understanding not a word.
The Doctor tried again, in several other animal dialects. But with no result.
Till at last he came to the language of eagles.
"Great Red-Skin," he said in the fierce screams and short grunts that the big birds use, "never have I been so glad in all my life as I am to-day to find you still alive."
In a flash Long Arrow's stony face lit up with a smile of understanding; and back came the answer in eagle-tongue, "Mighty White Man, I owe my life to you. For the remainder of my days I am your servant to command."
Afterwards Long Arrow told us that this was the only bird or animal language that he had ever been able to learn. But that he had not spoken it in a long time, for no eagles ever came to this island.