His unfailing optimism broke through the shell of mortification, and he became resolutely cheerful.
"Which way, my friends ?" he said to the warriors.
But again they understood no English and shook their heads.
"Don't plume yourself too much on that rifle," he said, speaking to the warrior who had taken his favorite weapon.

"You have it for the present, but when I escape for the second time I mean to take it with me.

I give you fair warning." The warrior, who seemed to be good natured, shook his head once more, and grinned, not abating at all his air of proprietorship so far as the rifle was concerned.
"And you with the pistol," continued the prisoner, "I beg to tell you it's mine, not yours, and I shall claim it again.

What, you don't understand?
Well, I'll have to find some way to make you comprehend later on." The three warriors walked briskly and Robert, of course, had no choice but to keep pace with them.

They indicated very conclusively that they knew where they meant to go, and so he assumed that a hostile camp was not very far away.