H. A. Lamb

“ Johnny Gorai denied this. Said the dwarfs had been followed into the hills, but had not been found in a body. It was dangerous, he asserted, to pursue them too far. The hills of Santo were nearly impassable.
“Looks like a nigger story, Jack,” I told the lad. “You may be sure that if there was a village of these dwarf chaps, the people on the coast would know of it.”
“Maybe not. I have heard of some tribes that had their habitations where they couldn’t be found.” ”

“ This, naturally, had no effect in persuading me to risk my life and that of my companion at Johnny Gorai’s hand. Jack Stuart, however, was interested in the native’s mention of the dwarfs and questioned him further.
The account of the dwarfs in the interior of Santo, according to our friend, was more of a legend than anything else. He believed that they had been seen from time to time in the foothills, although he had never laid eyes on them. But he said quite decidedly that no village of the “small fellow boys” was known to exist. ”

“ Still less did I believe we would find any trace of the men of Don Quiros. Knowing the almost impenetrable vegetation of some of the larger islands, I thought that our search would be made difficult enough to convince Stuart that the task was hopeless. ”