Page:A Sailor Boy with Dewey.djvu/54

42 "Yes, and had been for some time, for the birds had pecked out their eyes and carried off parts of their flesh."

"This is awful, Brown," I said. "Persons who would do that cannot be short of—of"

"Cannibals, eh, lad?" returned the mate. "Well, some savages around here are cannibals yet, Spanish reports to the contrary notwithstanding. But I don't like that ring of heads. It is an old sign among the Malays, and signifies that one tribe of people have made war on another tribe."

"If that's the case, I hope they don't make war on us," put in Sandram.

"So do I," I added; and there the talk dropped, for at that moment a sight far out on the ocean thrilled us to the core.