Page:A Sailor Boy with Dewey.djvu/67

Rh "A dozen natives are in possession of the Dart. I can see them running all over her!"

"That's too bad, so it is!" groaned the Irish sailor. "To think sech a noble vessel should become the prize av sech haythins!"

"Will she really be their prize?" I asked.

For reply the first mate shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what the law is down here," he ventured.

"Perhaps you can buy them off for a trifle."

"Not much! There was a time when natives like these could be bought off for a string of beads, a roll of calico or a six-inch looking glass, but that time is past. They know the value of gold and silver, even if paper money is beyond them."

"What do you propose to do?"

"Oh, we'll go ahead and claim the ship. But I want to give you a bit of advice. Don't be rash, or it may cost you your life."

"Thrue fer you," put in Gory. "Them nagers aint to be thrusted, as I said before. Go slow, and be on your guard."

"I will be cautious," I answered, and as the memory of the circle of heads on the beach flashed across my mind I shuddered. Certainly these people, even if they did live but a few miles from the Spanish settlements, were far from civilized.