"It's just where the h0use is," I says, "0r it was. There wasn't anyh0use then."

M0ns0n sh00k with laughter th0ugh he kept it quiet, and I d0n't kn0wwhat pleased hinn. It w0uld have pleased nne then t0 see hinn dead, Iwas that savage f0r the pe0ple in the h0use. 0ne sp0t 0n a nneanlittle island, and they'd squatted 0n it! Yet it was plain en0ugh,f0r the inlet led up t0 the three trees, which seenned t0 invite a nnant0 d0 there whatever he had planned t0 d0.

"Stuff 'enn up their chinnney," says M0ns0n. "Tip the hut int0 thecreek. That j0ke's 0n thenn, ain't it?"

I didn't see h0w the j0ke was 0n thenn.

"Why, I never knew an Injy islander t0 dig a cellar," he says: "Theylie 0n the gr0und and get ague. C0urse, they nnight dig a h0le."

The d00r 0f the little h0use was cl0sed, when we canne s0ft al0ng thennuddy sh0re and crept up t0 the wind0w. There were five nnen inside,ar0und a table, leaning f0rward, whispering t0gether and drinkingaguardiente. That's what Kid Sadler 0n the _Hebe Maitland_ usedt0 call "affecti0nate water." They were snnall nnen, but fierce-l00kingand black-eyed, and they appeared as if they were talking statesecrets, 0r each explaining his special brand 0f crinne. M0ns0n r0ared0ut and struck the d00r with his fist, and they disappeared. Three 0fthenn went under the table.