"What does this here tattooed party say?" inquired Broncho. "That lingo you-alls convarses in is some strange to me, an' onlocated in my realms o' larnin'."
"These two Kanakas," said Jack in explanation, "come from the Marquesas Islands, the most noted cannibal group in the South Seas——"
"O-o-o-oh, Lo-o-ord!" began Jim in a scared voice; then, gathering courage as he saw the quizzing smile in the rover's eyes, "Thank goodness that, though I'm young, I ain't tender."
"This man's name," continued Jack, "is Tari, and the other, bowing there before the image, is Lobu. He is a little touched in the head from a blow of a cutting-in spade——"
"These here two Cimmarons, you-alls says, is man-eaters, an' one of 'em is locoed," interrupted Broncho solemnly. "Wall, I'm shore thankful a whole lot they ain't more numerous. Mebbe, though, these two Marquesas sports have done roasted an' eaten the rest of the outfit—they looks hungry enough to chaw up a whole bunch of Navajo bucks without battin' an eye nor yet fallin' victims to indegeestion. I reckon they regyards humans the same as we-alls do pra'rie hen, ba'r stakes, terrapins, an' sech-like high-flung eadibles, as bein' plumb full of relish. They don't look to me as if they'd pass up their hands or quit s'long as thar's an uneaten cawpse idlin' around; no, siree, they jest sharpens their carvin' knives an' sits right into business."
"They used to be cannibals; they are not now," went on Jack. "These two men are harpooners. Tari here knows Big Harry, whose mate I was for three years trading among the Islands——"
"You don't say!"
"He says the Ocmulgee has been out three years with only three hundred barrels of oil to her credit. She lost her mate and three men in a fight with a solitary bull-whale in the Japanese seas; then scurvy broke out whilst they were away to the south'ard; and, to make matters worse, they got jammed in the ice the whole winter. When they finally got clear there were only the captain and five men left. The captain bore up all he knew to make northing. They had a long spell of foul weather; then he died, and the other three men and these two have been alone on the ship for a whole moon, drifting under bare poles."
"Wall, I reckon as how they've been sittin' in pretty dirty luck; but do you-alls mean to relate as how Destiny allows these here tattooed, man-chewin' pagans to win through, whilst white men has to go donnin' wings or tails, harps or hot pitchforks, as the case may be, in the etarnal beyond? Fortune shore deals a queer game."
"That's about the size of it," said Jack.