"And are your people happy when they work so hard and are sometimes hungry?"
"Not always," said Sam. "Sometimes people are so unhappy that they commit suicide."
"What?"
"I mean they kill themselves."
There was now another heated discussion.
"What do they say?" asked Colonel James.
"They say that they did not know it was possible for people to kill themselves. I did not know it either. It is very strange."
"What limited intelligences they have!" exclaimed Sam.
"They say," continued Carlos, in a somewhat embarrassed manner, "that if you are condemned to death, they wish one of you would kill himself, so that they can see how it is done."
"There's a chance for you, Sam," said Cleary, but Sam did not seem to see the joke.