"Not quite all," said George.
"No, I take that back," said Sandy. "You say truly not quite all, for you yourself didn't, and I mustn't forget it of you. I suppose it's human nature to want to fight all strangers, and maybe that's the reason the Philippine men killed Master Magellan. I suppose they'd try to do the same if anybody went there now. But I wish you'd tell us more about him and about the Pacific and the Philippines, for I am aye fond of the sea; I enjoyed every wave on the Atlantic when we came over."
Thereupon George, being urged by the other boys as well, gave an account, as nearly as he could remember, of what he had read.
"What has become of those islands?" said Bill Ammon.
"They are there yet," said George.
"Did you think they were sunk in the sea?" said Tom Kennedy.
"It might not be very ridiculous if he did," said George, "for they have terrific earthquakes, and a good many of them."
"Of course I meant," Bill explained, "who owns them?"
"Spain says she does," said George, "and she has had them a long time, for she took possession of them about fifty years after they were discovered; but she came pretty near losing them forever about a century ago."
"How was that?" Bill inquired.