There were few people astir at this early hour, and these were of
the same type as their captors. At first those whom they saw were
only men, but as they went deeper into the city they came upon a
few naked children playing in the soft dust of the roadway. Many
they passed showed the greatest surprise and curiosity in the
prisoners, and often made inquiries of the guards, which the two
assumed must have been in relation to themselves, while others
appeared not to notice them at all.
"I wish we could understand their bally language," exclaimed
Smith-Oldwick.
"Yes," said the girl, "I would like to ask them what they are going
to do with us."
"That would be interesting," said the man. "I have been doing
considerable wondering along that line myself."
"I don't like the way their canine teeth are filed," said the girl.
"It's too suggestive of some of the cannibals I have seen."
"You don't really believe they are cannibals, do you?" asked the
man. "You don't think white people are ever cannibals, do you?"
"Are these people white?" asked the girl.
"They're not Negroes, that's certain," rejoined the man. "Their
skin is yellow, but yet it doesn't resemble the Chinese exactly,
nor are any of their features Chinese."
It was at this juncture that they caught their first glimpse of a
native woman.
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