be too sure of that, cos' I know where there's plenty of 'em."

"Around here?" I inquired.

Captain Bannister chuckled.

"No, not very near this place. In the China Sea."

"Have you ever seen any of them?"

"A whole junk full of 'em."

"What did they do?"

All four of us spoke at once. Mr. Daddles seemed to be as much
interested as the rest of us.

"Well, they tried to ketch us. But they couldn't. That was all
there was to it, then. But I see six of 'em 'bout a month later in
Hong Kong."

"In Hong Kong! What were they doing there?"

"They was havin' their heads cut off, by a feller with a long
sword. Anyway, I guess they was some of the same crew that chased
us in the junk, cos' they was took by a man-of-war in 'bout the
same place."

"How did they like having their heads cut off?" asked Mr. Daddles.