What do you make of all this?"
"A savage!" I exclaimed. "Perhaps one of those Indians who were
the associates of Jonathan Small."
"Hardly that," said he. "When first I saw signs of strange
weapons I was inclined to think so; but the remarkable character
of the footmarks caused me to reconsider my views. Some of the
inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men, but none could
have left such marks as that. The Hindoo proper has long and
thin feet. The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well
separated from the others, because the thong is commonly passed
between. These little darts, too, could only be shot in one way.
They are from a blow-pipe. Now, then, where are we to find our
savage?"
"South American," I hazarded.
He stretched his hand up, and took down a bulky volume from the
shelf. "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now
being published. It may be looked upon as the very latest
authority. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands, situated 340
miles to the north of Sumatra, in the Bay of Bengal.' Hum! hum!
What's all this? Moist climate, coral reefs, sharks, Port Blair,
convict-barracks, Rutland Island, cottonwoods--Ah, here we are.
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