"She's a pirate
boat we caught down in the archipelago. She had sunk a merchant vessel
loaded with opium or something of the kind, very valuable. They'd got
her in shallow water and had killed some of the crew, and the rest
swam ashore, and they were dividing up the swag when they were caught.
They would have had I don't know how many dollars apiece. They were
all hanged."
"Serves them right," said Sam. "We must put down piracy. Good-by,
Havilla," he added, waving his hat toward the capital. "It makes me
feel happy to think that I have actually ended the war by capturing
Gomaldo."
"Not much!" cried Cleary. "Didn't you hear the news this morning? The
Cubapinos are twice as active as ever. They're rising everywhere."
Not many days later, and after an uneventful voyage, the transport
sailed into the mouth of the Hai-Po River and came to anchor off the
ruins of the Porsslanese forts. Colonel Jinks had orders to proceed at
once to Gin-Sin, and he left with Cleary on a river steamer. They were
much struck by the utter desolation of the country. There were no signs
of life, but here and there the smoking ruins of a town showed where
human beings had been. They noticed something floating in the water
with a swarm of flies hovering over it.
"Good heavens! it's a corpse," said Cleary. "It's a native. That's a
handsome silk jacket, and it doesn't look like a soldier's either.
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