of one of the huts, they picked up their spears and advanced
expectantly toward the circle of bound men, baring their gums, showing
their teeth, and exhibiting every symptom of pleased anticipation.

Then the tall chief, who had been the last to return, dived into his
hut, while the others stood around, leaning on their spears or running
their thumbs along the edges of their _parongs_, waiting impatiently for
him to reappear.

It was at this moment that Frobisher, who was staring hard at Drake,
trying to attract his attention, thought he caught the distant echo of a
voice; and by the sudden start that the lieutenant was unable to repress
it was evident that he, too, had become aware of something. He
immediately glanced across at his captain, raising his eyebrows and
nodding his head in the direction of the sound; and Frobisher nodded in
return, at the same time glancing warningly at the Formosans, and
forming the word "Wait" with his lips as distinctly as he could. Drake
understood, and flashed his comprehension at the moment that the savage
chief reappeared in the doorway of his hut.

He had dressed himself, in celebration of the occasion, in a splendid
tiger-skin cloak, and wore the skull of a tiger on his head as a kind of
helmet. A necklace made of the teeth and claws of that beast was
suspended round his neck, supporting a huge unset emerald, which was
fastened by a piece of gold wire run through a hole which had been
drilled through an angle of the stone. He also wore a pair of white
cotton trousers, terminating just below the calf, and kept in position
by a belt made of silver medallions, connected by pieces of deer-hide;
while from this belt depended a very handsome silver-hilted kris in a
wooden scabbard, very richly ornamented, which had undoubtedly been
stolen at some time from a rich Malay trader. Gold bracelets encircled
his arms nearly from wrist to elbow, and his ankles were ornamented by
soft gold bands which could be clasped on or taken off as their owner
desired. He made a fine figure of a man, and was evidently quite aware
of the fact, for he stood still for a few moments, sunning himself in
the admiration of his followers, until Frobisher trembled lest the
voices should again make themselves heard and be detected by the waiting
cannibals. In fact, as he strained his ears, the Englishman could now
distinctly hear the distant crackling of undergrowth, announcing the
passage of a number of men