bring Maka, they want to know who that other colored man is, and how Maka
happened to find him. I truly believe their curiosity goes ahead of their
thirst." And so saying he went down to the lake to fill a pail he had
brought with him.

The captain told Ralph to hurry back to the ladies, and that he would be
there in a few minutes. Captain Horn knew a great deal about the
Rackbirds. They were a band of desperadoes, many of them outlaws and
criminals. They had all come down from the isthmus, to which they had
been attracted by the great canal works, and after committing various
outrages and crimes, they had managed to get away without being shot or
hung. Captain Horn had frequently heard of them in the past year or two,
and it was generally supposed that they had some sort of rendezvous or
refuge on this coast, but there had been no effort made to seek them out.
He had frequently heard of crimes committed by them at points along the
coast, which showed that they had in their possession some sort of
vessel. At one time, when he had stopped at Lima, he had heard that there
was talk of the government's sending out a police or military expedition
against these outlaws, but he had never known of anything of the sort
being done.

Everything that, from time to time, had been told Captain Horn about
the Rackbirds showed that they surpassed in cruelty and utter vileness
any other bandits, or even savages, of whom he had ever heard. Among
other news, he had been told that the former leader of the band, which
was supposed to be composed of men of many nationalities, was a French
Canadian, who had been murdered by his companions because, while robbing
a plantation in the interior,--they had frequently been known to cross
the desert and the mountains,--he had forborne to kill an old man
because as the trembling graybeard looked up at him he had reminded him