that a stump or a bush was a man, waiting
to spring on him. That night he slept not at all, and so shaken was
his nerve that every cry of a night-bird, even every sound made by an
insect or a frog, caused him to start with fear, so that the
perspiration ran down his brow.

As day followed day, however, and nothing happened, Robinson began to
be less uneasy in his mind, and went about his usual work again. But
he strengthened the fence round his castle, and cut in it seven small
loopholes, in which, fixed on frames, he placed loaded muskets, all
ready to fire if he should be attacked. And some distance from the
outside of the fence he planted a thick belt of small stakes, so that
in a few years' time a perfect thicket of trees and bushes hid all
trace of his dwelling.

Years passed quietly, and nothing further happened to disturb
Robinson, or to make him think more of the footprint that had
frightened him so much. But he kept more than formerly to the interior
of the island, and lost no chance of looking for good places to hide
in, if he should ever need them. And he always carried a cutlass now,
as well as his gun and a couple of pistols.

One day it chanced, however, that he had gone further to the west of
the island than he had ever done before, and, looking over the sea, he
fancied that he saw, at a great distance, something like a boat or a
long canoe, but it was so far off that he he could not be sure what it
was. This made him determine that always in future he would bring with
him to his lookout-place the telescope which he had saved from the
wreck.

The sight of this supposed boat brought back his uneasiness to some
extent, but he went on down to the beach, and there he saw a sight
which filled him with horror. All about the shore were scattered men's
skulls and bones, and bits of burnt flesh, and in one place were the
remains of a big fire. Robinson stood aghast, feeling deadly sick. It
was easy for him to know the meaning of the terrible sight. It meant
that cannibals had been there, killing and eating their prisoners; for
when the natives of some parts of the world go to war, and catch any
of their enemies, it is their habit to build a fire, then to kill the
prisoners and feast on their roasted bodies, eating till they can eat
no more. Sometimes, if the man they are going to eat is too thin, they
keep him, and feed him up, till they think he is fat enough.

Now Robinson knew all this, though he had nev