ir eyes to make
sure they were not in Asia instead of South America. There were dozens
of almond-eyed Chinese within sight, dozens of black Hindoos in turbans
and flowing garments, dozens of Parsees wearing long black coats and
hats like inverted coal-scuttles; to say nothing of numerous Portuguese
and English, the latter mostly merchants and plantation owners.

The roofs of the buildings were slanting, with wooden or galvanized
iron walls. Some of the more important of them, such as stores,
warehouses, government buildings, etc., were quite large, and stood
upon piles to keep them out of the way of floods which often sweep the
lowlands in the rainy season. In many of the streets ran canals, which
their small guide told them, in pidgeon-English, were drains for the
floods. And he also said that the long embankments which the boys saw
stretching along the sea front were dykes built at great expense by the
sugar planters to keep these same floods from washing the rich soil of
their fields out into the ocean.

After purchasing some fresh fruit and groceries for their aerial
larder, the little party betook themselves back to the landing-field,
on the way passing numbers of pretty little houses which stood in the
midst of beautiful gardens filled with tropical plants.

As they neared the field, they saw that quite a crowd had collected
since their departure. Pushing their way through the concourse about
their own airplane, they were surprised to find Pete Deveaux and Chuck
Crossman just jumping down from the wings. These flyers hurried away
through a gap in the circle of onlookers toward their own machine
before our friends could accost them.

The Sky-Bird crew were considerably put out at noting this situation,
for they had particularly told the Chinese guards to let no one meddle
with the Sky-Bird. The Celestials were squatting unconcernedly upon
the ground, one on either side of the airplane, as John rushed up and
said to one of them; "Didn't I tell you not to let any strangers around
this machine?"

"No lettum stranger lound," protested the fellow. "Him both flylers
alla samee you. Like-um see, you see; like-um see, he see."

"Oh, ginger!" exclaimed John, turning to his comrades, in clear
disgust, "the stupid dunce thinks those fellows belong to us and we to
them, just because we all wear the same sort of flying clothes! Did
you ever see the like?"

Paul now took up the questioning. "What were those fe