"That's a regular idol." "You are right," said the captain.

"That is a bit of old-time work.

That face was cut by the original natives." The two ladies were so interested, and even excited, that they seized each other by the hands.

Here before their faces was a piece of sculpture doubtless done by the people of ancient Peru, that people who were discovered by Pizarro; and this great idol, or whatever it was, had perhaps never before been seen by civilized eyes.

It was wonderful, and in the conjecture and exclamation of the next half-hour everything else was forgotten, even the three sailors.
Because the captain was the captain, it was natural that every one should look to him for some suggestion as to why this great stone face should have been carved here on this lonely and desolate rock.