Not that we expected to see much of the schooner, but
it was just as well to make certain, if possible; and then it was cooler
out of the woods, in the breeze. Well, the governor was there right
enough, lying comfortable on a rug, where he could watch the offing, but
I had gone back to the hut to get a chew of tobacco out of my bag. I had
not broken myself of the habit then, and I couldn't be happy unless I
had a lump as big as a baby's fist in my cheek."
At the cannibalistic comparison, Schomberg muttered a faint, sickly
"don't." Ricardo hitched himself up in his seat and glanced down his
outstretched legs complacently.
"I am tolerably light on my feet, as a general thing," he went on. "Dash
me if I don't think I could drop a pinch of salt on a sparrow's tail,
if I tried. Anyhow, they didn't hear me. I watched them two brown, hairy
brutes not ten yards off. All they had on was white linen drawers rolled
up on their thighs. Not a word they said to each other. Antonio was
down on his thick hams, busy rubbing a knife on a flat stone; Pedro was
leaning against a small tree and passing his thumb along the edge of his
blade. I got away quieter than a mouse, you bet."
"I didn't say anything to the boss then. He was leaning on his elbow
on his rug, and didn't seem to want to be spoken to. He's like
that--sometimes that familiar you might think he would eat out of your
hand, and at others he would snub you sharper than a devil--but always
quiet.
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