'
"'It's perfectly intolerable,' says the governor. 'And you with no
weapon of any sort!'
"'I mean to stick pretty close to you, sir, from this on, if you don't
mind,' says I.
"He just nods the least bit, wipes his fingers on the plantain leaf,
puts his hand behind his back, as if to help himself to rise from the
ground, snatches his revolver from under his jacket and plugs a bullet
plumb centre into Mr. Antonio's chest. See what it is to have to do with
a gentleman. No confounded fuss, and things done out of hand. But he
might have tipped me a wink or something. I nearly jumped out of my
skin. Scared ain't in it! I didn't even know who had fired. Everything
had been so still just before that the bang of the shot seemed
the loudest noise I had ever heard. The honourable Antonio pitches
forward--they always do, towards the shot; you must have noticed that
yourself--yes, he pitches forward on to the embers, and all that lot of
hair on his face and head flashes up like a pinch of gunpowder. Greasy,
I expect; always scraping the fat off them alligators' hides--"
"Look here," exclaimed Schomberg violently, as if trying to burst some
invisible bonds, "do you mean to say that all this happened?"
"No," said Ricardo coolly. "I am making it all up as I go along, just to
help you through the hottest part of the afternoon.
Pages:
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182