He
sits on the stairs at the back for hours before he is needed here, and
frightens people so that the service suffers. The Chinamen--"
Ricardo nodded and raised his hand.
"When I first saw him he was fit to frighten a grizzly bear, let alone
a Chinaman. He's become civilized now to what he once was. Well, that
morning, first thing on opening my eyes, I saw him sitting there, tied
up by the neck to the tree. He was blinking. We spend the day watching
the sea, and we actually made out the schooner working to windward,
which showed that she had given us up. Good! When the sun rose again, I
took a squint at our Pedro. He wasn't blinking. He was rolling his eyes,
all white one minute and black the next, and his tongue was hanging out
a yard. Being tied up short by the neck like this would daunt the arch
devil himself--in time--in time, mind! I don't know but that even a
real gentleman would find it difficult to keep a stiff lip to the end.
Presently we went to work getting our boat ready. I was busying myself
setting up the mast, when the governor passes the remark:
"'I think he wants to say something.'
"I had heard a sort of croaking going on for some time, only I wouldn't
take any notice; but then I got out of the boat and went up to him, with
some water. His eyes were red--red and black and half out of his
head.
Pages:
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185